*Author Notes: Long time no write :(

Chapter 6

Dimitri did his best impersonation of a statue as I gazed at the head guardian in bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

Although Hans was known for being a bit of a jerk and had a twisted sense of humor, his face looked really serious right now and I could tell this wasn't a joke. He stepped back inside of his office and motioned me forward. Dimitri hovered in the background.

"We received an anonymous tip that someone was holding unauthorized paraphernalia in their locker. We thought someone had stolen stakes, so we searched all of the lockers. While we did find some interesting things, your space was the most intriguing."

Moving around to the side of his desk, he reached down and grabbed a mid-size box, sitting it on the desk. Removing the top, he beckoned me closer. "Do you have any idea how these contents got inside of your locker?" Standing within two inches of the box, I let out a gasp. All Court appointed guardians and the Queen's guards had a small locker here.

Inside it I recognized my backup wardrobe and stake, as well as the items I know I did NOT put there. There were two simple dingy gray bricks but I could recognize them anywhere. Along with it was a seemingly large piece of paper folded.

I cautiously picked up the tarasov floor plan and examined it. Something wasn't right. This wasn't the same layout as the one Eddie and I studied. It looked similar, but there were some major move arounds. Not wanting to tip Hans off that I knew what tarasov looked like, I was careful of my words. "Wow, so this is what the hell hole Victor escaped from looks like. Seems a bit too luxurious for someone like him."

Han's tense expression softened the slightest bit. "There's nothing luxurious about that place, believe me and actually it doesn't look like this," he said. Furrowing his brow, he glanced at the paper in my hands. "At least it hasn't looked like that in a while. This was how it looked before it was renovated over a decade ago and rooms had to be added on."

So the person who did this knew about tarasov, but didn't have updated knowledge. I bit my lower lip. "But that still doesn't explain how this ended up with my stuff."

Hans lowered himself in his chair and fixed his gaze on me. "I was hoping you could help me out with that."

I raised my right hand and pointed my index finger in his direction. "I didn't do this and you know it!"

"You've been involved in a lot of weird things. I'm definitely not dumb enough to underestimate you," he said while bringing his hands together and crossing his fingers over eachother.

I could feel myself becoming more and more outraged. Dimitri decided to give me enough time to gather my thoughts constructively. "I think I have an idea of what could be happening," he said, stepping forward. Hans gave him a look as if he was exasperated by the fact that he never left the room to start with, but that didn't deter his stride. "I overheard Rose and Guardian Matthew Gibbons talking about someone harassing Rose. They don't know who the person is, but he was apparently leaving things at Rose's door."

Hans trained his stare back on me. "What kind of things were being left?"

I tried to keep my tone even. "Just silly, inappropriate things. I think someone has a crush on me or something. It started to get a little weird so I had Matt check the cameras, but it went nowhere."

"Hmm" was all I got from him.

"It's obvious someone is playing games with Rose," Dimitri spoke up again, "we should be out looking for the person. Falsely reporting an incident carries major consequences."

Hans unclasped and re-clasped his hands. "I'm going to have to make note of this, but I won't file an official report yet until I can figure out what's going on."

With determination filling my eyes, I kept them on him. "Don't worry, I'm going to figure out who did this and make them pay."

He sighed wearily. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You don't need any more bad marks on your file. Queen Vasilisa can only protect you so much. Speaking of her, I'm sure that's why you're here."

I glanced at the stoic who retreated to the corner. " Yea, Hans and I need to go over safety plans for Lissa's next trip."

Nodding, he stepped outside of the office and before closing the door he uttered, "I'll be right outside."

The walk to my apartment was a quiet one. Dimitri managed to look both hyper alert and lost in thought at the same time. His long legs made slow and graceful strides, matching my pace as the anticipation of a soon confrontation began to pile up in my stomach.

