I always hated seeing Dashkov's female victims. It reminded me that I'd almost been one of them. Imagining myself in the forest, my existence snuffed out like a flame while no one knew... it wasn't exactly a happy thought to linger on. Most days I didn't. But in situations like this, it was impossible not to think about.

Walking up to the half-circle of police, I recognized Stan and Mia among the few officers lingering on the outskirts. I put on a good air, not about to let Mia know how shaken up Victor had left me. I sure as hell wasn't going to give Stan that satisfaction. "You all got here fast," I remarked, stopping in a bed of pine, the fallen leaves crunching under my boots like snow. I stuffed my hands in my pockets. "So how exactly did they find the body all the way out here again?" We were in the middle of no where, surrounded by trees for miles on end. My phone had lost service decades ago. We could have been in Narnia for all I knew.

"A dog got loose on a camping trip, sniffed her out," Stan said, deadpan, while Mia rubbed said Labrador behind the ears.

"If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have found her till summer," Mia added.

Lissa, on a roll, was already examining the body. I did the same as I walked up, eyes sweeping over her. I felt my chest constrict at the sight. Gabe was leaned up against a tree truck, her ivory skin pale with death's touch. Glass eyes stared up at nothing while her naked body was covered with leaves and vines. Definitely not how I wanted someone to find my body. "The time of death is about 17 hours," Lissa told me, not needing to glance up to pin my identity. Victor might be onto something with the power of smell. I'd have to make sure to dump my lotions when I got home. "I should be able to get prints or fiber off of her body."

"That's at least something." I sighed, and more quietly, whispered, "God, I can't believe this."

She nodded, seeming to share my view, and glanced up. An intrigued look crossed over her pretty face and for a second I thought she'd seen through my playact of calm-and-collected. But it wasn't me she was focused on. I registered a familiar aroma and recognized Dimitri behind me, probably examining the body as well. Yeah. I definitely knew all about the wonders of that fourth sense. I also realized that they hadn't been introduced, which would explain the look Lissa was giving my 6'7" accomplice.

"Oh, right." Feeling like the awkward go-between friend at a party, I jabbed a thumb at Dimitri. "Liss, this is our mysterious FBI arrival, Dimitri Belikov. Dimitri, Lissa- she's the head medical examiner."

Understanding light up Lissa's eyes before recognition did. Her doe-eyes widened and she looked at me, trying to confirm my teacher's ID. I nodded slightly, not in the mood to walk down memory road about my days in the academy. Thankfully, she seemed to pick up on that and didn't press, nodding politely at Dimitri while he did the same. Her current hands-on experience with the corpse kind of put on hold the protical to shake hands. She went back to Gabe, but I sensed there was going to be a lengthy discussion of Dimitri in the future. That was going to be a party and a half.

"It's odd, leaving her out in the open like this," she mused, breaking any remaining tension and silence, much to my relief- I wasn't up for cracking a joke. I could tell she was gambling on her past expertise with Dashkov like the rest of my team. However, I also saw a spark of scientific inquiry cease Lissa as she drew a pen over the air around the body. "Look at how she's laid out."

I forced myself to glance back at the corpse, this time intrigue shadowing my dread. I bent down, picking up on what she had. "It's like she's taking a nap or reading a book," I said and looking up at my best friend, surprised. "But why? Why not bury her?"

"Didn't have time," Stan guessed, though it sounded like a flat-out fact. He turned his back as I glanced back at poor Gabe. Guilt gnawed at me. I might be used to bodies and gore, but this was personal. She wasn't meant to die.

We'll find him, don't worry, I promised her silently. It spooked me to think she heard my sentiment, but I had to promise her (if she was still hanging around) at least that much. I wouldn't let her death be in vain. If I couldn't save her, I'd at least bring her killer to justice. Enjoy him while you can. Because he'll enjoy you. As I studied her body and thought of Dashkov's sick sense of humor, I murmured out loud, "It has to mean something."

Talc tickled my nose as I took my latex gloves off, the puff of powder making me want to sneeze and gag at the same time. Luckily, I did neither, tossing them into the bin before I let my body get the chance to react. No matter how much time I spent in here, I'd never get used to that rubbery sick smell. It pricked memories any sane person would lose their lunch at. Ironically though I was bringing lunch to the event. It explained enough why I never went through with being a wedding planner like my cousin Ambrose wanted.

