This story takes place a couple of months after Love fades. There was no attempt to kill the Queen.

APOV

I studied the man in front of me for a short moment before gesturing towards the seat in front of my desk. I sat down as well but remained silent. It was a tried and tested method. Most people who came to see me were already on edge. It usually didn't take much for them to blurt out something, anything. It was rarely information I actually needed, but it did tend to give an insight into their state of mind which certainly made it easier to negotiate my deal.

Not that I really negotiated anyway. If they came to me, they were desperate. Whatever I was willing to offer, they could either take it or leave it.

Belikov was slightly different. He seemed calm and I could see him sizing me up as much as I was assessing him. I used the silence to consider the possible reasons why he came here. There weren't many. My clients were usually decidedly unimaginative and most of their reasons for seeking me out fit into five categories.

- Debts
 I quickly ruled this out. He just wasn't the type.

- Family issues
This seemed unlikely considering the fact that Randall Ivashkov was currently somewhere in South America. Olena Belikova was a decent woman who had raised her children well. The only issue in this direction I could think of was one of his many sisters getting pregnant, but if he felt he needed to deal with that I was sure he would do it in person.

- Relationship issues
He was single and had clearly stated to both interested parties that he was not interested in pursuing a relationship at this point. Now if a specific one of those parties wanted to take revenge I would definitely be her go-to-guy, but unfortunately Rosemarie had shown little interest in hurting him as he had hurt her. I admit to being disappointed.

- Personal vendettas
Again, unlikely. He might've run into some trouble due to his period as a Strigoi, but since that was all out in the open for everyone to see it seemed unlikely he'd need my help in that case. Moroi or Guardians who had a problem with him would go through official channels, and he would respond that way as well.

- Blackmail
I just didn't see that happening. First of all, they would have to find something on him. The man was annoyingly clean. I was fairly sure I was the only person who had the information to do it, and while I had certainly considered it, I didn't see the benefit. There was every chance he'd simply openly admit I was right and deal with the consequences. While it would certainly be entertaining to see him punished, it would also take away any leverage I had over him. Also, it might cause difficulties for Rose if their former relationship, and especially the timing of it, became public knowledge.
Second, he was strong and dangerous and I doubted anyone else would take the chance of him taking a more direct approach in solving an active threat against him.

Ah well, might as well just get to the point.
"Why are you here Belikov?"

He hesitated for just a second and then managed to do the unthinkable. He surprised me.

"I'm looking for a job."

Years of experience had taught me to remain expressionless no matter the provocation. My crook mask as Rosemarie liked to call it, and according to her it was surprisingly similar to the guardian mask of the man in front of me. The main difference, again according to my precious daughter, was the fact that where he looked professional I tended to look menacing.

I took that as the compliment it was obviously intended to be.

"I don't see the point in wasting either of our time Belikov. We both know that I'm not particularly impressed with the current system, our ruling class, the position of dhampirs in general or guardians in particular. Nor do I hold with their politics based on inaction and sacrifice. It's also no secret I have been known to act outside the letter of the law, on occassion." Belikov had the nerve to raise an eyebrow at the latter part of my sentence, which might have been a slight understatement.

I continued as if I hadn't noticed. "We also both know that you're a devoted guardian, committed to protecting those who are too weak or lazy to protect themselves. You are known to always do everything by the book. Apart from sleeping with your underage student, obviously." He flinched and I allowed myself a small grin of satisfaction. "In most matters you hold yourself to a higher standard than even the royals do, and they tend to expect the impossible from their underpaid meatshields."

He didn't respond to that and his face remained blank, obviously waiting for me to finish regardless of the blunt statements meant to provoke him. I had to give it to the man, at least he was patient. Most people would have interrupted me by now.

"My line of work and your ethics appear.. incompatible. And considering your record, I find your presence here inexplicable. Why would I offer you a job?"

He gave a small nod as if to confirm everything I had just said, considered my question for a moment and then took a deep breath. "I want to get away from Court. After everything that happened I don't like being around so many people."

While a reasonable explanation, my gut told me it wasn't the whole reason for Belikov's presence in my office, so I simply looked at him and waited.
He shifted a little in his seat and I bit back a grin at this small sign of unease. It was comforting to know that even the great guardian Belikov wasn't immune to the pressure of being in my office.

Eventually he cracked. "Since I was restored I've reconsidered some things I always accepted as truth. I don't want to protect those willing to sacrifice sixteen-year-olds while they sit back and allow the Strigoi to run rampant. I've seen what they can do, I've seen how many there are, I've seen how they're connected and working together. Rumour has it you are in fact doing something against the threat. That you have some teams out there lowering their numbers. I want to help. I still want to protect others, but not by waiting for the danger to come to us."