Once we arrived, he silently entered and began taking off his jacket, a sign that he intended to be here for a while. Hanging it on the back of a chair he finally sat down and leaned back on my modest gray loveseat and simply looked up at me. I recognized that look. It was one of waiting, waiting for something not good to happen. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for havoc that could only be fought through.

Leaning against the wall near the door, I couldn't help but notice how his back rested against the backrest. This was his first time here, but it felt like was returning home. I couldn't help but wonder if this is what he would look like every night if we were together. He would come over, neatly set his belongings down, and sit back on my little couch waiting for me to join him. Perhaps we would alternate places, or maybe we would even live together?

He seemed to be watching me in the same way that I was watching him. I wasn't sure how to begin, but words that I hadn't planned on saying began to spill out. "I feel like all of my sins are catching up to me and everything is about to be taken away." I felt like I could inhale a little bit more air with that confession.

Dimitri sat up a little straighter but kept his expression and tone calm, like he was trying to talk down a kitten who climbed too high up on a cabinet. "We can figure this out together. Just talk to me."

I tried to push more words out. "I tried to keep everyone out of this. I…I messed up with Victor."

He kept his gentle brown eyes locked on mine. "What does Victor have to do with this? Why don't you start from the beginning. Someone has been leaving you inappropriate messages," he prompted.

I inhaled deeply. "Yes, but not in the way that you think."

"What do you mean," he asked. When I didn't clarify, he began to stand up. I knew he was coming over here.

I shut my eyes tight. "Rose?" His voice was closer now. I could practically feel the heat from his body.

I slowly opened my eyes and titled my chin up towards him. "I need to show you something."

I walked to my bedroom and grabbed that white haunting, large envelope. It felt shaky in my hands. I walked back into the living and dining area and over to Dimitri. Grabbing his hand, I carefully pulled him back to the small couch, and placed the envelope in his hand. "You're going to need to sit down for this."

Nodding his head in understanding, he gracefully sat back down.

Dimitri raised both of his brows in alarm as he went through the photos as I started from the beginning. He listened, a frown growing more and more prominent on his face. Finally looking at me, I could see the hurt in his eyes. "Why didn't you come to me?"

I hated hearing the vulnerability in his tone. I stood up. "Because this isn't your battle. I was the one who killed Victor. This is my mess to clean up."

He gave me an incredulous look. "You can't be serious right now?" The pained expression grew. "After everything we've been through together and we're practically guardian partners!" He jumped up. "Does Lissa know what's going on?"

My eyes bulged in alarm. "Of course not!"

"How long were you planning on keeping this from her? From us?" Dimitri wasn't a pacer, but the slight shuffle he was doing with his feet came very close.

"I'm working on getting things under control," I said defensively. " Lissa can't just get involved in things like this anymore. She's the Queen."

The frustration within him grew. "Someone is after her guardian, it could compromise her safety. Are you willing to risk that?"

Now I was mad. "Of course not! No one is threatening Lissa right now. No one is even threatening violence. Whatever Robert wants, it seems to be solely targeted towards me. He wants me to pay for Victor." I held onto myself. "Plus, it hasn't even been that long. It's been less than a week."

"What if you're out with her and he tries to attack you?"

"Then I'll take him out," I said, barely recognizing the danger in my tone. "I can handle Robert. I just need one more week." I pleaded with Dimitri. "Lissa has a retraining initiative going on for dhampir from communes to be trained as guardians."

Dimitri's eyes widened in surprise. "It's supposed to take the place of the guardian age degree. We need this win. We're supposed to take a day trip to Richmond in a few days. We can't let Robert get in the way of this. This is way too important."

I held his gaze. "I just need a few more days to draw Robert out and then I'll tell her."

He looked unconvinced. "How do you even know that it's Robert?"

I threw him an incredulous look. "Who else knew about his death, and who else would want to avenge a person like Victor?!"

I told him about the video camera and Meredith. I told him about retrieving the guest logs and explained my presence at the guest lodge this morning. "Who else could use that much compulsion to get Meredith to forget who she was even talking to? It had to be a deranged spirit user out for revenge. Robert checks all of those boxes."