Picking up the item I'd left to grab, I walked back over to the polished, gleaming desk, extending an arm. "Here." I handed Lissa an open can of tuna, crackers and a spoon completing the small gift package. She smiled despite her usual delicacy. She'd been working non-stop and would have been grateful for a dog biscuit if it meant getting her blood sugar back on track.

"Thanks," she said, taking the snack and munching on it while I did the same with mine. I wasn't a huge fan of fish, but my stomach was growling too loudly for my tastebuds to complain. We were in her lab, each clad in scrubs, though Lissa was the only one sporting a faceshield. Gabe's body was on the table behind us under a bright, gold-white light. I pointedly averted my gaze, eyes scanning Lissa's computer screen instead.

"Were you able to pull anything?" I asked between bites, only partially understanding the medical mumbo-jumbo her list recited. "Prints? Fibers? Anything to identify our guy?"

Lissa, always the braniac, deciphered the 14-letter-long words effortlessly. "No prints, but I did lift a carpet fiber from underneath her nail."

I felt excitement swell up in me. "And?"

The look on her face immediately squashed my elation before her words delivered the finishing punch. "Blue carpet fiber from a car's trunk, it appears, but it's impossible to determine the model or origin."

Blue was the most common color car rug. "You've got to be kidding me," I muttered, about two seconds away from beating my head against a wall. "So we've got nothing?" Lissa didn't respond, but her grimace confirmed as much. "Well that's perfect. For every step forward we take two steps back. According to Mia, Dashkov also didn't meet his apprentice in jail or in medical school. All 80 of his classmates are clean."

She pondered for a moment. "What about that mobile blood drive he used to work at?" she suggested hopefully.

"All clean." I sighed, biting down on a cracker with unrequited force. "We're running around in circles just like he wants." It was pissing me off to no end, too, but that went without saying.

"Are you guys eating cat food?" a questionable voice inquired from behind.

I looked over in surprise. Sure enough, brown-gold eyes met mine, blonde hair framing her face- which was currently twisted in a look of disgust that made me want to laugh out loud. It trumped my momentary startlement and I held up the tuna, offering, the cracker hanging lopsided in my smiling mouth. "Want to try and find out?"

Sydney shook her head, a translucent lily tattoo across her cheek catching the light and glimmering gold. It was actually a pretty cool concept, as far as tattooing went. "You're insane if you think I'm touching that."

"Mm, must be a detective thing." I chomped and swallowed the cracker. "What are you doing here, Syd? I thought this wasn't your scene."

She certainly dressed the part though. She had her hair partially down for once, a messy bun flopping to the side. Her slacks and button-down were a mirror of mind underneath, save for her visitor's badge. It was still a thought that made me want to dive into a fashion magazine ASAP. She simply shrugged, her stoic character about as interesting as the cardboard my tuna had come in. "Not like I have much else to do while I'm on leave." She wrinkled her nose, still hung up on her primary observation. "Seriously, do you guys want me to pick you up McDonald's or something? Fancy Feast hardly sounds appetizing."

"That's just because you haven't tried it yet."

She looked ready to make some dry comment but was distracted by whatever was on Lissa's computer monitor. I could practically see her morph from play-with-Rose mode to her technology-geek setting. Her eyes absorbed the information impossibly fast then glimpsed at Gabe. "No luck with tracing?"

"Yeah. You came to an empty party, Syd."

She didn't look completely put-out though, a dawning glint in her eyes. "Did you do a wet drop?"

Lissa and I regarded Sydney in surprise before we exchanged a dumfounded look between ourselves. Why didn't we think of that? I could probably use my lack of sleep as a response, but truthfully the idea hadn't come close to crossing my mind. Lissa, child prodigy extraordinaire, seemed to back me up there as she looked back at my CIA friend, dazed. "It's not standard procedure, but I can," she said, rising from her desk chair.

A wet drop, testing for sexual intercourse, definitely was not standard procedure. Considering our range of expertise, it was a rare tool of the trade- but, at this point, I was ready to try anything. Lissa took a sampling from Gabe then prepped it for the microscope. Hooking it up to her computer, she slid the slide in and focused, the image appearing on the monitor as well. Sure enough, sperm squirmed across the screen, and as usual, my disbelief quickly formed to skepticism, courtesy of 4 years of police training. I turned to Sydney with crossed arms. "How did you know?" I demanded.

