DPOV

Christian was out of the car first at the pop of the gunshot.

Every cop knew the distinct sound of gunfire.

I would have been right behind him if I Kirova hadn't ordered me to at least stop the car first.

When I did and pulled my truck to the side of the road, a few yards from where we could see Jesse, he stood in a certain way, Andre and Adrian I recognized from pictures, Mikhail and Victor I could never forget.

There was a patrol car at the sidewalk and two policemen down.

All of the policemen and agents were out of their cars and stood in a defensive stance, guns drawn, aimed to take a kill shot. Kirova ordered Natasha to stay in the car and out of the line of fire.

She nodded, attention on her cell phone even with the goings on around us.

Christian stopped the farthest away, at the end of the street a trail of patrol officers behind him. I moved, my own gun drawn, beside him.

Only half way there, the five of them scrambled into the building, the truck full of SWAT officers rushing, moments after, clearing the scene, when they were given the signal. They entered the building in the offensive and defensive formation they trained for daily shouting for any suspects to come out with their hands raised.

We all knew no one would come out willingly, not without a fight, not without preferring to be killed rather than brought it.

The rest of the officers went around the neighborhood looking for witnesses on Kirova's orders, the others searching for any more suspects, and the rest following suit after the SWAT team.

The paramedics came when they were cleared.

Christian and I shared an anxious look and ran toward Rose and Lissa, giving a quick glance at the two shot cops near them.

Christian leaned over Lissa and I went to Rose. Kirova checked the officer's pulses.

"Dead. Both of them. They were on my uncleared list as potential moles."

We looked away from them and back at the two girls.

Normally, protocol was to treat the victim who had the worst first but in this case, it was hard to tell.

Rose and Lissa were covered almost every inch in blood only streaks of tears clearing a both down their faces. Kirova radioed for the Paramedics to come.

Lissa was the on unconscious, a bullet wound close to her heart at her chest so they went to treat her first.

I would have made a fuss over it I wasn't so happy to have Rose in my arms, to my self again.

Their voices, discussing on what to do and how they were going to treat Lissa and saying her name repeatedly to wake her up faded in the background as I focused on Rose.

An entire side of her face took the majority of the hits.

She'd been trying to use the defensive moves I'd taught her, to give them her weak side so that her strong side could fight back later. She paid a heavy price for it in wounds.

There were long tares in her smooth skin, jagged and some straight.

I ran my thumb, barely brushing it, along her eyelid, the one without a long gash that ran the length of her forehead, over eye and along her cheek, behind her hair.

Her eyes fluttered and she twitched and what must have been intense pain.

I needed to take it from her, to reassure her.

I wasn't sure I believed in my words any more about being able to keep her safe when she ended up like this, this bad, this hurt.

"Dimitri." She mouthed the word, one side of her face lifting into a smile. She tried to move, to get closer to me.

"No, no, no. Don't move, Roza. Stay still, love. I don't want you to feel any worse," I told her, whispering.

She moved anyway, against any searing pain and clasped my hand in hers, pressing it to her curved lips, reddened by blood.

I smiled at the gesture that was so Rose and pressed my lips to the unmarked side of her forehead, lingering there for an uncountable amount of moments.

"Don't ever leave me like that again," I told her kissing her forehead again. "I thought I lost you."

"'m srry," she slurred, her eyes barely open.

"Stay with me, Roza."

Her eyes opened, lifting, raking my face over with her eyes…her beautifully warm and lovable eyes…

"I was scared crazy. I thought…I thought you were dead. I thought…I thought the gunshot hit you."

"It did," she gasped wincing.

"What!"

She moved my hand where it had been resting at the side of her stomach and lifted if for me to see.

My fingertips were a deep red, fresh with blood. On the sweater she'd been wearing, was a spreading puddle of blood around and beneath her, a large whole at her stomach.

"T-t-they m-missed 'm heart. I g-guess Jesse w-was a bad shot," she tried laughing and joking but her voice, low and husky, came out in a harsh cough blood at her lips.

"Oh my…help." I'd meant to shout it, frantic but my voice came out horse and inaudible.

Kirova, who was between both bodies, noticed and was calling on her phone for another paramedic and asking one of the paramedics to work on Rose.

In the second I had looked up to meet Kirova's eyes and looked back down at Rose, she wasn't awake and looking up at me any more.

I shook her, barely moving her but she didn't stir.

The paramedic came and pulled her from my arms and onto the ground so that she was on a flat surface.