Dimitri sat back down, staring at the envelope with intense concentration. "It's probably him, but we can't rule anything out. We don't have enough information yet. It's likely him, but it could also be an earth user. Remember Victor's lust charm?"

How could I forget the charm that almost led to me giving my mentor my virginity? Not that the outcome was changed, only delayed. I chewed at my bottom lip. "It's possible."

"I think we should also think about who could possibly know Victor is dead and care. Just because we haven't heard of gossip about Victor's whereabouts doesn't mean that no one else knows he's dead. The alchemist could have taken care of his body. Hans may already know that he's dead."

I looked at him skeptically. "You think Hans is the one who did this?"

"That's not what I said. It's just too early to rule too many people out." He picked up the guest logs. "Do you have any more leads outside of this? What else have you found out?"

"Not much," I sighed, wrapping my arms around myself. "It's kind of hard to track down a psycho and work guardian shifts. I've been spending all my free time trying to gather clues."

His pensive demeanor returned. "We can split up the guest suites and confirm the identities."

My arm reached out for him, resting my hand on his forearm. "Look, you don't have to —"

He cut me off with a sharp look but then softened his gaze, taking my hand in his. "You're not handling this on your own."

I squeezed it slightly. "You can't get in trouble right now. It's too soon since…everything."

The corners of his mouth tilted up the slightest bit. "It's funny you mentioned that because Hans seems to think that you're the one running out of your nine lives." Returning my squeeze firmly, he gently grasped my chin with his other hand. "Let me help."

"I thought you'd be starving by now."

I looked up to lean, chiseled arms full of snacks, obstructing their owner's face. I eyed what appeared to be a sandwich greedily. "I'm charging a 'talk to Rose' food tax," I inform Valentin.

"Well it's a good thing I came loaded." He unloads the food onto the table I'm sitting at.

I immediately grab the chicken sandwich and ease my feet off the opposite chair for him. "Thanks," I give while moving my papers off to the side.

Once settled down he looks at me with serious eyes."I heard about…what happened and I want you to know that I know it wasn't you."

I was tempted to bring my pen up to my right brow and force it upwards. "And what makes you so sure? You hardly know me."

The corners of his mouth lifted up the slightest bit. "Are you trying to convince me of your guilt?" "Besides it would be really dumb of you to store stuff like that in your locker. Definitely not Queen's Guard intelligent."

"I mean, I almost failed history," I counter with a grin.

Bringing my right elbow onto the table, I leaned my head against my arm and sighed. "Well at least someone believes in me. And thanks for not being…weird about it."

"No weirdness," he says while crossing his fingers.

"There's something I just don't understand," he said as he passed me a small bag of chips. "Nearly everyone knows about you and how you were falsely accused of killing Queen Tatitana. I don't understand how your colleagues could continue to not think critically."

That made me smile a bit. "I'm not exactly known as a person that plays by the rules. They probably think the more outrageous the claim is the higher the likelihood of me doing it."

That serious look returns. "You saved the Queen's life and found the former Queen's murderer. It's unacceptable for you to not be trusted. I don't even know how you can continue to stay here after the constant disrespect. Someone's harassing you, and they're treating you like you're the problem."

I try not to let his words further sour my mood. "I'm really good at being the underdog," I calmly replied. "Besides this is just how things are at Court and honestly who knows what I would think if I found out another guardian had items from a top secret prison hidden away."

I sigh. "I just wish people would have the balls to say it to my face and stop with…this," I say while pointing at a small group of guardians that were sneaking glances at me and whispering.

I can hear him exhale. "Well at least you get to get away from here for a little bit."

I think about the upcoming trip. "Yea, I'm actually looking forward to it. Once security is fully worked out."

He pulls out his phone and shows me a picture of a Moroi couple. "This is the family we'll be staying with. I will give you more details at our meeting tomorrow."

I nod, taking the phone.