Chapter warnings: chained/bound characters, physical abuse, allusions to sexual abuse

Don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now and that my ao3 account is wearealloflegendnow (even though I haven't posted there yet)!

~TLL~

Sector 1 smelled, like she had known it would. It had been a long time since she'd spent any time in here. She was too important now. She walked on to the lookout balcony, staring out over the sandy pit. At the bottom, was the dragon. It hadn't noticed her presence yet but as Rose began to descend the stairs, it started to wake, struggling against its tight bonds. Rose knew that there was no way for it to get up and, even beyond that, she had seen and done far too much for one singular dragon to frighten her. She walked across the sand and approached it. It tried to open its mouth but the muzzle on it was far too tight.

Rose walked in a loop around the dragon, knowing that she was unsettling it but not being able to bring herself to speak. She completed a lap around the dragon and then stood face to face with it.

No, not it.

Him.

Jake.

The dragon that Lao Shi had just told her about.

Jake's eyes were full of fury as he pushed at his bindings and Rose watched as he cut into his own skin in his anger at the fact that she was standing in front of him. She wanted to open her mouth and say something but she didn't know what to say. This wasn't something that she expected or could have anticipated. Of course, she had always known that there was a dragon being held captive in the Huntsclan's basement but it wasn't as if she could tell anyone about it without revealing herself. Keeping her identity her secret had always been the priority. Rose wasn't ashamed to admit that she was a selfish creature. She could put her body on the line again and again for the fight but she would never put her heart and soul out there.

Other people weren't like her. She had seen the grief and the haunted pain just this morning. This wasn't a Huntsclan secret; this was a family in mourning. And he wasn't even dead.

"Well," Rose said, and then she sighed.

Jake managed a deep guttural growl.

Rose pulled out her phone and took a picture of him. She had to walk in with some kind of proof, when she decided what she was going to do.

"I suspect I'll be seeing you again very soon," she said to Jake.

He growled again.

Rose walked out of the dragon's cage, allowing the two Huntsguards to go back to their post, with a flippant, "I was never here."

They were too scared to speak back to her.

Rose strode through the Huntsclan, scanning her mark to go up to Master's office. She knew that she was behind schedule and she knew that he wouldn't be happy about it.

"Ah, Huntsgirl," he drawled, in that tone that could seem so benevolent. Rose knew what was lurking beneath. "What kept you?"

"I thought I had a line on the opposition's assassin," Rose lied casually, sitting in one of the armchairs while Huntsman paced the room. Rose pulled off her mask. "I worry they're better than I am."

Huntsman stopped in his pacing, turning to eye her up and down. Chills went down Rose's spine as he approached and she couldn't help but think of the way that Jake had growled at her. She wanted to growl at the Master too but she sat still as he pet her hair softly and then violently grabbed the front of her throat, lifting her from the chair even as Rose desperately grabbed onto his arm, trying to pull herself up to get enough air. She didn't want to pass out, not this time. Who knew what he would do to her if she passed out?

"No one can be better than you," Master said. "No one."

He dropped her violently to the floor and it took all of Rose's self-control not to collapse in on herself and pant like a dog. She gritted her teeth and flared her nostrils, pulling herself up into a standing position.

"Yes, Master."

"Go, train. I don't want to see you again until you have that assassin's head on a stick."

"Yes, Master."

Rose went to turn away from him and walk out of the room but she froze as Master's hand touched her hip and walked her backward into him.

"Huntsgirl, do not take that too literally."

Rose swallowed hard. "Yes, Master."

Rose left his room and went immediately to the shower, boiling her skin and scrubbing at herself until she felt like someone new.

(-.-)

Rose walked into Lao Shi's shop, surprised at the noises that she heard coming from above. She knew that he lived in the apartment overhead with Fu Dog but it sounded like there was a party going on upstairs. Rose crept across the floor, thinking that it was the best-case scenario. The noise from upstairs would keep her from attracting attention while she investigated and, hopefully, made up her mind. She knew that she shouldn't be conflicted. She knew what a good person would do and she was trying to be a better person. But there was no way to explain what she knew without telling the whole truth and Rose had never been raised to be a person who told the truth.

Rose opened the book that Lao Shi had shown her yesterday morning, flipping through its pages until it showed her the dragon again. Haley's brother, Lao Shi's oldest grandchild, the true American Dragon. She had known, looking at the captive dragon, that it was Jake Long, but it was overwhelming to stand here and see it all again.

