A/N: Sorry for the long wait between updates. I am struggling with ending this story. When I originally decided to write it, it was going to end with the rescuing of Katya. I threw in more elements along the way, and that sort of made things difficult when it came to ending it, but I think I know what I want to happen now. At least enough to push out another chapter. I hope you guys enjoy!

One month later...

ROSE

I took a while but I finally convinced Katya that the safest place for her was the Moroi court. Marcus would not be able to find her there and, even if he did, he would not be able to get to her. She was concerned about being surrounded by Moroi, but I assured her that no one would lay a hand on her. Eddie would not allow it. He was to be her personal guardian during the time that she was staying at court. She seemed more than comfortable with him. I knew he preferred to be where the action was, but he understood Katya's need to be with someone she was comfortable with, someone she trusted. He was even a little flattered that person was him.

Dimitri, Sonya, a few unassigned guardians from court, Abe, and some of hid hired guns would go in search of Adam. After much discusssion it was decided that they would begin the search here in Russia. Dimitri, Katya, and Sonya were all convinced that Adam would not run away without making sure that Katya was safe. He had killed to protect her, after all. Perhaps his feelings had run deep enough to keep him in the country until he was positive that she was alive and safe. We could only pray that he had gotten away from Marcus alive. Dimitri stated that Marcus wouldn't forgive the murder of his beloved.

Sonya and Oksana had finally declared that Katya was well enough to be moved, so after weeks of planning, we were finally moving forward with our plans. Dimitri and the search party were going to begin there search while the rest of us delivered Katya to the Moroi court and moved on with life from there.

I had been in Viktoria's room most of the day packing up my things. I had been amazed at how spread out everything had become within the few weeks we had been here. Oksana and Sonya were helping Katya gather the few possessions she had aquired since her rescue. The others were packing as well. I found myself wondering, as I so often had these last few weeks, how Katya and Adam would ever be able to move on from this. Where would they go? What would they do? Would Katya live in fear of vampires for the rest of her life? Should I speak to Lissa about sending trained gurdians with them? I knew our numbers were short, but they would both be in danger because of us. Should we allot some of our limited resources to them? I didn't know.

I didn't even know if they would accept anymore help from us when this was over. It was a vampire's fault they were both in the situation in the first place. Dimitri's fault. I sat down on the bed with my head in my hands, again feeling an indescribable guilt over still loving Dimitri after this. He ruined someone's life. She might never get over it. How could I still love him? Because it wasn't really him that voice in the back of my head reminded me. It was the monster you had forced him to become. That monster was gone and he was doing everything he could to make up for it. Shouldn't that be enough?

Maybe it was. I didn't know, but I knew that I wasn't going to let him go, ever again. I lost him once, and I would die before I let it happen again. And I knew he would too. We would get through this like we got through everything. I just had to hold on and hope everyone got a happy ending.

A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Come in." I called. The door opened and Eddie stepped in. "Hey." I smiled. "Is everyone ready to go?"

"Yes, but Katya, Sonya, and Dimitri would like a word with you, before we leave." Eddie answered. He seemed a little nervous about making the request.

"Is something wrong, Eddie?" I asked. It was odd that Dimitri and Katya wanted to speak to me together. Katya hadn't seen Dimitri without me present since her rescue. She had been becoming more comfortable with him, but not enough to see him without any form of protection. What was going on?

"Not exactly." Eddie answered sounding a little chagrined. "It's just they," he shook his head. "We have been discussing some things and we have an idea. But I don't think you're gonna like it."

I sighed. The fact that Dimitri and Katya had been conspire behind my back was as surprising at it was annoying, especially when Dimitri never kept me in the dark. Well, almost never.

"You guys have been discussing the plan behind my back, even Dimitri?" I asked, unsure how I felt about that. I was trying to keep my irritation rained in though. If I was going to be speaking with Katya, I needed to make sure that I was calm. She did not handle other people being angry very well. I didn't want her to start being afraid of me.