I didn't reach for her or lean over her.

I stared into the nothing, falling back, against the hood of the patrol car unable to speak.

Lissa was stabilized and the paramedic, who was working on her, lifted her onto a gurney and into the van and told his partner to wait for the next ambulance.

I was too…was it afraid? Scared? Frantic...to say anything to that.

I only knew that Rose's life was in balance I could loose her…after just getting her and having her as my own.

I'd been so focused on making sure she was taken care of if anything happened to me that I hadn't spent or offered too many thoughts on what it'd be like if it was Rose.

I thought about and remembered how she said she'd feel if I left her behind, the need to avenge and pull my gun out and shoot any one connected to her death clear in my mind.

We were lying on the patio in the hammock.

I was reading one of my westerns out loud to Rose, who was lost in thought lying on my stomach covering me like a blanket, her head and hand resting on my chest.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

Her vacant gaze faded when she blinked and sat up a little to look at me.

"I'm sorry. Being here…with you…it's amazing but…it has me thinking."

"About?"

"About…well…what if something does happen to you? You said you had plans made so that I'd be safe and taken care of but…I'll be all alone and without you." Her voice was so small and adorable I couldn't help chuckling my chest rumbling beneath her. She shifted to keep her balance on top of me. I wouldn't let her fall of course thought, not with my arm tight around her.

"Don't think that way. Just enjoy the time we have together," I told her.

She sat up fast, her big eyes wide and gleaming with wetness.

"You sound like you actually plan on leaving me," she muttered, hugging her arms around her self.

I sat up and tried tugging her back to me but she fought me, barely budging.

I was a lot stronger than her though and tugged her onto my lap, side ways so I could see her face.

"Leaving you would be the worse thing in the world to me. It's the last thing I want to have happen…but we have to be realistic. My job comes with a warning label. Being an FBI agent means putting my life on the line."

"I'd say I wished you weren't an agent but then we might not have met," she muttered her lips looking so soft and plump I just wanted to lean down and kiss her until we were both struggling for air.

I settled for just holding her, running my hand along her skin.

"I think we would have met anyway. I think we were soul mates and meant to be."

Her sad expression brightened lifting into a happier one.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Me too." She leaned up and kissed my cheek, her hand on the side of my cheek and then she sighed. "Being in love and being soul mates means our love should be strong enough to with stand whatever separation that comes between us. Even death."

"Let's just enjoy each other now and worry about it later," I suggested.

"It'll too late to worry about it later, you'll be dead!"

I couldn't help laughing and she pouted.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just want to be with you and enjoy every moment."

"Me too," she said brightening, pushing the thoughts aside.

"Will you make me another promise Rose," I asked a thought occurring to me.

"Of course," she said without hesitation.

"Promise me that if anything does happen, you'll take care of your self and you wont let it affect you and stop you from going on."

She looked at me like I was crazy and then her face relaxed.

"I promise."

We moved laying back down on the hammock and relaxed in each other's arms.

Kirova had to shake me out of my reverie.

"Belikov. Come on. You head to the hospital with Hathaway. I'm sure she wants you to be there when she wakes up."

I looked at my boss confused.

"You know," was all I said.

"About you two? Of course. I'm a workaholic but I notice everything. You and Christian aren't very subtle at hiding your relationships."

I looked away sheepishly.

"It's alright. As far as I'm concerned you are simply taking extra car of Rose in ways no one else would be able to."

"Really?"
She smiled, years of experiencing it all in her eyes. "Yes. This 'relationship' cant be documented because I haven't actually seen you two together and let's hope no one else has. You two be careful until Rose's eighteenth birthday," she advised.

"What about the no dating anyone associated with the cases rule?" I asked curious, wishing I'd left it alone in case her leniency was going to fade.

"Like I said. I have no proof you two are anything but…co-workers. "She stood then and put her gun back into her belt. "Lissa and Rose were rushed out to the nearest hospital. Go there and keep on guard. I was going to have Natasha take the two of them to a safe house but with how severe their wounds are right now I don't think that's a good idea. Not to mention…"

"What?" I asked standing up, sliding my gun into it's casing.

"I need to follow up on a few details on something. I'll call you and debrief you on the details when I have them my self. They shot Mikhail but he's still alive being taken straight into isolation. They also caught Andre Dragomir who hasn't uttered a word and didn't even try to run and Ivashkov. Jesse and Victor got away and so did the two bosses but we found a few missing teenagers and they'll be return to their families and a couple of drug lords we'd been trying to get for years now. I'm sure you're girlfriend will appreciate hearing how much she'd helped," she added, walking into a building, a crime scene investigator talking to her.