She could shut the book. She could walk away now. She could pretend that she had never met any of them and that she didn't know that their dead grandson was actually alive and being held prisoner in her basement. She closed the book and then paused, about to put it back on the shelf. Who would she be, if she walked away now? She had saved Haley and Trixie and Spud and Lao Shi on as many occasions as they had saved her. She wasn't here by accident. And Lao Shi had made it clear that if Jake was alive and Haley didn't know, Haley was at risk.

Haley was just a child. She was barely thirteen.

Rose spun around as she heard footsteps on the stairs, surprised that she was faced with Trixie.

"Yo!" Trixie called up the stairs. "It's just Rose, nothing to worry about."

"Rose?" Lao Shi's voice came echoing down the stairs. "What are you doing here?"

Caught in the act, Rose clenched the book to her chest. The time for decisions were over as the members of her team came down the stairs as well as a woman that she didn't know. She was older than Trixie and Spud, certainly older than Haley, but nowhere near as Lao Shi. She was wearing a pink cardigan even though it was cold enough to need something much heavier, her short black hair was tucked behind her ears, and she was wearing one ring on her finger.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt something," Rose said. "I was just … I'm sorry."

Rose didn't remember the last time that she felt so unsure. She always knew where to go. She always knew what to do. Her brazen confidence had gotten her this far in life but now it was backfiring. This wasn't a situation that she could train for or be prepared for. It wasn't something that even crossed her mind.

Lao Shi approached her, gently taking the book from her hands. "You must be very careful, these are very old, very enchanted."

"I know. I was thinking about the story you told yesterday, about why you fight." Rose's knees felt like they were about to give out. "I was wondering if you could tell me more about how we got here."

"Yes, of course." Lao Shi looked over his shoulder. "Susan, every one else knows, but it may be something that you don't want to hear."

"I'll sit," Susan said, taking the place on the coach that Rose herself had occupied the day before.

"I trained Jake myself, Haley had been under training with Sun, the Korean Dragon, at the time. It was two years ago. Jake was with Haley –"

"He was bringing me home from piano practice," Haley interrupted. "Monday night piano practice. We heard hobgoblins. They're notoriously tricky and aggressive. You've probably never seen one."

Rose nodded. She had seen one or two in her time.

"The Huntsclan caught us off-guard," Haley said. "We had no idea they'd paid off the hobgoblins to distract us. There were eight hobgoblins. There were at least two dozen of the Clan."

Rose was glad that she hadn't been one of that number. She didn't know how she would defend herself if she had to admit that she was there that night and had been the source of this trauma and pain. The woman, Susan, put her arm around Haley's shoulder and Haley snuggled into her with familiarity.

"The hobgoblins said they wanted Haley," Fu said, "once we figured out what happened and the old man was going to toast them. They said the Clan hadn't wanted Jake, thinking that taking him would cause too much of a fuss."

"They were right!" Trixie snorted. "It's war, now."

"It would have been war over Haley too," Lao Shi said gravely.

"Jake wouldn't have let her go," Spud said.

Lao Shi cracked open the book, the spirit images of Jake and Haley appearing.

"We don't know what they did with him," Lao Shi said softly as the image turned to just Jake, a phantom from years ago. "It's easier to not know."

"I know," Rose whispered.

"Did you say something?" Fu asked.

Rose cleared her throat. The moment of truth. The moment to pick a side. The moment to stand up and be who she wanted to be, rather than who she was designed to be.

"That dragon," she said strongly and clearly, pointing at the image of Jake, "is not dead."

Rose expected the babble that exploded at her declaration. The shock of Spud and Trixie's faces. The tears of Haley and Fu Dog. The stoicism of Lao Shi. The screaming keel of Susan caught Rose off-guard, slicing her straight to the core. The woman left Haley sitting on the couch, sprinting to Rose and grabbing her forcibly to the forearms. Rose knew that she could fight her off but she didn't, caught up in the anguish and hope storming in Susan's eyes.

"That's my son," Susan said, shaking Rose, and Rose let her teeth clack together. "That's my baby. My dead baby."

"I'm so sorry," Rose said. "I didn't know. I didn't know how to say it. I'm sorry."

"How do you know?!" Susan demanded.

Rose felt the room quiet before the voices actually stopped. Everything was spinning around her but Susan was holding her in place, the mother's grip so strong that Rose knew that she couldn't break it.

