Present

As their world around them settled into a new reality, two lovers began to stir amidst the rubble and destruction around them.

"Dimitri," Rose faintly called in-between the coughs racking her body from the dust settling around her.

The room was still and silent apart from the gentle creaking of disturbed concrete around them.

"Please Dimitri," she moaned in a low wail that you only hear when someone's soul has been split apart. "I can't do this without you," She gasped.

Slowly, some rubble a metre away quivered. Then it quivered again.

Bursting through the debris around her, Rose shot towards it and began pulling it away to uncover whatever was underneath. Gradually, she saw the large form of Dimitri underneath.

She pulled him up into her chest and held tight. "Please be ok, please be ok," she prayed to whoever was listening as she gently stroked his hair.

He began moving once more.

"I'm ok," he said, words muffled into her chest. As she released her grip, he pulled away so that he could see her and ran a thumb over a nasty gash she had above her eyebrow, gaging how deep it was.

Neither said a word as they stared into each others eyes and the enormity of how they nearly lost each other weighed on them.

"We have to get going," Dimitri whispered after a couple of long seconds. "We have to get out of court before they come".

Rose knew he was right. It was standard battle procedure that you sent a team of soldiers into the place you had bombed to check for intel and survivors and they needed to be out of here before they came.

Rose pulled herself up, grimacing as the aches made themselves known in her body before she looked down at Dimitri. He was making no attempt to get up.

"You have to go," he whispered and horror filled her as she finally looked down at his leg. There was a huge piece of concrete lying on his upper thigh with iron bars sticking out.

Both of them knew she wouldn't leave him.

Scanning around her she spotted another iron bar that must have been torn free from the concrete it was supporting. Rushing over, she picked it up and brought it back to where Dimitri lay. She placed it underneath the rubble and began to heave the bar downwards in an attempt to lift the concrete just enough so that he could slide his leg out.

After all that her body had been through these past years, this was the one thing she needed it to do. If nothing else ever again.

Gradually, the concrete started lifting. Her arms were shaking with the effort. Sweat was beading on her temple. She had to do this.

With another heave, the concrete lifted to where Dimitri could begin to wiggle.

"Quick," she cried as her arms shook even more.

She didn't realise what was stopping him from just pushing the block off.

Realising this was his only chance, Dimitri gritted his teeth, and pulled.

The iron rod that had been pinning his leg to the floor tore through his flesh as he puled his leg away. A guttural scream tore through his lips as the pain enveloped him.

Within seconds, it was over and he lay gasping on the floor, cold sweat covering his whole body as he shook from what he had just done.

"Fuck," Rose cursed under her breath as she realised what he hadn't told her.

This was no small injury.

The gash ran from the top of his thigh down to his knee. It was a wonder it hadn't nicked an artery, but the blood loss was still going to be substantial. It was deep, to the bone deep and Rose grimaced as she thought of the pain he must be in.

Acting quick as she had been trained to, she tore off a sleeve of her flannel shirt. Using a piece of wood that was lying on the floor next to them, she made a tourniquet to stop as much blood loss as she could until they were able to stop and properly treat the injury.

Once it was done, they both realised they needed to get moving, and fast. The soldiers wouldn't be far away, if they weren't here already.

Using the iron rod Rose had used to lift the concrete, Dimitri pulled himself up, wrapping an arm around Rose's small frame once he was up.

"Let's go," he whispered, his voice sounding uncharacteristically weak.

Luckily, the staircase seemed to be a pretty reinforced area of the building and there was very little rubble blocking their way. Gradually, they began to see the light at the top as they wound their way up the stairs.

"You do realise this if it was nuclear, we are dead if we go up," Rose whispered.

"I know," Dimitri replied, "but we have never been the type to just sit and wait for whatever is coming next. We have to fight and take the odds. If it is nuclear, we are dead either way if we stay or if we go".

Rose didn't reply, but knew he was right. He generally was.

As they got closer to the top, their eyes began squinting, trying to adjust to the bright light outside after being in the pitch black downstairs. It was the moroi night, the humans had clearly wanted to get people whilst they were still in bed, proving that this wasn't just an attack on the guardians who were willing to fight to protect the moroi, but that it was an attack on the whole community, children and innocents alike.

Stepping out of the stairwell, they both took a sharp intake of breath. There was nothing left of the upper floor of the building they ran into. Turning to survey court, they saw there simply wasn't a court. Just huge piles of rubble where buildings had been.

"Come on," Dimitri urged, squeezing her shoulder. "There is no cover so they will spot us easily when they arrive".

Again, he was right, so they set off at a slow jog, all either of them could manage.

After a few minutes they could see the trees that surrounded court start to appear. The ones closest had lots all of their leaves and some branches but as they got further into the forest it became denser and provided more cover.

They continued their slow jog in silence, each processing what had happened to the steady rhythm of their feet.

After a while had gone by, they began to recognise the area. Because they were both a part of the crown's security team, they had been given knowledge of this evacuation plan and where the bunker was. Because Rose had an even bigger role as Lissa's head guardian she had been on many trips to the bunker and thankfully knew the route well.

"Here goes nothing," she whispered underneath her breath as she got closer to the hidden door. She had no idea what would happen if Lissa was in there. If the bomb really was nuclear, protocol dictated nobody was allowed in once the door had been sealed. If the bomb wasn't nuclear, Liss might not even still be there. Part of her prayed that Liss was still there, even if it meant the worst. She just wanted the chance to see her best friend one last time.

With a deep breath, she pressed the call button on the door. They waited with baited breath.

Nothing.

Rose pressed again, and again, and again as silent tears made grey tracks down the rubble on her face. She jabbed the button before slamming her fist into it with a cry that sounded like a wounded animal.

Either they were in there and ignoring her, or they had gone.

