A/N: Sorry it's been forever since I updated. I've actually have had this chapter written for a while but it's been difficult to finish. Hope all is well with my wonderful readers and while this isn't the best chapter in the world the following chapters that I've started on are going to be making up for it. I should have them up pretty soon. I've missed all of you!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

Chapter 11

The next few weeks went by rather quickly. Adrian was kept busy with the Queen's work and Rose had finally started back training with the other guardians. There were a larger number of guardians in the castle now with the normal influx of new graduates which brought Rose out of her shell a bit. She was encouraged by their vigor and surprised by their numbers. There generally weren't this many graduates from what she'd heard and it made her happy to know that at least for now their numbers were on the rise. Rose tried not to think about who would be placed with whom and what that would mean for the Moroi as she focused on gaining speed and strengthening her muscles.

She often trained with Cooper, which worked out great because he had the same schedule she did given that he was her guardian. It also helped her because he was one of the best guardians in the castle and was able to train with her and not hinder her progress. However, when it came to accepting her challenge to a hand-to-hand fight he would always decline. Rose had grown accustomed to ending her training sessions with a brawl with whoever felt like fighting which had ended up being almost all of the guardians which surprised her. There was always some guardian who was looking to prove himself against her and from what she could tell, she truly was the best one out her age group. Many of the young men and women from her own school stayed away from her, having already shown that they were incapable of holding their own against her.

That day however, as Rose sat on the bleachers beside of Eddie she watched Cooper grapple with some of the other guardians. "I mean it's not like I'd take offense or anything if he beat me…at least I don't think so. But I just want to know why he won't fight me. I know it's not because I'm a girl because he says I can hold my own, but if it's not that I don't know what it could possibly be."

"Maybe he just doesn't want to hurt your pride. I mean look around, you've beaten everyone here myself included. I don't think he wants you to lose your place as top dog." Eddie had a point, but it wasn't good enough.

"I get that I really do, but they know I haven't fought him and I don't think they'll accept me as top dog until I do. I'll always be my mother's daughter or Dimitri's apprentice." Even as she said it, she knew it wasn't true. "I just wish there was a way for me to get him to do it without having to beg. I've asked him now for three weeks straight. Three weeks! I'm not used to this sort of stubborn persistence; usually they'd just give in by now."

"How long did it take for Belikov to agree to take you on in a fight?"

Rose smiled as she thought back to the night when she and Lissa had finally been caught and drug back to St. Vlad's. "You forget Eddie; I meet Dimitri in a fight."

"That's true, I did forget that. Why don't you just walk out there and call him a bitch. Better yet call his mother a bitch or a whore. Everyone's waiting for you two to fight anyways, this way it'll just speed things up."

She looked over at him shocked, "But you just said everyone didn't care that I hadn't fought him."

Eddie shrugged and looked away. "I lied, sue me but it's what'd I would do if I were you."

"Alright," she replied hesitantly. "But if he puts in for a transfer or serves my ass to me on a silver plate I'm taking it out on you."

"Sounds fair to me," Eddie replied with a smile. "Break his legs!"

She winked and strolled out into the middle of the floor where Cooper and two other guardians were standing talking after their wrestling match or whatever it was they had been doing. She smiled at the two nameless men but glared an icy-death glare over at Cooper. "You're a little punk ass bitch, you know that right?"

Cooper looked taken aback, "excuse me?"

"You heard me; I said you're a little punk ass bitch! You won't fight me and you know it's because I'll kick your ass for what you did to me!" She was yelling louder with each word. It felt good to let out her anger this way, even if it was just for pretend.

"I'm sorry I don't think I'm following Rose." She saw Eddie from over his shoulder, egging her to go on. The two men stepped away and gave some sort of pathetic excuse to leave the situation that was unfolding right before their eyes.

"Don't you dare think of playing stupid with me Cooper! What you said to me last night and what you really should have said are two totally different things!" She inched closer to him, poking her finger into his chest when she was but a few inches away.

"I know what you're doing Rose," he replied in a calm threatening voice.

She smirked, "you may know what I'm doing but there's not going to be a way out of it and I think deep down you know that."

"I'm not going to fight you."

She looked shocked and gasped audibly, "Fight me! You want to fight me, after all that we've been through. What about Adrian? What are you going to tell him, I knew I should have handled you when I got the chance."

"Don't let her talk to you like that!" yelled an anonymous voice from the audience that had now filled much of the outskirts of the gym floor.

Eddie pointed over in the direction of the voice, "That's my friend! Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you!"