"I saw him, yesterday," Rose said, suddenly unable to breathe. "I saw him."

"Where?" Susan shook Rose again. "Where is he?"

Rose swallowed and then dropped the bomb. "In the Huntsclan."

The voices came over her like a tidal wave again. Haley was under Lao Shi's arm, Trixie and Spud were calling for more information, Fu Dog and Lao Shi were already questioning her. Rose could see it all happening in her peripheral but it was Susan that she was now standing here for. It was a mother's love that she would bare herself for. Rose had never had a mother. Rose had never had someone come even remotely close to loving her like a daughter. Rose had never imagined the depths of pain that a mother went through, just by loving her children.

"I have a picture of him," Rose said to Susan. "It won't be easy to look at but I took a picture. And I can take a picture back to him, tell him something you want him to know."

"How do you know?" Susan asked. "How do you know it's him? How did you get to see him?"

"She's in the Huntsclan!" Fu shouted. "How else would she know?"

Lao Shi transformed into a dragon, Haley close on his heels. Rose knew that she should care if the set her on fire now or locked her in their basement but, instead, she reached for her phone because Susan did, indeed, want to see proof of life. Rose knew how Jake looked, strapped down by all limbs, his tail, and his face. She knew that his scales were dirty and he looked dim all over. Susan let go of Rose and took the phone, drinking in the whole image.

"Dad," Susan sobbed, and she fell to the floor, Haley at her side immediately. "Dad, it's Jake."

She felt Lao Shi's dragon talons dig into her shoulder and Rose shut her eyes, waiting for it to hurt.

"Who are you?"

"I started doing missions with you a year ago. You said yesterday that I proved myself to you," Rose said. "I know I don't deserve it. I know I have a lot to tell you. I'm just asking you for the chance to say it."

Lao Shi's grip tightened, not enough to break the skin, but getting close to it. "Who are you?"

"Huntsgirl."

Rose froze under his claws.

"You're one of them?" Trixie shouted and Rose thought Trixie was going to punch her.

"Have we fought you?" Spud asked. "What have you done?"

Rose turned to look up at Lao Shi. "I'd like to start from the beginning."

"Daddy," Susan said, holding out Rose's phone. "It's really Jake."

Haley hovered over her mother's shoulder. She was still a dragon, still ready for the fight, but the look on her face was so characteristic of a child.

"It is," Lao Shi agreed. "How do we know it's from yesterday?"

"I can check the metadata," Spud said. "I just need the phone."

Susan handed it over but she didn't take her eyes from Rose. "Tell me. Tell me what happened."

"I wasn't there," Rose said. "I was somewhere else. I was … the Huntsman had other plans for me."

"You are one of them?" Haley cried. "How could you?"

"Who are you?" Lao Shi asked again.

"The Huntsgirl," Rose mumbled. It was a role that she knew that she should be ashamed of. It was someone that she wasn't trying to be anymore. Yet, there were parts of the Huntsgirl that Rose knew that she would always need to carry with her. The strength, the fight, the ability to just go. No matter what came next, that was who Rose needed to be.

"Do you have a number?" Fu asked.

Rose shook her head.

Lao Shi's claws pressed into her shoulder blades and Rose caught herself on her forearms, letting herself hit the floor. She bowed her head against the hardwood.

"Dad!" Susan said. "Can you get him? Can Jake get out?"

"No," Rose said.

Susan knelt by Rose's head, desperate. "Jake can't get out?"

"I can see him but you have to go get him. If you want me to tell him something, I will," Rose promised. "He doesn't know me. I need to know him. I want … I want you to win."

Lao Shi's claws pressed harder against her back. "You are the Huntsgirl! What do you know of honour and family?"

"Not much," Rose admitted, "but I wouldn't be here if I didn't know anything of trying to be better."

"As far as I can tell," Spud said, "this is real. The picture of Jake was really taken yesterday."

"I'll come back," Rose said, "with more proof. We'll talk. I'll tell him whatever you want. I'll help you. I'm helping you."

"Jake's alive?" Trixie whispered.

Rose stared at the floor.

"You're the Huntsgirl," Lao Shi Said, "how long have you known there was a dragon in the basement?"

"Too long." Rose bowed her head. "Please, anything you want. I'll do whatever I can. I'm not here for any secret reason!"

"Why are you here?"

Rose dug her nails into her palms, so tight that she drew blood, and she nearly cried from the relief of it.