"We need to press the emergency override," Dimitri whispered. "We have no other choice".

They both knew what would happen if the system was still live, but it was a chance they were going to have to take.

With a deep breath, Rose put in the code that would either open the door if the system had been disabled, or send out bullets aimed at their head.

A gentle hiss came from the door.

A chocked cry came from Rose. She was unsure if it was happy or sad.

They staggered into the bunker. There were deep steps that lead to another metal door that required a code. They keyed it in and the entrance door swung shut before steam was blown onto them as if they were in some sort of sci-fi movie. Once they had been disinfected, the main door opened allowing them through. The scene that greeted them was also like an appocolypse movie.

There were things thrown to the floor that looked like whoever was here had left in a hurry. Thy had taken some supplies with them, but left the majority of them. That gave them a clue that they had taken Lissa to another bunker where there would be plenty of supplies. Rose began racking through the plans she had memorised in her head.

"No-one was hurt," Dimitri shouted from where he had hobbled to the first aid station. "All of the supplies are still here and unused".

That at least, filled Rose with hope.

Putting her guardian mask back on, she staggered over to him.

"Right," she demanded," up on this bench please. We need to get this tourniquet off before it's been on too long".

Dimitri grimaced. She was right of course, but as the blood started flowing to his leg once more, the pain would double. Triple even.

"I'll be as quick as I can," Rose breathed as she started loosening, thanking God that she had been made to do a higher level first aid course when she joined the royal guard.

Almost as soon as she loosened the tourniquet, blood started flowing out of the wound. Rose knew she should have left it on whilst the patched up the wound but she couldn't risk his leg not having blood flow any longer. It had already been too long and the toxins would be building up rapidly. She staunched the bleeding with pressure as she got out everything she needed.

"Hold this," she asked Dimitri, putting his hand on the padding that was applying the pressure. She moved away and appeared to be looking for something. With a soft, breathy laugh she picked something up.

Walking over, she explained. "Adrian wrote into this plan whilst Tatiana was on the throne. He put in that there must be at least 2 bottles of Russian vodka in every bunker and Liss never got around to changing it. Well, luckily for us, Adrian has saved you some pain.

She passed over the bottle to Dimitri.

"Drink up Comrade," she grimaced. "This is going to sting".

After he'd had 5 gulps, she gripped her needle tightly. Here goes nothing. She dug it deep into his skin and began sealing the wound whilst also flushing it out. It hurt like a bitch and it took all of Dimitri's strength not to cry out. He began to feel faint, but thankfully, she was nearly done. With a final wipe and a gentle kiss, she finished.

"It's done, you can open your eyes now," she said softly, gently stroking his hair. His eyes were bloodshot and the pain he was feeling shone through. "I can't give you painkillers yet," she instructed. "The vodka will still be in your system and I can't risk anything going wrong. I think the best thing to do is for you to sleep through the next few hours and then I can give you some when you wake up.

He knew she was right, but was still grateful she had found the vodka. It had taken the edge off what she had done.

With an exhausted nod, she helped him off the table and to a neatly made bed in the chamber next to the first aid area. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Distract me," he groaned softly as Rose turned to move away. Instead, she found a stool nearby and pulled it up to the bed, resting a hand into his hair.

"What do you want me to talk about?" she whispered.

"Anything," he replied. "Anything you want".

"Ok," she replied, racking her brain for what words she would choose. "Let me tell you about one of the first times I knew I loved you".

"It was a long time ago, back when we were at the academy. We were only a few weeks into our training I think, and in amongst all of the Victor stuff. I'd been training with you in the morning, and it was that time when all you were making me do was run, but I had just realised that I did want to try, to better myself, but also to impress you and make all the extra training you were giving me worthwhile. It was that time I really pushed myself because I wanted to beat you, not that I've ever been able to do it in running, but I remember finishing that session absolutely exhausted. You gave me a look for the first time that wasn't negative. I could see pride in your eyes and that was a look I hadn't encountered much at that stage in my life."

"Anyway, it was on a day where I had a lot of combat sessions timetabled, and you were in the last one. By then, I was spent. Absolutely done in. I'd been bested by Mason in the session before and I was ready to give up. I watched Alberta demonstrate the move we had been learning all day and I just knew I wouldn't be able to do it. I'd tried and failed all day.

I got paired with Jake and I remember wishing they had paired me with someone who was easier. He was never the best, but he was in the top 20. I tried, and failed. Tried, and failed. Over and over again. The voice in my head was telling me I'd never make up the time, I'd never be Lissa's guardian and that I would be better running away again, and then you came over.

I think you could tell how dejected I was. I'm sure anyone could see. You told Jake to go and find a different partner and looked at me without saying anything. I felt embarrassed and a failure, but you were kind to me. Don't get me wrong, our instructors weren't mean to us, but you just saw me differently. You held out your hand and pulled me up and looked me deep in the eyes and said "You are enough and you will get there". It was possibly the kindest thing anyone had ever said to me. You just saw me. I knew then and there that I loved you. I wasn't sure what type of love it was, be it friendship or family or romantic love, I just knew it was there in my heart".

Rose looked over to Dimitri. His eyes were closed and he had a soft smile on his lips. She pressed lips against his, conveying all her love in the soft, chaste kiss, before standing up and walking away, ready to form their plan for survival.

Aaaand… she's back!

It's been a hectic year or so (and still is!) but I'm going to try and make time for writing again! This story will be my priority and will get completed but expect a few one-shots along the way as you all know I can't help myself lol!

I have changed the rating of this story for now, but be warned, it will go back to being an M as more adult themes and potentially *lemons* are introduced! For now though, enjoy this slightly shorter chapter!

As always, please review and let me know what you think! It's down to those people that have been reviewing and reaching out whilst I've been on a break that I'm back!

M