"Do you really want to do this?" Cooper asked her quietly. He looked so very serious, she didn't like him this way but she wanted to prove herself. Not so much for herself but for Dimitri. Rumor was that many Moroi said that between the two of them they were Dimitri's replacements but she wanted to see if that was true or not first hand. She couldn't think of anyone ever replacing Dimitri.

"More than you know," she said it more in a whisper than anything else but her point got across either way.

"Then let's do this. Although if we're going to do this we might as well do it properly, don't forget your stake, whoever has the kill shot first, wins."

"I agree to your terms. Lucky for you I've got my favorite stake with me today, it's never let me down.

Cooper laughed as he entered into the circle after her, taking off the sweatshirt he always wore when training he revealed the tight white undershirt that clung tightly to the muscles underneath. "I didn't want this to happen I just want that to be known before this goes down," he growled softly as he tossed the jacket over to the side of the ring.

"Afraid you're going to get beat by a girl?" She asked playfully getting into her fighting stance.

He flashed Rose a devilish grin, "I didn't want to see you have your ass handed to you."

"In your dreams," she spat back to him.

They bowed to one another and took their stance. Cooper didn't hold still long, and before she knew it he was coming at her in a rush. He wasn't as fast as Dimitri had been probably because he wasn't as well built for speed, but she wasn't thrown off by it. She dodged him by side-stepping his attack. Taking the defense again she crouched to observe his fighting style. He was circling around her looking for a moment to best attack. They seemed pretty well matched, he was taller than her but not by much and she was almost as strong as he was. He threw a punch but she ducked it, Rose tried to tackle him from her lowered position but he ended up grabbing her and flipping her over. They continued in this manner for quite some time: exchanging punches, kicks, and mindless banter but at some point she grew tired as though all of her energy had been drained from her body. Strigoi attacks generally weren't this long and her heart wasn't into it as much as she thought it would be now that she was actually fighting him. He hit her in the back of the head as she attempted to evade one of his sweeping blows. The force of it spun her around nearly knocking her to her knees. They'd been fighting for so long she was surprised they were still going. How long had it been anyways? Her head hurt so bad she couldn't see the clock that hung on the opposite side of the gym, she squinted and was somehow able to see the swing before he made it but she still wasn't able to dodge it. She ducked in an awkward sort of way but was still hit. This time she made contact with the floor and wasn't able to get up. He quickly got the kill shot causing her down fall.

The other guardians in the gym were groaning and cheering all at once. It seemed that there had actually been people on her side but that didn't matter. What mattered was the splitting headache she had now and the scattered pieces of her pride that lay helpless on the floor beside of her. Eddie came over and helped her up on her feet. She looked around aimlessly for her stake and noticed it in Cooper's hands. She pointed over at him, "can I have that back?"

"What this?" He asked casually.

She rolled her eyes, as she pulled her hair up in a ponytail, "yes that please."

He smiled and went to leave, "not until you're able to get it from me yourself."

"You're a real dick sometimes you know that?" She couldn't believe she'd lost in front of everyone, but it's what she'd wanted wasn't it? She'd been begging him for weeks and this is what she deserved. She sighed heavily and walked over to Eddie. She was upset but didn't want to show it here. For once in her life, Rose Hathaway didn't want to let everyone know how upset she was. That would involve expressing the feelings she still harbored for Dimitri and she was with Adrian now. The guardians didn't need to know that because frankly it wasn't anyone's business but her own.

"Sorry you lost your bet." Rose replied sheepishly to Eddie.

"Hey no problem, I didn't put much down on this one cause I wasn't sure how it'd go." He patted her on the shoulder and helped her gather her things. "Need me to walk you to your room?"

"Nah, just tell Christian I said hello will you?"

Eddie nodded, "Sure thing, I'll catch you later."

With each step she took back to her room the anger grew. She heard the guardians talking about her as she walked by. It was like they didn't even care that she was standing right there hearing every word they were saying. Some even taunted her as she went by. It was kind of pathetic actually. All of this was all Cooper's fault, if he hadn't hit her in the head she'd still be out there. They'd been fighting for nearly an hour but that wasn't any excuse, "it's not like they'd have done any better."

When she got to their apartment she found Adrian busying himself with a rather old looking book. She didn't care enough to take the time to see what he was reading as she threw her bag down and walked into her bedroom. "Hello to you too," he called out to her.

Rose grunted in return.

"Why so angry little one?" asked Adrian as he walked into the room after her, draping himself over the side of her plush red velvet chasses.

"No reason," she grumbled at him. Slipping out of her trainers she walked over to her bathroom door.