"I am the best, I have always been the best," Rose said, "and I'll tell you more in more detail later."

"Tell me now."

Lao Shi was nearly suffocating her now. Rose tried to focus on something else, other than the whorl of wood in front of her. The people that were present and their movements were barely enough to distract her.

"I've always been the best," Rose said, thinking of Haley. Haley, who was barely thirteen, "but I wasn't always his favourite."

"Oh," Susan gasped.

Lao Shi's claws relaxed, slightly. It was enough that Rose felt confident enough to roll over and look him in the eye.

"If you want all the dirty details, I'll give them to you, Lao Shi, and you alone. What's important for you to know is that I will do whatever you need me to. I will fight for you. I will get you blueprints to the whole Clan. I will connect with Jake. I will teach you how to get inside. I am here because I chose to be here. I am there because they forced me to be."

Lao Shi lowered his head to hers and Rose bit down on her tongue, refusing to be intimidated. If this was where it ended, this was where it ended, but she knew she held the trump card. She held the way in; she held their grandson.

"She's saved my life," Haley said. "We've seen her kill Clan members."

Rose didn't break her gaze from Lao Shi.

"But, how can we trust her now? How do we know this isn't part of some larger plot?" Lao Shi asked. "Regardless of who that dragon was, she had to know he's been there the whole time. Why tell us now?"

"Because I'm an awful person. Because I'm selfish. Because I didn't want what's happening right now." Rose bit down on her lip but there was nothing else to add to that. If Jake hadn't been their family and if she hadn't come to care about them, she never would have even told them that she was the Huntsgirl, let alone share Clan secrets back with them.

It was a testament to how far gone she'd been and how much further she had to go, if she wanted to become someone worthwhile.

"Tell me how to prove yourself to you," Rose said. "Whatever you want to know."

"What's the Huntsman's true identity?" Lao Shi asked.

"He doesn't have one. The Clan is his identity. He doesn't leave."

"How do you get into the Clan?" Fu Dog asked. "How many entrances?"

"The main one. The delivery bay which doubles as the deployment bay. The back entrance that's just for high-ranking Clan members. You need a Clan mark to get in."

"What if you let us in?" Trixie asked.

"Too much security. You'd never get past the front door. Every Clan member is tracked once they're inside. Their literal footsteps are monitored by the system," Rose said. "Foreign footsteps would have the building go into lockdown and security flooding the building. No way in and no way out until it's been cleared."

Lao Shi looked grumpily at his family and then back down to Rose.

"I get it," Rose said. "You can't trust me. You don't know if this is some kind of larger plot. You don't know what's going to happen if you let me stand up and walk out of here. You also know that without me, you're a long way away from actually getting into the Clan, it doesn't matter how hard you fight. In the years it'll take you to weaken the Clan and infiltrate, how do you think Jake's going to do? Do you think he'll last?" Rose ignored Susan's sob, staring down Lao Shi. "What chances can you afford to take?"

Lao Shi narrowed his eyes at her and lowered his head. Rose could smell the sulfur of dragon's fire on his breath and she wondered if he was about to roast her or bite her head off.

"What can you do to prove to me I should let you walk out of here?" Lao Shi asked instead.

"I can teach you how to kill a Clan member. I know how they're trained. You think it's a coincidence that 'Blush' can do what she does?" Rose asked. "I can get you blueprints to the Clan. I can take a message to Jake. I can bring messages back."

"Gramps," Haley said, "We've seen what she'll do for us."

"Just because you all go out to breakfast together doesn't mean she's not dangerous," Lao Shi snapped and his claws dug into the hardwood floor. "She's a weapon."

"So use me," Rose said. "Use me for good."

Spud made a whimpering noise. "How can we not take the chance? If we don't, Jake has to stay there."

"He'd take the chance for us," Trixie said. "To get us back, he absolutely would trust her."

"How can you see him?" Susan asked suddenly. "If it's all so monitored, won't it be suspicious?"

"It will," Rose said. "I have to figure something out but I will figure something out."

Lao Shi backed off her. "Get up."

Rose stood unsteadily, not sure what was going to happen. She tried to look everywhere at once. There was a dragon on either side of her, two trained warriors between her and the weapons cache, and Susan, who Rose was sure was on the verge of taking the Huntsclan apart brick by brick herself, just to get back to her son.

"Rose, come with me."

Holding her chin high, Rose followed Lao Shi, mentally preparing herself for what would come when they were alone.