"Your mother is alive?" He asked with a quiet voice. I nodded, eyeing him with caution. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
"She's at the Academy that I was taken to. She seems to be doing well, she hasn't changed a bit since I last saw her." I told him as a look of love crossed his face. "But I don't understand, I thought she had died. I watched her die."
"Your mother was gifted, like you and like me, with multiple gifts. One of hers was duplication. She used it often to elude capture or to avoid detection, providing herself with an alibi." He chuckled at the thought. "She had always put on a front that she was a goody-two-shoes, but she was just as devious, if not more, than myself when it came down to it."
"So, she just escaped and left me to the Guardians?" I asked a little salty. I'd just found out my mother was alive, but she left me for the past two years to be locked up in an Academy compound.
"How long had she been in the compound?" Abe asked.
"I'm not sure."
"Well, I'm sure if she talked to you, she told you she was clairvoyant, so she probably did it for a good reason. Just think, if you'd never been placed in the Academy, you wouldn't have met Dimitri." He said kindly but looked calculatingly at Dimitri, still trying to decide if he was really alright with him dating his daughter.
"I suppose you're right. I don't know if I could picture a life without knowing Dimitri." I said looking up at my Comrade. The smile that covered his face was breathtaking.
"I feel the same way, Roza. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you beside me." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips, but pulled back, aware that he was still a few feet from my father. I snuggled back into his chest, his arms wrapped firmly around my waist and looked back to Abe and Pavel.
Abe, for the most part, had recovered from the initial shock, and now it was Pavel's turn to look shocked.
"You alright there, Pavel?" I asked slightly amused at the man's expression. His eyes became focused at my question, and he looked at me with a quiet intensity. I don't think he meant it threateningly, but I felt Dimitri tense behind me, a quiet growl rumbled in his chest. "What's wrong?"
"We need to get her out." He said. "We can't leave her in there for much longer?"
"Why not?" Abe asked in a slightly panicked voice.
"She told me, years ago, that when her daughter discovered the truth, we'd need to act fast. We don't have more than three days, so whatever we are planning on doing, we need to get a move on it."
"What else did you discover in your time there?" Abe asked, his attention turned back to me and the information that I had gained.
"There isn't much else. Victor didn't really explain his whole evil plot to me. It's not like in the movies where he does the entire evil monologue thing to the protagonist. I was shoved into an interrogation room, and left there to sweat for a little bit, but I didn't. Victor came in, looking as evil as I would have expected him to, and then he asked me about my abilities. I told him I could do anything if I put my mind to it, and he wanted me to put my mind to something, but he didn't inform me of what that was." I told everyone.
"Where does my aunt come into all of this?" Christian asked.
"She was brought in when I refused Victor the first time. She was a "specialist" and planned on torturing me to gain my compliance. We exchanged a few words before Victor stepped in to stop the bickering. He asked me again to comply with his demands stating it would be best for all parties involved, but I, again, refused. He told me he'd let me think it over because he liked me so much. I think it's because he knew there was no chance he was going to be able to torture it out of me, so he was hoping that by leaving me to think about the torture, I'd give in."
"So, he didn't hurt you? Just threatened pain?" Dimitri clarified.
"Right. I waited a few minutes to make sure they weren't coming back and then I joined Comrade here, putting an end to his pacing."
"I wasn't pacing." Dimitri defended.
"Really? Then what is that path worn into the dust for?" I asked raising a questioning eyebrow. He glared playfully at me, but soon turned his attention to Abe.
"What are we going to do? I refuse to leave Rose's side. After six hours without her, not knowing if she was okay, I will not do it again. If we're split up, I won't be able to focus at all." He said, gripping my waist tighter.
"I wasn't planning on splitting you two up. You seem to work better together." Abe said appraisingly. "I was hoping that you two could duplicate and get stuff accomplished that way."
I smirked up at Dimitri and pulled out Rosie and Rosemarie. Dimitri hesitated for a second before pulling out Dimka and Big D.
"Yes!" Big D shouted. "I'm free at last! And you," he said pointing to Rosemarie, "are all mine." To my surprise Rosemarie smiled deviously and threw herself at Big D, her legs wrapping around his hips and her arms around his neck, planting a sold kiss on his surprised lips.
"It's good to see you again, Big D." She whispered in his ear in a teasing tone. Big D gulped and stayed silent, which was a first.
Rosie and Dimka were having a full on make out session, with tongue and everything. Dimka had Rosie's waist held tightly to him with one arm while the other was snaked around her back, his hand grabbing a fistful of hair.
"There shouldn't be a problem about breaking up into pairs, then?" Abe asked amused to see our alters being much more attentive to each other than we were. It wasn't that we weren't attentive, it was just that we got to see each other more often than they did, not that that stopped them from communicating with each other through telepathic means.
It could be slightly distracting hearing the conversations that they had with each other in your head, but for the most part they kept it clean, and I could easily block it out. I don't know how it felt for Dimitri, but it was probably similar.
"We should be just fine. We just need to know what we all need to do." I said as out three couples focused on Abe and his growing plan. I didn't know what we were going to have to do, but I hoped that it would go off without a hitch.