I shook my head, disbelieving and left to go find and be with my Rose.

RPOV

I woke up at home, in Dimitri's bed, flashes of Doctors and nurses shouting and hovering over me. Then there were little images of Dimitri in between and his voice, talking to me in my sleep. I could also recall the very sleep drowsy feeling I felt before going under into a deep sleep, comfortable and not feeling a thing.

It made me feel good and happy and took all of the pain away.

Pain…

I flinched with the word ringing in my ear. I opened my eyes to the dark bedroom, teddy bears holding hearts and balloons and candy boxes and cards that had well wished written on them. Even my Spongebob was propped up on a chair across the room surrounded by all of the other smiling dolls. It might have seemed creepy, all of their eyes on me if they weren't so cuddly and cute looking.

I sat up, feeling a tight tug at my chest and side…and everywhere else.

I was wrapped in a tube top of gauze, bandages, and medical tape to hold it all together. That happy drowsy feeling was gone and I felt everything and it felt awful.

I laid back; the ache in my body telling me sitting up was a bad idea, onto the fluffy pillows, the comforter tucked in around me. I wanted to get up and find Dimitri but my body was telling me otherwise.

I shivered in the large cool bed, wearing only my black underwear and the gauze top, wishing I had Dimitri's body heat to warm me.

I managed to roll on my side and stare at the few-lit candles that softly illuminated the room giving it that warm luminous feel.

After a few minutes, Dimitri came in, all muscles and tanned skin, his hair hanging loose, softly framing his face, a cup of tea in one hand and a file in the other.

He didn't seem to notice I was awake so I just watched him, how swift and smoothly he moved and the elegant way he sat him self in the chair at the side of my bed, his long lengthy legs stretched out before him sheathed in jeans and his black short sleeve tightening at the arms.

Dimitri glanced up from his file, a quick motion to check on me, thinking I was still sleep, and then down at the file again and lifted his gaze back up noticing I was awake.

He sat his cup on the bedside table and smiled, all cheeks and brightness.

The file fell to the floor and he moved his chair closer.

"You're awake! If you slept any longer I was going to have a doctor check to make sure you weren't in a coma," he told. He took my hands in his, rubbing them between his warm and much larger ones. The feeling was familiar to him and felt familiar to me like it was something he'd been doing the entire time I was asleep.

I tried smiling and felt tightness at my face and I guess I frowned because has happiness faded and he leaned closer, his palm at my face where I'd felt the tight tug of my skin like it was stitched together.

I was confused and then I gasped…remembering the blades of the knives against the one side of my face slicing and sheering, marking up my skin.

"No," I gasped, sitting up.

My chest throbbed and Dimitri was already standing gently forcing me back down.

"Don't move too much. You're still healing," he said softly, pulling the covers up under my chin.

I couldn't look at him.

Not if my face was scarred the way I felt it was…the way I knew it was.

He moved my chin to face him but I turned away, my back to him, turning over. It hurt but I didn't care. I wasn't a vain person but how could anyone look at me with the scars I felt on my face. Who knew how grotesque and gross they were?

"Rose…"

I sat up, not because he said my name, but to move to the bathroom and look in the mirror. Dimitri was trying to lay me back down but I kept kicking at the covers.

"Rose, stop. You could open one of you wounds if you keeping moving so much."

"I don't care, I have to see."

My voice came out hoarse and unfamiliar.

He sighed, knowing I wouldn't stop until I got a good look at my self in the mirror, defeated. He wrapped his arms underneath my legs and around my waist, lifting me bridal style to the bathroom mirror. He moved steady and with each step I grew anxious and less reluctant to see.

I had to look though.

He flicked the bathroom light on…

I felt and heard my own gasp but it sounded like it came from far away, from someone else.

"oh my…"

"Rose, you still look the same. You still look like you," Dimitri told me gently, sincerely. The sincerity filled his voice as much as the loved and tenderness but couldn't really treasure it…looking in the mirror.

The entire left side of my face wasn't the smooth prettiness I was used to seeing when I looked in the mirror. It was all jagged and straight lines running in ever direction across the one side of my face.

The other side of my face was unscathed when I tried to avert my face away from the hits, I remembered

The creases and crevices of the lines…the scars forever permanent…were pink at the center, fresh and barely healing. There were at most, twenty distinct lines and an accountable little lines in between.

