Instead of waking up to my normal obnoxiously loud alarm clock, I was woken up by an obnoxiously loud knocking at my door. You've got to be kidding me. I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"What?" I yelled.

"Are you decent?" I heard. I was still partly asleep, and couldn't tell who it was.

"I was until you started beating on my door." I snapped back. The door opened, and Dimitri stepped in, closing the door behind him. He had clothes draped over his arm as he stood in front of me.

"Goodmorning." I looked over at my clock to see it was only four p.m. It was not time to be awake yet, or even thinking about being awake yet.

"It's not even morning." I growled, laying back down and pulling the blankets over my head.

"Come on, Rose. Wake up. We're taking a trip, and we can't afford to be late." He said.

"Five more minutes mom." I complained. I heard him lay the clothes down on something beside the door, and heard his footsteps approach. Next thing I knew, the blankets were ripped off me.

"Get up, Roza." He said. I could tell he was thoroughly enjoying this. I could hear the amusement in his voice. Bastard.

"Dimitri… please… let me sleep." I begged.

"Rose… get up. We have a plane to catch, and you're going to make us miss it. Adrian will be very upset with you if you make him miss his flight." He said.

"Why is Adrian leaving?" I asked. I panicked automatically, remembering last night.

"He's not. There's a royal meeting at Court that he has to attend, and he needs guardians to get him there and back. I'm escorting him, and you will be as well. Think of it as a field trip." He said. "You even get a uniform and everything. We'll be staying overnight though, so pack a bag."

"Oh boy." I said, feigning excitement. I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. When I finally looked at him, he looked sort of stunned. I wondered if I had something on my face, or if my hair looked funky. "What are you looking at?" I asked.

"Nothing… Sorry. Get dressed and meet me downstairs please. We're leaving in an hour." He said. I nodded. He walked out, closing the door behind him. I got up, and walked over to the uniform on my chair. I grabbed it and threw it on my bed, quickly changing into it. I then went into the bathroom, and put on some make-up, and ran a brush through my hair, before pulling it up into a pony tail. I threw a change of clothes and pajama's into a bag and threw it by my door. I slipped on my shoes, and headed downstairs. The moment I hit the bottom stair, Adrian whistled at me. When I looked up, he was standing there, smirking.

"Damn, Hathaway. You clean up nice." He said. I ignored him, shaking my head as I went into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Dimitri came around the corner, and stopped when he saw me.

"Yeah, I know… I look amazing, yada yada." I said.

"Are you guys ready?" Adrian and I nodded. I threw my bag over my shoulder and followed them out to the van. Before we reached it, I turned to Adrian and smiled.

"I call shot-gun." I said. He narrowed his eyes.

"No, that's not even-." I cut him off.

"I'll fight you for it." I said.

"Ahh… you can have it." He said. Dimitri chuckled.

"Good choice." He told him. I smirked. As we got into the van, I then realized something.

"You're not going to make us listen to those god-awful country stations, are you?"

"Why of course." He said. I groaned. "I'll fight you for it."

"You sure about that? You might lose." I said.

"I wouldn't." He assured me. I rolled my eyes as we left the estate and headed for the airport.

"What's this royal meeting about, Adrian?" I asked, looking back at him, trying to drown out the sound of the horrible music on the radio.

"I don't know. My Aunt called me this morning and asked me if I could come back, so I told her yeah." He said. I just nodded.

"Didn't you show up alone though?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, Dimitri sent a Guardian to the airport to get me." He said. I just nodded. I turned back around in my seat, and got comfortable as I watched out the window. "So, Rose… have you checked on Lissa lately?" Adrian asked. Dimitri coughed, choking back a laugh. My eyes cut to him, and back out the window.

"Yeah, I checked on her… yesterday." I said, trying to keep the images out of my head.

"How's she doing on her medication?"

"He's doing good." I said, hoping he'd change the subject. He soon did, as he and Dimitri launched into a conversation all their own. I stared out the window, listening to the sound of Dimitri's voice. It wasn't something I'd ever noticed before, but his voice was very comforting. I knew I'd taken comfort in his voice before only because he was helping me when I needed it, but now, here in the cab of the van in a perfectly content mood, it still had the same calming effect on me. His voice was like velvet, laced with a Russian accent, not that I'd ever admit that out loud. When we reached the airport, we boarded the plane, and got situated before take-off.

"How long is the flight?" I asked.

"About an hour… maybe an hour and a half." Dimitri told me. I nodded. I hadn't been to court in awhile. I wouldn't say I was excited, but I was definitely ready for a different scene besides the estate and St. Vladimirs. "How long has it been since you've been here?"

"It's been awhile. The last time I remember coming here was with Lissa and her parents." I told him. He nodded. We lapsed into silence once again, before his phone rang, and he got up to answer it. As he paced the isle, I saw him look up at me a few times, and then went back to pacing. When he finally came back to sit down, he didn't speak. "What was that about?" I asked.

