Hey,

It's been a while hasn't it? This chapter is around 6 pages long in Microsoft Word - my new record. This story is estimated to have another 4-5 chapters remaining.

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Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owner, Richelle Mead. I own nothing - except this plot and Alexei.

Chapter 15

Rose's POV

I'll never know if my legs buckled because of shock, or the fact that the pain decided to hit at that moment. All I remember is being supported by Dimitri's arm.

"No." we replied in sync. It was said with finality, leaving no room for discussion.

Ignoring us, Alexei tried to explain: 'This is something I need to do'.

"Not alone you're not; I'm going with you," Dimitri countered.

'It is the only way to keep you two safe.' This was spoken in a mental whisper.

Concern suddenly clouded Dimitri's features as he switched to Russian.

Alexei's sudden role reversal to protect his parents, seemed to unfreeze me, and I straightened back up. "It's our job to be in danger. So we're going; no buts"

Alexei's face grew sorrowful, 'Then you leave me with no choice." He then turned toward my friends, family, Dimitri and myself. Again, his eyes shone blue as he said 'You will not follow me, or try to help in any way."

I listened, knowing fully well that he was using compulsion, but unable to break free. Lissa, Adrian and Abe seemed to be experiencing the same difficulties; symbolizing that this was some serious mind control.

Now finished with his draining amount of spirit – or whatever that was – his eyes returned to their normal brown. Alexei then stumbled off the clinic bed and landed in a crouch. With an enormous amount of effort, he straightened out and limped towards the momentarily forgotten crowd.

Dimitri was visibly struggling against the invisible barrier Alexei had created, as his son passed him. There was a look of panic in his eyes, at realization that there was nothing he could do.

I was certain that my appearance would mirror his, as a drop of sweat ran down my forehead. I was straining against my immobilized body, ordering it to obey, but always being ignored. It reminded me of what parenting would be like – if I'd ever actually been given the chance.

Finally, he reached the attackers gathered at the door, where they bound his hands in rope and took him away.

A few minutes passed before I could move again.
I knew almost instantly that the compulsion was still in place, and wasn't affected by the loss of eye contact.

I glanced at Dimitri, who was using a huge amount of effort to keep his mask in place.

Everything had happened in such a short space in time. It had become more than what I could handle, and I had not the energy, nor the desire to hold my emotions back. With the last of my restraint gone, I held Dimitri and cried.

I felt him stiffen, which just made me tighten my grip. After a second or two, he wrapped his arms around me for a moment, and then began guiding me to the door. I didn't want to look back at the destruction we had caused within the 8 hours of arriving back at the Academy.

I walked with a limp, a quiet sob escaping me every few seconds. But my pride refused to let Dimitri carry me; – no matter how much I wanted him to – I just didn't want to look weak again.

After stopping at a familiar door, Dimitri unlocked it and took me over to the bed. "The bathroom is over there," he pointed to a white door; "I will be back in about 10 minutes." He then pressed his lips against my forehead and walked out the door.

Sitting on Dimitri's bed, I wished he hadn't left. I felt so alone in this room, and needed to do something while he was away; or I'd go insane – literally.

A whiff of my clothes sent me running for the bathroom; shower first, worry later. I stripped off and got into the shower, thanking the hot water that relaxed my muscles.

Once the water ran cold, I quickly finished washing myself with the only available soap, turned off the taps and wrapped myself in a towel. It was then that I discovered how torn my previous clothes were. It had a number of tares, and a concerning amount of blood along the shoulder. Apparently I wasn't going to be wearing that. Darn.

I walked into the bedroom and looked around until I found a set of draws. I then grabbed the first shirt and pants I found and pulled them on. They were a little big on me, but at least they were warm.

My hair was still wrapped in a towel when I heard the sound of pots and pans clanging together. I couldn't be bothered to dry my hair properly, so instead I ruffled it with the towel and put the towel in the wash basket; along with my dirty clothes.

When I got back to the bedroom, I was surprised to see Dimitri leaning against the wall; a plate of food in one hand, and a mug with steam rising from it in the other.

"I brought some of your clothes for you to wear, but I think I prefer you wearing mine."

"Very funny comrade," I started walking toward him, hoping he wouldn't notice my limp. But Dimitri being who he is-

"Sit," he pointed to the bed.

I folded my arms and glared at him as I did as I was told; flinching slightly when it aggravated my wounds.

"Here, eat this," Dimitri handed me the food and beverage – that were finished before he could re-emerge from the bathroom. He then took the empty plate and cup, and put them aside.

Dimitri suddenly became serious, "Take off your shirt."

"Whoa…umm okay…" I was glad my undergarments were still in one piece, or this would have been a very interesting moment.

He kept his guardian mask firmly in place as he assessed my injuries. Once finished, he grabbed some gauze and strapping tape, and patched me up; paying particular attention to my shoulder. "You are going to need Lissa to fix your finger; I can't do much with broken bones." He looked at the clock, "She should be here soon."

I sighed at the loss of contact when he removed his hands and handed me the shirt back. "How's your hand?" I gestured at his only bandaged limb - which he had willingly received.

"It should be fine by tomorrow," he shrugged.

I looked in to his brown eyes; eyes that were no longer marred by red. Click.

All this time, I had forgotten about the sudden change that had occurred to him. "How are you feeling?" I asked curiously; remembering when the other Dhampirs were first changed back from their previous Strigoi forms, and their confusion.

"Isn't that my line?"