"Put me down," I whispered.

"Rose-"

"Dimitri, put me down."

"No," he answered, defiantly. He sat me down, instead, on the bathroom counter, the counter where who knows how many days ago I sat unscathed. I tried to moved and getaway. I didn't want to be around the mirrors any more but like I made Lissa see the truth about the life we came from, Dimitri was going to try and make me see the nonexistent beauty in my scars.

Lissa…

"Is Lissa alright?"

Dimitri stepped back, thrown off by the questioned, but recovered. "Yes. The bullet didn't go all of the way in like it did you. She's with Christian right now. They're staying at a hotel until Christian can get a new, secure apartment."

I sighed relieved and a little guilty for not asking sooner.

"Is she…does she still look like Liss or like…I do?"

Dimitri clenched his jaw.

"She didn't take as many hits to the face as you did. There's nothing wrong with the way you look."

I slouched, my shoulders slumping, swinging my feet against the counter.

Dimitri tilted my chin up, cupping my face between his hands, careful to be gentle.

"You are still the Rose I feel in love with, the sweet, funny, desirable, indiscernibly beautiful Rose I still love."

"That's a good word for it, indescribable," I muttered.

He gave me a scolding look that didn't come off as hard but soft and gentle wanting to make me see what he apparently saw.

"Do you love me?" he asked.

I searched his eyes, wondering how he could even ask me such a question. I should have been the one asking him if he still loved me…like this and if he did how?

"You know I do, more than anything," I croaked, my voice groggy. "How could you asked me that?" I sounded appalled.

"How could you think I am so vain that you think I don't want you any more?"

"I-I don't think you're vain," I answered, my voice cracking. "It's just…how can you look at me, like this and still feel the same way you did before?"

He gave me a look like I was insane.

"It's easy. I am very much deeply, completely, utterly, and inexplicably in love with you. You are still my Rose, my very precious and beautiful Rose."

I noticed how he didn't say, still beautiful.

I leaned my head against his chest.

"I wish I could see my self the way you see me," I muttered, my voice muffled by his shirt. His arms were tight around me already.

"I wish I could make you see it too."

I felt his lips on top of my head.

"I'm glad I still have you even after I've become the Phantom of the Opera," I tried to joke. Dimitri didn't find it funny. He only pushed my hair back from my face looking my eyes trying so hard to make me understand.

That nothingness feeling I'd discovered toward my father and his cronies came up again if it's possible for nothing to be a feeling. I didn't hate them. They were just empty air. Empty air that ruined my face.

"I just hope you know I'm never going outside again."

"You will eventually," he said sounding so sure of it that it was almost irritating. He kept pushing my hair back behind my ears the same way he did before to get a good look at me. Nothing changed. He did still love me the same.

"You want me to see me the way you see me but maybe I should make you see me the way I see me," I suggested.

He raised a brow at my confusing, muddle sentence.

"Is it scary that I actually understood that?" he asked smiling.

I giggled, hoarsely.

"A little. I'm not even sure I under stood it. I meant that maybe we should rent the Hunch Back of Notre dame or Beastly or Beauty of the Beast or something."

"Rose…you're beautiful and I'm going to make you see that no matter what it takes."

I sighed.

"There's no convincing you. I don't think I'd blame you if you walked out on me right now…or since this is technically your apartment I guess I'd leave."

"This is your home too, Roza."

I still warmed at the sound of my name.

I smiled and hid in his shirt.

He carried me back to bed and settled me in.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked wanting a change in the subject.

"You were in and out of it for about a week but you were awake enough a few times to eat and go to the bathroom. You know you talk in your sleep?"

"What did I say?" I asked worried.

He smiled at the tone in my voice. "Nothing too embarrassing. You just said my name and said how much you loved me."

I pinked at my cheeks.

"So the usual."

"Yes, Roza, the usual. I'm surprised you didn't have any nightmares after…"

"I sleep fine when you're beside me."

He touched my cheek and pressed his lips against mine gently.

"I'll always keep the bad dreams away. I'll always be beside you.'

He moved my hair back from my face again. I wished he'd stopped doing that but maybe he was just trying to get me used to the feeling of exposing my face so I let him. He was only trying to help.

I moved his hand to my mouth, kissed it to my lips again, and relaxed, knowing I would always have Dimitri next to me and I'd wake up with him at my side…

I couldn't help adding, despite my disfiguration.