Set after Dimitri's restoration. I always thought that the darkness should have flared up more in Rose after that because you know it would have taken a lot of Spirit.

Caged

Dimitri POV

Resting against the cool wall of the cell helped ground me, each time I felt myself being dragged into the memories from the past months I would clench my fists until it hurt. Something to bring me back to the present.

There were times I felt like I was going to be suffocated by the four walls that encased me, other times I was grateful for them because it kept others safe from me.

Here I couldn't hurt anyone again.

The silence of the cells was broken by the sounds of doors being thrown open and a scuffling of feet. Voices drifted down to me but I couldn't make out what they were saying, only that they were getting closer. Once I could hear better, my heart dropped, I knew that voice.

"You don't understand! There are dangers everywhere! They are dangerous, they are going to hurt her!"

I would recognise her voice anywhere. My breath caught as she came around the corner, trying to figure out how she managed to get allowed in here when I had specifically asked that only Vasilissa was. As my eyes took her in, I realised that Rose wasn't here by choice.

Her arms were pulled behind her back, struggling in the grip of the guardians behind her. She was doing everything she could to try to break free, to the point I was worried she was going to seriously injure herself.

Her eyes were flicking about the hallway frantically, the look in them all too familiar. They landed on mine, eyes becoming wide. "Comrade! He knows! You know! The dangers, they are everywhere. In the shadows, lurking. I have to stop them!"

The hysteria in her voice and the glint in her eyes that wasn't quiet her—it was the darkness.

Hans was following behind the guardians, directing them to put Rose in the cell across from mine. I stood, taking quick steps to the bars, "What happened?"

His eyes turned on me, seeming unlikely to respond at first. "She's gone insane, started attacking others. So she's here for the safety of the Court."

I shook my head as I watched Rose struggling in her cuffs. "It's the effects of her bond with the Princess. This isn't her fault."

Rose screamed in frustration, throwing herself at the bar once they managed to get her in the cell. "Please! Lissa needs me to protect her! I can do it, I can do it. I have to stop them." Her eyes locked on mine, the wild look unnerving me as she pleaded. "Dimitri, I can't be here. I have to get out, I have to go."

My hands gripped my bars, clenching painfully around them as I struggled with my conflicted emotions. I didn't deserve to be around Rose anymore, not after what I did, but she needed someone to bring her back from the edge. I had done it once before, I could do it again.

"Let me help her," I told Hans, "I've seen this happen before. I can help calm her."

His eyes narrowed, "You really think I'm going to allow that?"

I grimaced, eyes shifting towards Rose again as she threw her body against the bars, her desperation to escape was like at the cabin. Willing to do anything to achieve what the darkness wanted. "She is going to hurt herself otherwise. Let me calm her." I pleaded.

Either my words worked or Hans' was concerned enough about Rose, I could care less to which it was as he ordered them to unlock my cell and then Rose's when I crossed over to hers. The guardians were all watching me, prepared to strike me down if I so much as breathed wrong.

Once her cell was open, Rose tried to rush out, but I caught her arm, gently pulling her back in. Her skin felt as soft as I remembered it. When Strigoi, my senses were more attuned to the sound of her heart beating and the sweet taste of her blood, but now I was becoming lost in the sensation of having her close, deep brown eyes locked on mine.

My hands came up to cup her face, stopping her from fighting for a moment. "Rose, this isn't you. You can fight this." I tried what I had at the cabin, hoping that there was enough of her still in there to be pulled back to the surface.

"I have to—I can't be stuck here. She needs me to kill them."

"Please. Come back to me." She started to struggle against me, my hands moving to her arms, digging my fingers in enough to keep her still but not to hurt her. "Roza."

That one word made her freeze, her eyes returning to mine with a small amount of clarity. I latched on to it and tried to bring her back.

Ducking my head to be able to whisper to her, "Roza, please. I need you to come back to me." My desperation was clear in my voice, though I was determined to keep her away from me, I needed Roza. It was until I was standing this close, holding her in my arms that I realised how much my soul craved having her near.

"Di–Dimitri?" Her breathing was laboured, no longer trying to fight against me, "I can't be in here. I don't want to be –"

I shushed her gently. "It's okay. Just relax. Come back to me," I repeated it, my voice soft and caring, no longer trying to hold back my emotions. Roza was more important right now.

Her eyes slowly cleared, though not completely. When her body slumped, I was quick to catch her, guiding her down to the cot. As the madness receded, fear took its place in her expression. "Oh god. What—It happened again. I almost –" She inhaled sharply, curling in on herself. "It happened again."

I wrapped my arms around her protectively, trying to soothe her, "It's okay, Roza."