"Come now love, I'm sure there must be something that's gotten you in such a fit? You've been so cheerful lately." He reached out to pull her over to him but she avoided his grasp.

"Don't even; I'm not in the mood Ivashkov. I want a shower and I want my stake back. Unless you can get me my stake back I don't need your help right now."

She noticed the way his eyes lingered over her body as he mulled over his words, "Well I'm not sure about the stake part but I could help you with the shower."

"Oh my God out, just get out. When I'm ready to see people I'll come find you alright? I just need some peace and quiet for two shakes of a stick."

Adrian began to laugh hysterically.

"You know why I'm mad don't you?" she spat over at him threateningly.

"In my defense it was because of rumors in the hallway."

"Oh please, you had money on it didn't you and someone called to collect?" She had been upset with Eddie, but Adrian too?

"You know the answer to that. I've made quite a large profit on you and I've given it all back spending it on you."

Her mood softened, "Have you really?"

"Yeah, I figured you'd be pissed if I kept it."

"How do you even make money, I don't even know what you do and I rarely see you working."

Adrian shrugged, "Good investments plus I own a company no big deal."

"That's all I am to anyone is a good investment," replied a now very sullen Rose.

"Not true. Although I don't see what's so bad about being a solid investment. It just means you're dependable."

"You wouldn't though," she replied with a sigh. "Won' you leave so I can shower? I've got to think of a plan to recapture my stake. It was my favorite or I wouldn't make such a big deal of it."

He stood up reluctantly from his previously comfortable position, "Aren't they all the same though?"

Rose wouldn't tell him how that particular stake had been given to her by Dimitri. Adrian closed the distance between them and embraced her in a warm and encouraging hug. "Cheer up, all of this isn't nearly as embarrassing as you think it is."

"Easy for you to say, it wasn't you out there getting wacked over the head by a bear dressed in human flesh." He laughed once more and kissed her on top of the head.

Before entering the shower, Rose watched Adrian as he left and double locked the door behind him. She wasn't sure why but she felt utterly alone in that moment but it was a similar feeling to when she was in the gym. She was ready to be out of the castle and out of the ever watchful eye of the queen's gaze. Even though she'd still be assigned to Adrian the reality of her situation wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Christian had stopped by a few times, each visit ending the same way. They would make-out for ten or so minutes at which point he'd become embarrassed and leave. Cooper always left during their time together, she knew that deep down that he didn't approve of Adrian, but to approve of Christian that was strange or at least to her anyways. She figured there was something to it all but she wasn't sure what it was yet. Maybe it had something to do with his aunt and knowing Christian was here Cooper was able to snoop around his room looking for clues.

The hot water coming from the showerhead felt relaxing against her body as she allowed the warm water to work its magic as it enveloped her in a steamy embrace. She missed Dimitri then as his smiling face popped into the void of her head. Rose thought back to the night they'd almost made love. The feel of him against her, holding her tight, feeling as though he'd consume her right then and there caused her heart to ache. She didn't allow herself to miss him often, Adrian would know and get upset so she busied herself washing and shaving her legs with a purpose. How was she going to bring down the mighty wall that was Cooper? "Hmmm… there has to be at least one loose brick in his defenses. I just haven't found one yet."

Lissa's ghost strolled into the bathroom as though she owned it and motioned for Rose to follow after her. Rose had just stepped out of the shower and forgot to grab a towel as she followed after Lissa's ghost naked. Lissa walked into Cooper's room and Rose followed still, leaving foot prints on the wooden floor. Rose flicked the light switch on not realizing anyone else was in the room.

"Can I help you Rose?" Cooper asked as he stepped out of his closet taking in her naked figure.

"Jesus Christ!" she screamed before bending down to cover her private bits. "I just…didn't know you were back yet. Sorry, I just…I'll just go back to my room now."

She heard him chuckle, "don't on my account. It was such a lovely view."

She peaked up, but kept herself hidden. Thank you Lissa! Smiling, she stood up straight once more, "You think so?"

Rose could see his eyes darken even from where she was standing on the other side of the room. Cooper licked his lips and tossed the collared shirt back onto the ground of the closet, "I do."

She smiled and walked over to him, "I'll play with you if you do me a favor in return." Cooper brought his hand up and wound his fingers in her long, wet hair, "anything."

"Give me back the stake Guardian Belikov gave me and then we'll have some fun alright?"

Cooper moved back into his closet where he pulled out the large silver stake. "Well well what do we have here?" From behind her came Adrian's smooth voice. She grabbed the stake from Cooper's hand then turned to face him, "Adrian it's really not what you think."

"Isn't that just so very convenient for you?"