"It was Katya's idea." Eddie explained. "She wanted to speak to you right away, but Sonya knew you wouldn't handle it well and said we should discuss it with Dimitri first. She said that he would be able to help convince you that this was a good idea. I agreed."

"Really, so then I should just say no, now." I raised my eyebrows at Eddie. We both knew that he was right, though. If whatever they had been planning was a good idea, even if I didn't like it, Dimitri would help me see sense.

"I really think you should hear us out, Rose." Eddie answered. "It is a good idea, especially knowing what we know about Dimitri's feelings for you as a Strigoi."

"Fine." I sighed. "I will be there in a minute."

Eddie nodded and walked out of the room. I tried not to let it bother me that Eddie and Dimitri had been talking behind my back. I did have a habit of being irrational when it came to things like this and didn't fully think it all through. I did have a habit of shutting good ideas down because I didn't agree with them. They had most likely just been trying to build a strong case for whatever they were trying to convince me to do.

Still, I couldn't pretend that it didn't hurt my feelings that, after all this, Dimitri still felt the need to talk to people behind my back. I mean we used to tell each other everything. Why did Katya suddenly change that.

I sighed and headed toward Katya's room. There was only one way to find out what was going on behind my back, right. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I tried very hard in the last month to give Katya the privacy that she had been denied all these years.

"Come in." Her voice called through the door. She sounded much stronger and more sure of herself, even healthier than she had her first couple of days here. What I saw when I opened the door and stepped in shocked the hell out of me.

Katya was sitting in the rocking chair by the large bay window. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a lose fitting t-shirt that Viktoria had bought for her. Her had been pulled back into a messy bun. It had taken us days to get it cleaned and combed out. We came close to having to chop it off, but in the end, Oksana pulled out her best hair care products. We made it work for Katya's sake.

It wasn't her attire that shocked me, though. It was who was standing next to her with his hand on her shoulder, that did it. She didn't even look the slightest bit uncomfortable with his. I didn't know if it was because Sonya was on her either side, or if she was truly becoming that comfortable with Dimitri. If I wasn't so worried about where this was going, I would've been impressed with their show of solidarity. Eddie was leaning against the wall closest to the door, keeping an eye out for potential threats.

"Okay, what's going on?" I aked looking to Dimitri. He shook his head at me and looked down at Katya. Was she calling the shots here? Why?

I really looked at her this time. She had her arms crossed over her chest and a look on her face that was so me. Her jaw was locked and her eyes were set. I knew she wasn't going to take no for an answer on whatever this was, that's why she had called in reinforcements.

"I'm not going to the Moroi court, Rose." She stated. I opened my mouth to tell hefr that's exactly what she was going to do, but Dimitri held up a hand to silence me. That annoyed me more than it should have. "I know it is the safest place for me to be, but that's not where I want to be."

"And where is it that you want to be?" I already knew the answer, but I figured I'd allow her to tell me. She had probably prepared this huge expanation about why it was a good idea. I would let her give me all her reasons before I said no. I didn't want her to feel like she was back where her opinions had no value.

"Where I can be the most help." She stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "I want to be with Dimitri's search party. I want to help find and bring Adam back."

"I understand that's what you want, Katya," I said trying to figure out how to say what needed to be said. I didn't want to ruin the progress that she had been making. She needed to know that I wasn't like Rebekah and Marcus. But she needed to understand that this might not be the safest thing for her to do. "But I don't know what kind of help you think you're going to be. You are a human in a world of vampires. You could get hurt."

"What can they do to me, that they haven't already done, Rose." She argued. "Kill me. Because let me tell you, death would be a welcome relief after everything they put me through."

"Don't say that." I said trying to keep my calm. I hated when people suggested death was the answer for anything. There was always hope for things to get better. "Death is never the answer."

"Maybe, maybe not." Katya answered. "But after everything I've been through, I only have one thing left to live for. I want to help try to get him, or at least bring him peace."

"I get it, Katya. I do, but it is too dangerous."