I studied the man in front of me in silence. I wondered where he'd gotten that information. He wasn't wrong, but it wasn't common knowledge either. I didn't especially like Belikov after what he did to Rose, both before and after his restoration, but this additional information did make me respect him a little more.

Belikov hesitated for a moment and then added. "Also, if you were to hire me and I'd quit as a court-guardian, the position of secondary guardian to Vasilisa Dragomir would open up. Rose Hathaway has been taken off probation and desk-duty and she hasn't been assigned a charge yet. Hans Croft has informed me that due to their bond she should be first choice to replace me, and that such a result would be to your liking."

Well that certainly explained how he found out about my little experiment. Hans was one of the few who knew, and even quietly supported us wherever possible. He was as invested in the project as I was, hoping to use the information in the future to push the Council to allow him to form strike teams of his own. Two of my current team members had been sent my way by Hans. They had gotten on the wrong side of some Moroi and Hans had been pressured to punish them. Instead he simply informed them what repercussions the Council had in mind and might have dropped a hint about the alternative of a non-Court-sanctioned lifestyle. They arrived two days later.

And even though Rose disagreed with most of the rules and expectations of our society, and said society had treated her like crap on several occassions (including furthering their own agenda considering guardian graduation age), I knew for a fact that she still wanted to be the Princess' guardian more than anything. If it was within my power to assist her in reaching her goal, I would happily do it. I didn't like the fact that it gave Belikov at least a little power in our negotiation though, although it was obvious that he wasn't aware of the reason I took an interest in Rose's assignment. He seemed highly suspicious of my involvement, and possibly a little worried. I imagined he thought Rose would owe me something in return.

Anyway, now that he was here, there were certainly other ways to make sure his position would become available.

If only Rose hadn't made me promise not to kill him. Or have him killed. Or tortured. Or to organize an accident. Or to drop him on a deserted island. Or have him locked up somewhere. Or to kill, harm or injure him in any way. Or to hold him against his will in any location. Or to make him disappear in any other way I could think of.

For someone who had known me for less than a year Rosemarie was surprisingly well aware of the way my mind worked. I still wasn't sure whether to be impressed, annoyed or slightly scared.

Either way, if I had the ability to help my daughter in any way, obviously I would do it. And if I happened to be gaining a skilled and motivated fighter in the process.. Well, who could blame me? And if he happened to end up as blood spatter in some dark alleyway.. I mean, an unexpected casualty on one of the teams missions.. I couldn't be blamed could I? Rose certainly hadn't included that possiblity in her list.

"Fine, you're hired."

Things worked out quite as expected. Dimitri put in his resignation effective immediately. While the Princess fought against it, the Royal Council was quite happy to see him go. His presence at Court still caused some tension with royals who had lost loved ones to Strigoi, and there were always doubts about the wisdom of allowing a former Strigoi to protect someone as important as the last Dragomir.

Rose was assigned to be Vasilisa's guardian less than a week later. The Council was none to pleased with her either, but both the Princess and Hans supported the appointment and some of the royals who might have been more vocal about their objections were... persuaded that keeping quiet was in their own best interests. It was a relatively small issue for them after all. Definitely not worth any public questioning of their finances, unsavory contacts or the paternity of some of their children.

Belikov was assigned to Team 3, which had four skilled guardians but was limited by the fact that nobody spoke fluent Russian. Considering the fact that most of my experiment so far took place on Russian soil, this occasionally caused difficulties. They had been able to learn enough to get around and any contact with Alchemists would be conducted in English anyway, but from time to time it certainly would make their life a little easier if they had someone with them who spoke the language and was more familiar with the culture.

Not to mention his intimate knowledge of how the Strigoi worked in this part of the country.

Over the next few months I heard nothing but glowing reports from his teamleader. Belikov was quiet and mostly kept to himself, but he worked well with the others, followed the orders given to him and was willing to share information or get involved in tactical planning when asked. His combat skills certainly helped the team and their kill count rose steadily. He didn't even come close to ending up as cannon fodder, which was encouraging when it came to the success of the mission, but quite disappointing to me personally.

All in all he behaved as I expected him to. I knew he was dedicated to the cause, and on top of that he was a man of his word. Except in matters of the heart of course, in which his word was entirely worthless. Still, I knew that once he had chosen this path he would make every effort to see it through and I wasn't disappointed in his commitment.
Over time the team started to rely on him more and more. While he wasn't teamleader, he was the most skilled fighter they had and his knowledge and calm presence made it easy for the others to depend on him.