She remained unfazed as she looked at the screen. "I didn't."

"Yes, you did," I pushed.

Lissa looked up from the lens. "They're fresh, deposited post-mortem." I made a sound of disgust, an urge to go smash Victor's skull in rising up like bile. It explained Gabe's strange positioning back in the woods. The sick bastard was going back for seconds. Lissa angled towards us, glimpsing at Sydney curiously. "It's not typical to check for necrophilia."

"Dashkov standardly rapes his victims, right?" Sydney pointed out. "It makes sense that his apprentice would do the same, even after killing her."

I flinched at the reference. He hadn't gotten close to that far with me but it was still a sore subject. Then the impact of what Sydney was saying finally registered. I glanced between the screen and Gabe, realization spurring me forward. "Wait a sec, if we've got this guy's ready-to-go offspring, that's as good as a fingerprint!"

I could see the same exuberance affecting Lissa as realization slammed into her, too. Her jade eyes twinkled knowingly under the medical lighting. "I'll run it immediately," she said, rushing the sample to her people in the adjacent room. Her medical team was fast and would probably have the results in a couple hours. I could have passed out in relief if my burst of excitement hadn't kept me wide-awake. We'd done it. Victor could toy with me all he liked, but this time I didn't need a confession to get his apprentice. We practically had his ID tucked neatly in a leather wallet.

Screw being ten steps behind him. I was leading the race.

Or, well, that's what I thought.

Dimitri bursting through the door kind of ruined my celebratory cheerleading.

Sydney and I looked over at him, startled. "Christ, what, are you being chased by Strigoi?" I asked, not completely sure where his sudden agitation was coming from and not completely liking it.

He didn't answer. His dark eyes flitted around the room, taking every detail in in a second. I felt my stomach flip-flop as I mentally swore. I knew that look. He was on offense, braced to attack. Maybe he really was being hunted down by Strigoi henchmen. His gaze leveled on me as he briskly walked forward. I could see him trying to keep his blank face on and not show whatever unease or brooding was stirring behind his mask in vain. "Are you alright?" he asked out of no where.

This whole thing was catching me off guard. It was pretty hard for him to blindside me, but he was doing a hell of a good job at it today. "Yeah, why?"

Again, he didn't acknowledge my question- except this time he didn't have to.

Through all of this, he'd been able to keep up his professional demeanour, not about to step over the line I'd draw after our fall-out back at the academy. Both of us had put on a good show of being nothing more than simple partners. But I felt a part of that condescending agreement crack and splinter away like a broken mirror as I stared back. He was looking at me with an emotion I never saw Dimitri play. He looked almost... fearful.

There were certain times when I couldn't decode him to save my life. However, there were also times that I could see right through him and realizations tumbled into me, our beings clicking into perfect harmony. This was one of those times.

I felt my heart fall through the floor as his worry spilled into me. "What?" I asked uneasily, straightening and facing him. "What's wrong?"

"Rose, you should sit down," he said. It didn't sound like a friendly suggestion; it sounded like a military order. At least he'd gratified it enough to make the edge soft. Small blessings.

I shook my head slowly. "No, just tell me." I wasn't about to back down from whatever news he was about to deliver, even if it meant ignoring my growing apprehension.

In very un-Dimitri-like fashion, he hesitated, stopping a few feet from me. His brown orbs examined me, pouring over every detail, as if assessing how best to approach this. He looked like a general deciding how to lead his troops into battle. "Earlier this morning..."

Lissa arrived just in time to stand beside Sydney, both of them glancing between Dimitri and I, and the growing storm. I could see from my peripheral vision that our apprehension was infecting them, too. Misery loves company. I was focused solely on Dimitri though, my eyes searching his face desperately for some kind of clue. He looked like he was about to tell me the world was collapsing in on itself a year earlier than the Mayans predicted.

In the end, I guess I wasn't that far off. "Earlier this morning, Victor Dashkov escaped custody."

Well. That can't be good. But at least I included some bonding time for Syd and Liss over this little bump in the road. Haha I seriously have to get these things out sooner. Just bomb my comments or inbox and remind me once in a while. Reviews would be ah-mazing~