***I am officially out of school and in summer break, thank hallelujah! I'm leaving this weekend for a vacation to visit with family, and will not be updating any stories during that time. I probably won't even have time to write any part of another chapter for any stories. Thank you to DemonsRelm, TheProlificWriterGirl, Nuuk, luciinwaters, , ilovesos9467 for reviewing chapter 6. Enjoy the chapter, even if it on the slightly short side –skd***

TheProlificWriterGirl: Glad I could make you laugh, dear. Got quite a few marbles rolling around in that head of yours, with a side of screws, don't you? As a smart man once said, "And that, kids, is when the fit hit the shan".

The sudden silence in the room was deafening, and I tensed. The logical side of my brain told me that they most likely were here to question me about what happened with the apartment last night, but I wasn't listening to that side of my brain. Adrenaline rushed through my body, the instinct to fight or flight coursing through me. Neither option was truly an option considering that I couldn't fight two federal agents, and the only exit to the room was blocked by said federal agents. I glanced back at Mr. Belikov, and his gaze met mine for a brief second before he focused on the two men by the door.

Whispers broke out across the classroom like wildfire, and a few people shot me glares. The taller of the two men –Winchester– eyed Mr. Belikov before his gaze moved to me. He glanced at Gallagher, whose eyes were roaming the classroom as if he didn't know that I was standing right in front of him.

"May I see those badges again?" Mr. Belikov questioned, standing up and walking past me.

Both men pulled out their wallets and flipped them open. Mr. Belikov stood there, arms crossed, studying the shiny badges intently, and then glanced up again to study both of the men intently too.

I sighed. "Let's get this over with."

"Rose, wait!"

I ignored Adrian's whispered protest and walked past Mr. Belikov to stand in front of the two agents. His arm jerked, and he winced quietly, obviously remembering what happened the last time that he grabbed me. I would have welcomed it this time though.

Gallagher reached out, clearly intending to grab me to guide me out of the room, which was most definitely not welcomed. I sidestepped his reach and walked out of the room. I knew the two agents were following me without having to turn around.

"In here, Miss Hathaway," Winchester said from behind me.

I turned, walking back the few steps to a vacant classroom. It didn't escape my notice that it was the same vacant classroom that Mr. Belikov and I had been in that morning.

"Please, have a seat," Winchester said.

"No, thank you." It would be easier for me to get out of the room quicker if I was standing.

He nodded and perched on the edge of the large desk at the front of the room. "We just have a few questions for you."

"What about a parent or guardian being present?" I interrupted innocently. "Isn't that the law when questioning minors?"

"Where are your parents, Miss Hathaway?" Gallagher asked me, glaring. The glint in his eyes told me that he already knew exactly where my parents were, and I glared at him.

"They're not here anymore, but you already knew that Mr. Gallagher, didn't you?"

"Agent Gallagher," he practically growled.

Winchester sighed, shooting his partner a look. "Miss Hathaway, since you're emancipated, that rule doesn't apply to you. In the eyes of the court, you're an adult." He frowned. "I thought we went over that last time."

I shrugged. "Sorry, I must have forgotten."

I definitely hadn't forgotten, but I also wasn't in the mood for playing their games.

"Back to our questions," Gallagher said, stepping forward.

"Actually, first, I have a question," I said. "Why are you here?"

"If you would let us ask our questions—"

"What's the point of asking your questions if you're not going to believe my answers?" I said, cutting off the rest of Gallagher's sentence.

I also hadn't forgotten the last time the two of them had pulled me aside for questioning. They hadn't believed a word I had said, and two weeks later, I was kidnapped and held captive for two months.

"I was speaking, little girl," Gallagher snapped, stepping closer to me.

I refused to give him the satisfaction of backing away, instead standing taller and crossing my arms across my chest. He leaned down slightly so that he was in my face, and I clenched my fists, my nails digging into the skin of my palm, to keep myself from flinching.

"Show me some damn respect, or I won't respect you. It's a two-way street."

"Don't you mean that if I don't treat you as an authority figure, then you won't treat me as a person?"