Though I didn't have much interaction with him over the following years, I had to admit to being slightly impressed the few times I met up with the team. While I still disliked the man intensely for what he had put Rose through, I did reluctantly come to respect him on a professional level.

By now the teams were mostly working autonomously, though they sent me regular updates in regards to their location, the presence and movements of Strigoi in areas they visited and the success of their mission. By now we had plenty of well-documented records to support the usefulness of strike teams, how best to set them up and the effect they had on the Strigoi population. We also had proof that while there were more Strigoi than Court wanted us to know, it was easier than expected to reduce their numbers. The moving strike teams made it more difficult for the Strigoi to work together, so as time went on they mostly encountered lone Strigoi or small groups. Whenever someone tried to create an empire like the one in Novosibirsk, the Alchemists usually informed us of the increased activity and the strike teams worked together to eliminate the threat.

Since this side-project was basically running itself I could focus my attention on my usual business.

When I entered my office on my return from a long tiresome trip to an off-the-grid, uninhabited area of Mongolia, my chair was already occupied. I would've been outraged, except there was only one person in the world who would dare to sit in my chair, with her feet on my desk, cursing at her phone, and I was very happy to see her.
"Rosemarie! I had no idea you were coming by kizim."

She smiled at me, pointed at her phone and mouthed: "Almost done."

I nodded and moved over to the sideboard, pouring myself a drink. Since Rose had made no move to get up and I was honestly exhausted, I sat down in the chair facing my desk, where my clients usually sat. I chuckled at the idea.

Rose ended her phonecall soon after and turned to me. "Hope you don't mind I came by. The Queen expected Lissa to join her on her Eastern European tour and the full Royal Guard is travelling with them. I escorted her on the way over from the States, but they didn't need me afterwards so I figured I'd come and stay here for a couple of days. Relax, enjoy the peace and quiet." She shrugged. "I tried calling to let you know."

I waved away her concerns. "Of course, you're always welcome here. And you know you don't have to work if you don't want to don't you? You could stay for as long as you want."

She smiled in response but I could tell she still had no intention of taking my offer. I'd told her the same thing many times over the past two years, but she was dedicated to her charge. Still, if she ever wanted out I'd make it happen, and I wanted her to know that.
"I know baba, thank you. How was your trip? Alexei wouldn't tell me much, just that you'd be back tonight."

For the next half hour I entertained her with a story of my travels, without actually mentioning the exact destination or my reason for being there. We had perfected the art of telling eachother enough of our lives to feel involved, but not so much that it'd cause problems. She had her charge's safety to consider, and I hers. My line of work was still dangerous, and she was better off not knowing the details. It was an arrangement we were both comfortable with.

She snorted loudly as I described a harrassed Pavel trying to deal with a hotel employee continually misunderstanding him, ending with him trying to get us to share a tiny hotelroom with just a twin bed. By that point I'd intervened and the manager had happily given us the largest suite, and Pavel had grumbled for the rest of the day about unhelpful bosses who took their damn sweet time.

"Poor Pavel, you really should be nicer to him. One of these days someone will offer him an easy, cushy, well-paying desk-job and he'll happily take the offer just to get away from you."
"Pavel would never take a desk-job," I scoffed. "He likes being useful."
Rose shrugged. "Yeah you're probably right. Still though, be nice to him."
She stretched out and yawned. I smiled. I never expected something as domestic as spending an evening at home with my daughter would make me so happy.

"So when did you get here?"
She got up and poured us both another drink before settling back into my chair. "Oh two days ago. It wasn't that long after you left actually."
I was honestly a little disappointed that I'd already missed out on two days of her time. She didn't come here nearly often enough and she rarely stayed more than a couple of days.

"It was a bit unfortunate you and Pavel were both unreachable," Rose said casually.
"I'm sorry kizim. It was important for us to be untraceable."
She nodded. "Yeah well, I was happy to help while I was here."

For the first time since I'd walked in here I tensed a little "Help?" Rose never got involved in anything when she was around, knowing that there were a lot of things she was better off not knowing.

Rose didn't seem to sense anything wrong, reading something on her phone that made her smile. "Oh yeah, Alexei needed to take a trip to town so I went with him to keep him company and as backup. You know I get bored staying at the compound all day."