"I'm still kind of working on that part." Abe said rubbing the back of his neck.
"You mean to tell me that you don't actually have a plan?" I asked in surprise. Abe always seemed to have a plan for everything, even if something pops out of nowhere.
"I had a plan until you came in her telling me the love of my life was alive and well, but now we have a time constraint and I'm scrabbling to figure something out." He said a little harsh, but that was understandable. I felt my face soften at his words.
"It's okay, Dad. We've still got time. We have a few days to pull this off, it doesn't have to be today. We've got plenty of people to do anything you need to get done. I don't know about Dimitri, but I could probably duplicate myself indefinitely." I said confidently but looked back at Dimitri with a questioning look.
"I should be able to do the same, though it would probably take a lot more energy on my part. But, Rose, we can't forget that you might be producing Darkness. It isn't something to take lightly and you don't know how to control it. It's taken me years to even begin getting a handle on things." Dimitri's face turned concerned.
"I'll be fine, Comrade. You don't need to worry about me. We can figure out what to do about the Darkness when we sort this whole mess out with Victor." I gave him a reassuring smile, but he seemed hesitant to accept my words at face value. I'd actually forgotten all about the Wielder of Death part because, you know, I've been busy.
"I just want you to be safe, Roza." He said quietly, leaning down to kiss my lips. I gave a small sigh of contentment, snuggling into his chest before turning back to my father.
"We need to come up with a plan. I think it best if our duplicates get everyone out of the compound while us originals take care of Victor and Tasha. I really don't think that Robert is going to be a huge problem, but with his dedication to his brother he might become one."
"Could I possibly join you on the quest to take care of my aunt?" Christian asked timidly.
"I think that would be a good idea, Sparky." I said with a smile. I decided I might as well take charge since Abe was still reeling. "Lissa, I need you to stay here, to welcome all the incoming Projects. Some of them won't know what's going on and I need you to reassure them that everything is going to be alright."
"I think I can do that. Just make sure that you come back in one piece." She said in a light voice, but I could see her worry.
"Don't worry, I will. Eddie and Mia, you two will be doing the same thing as Lissa. Just keep everyone calm. Mason and Pavel, you're going to come with us as bodyguards of sorts. I'd be capable of taking care of anyone we come across, but I want to make sure that I have enough energy to take on Victor.
"What about us?" Jill asked, motioning toward herself and Vika. "What are we going to do?"
"You two are going to provide distractions. I don't know what kind of animals you can morph into, Vika, but anything that would provide a decent distraction should work. Jill, I know you can cause some crazy weather occurrence that will have the Guardians running, maybe a lightning storm, or a vortex?" Both nodded and grinned devious smiles.
"What about me?" Abe asked.
"I'm still thinking of something for you to do. It's not like we need to compel our way into the compound, I've got that covered, but I don't know what else. Unless you want to turn yourself invisible and become another distraction? Or I could put you personally in charge of Mom?"
"I'd rather make sure your mother gets out safely." He said decisively.
"Then you'll do that." I said with a nod. "That just leaves you, Adrian."
"I see that, Little Project, but I don't know what use I can be. It's not like reading auras is a particular useful gift when fighting."
"You have a point. So, what do you want to do while the rest of us our doing our parts?" I asked him, feeling kind of bad that he didn't have a bigger part in this mission.
"I think I'll stay here and help with the incoming Projects. I've no doubt that the two pathokinetics can handle them all, but I don't want to get in your way out there, and my charming personality would be more beneficial here." He said with a dazzling smile that made me roll my eyes.
"Alright, you do that. Rosie and Rosemarie, do you think you could get you guys into the commons?" I asked.
"Does Dimitri picture you naked?" Big D scoffed. I looked up at Dimitri in shock, but still with a smirk on my face. "The answer is yes, by the way, to both questions."
"Is that so, Comrade?" I asked as Dimitri's blush deepened.
"Don't listen to him." Dimitri said evasively, causing me to laugh.
"It's okay, Dimitri. She does that same thing." Rosie commented.
"I'm proud to admit it." I answered, glaring at Rosie, but she and Big D were fist-bumping and ignoring me. "Do you need more than the two of you?"
"I think we'll manage with just us." Rosemarie said sweetly as she was curling up next to Big D. "If we need more, we can just duplicate ourselves."
"That will take more energy from you, though." I countered.
"We'll be fine, Mom." Rosie said rolling her eyes. "Trust us."
"Alright. Well, it isn't much of a plan, but I guess we're just going with the flow on most of this. Get the Projects out and back here to Eddie, Mia, Lissa, and Adrian. If you get done with that, help Abe, Jill, and Vika with causing distractions."
"Are you sure you're ready for this, Rose?" Abe asked. "It's not that I don't think that you can do this, I'm just making sure you're ready."
"I'm ready, Old Man." I said confidently taking Dimitri's hand in mine. As long as we stayed together, we could do anything. "You ready, Comrade?"
"Whenever you are." He said lovingly.
"Then let's storm the castle."