He jerked back, anger evident in his eyes, and I almost wanted to laugh.

"Do you honestly think that I'm afraid of you?"

He scoffed, walking to the other side of the classroom.

"Last night, the apartment you share with Vasilisa Dragomir was broken into, correct?" Agent Winchester asked, directing my attention back to him.

I stared him down, my arms still crossed, not answering.

"Miss Hathaway, we–I–need you to answer our questions so that we can be a couple of steps closer to solving this mystery and protecting you."

"I don't need protection from you two assholes. I can protect myself."

Gallagher smirked. "Really, Miss Hathaway? Because I seem to remember a case with your name on it not too long ago in which you weren't too adept at protecting yourself. Remember that?"

This time, I did flinch. "Shut up."

Gallagher's smirk widened, knowing that he hit a nerve. "You know it's the truth. You were too weak to protect yourself then, and you're too weak to protect yourself now. If it weren't for us, you would probably still be your kidnapper's bitch or worse."

"That is utter bullshit, and you know it," I snarled, taking a step towards him. "If it weren't for you, it would have never happened in the first place. If you would have fucking believed me—"

Gallagher cut me off. "There was nothing to believe. All you told was lies."

"Miss Hathaway," Winchester intervened and stepped between me and Gallagher. I wasn't sure when we had gotten so close, but part of me was grateful for the barrier, even if Winchester was nearly as bad as Gallagher. "Just take a seat and answer the questions. Then you can get back to class."

"God, you two have gotten dumber, haven't you? What part of 'I'm not answering anything' do you not understand?"

"Listen, Miss Hathaway," Gallagher said. "This is simple, routine questioning. You need to answer our questions. Or else."

"Are you threatening me?" I laughed humorlessly. "I don't need to do anything."

"Miss Hathaway, please," Winchester said as Gallagher backed up again. "We would really appreciate your cooperation. It's just a few simple questions."

"I refuse to answer any questions. May I go now?"

"When were you made aware of the fact that someone had broken into your apartment?" Gallagher continued, ignoring my words.

"Goodbye, gentlemen."

"You can't go anywhere until we finish our questions," Gallagher said, anger in his voice.

"Actually, I can. Unless you're arresting me for something, I'm free to go whenever I want," I said, walking over to the door. They both looked at me with wide eyes. "I've studied since the last time we talked."

I'm halfway out the door when Gallagher spoke. "You're going to regret not accepting our help when it was offered, Hathaway."

I walked out of the room and let the door slam behind me.

The door to room 211 was cracked open, and I walked into the classroom as quietly as I could, which wasn't easy in heeled boots. Part of me didn't want to return to the classroom at all, especially not still wearing these clothes, but I didn't want Adrian to worry when I didn't return to class. The traitorous part of my brain whispered that I didn't want Dimitri to worry either. Mr. Belikov, I corrected myself.

I slid into my seat in front of Adrian and ignored Mr. Belikov's stare, unsure of what I'd find there. My encounter with Gallagher and Winchester had taken up most of the class time, and judging by the murmured conversations happening around the room, Mr. Belikov had given the class free time for the last fifteen minutes of class while he worked on something at his desk.

"Rose."

I flinched when Adrian tapped me on the shoulder. I took a deep breath, trying to hide how shaken I still was from the questioning, before turning to face Adrian.

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, putting on a fake smile.

"Because those assholes practically dragged you out of here," Adrian whispered.

"I couldn't exactly stop them, Adrian," I whispered back. "I didn't really have much of a choice."

I turned back around, ending our conversation. I spent the remaining time drawing random things in my notebook, and when the bell rang, I looked down to see the page covered in thick pencil lines. Nothing was discernible from drawing to drawing, and I ripped the page out of my notebook, crumbling it up and throwing it away.

"Miss Hathaway," Mr. Belikov said as I walked towards the door. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"No," Adrian answered for me, glaring at him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ivashkov. I don't believe I was talking to you."

I sighed. "Go," I told Adrian. I waited until he was out of the room before facing Mr. Belikov. "What?"

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

I wanted to laugh. "Why do people keep asking me that?"

Mr. Belikov's brow furrowed.