"Says the woman who chased her love to a foreign country in order to bring him peace."

I sighed. She had a point, but it wasn't good enough. "I'd spent my entire life training to fight and kill his kind. I knew what I was doing. You are a human with zero training. You wouldn't last five minutes against a Strigoi." I knew I sounded cruel but she needed to understand the reality of it. "Do you want to end up back where you were? Because that's what's..."

"Roza." Dimitri admonished gently. Katya's face had fallen as I spoke, and I realized that I had done exactly what I was trying not to.

"I'm sorry, Katya. I didn't mean to say it that. But you have to see why this is not a good idea." I looked to Dimitri and Sonya for support, but neither said anything. "You two can't possible thing this is a good idea."

"We do." Dimitri stated. The apprehension in his tone was clear. He knew I would be upset that he was taking her side.

"Why?"

"Think about it. Seeing you again, after weeks, it made me realize how badly I still wanted you. It made me hesitate in killing you and your friends. If you hadn't hesitated, you probably could've killed me in that moment." Dimitri explained. As he spoke the idea started to make sense in my head. "Seeing Katya again might just be what will make Adam hesitate enough for Sonya to stake him. It would give us an advantage."

"And it could get her killed." I argued.

"No, it wouldn't." Eddie interected from his spot on the wall. "She will be surround by dhampirs who would die before they let anyone hurt her."

"Exactly." Katya stated giving Eddie a grateful smile.

"It's still dangerous." I insisted. "What if your wrong? What if he doesn't hesitate? What if he's strong enough to kill you all? He killed Rebekah."

"Since when do what ifs worry Rose Hathaway?" Sonya asked with a small chuckle.

"Since we're discussing putting an innocent human in harm's way." I said. I knew I was fighting a losing battle, but I knew I had to keep fighting it. "This isn't worth her life."

"It is to me, Rose." There were tears in her eyes now. "I thought you of all people would understand this. Adam is my life now. My whole family's gone and my world has been rocked by these monsters. Adam was there for me when I needed someone. He got turned into this monster because he vowed to help me. I can't just run to safety while he suffers. Just like you couldn't stay locked up at the academy while Dimitri suffered."

I sighed again and put my head in my hands. If I had known everything we told her about Dimitri and my relationship was going to be used for this, I would've kept it to myself. Now, she was throwing it all back in my face. The hardest part was that she was right. How could I expect her to sit back and let others save Adam when I couldn't do it for Dimitri? It really didn't matter that she was a human. She deserved this, and I knew it.

Strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. I knew these arms so well, that I snuggled into them without a second thought. This was the moment everyone in that room had known was coming, and I tried very hard not to be annoyed by it.

"I know it is hard, Roza." He whispered. "But we both know keeping her away is wrong. After everything, we can't deny her this. It would be wrong, and you know it. Even if this doesn't work, she deserves to know that he'll be at peace."

"I know, but it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"No, Roza, it certainly doesn't." He chuckled into my hair.

"Alright." I pulled away from Dimitri to look at Katya. He kept his arm around my shoulder. "If going with them is what you want, then I won't stop you. Under one condition, Eddie must go with you."

I knew one more guardian wasn't going to make that big of a difference, but I knew how devoted Eddie was to his assignments. He would die before he let anything to a charge whether Moroi, dhampir, or human. I trusted him with my life and the lives of everyone I cared about. He would not let me down.

"I had every intention of going with her, anyway."

"Good. And teaching her some defensive moves wouldn't hurt." I knew she wouldn't be a match for a Strigoi, but maybe if she knew the basics she could blend in with the other guardians.

"Again, that is what I intended to do."

I smiled at Eddie, grateful that I had someone like him as a friend.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" I addressed Katya.

"Yes." She said returning to the lockjawed pose she had been in when I arrived.

"Then I wish you the best of luck and hope the mission is successful."

A/N: Let me know what you guys think. I really hope it isn't a dud after how long you have waited for an update.