I breathed a sigh of relief, still making a mental note to ask Alexei what he had been doing in town. I didn't recall any business taking him there.
Rose didn't seem to notice my distraction and continued cheerfully: "He was really happy I could come. Apparently he had never had to deal with a situation like this before, and he figured it'd be better to trust me than one of your other guardians."

"Situation?"

I tried my best to keep my voice even, but some of my apprehension must've slipped through because Rose looked up at me, a little concerned.
"Yeah didn't he tell you? When you were out we got a phonecall. Apparently one of your employees was unable to reach you, nor the backup number you had provided for Pavel. He was in a bit of a tough spot and with no other options, he called the compound."
My mind was racing while I replied, trying to sound as indifferent as possible: "No I didn't get around to seeing him yet."

The list of people with the direct number to the compound was small. An even smaller number of those were within driving distance, though obviously that was all relative. The nearest town was about a three hour drive away, and Rose might've been talking about the closest actual city, which added another hour and half.

While I was still trying to work out what was going on Rose had apparently run out of patience. "So, when exactly were you going to tell me about your strike teams old man?"

When I looked up she was sitting up straight, hands resting on the desk with her fingers lightly intertwined. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes were sharp as she stared me down from across my own desk.

It was more than a little unnerving to be honest.

There was obviously no point denying it. Of all the people who would feel like they had a vital reason to call me, my team leaders were the only ones who had permission to use any and all resources to get help when they got into trouble. No matter how much I would've prefered to keep this information from Rose, an emergency was an emergency and needed to be dealt with whether I could be reached or not. I suppose we were simply lucky that until now they had always been able to reach either me or Pavel, so this problem had never come up before.

There was a niggling sense of unease at the back of my mind wondering exactly who had called, but I pushed it back. Alexei would surely tell me later, and if Rose had felt it worth mentioning she would've started with that, so I might as well just answer her question.

"You know I never share information about what I do kizim. If Court finds out what I've been upto it could cause serious issues for everyone involved. Plausible deniability is the only thing keeping you safe from repercussions if one of my ventures ends up failing."

She narrowed her eyes at me, obviously unimpressed with my reasoning. "I'm sure that's true for your other business, but this is guardian stuff. I am trained and you very well know I've done my fair share of hunting already. If I had known what you were upto I could've helped. Many of us would, given the chance."

"I know," which was exactly why I had kept it from her for as long as I did. My teams might be organised, but that didn't mean I was willing to risk my daughter's life by throwing her to the undead wolves so to speak. I quickly continued before she figured out my reasons. "I'm in the process of convincing the Royal Council of the merits of my current setup, but before I could convince them I obviously needed to organise something on my own as a sort of trial. If it hadn't worked you were simply much better off not knowing."

For the next twenty minutes she subjected me to intense questioning about all the inns and outs. She was obviously right her knowledge of both guardians and Strigoi could've helped me immensely. She asked many questions that didn't come up with my teamleaders until after something had already gone wrong. I ended up describing how many people were in a team, the way they picked an area to hunt, their strategies of luring in and dealing with Strigoi, when they decided it was time to move on, their contact with certain Alchemists for cleanup and information.

Eventually she ran out of questions and simply looked at me for a while. "Next time you come up with something like this, I want you to tell me. I don't care about all the illegal.." I spluttered slightly in protest. What I did wasn't exactly illegal. I simply tended to conduct most of my business within a grey area just not quite covered by laws. Rose merely raised her eyebrows and continued: "illegal stuff you get upto or all the people you've got in your pocket somehow, but when it comes to Strigoi or anything directly affecting dhampirs and guardians I want in."

I knew she wouldn't let it go, and our conversation just now had proven that her personal knowledge would actually have been very helpful, so I nodded. "Fine. But if there are things I don't tell you, please keep in mind I'm doing it for your own safety, and I will expect you to respect those boundaries."

She nodded as well, a small smile appearing on her face. I relaxed and sat back, glad the interrogation was over. I might be better off simply telling her everything from now on and hiring her as an interrogator. If she could get this much information out of me, I was kind of curious what she could do to the untrained. I chuckled at the thought.

"Oh can I ask just one more question baba?" I nodded, simultaneously lifting my nearly empty glass to my lips. It was definitely time to get some sleep after this.

"Care to explain how Dimitri Belikov ended up on your payroll?"

I choked on the last sip of my thirty-year-old brandy.

Author's note: I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. I haven't written a story in ages but I always like Abe as a character so I figured he deserved to be a little more involved. It's also a lot of fun to try and imagine the way he thinks and what he gets upto.