"Don't change the subject. How are you coping?"

His mask returned instantly, and I couldn't help but feel rejected. Moment gone. "Fine," he said stonily.

And I'm alone again. With emotions so close to the edge, I couldn't stop the stray tear that fell down my cheek – I had to stop that – as I lay back on the bed.

Dimitri's mask faltered as he lent over me with his elbow beside my head. With his other arm, he wiped away the tear, but left his hand on my cheek. "Sorry. I guess…I'm just…I don't know," he sighed in frustration. "What about you?"

I thought about this for a moment, but before I could reply, there was a knock at the door.

We both sat up with a start. "It's Lissa," I said, feeling the bond.

Dimitri stood up to open it while I quickly put the shirt on. Lissa walked in shortly after; Christian trailing behind.

She walked to me without a word, and I gave her my hands. With hot and cold, there were a few unmistakable cracks that –unsurprisingly- weren't accompanied by pain. She then started on my other injuries; until she got to my shoulder.

I could see the obvious effort and energy she used to try and heal it, but I stopped her. "That's enough, I'll do the rest."

"But-"

"I said enough!" I snapped, the darkness was sneaking up on me still. But as soon as I thought that, the darkness was gone.

She dropped her hands, understanding what had happened. "Sorry."

"No Liss, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped."

"We have to go anyway Lissa. We still need to talk to Ad-that person," Christian tried to disguise his slip-up.

I was about to ask him to apologize to Adrian for me, but I remembered the last time I asked someone to do something like that for me; it didn't turn out so well.

We said our goodbyes, and they were gone.

Dimitri was now sitting on the bed again, I was back to lying down.

"You should get some rest; we have a lot to do tomorrow."

I couldn't help the groan that escaped when I thought about classes and graduation. "Do we have to?" I whined.

"Afraid so my Roza-" The last part seemed to surprise him because he stiffened. "Goodnight Rose."

This time it was my turn to be surprised. When Dimitri went to stand up, my hand snaked out and grabbed his wrist. "Don't leave, please…it's just…I can't…"

I was silenced by Dimitri's finger, "Shhh, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." He reached over to turn off the light, and then waited for me to shuffle over and make room for him. We climbed under the covers, and I nuzzled into his chest.

There are many reasons as to why I started crying. But I soon calmed, lulled into sleep by a string of Russian words.

When I awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs, I automatically searched the bed; even though I knew Dimitri wouldn't be there. I could barely open my eyes when I tried to look at the clock. I begged that it was lying when the little digits said it was 3:45am "You're kidding right? You must be, cause I'm going back to sleep."

Before I could close my eyes, Dimitri interrupted, "Don't you dare. I wasn't joking when I said we had a lot to do."

"Please comrade, just a few more minutes; I need my beauty sleep."

I heard him murmur something before sighing, "Fine, I'll wake you when breakfast is ready."

I swear I had just closed my eyes when Dimitri woke me up.

"NO!" I grabbed the blankets and threw them over my head. I heard him chuckle before-

BAM! The covers are gone. I whimpered at the cold; then forgot everything when I saw Dimitri holding-

"FOOD!" I squealed, grabbing it from his hands.

"Remind me never to come between you and breakfast," Dimitri chortled.

I resisted the urge to poke my tongue at him as I scoffed the contents of the plate. I stopped when I noticed something strange about Dimitri. He looked at the food with a hint of distaste. I couldn't figure out why until-

"Eat." One word responses were all I could manage at this point; it was too early for anything else. I handed Dimitri the plate.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head, "Roza, are you okay? I thought sharing food was against your religion."

"You need to eat comrade, you're not Stirg-" I saw fear cross his features, "Never mind. You need to eat."

Dimitri looked uncertain as he ate a mouthful of bacon. Uncertainty turned to joy as he 'mmm'ed over the food.

"You can eat the rest of that; you look like you need it." I stood up and walked over to a bag sitting by the door. It was filled with some of my clothes. I ruffled through until I found a pair of black jeans, black shirt, and my –now signature- black leather jacket. What? I f Dimitri could have a duster, why couldn't I have a jacket?

When I re-entered the bedroom, fully dressed, the plates had been cleaned, the bed was made, and Dimitri was leaning against the wall. He had already changed and was holding a bag.

He quickly handed it to me before heading out the door.

We stopped at headmistress Kirova's office. Inside sat Kirova behind the desk, and Alberta standing at her side.

Dimitri and I sat directly across from them.

"We're here to discuss your future at Saint Vladimir's Academy," Kirova began

I could help but roll my eyes at this. I mean, No, really? Who would've guessed?

"Firstly, your classes will be the same as before."

That made things easier.

"Secondly, you won't be able to graduate this year."

"What!" I yelled, standing up.

Dimitri placed a calming hand on my shoulder and pushed me back into the seat.

"I didn't finish," Kirova stated in annoyance, "You won't be able to graduate this year unless you remain on campus until after trials. This means no missions, no running away, and certainly no looking for your son."

The last one made me flinch; but obviously Kirova had no-idea what she was talking about. "So you had no idea that he used compulsion on us to make sure we didn't follow him?"

Hearing only silence as a response, Dimitri and I stood up to leave.

"And one more thing," she interrupted, "Only a few select people know about the relationship between the two of you, and I would like to keep I that way."

We both nodded in understanding, and walked away; closing the door behind us.

So, what did you think? Review! If you're unsure about something, or have any questions, just ask. I might even write a chapter about to clear things up.

~Serious~