"Of course, I'm not okay. What has happened in the past twenty-four hours that have been okay? It's just been one thing after another."

"Rose—"

"Just forget I said anything, okay?" I said, turning and walking out of the room before I could say anything else that would leave me more vulnerable than I already was.

Adrian was lingering across the hall, waiting for me, and I wasn't surprised to see Lissa with him. They stopped whispering when I walked out of the classroom. I barely glanced at either of them. I made a brief stop at my locker to put away my notebook before I left the school building, starting the familiar walk home.

I stood outside the apartment building, the yellow caution tape still in place across the apartment door. Part of me wanted to duck under the tape, wanted to ignore the KEEP OUT signage, and go into the apartment anyway. Instead, I just stood there and stared at the building that I've called home for the past year and a half.

I heard the truck pulling in before I heard him speak.

"Rose, what are you doing?"

A black truck was now parked behind me, the engine turned off. I turned in time to see Ivan jumping out of his truck and walking around it to stand next to me.

"Why are you here?" I asked him, turning to look back at the apartment.

"Dimitri asked me to check up on you," Ivan said. "He's tied up at some meeting. And since I have a few questions for you that I need answered, I figured that I would oblige him."

I rolled my eyes. "I swear to God if you're about to ask me if I'm okay—"

"I don't need to ask you that. You wouldn't be standing in front of your destroyed apartment if you were okay," he said. "Nobody would be okay in your situation, Rose."

I turned to face him. "What do you want to know?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were in high school?"

"Because it wasn't important at the time," I said. "I'm old enough to give consent, and that's all that should matter."

"You were drinking too, so I think it does matter more than you're saying."

I rolled my eyes again. "Like you didn't drink when you were in high school?"

He grinned impishly. "I went to high school in Russia. Things are a bit different there when it comes to alcohol."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I should have said something."

"Your apology is accepted," he said, nodding. We stood there in silence for a moment before he spoke again. "Come on, I'll take you back to the hotel."

I shook my head. "I'm not going back there."

"You don't have a choice. From what I understand, you won't go stay with your best friend so that you don't put her in danger, so that leaves the hotel as your only option," Ivan said.

"I need new clothes, Ivan," I pointed out, ignoring his statement. "I can't wear this every day, and the fact that you found it in my car when I don't keep spare clothes in my car makes me want to burn the entire outfit."

He sighed and gave me a look. "Then I'll take you shopping. Now, let's go. Someone might be watching the apartment."

"I don't need a protector," I said. "I'll be fine."

Silence followed me as I started walking down the sidewalk away from the apartment and towards the nearest bus stop.

"I saw the way you looked at him," Ivan said from behind me.

I stopped walking but didn't turn around. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Ivan's voice was closer.

"You don't know anything," I said through gritted teeth.

"If you want to keep believing that go ahead, but I know what I saw," he said. "I had my suspicions when I saw the two of you in his classroom when you were trapped against the wall by him. It didn't exactly look like you were trying to get away at first. But seeing the way you looked at him last night made me certain."

"Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about. You know nothing.

"I know a lot, Rosie."

Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, such a bad girl. And bad girls deserve to be punished.

I turned around, my heart pounding. "What did you just say?"

He stared at me for a moment before answering. "Are you feeling okay?"

He stepped towards me, and I stumbled backward, one arm in front of me, warding him off.

"Rose?" His brow furrowed.

"Stay back," I whispered. "Get away from me."

He froze in place. "Hey, Rose," he said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

"Don't. Call. Me. Rosie," I whispered.

"I didn't. I called you Rose," he murmured. Slowly, my breathing started to return to normal, and he took small baby steps forward. "What just happened? Are you okay?"

I nodded shakily, wrapping my arms around myself. I wasn't okay, but I didn't think that I was ever going to be okay again.

"I have to go," I said, turning away again.

"Wait!" Ivan called. "I can help you."

"Help me?"

"I can help you get what you want," he clarified. "I'll help you get Dimitri, even if I have my doubts, in exchange for one thing."

My eyes narrowed as I looked up at him. "What do you want?"

"One date. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"