"Nothing… just arranging our rooms and stuff at Court." He said. I could tell he was lying, but I knew even if I called him out on it, he wouldn't tell me. He finally stood up, and grabbed his bag, digging through it for something. "I have something for you." When he pulled it out, my eyes went wide.

"That's a… I don't even really-." He cut off my rambling.

"I know I haven't taught you how to use one properly, but I'm hoping you get the gist of how to use it. It's just in case. There are wards, and I'm doubting anything is going to happen over the 24 hours that we're there, but it's just to be sure. I'd rather be safe than sorry." I just nodded. I shoved it into my belt, hiding it the way most guardians did. The plane finally landed and we got off. Dimitri getting off first, then Adrian and me. As we made our way inside, I started to remember being here before. Adrian smiled as we walked in the door.

"It's good to be home." He said.

"No one's forcing you to stay at the estate, Adrian."

"I know, but it's so much more exciting there, with strigoi attacking me, and the pretty girls there and all." He said, his eyes falling on me. Dimitri's face went hard as he looked at me.

"I'm going to go let them know we're here." He said, his voice matching his face. I nodded at him once before he disappeared around the corner. Adrian chuckled.

"I don't know why he gets so offended by the stuff I say."

"Maybe because most of its uncalled for?" I tried.

"Almost everything that comes out of my mouth is uncalled for. He knew that before he invited me." He said. I nodded.

"I guess you're right." I muttered. A few minutes later, Dimitri came back around the corner with two keys. He handed one too me.

"We have rooms in the guest wing." He told me. "Adrian, we'll catch up with you later." Adrian nodded, and walked away. I turned and followed Dimitri. "The rooms here are nice. Much bigger than the ones at the estate."

"It doesn't really matter much, does it? We're only staying overnight." I said.

"But you've got to think. One day, you and Lissa might be living here." He said. I nodded.

"Very true." I told him, as he showed me the room I was staying in. He then turned around and opened the door right across from mine. "Good to know you're not far away if I need you."

"I never am." He said. I heard the doubt meaning behind his words, which kind of caught me off guard. I turned back and unlocked my door, walking inside.

"You weren't lying we're you? We need some renovations at the estate." I called to him. He chuckled.

"If only." He said. I closed my door, and locked it, starting down the hall as he followed. "Going somewhere?" He asked.

"Just exploring. It's been so long and all." I told him. He nodded as I walked out into the lobby. I'd barely taken two steps when I heard someone say my name. It was a voice that didn't belong to Dimitri, but was just as familiar. I hadn't seen her in what seemed like years. All I'd gotten was a note when they caught me and Lissa in Portland. A note, and that was it. It was none other than the illustrious Janine Hathaway.

"What a lovely surprise." I muttered, turning to her. She looked older than the last time I'd seen her. Her old face was withered even more, from years of battle and work. Regardless of my harsh feelings for her, I admired her work ethic. What I didn't admire was the fact that she dropped me off at St. Vladimirs and never really came back. I never really had a mother because work was more important that a five minute visit for her to let me know she was alive and well.

"You've grown up… a lot." She said, as if this surprised her.

"Yeah, it's what people tend to do when you haven't seen them in ten years." I snapped at her.

"I've been doing my job, Rosemarie. They come first." She said.

"Don't feed me that shit. I'm your daughter. You'd think you could take one day out of your busy schedule, to… I don't know… let me know you're alive, that you actually give a fuck about me."

"Watch your mouth, Rose." She snapped at me.

"You don't get to boss me around, or pretend to be my mother. In order to be a mother, you have to be around. You have to act as a mother." I said.

"Rose, don't-." Dimitri started. I turned around.

"Don't start with me. You knew she was going to be here, didn't you?" I asked. He met my gaze.

"I did… but I thought it'd be good for you." He said.

"You're my mentor, Dimitri. I don't need you telling me what is and isn't good for me." I snapped at him.

"Rose, he's your mentor; do not talk to him like that." My mother growled at me.

"I don't know why you're here, or what you're doing here, but stay away from me." I said, walking away.

"Rose… wait-." Dimitri called. I didn't turn, I kept walking even thought I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was I needed to get the hell out of here. I eventually ran into Adrian, thank God. The moment he saw me, he frowned.

"Woah, you're aura's almost black. What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing… I just… nothing. Is there a gym in this place anywhere?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, come on… I'll show you." He said, offering me his arm. I took it, and allowed him to escort me down the hall. When we reached a door, he opened it and smiled.

"If you need me, Rose… You know I'm here…right?" He asked. I nodded.

"I know. Thank you, Adrian. I just need to blow off some steam."

"Alright." He said. He kissed my hand, and released me. "Have fun."

"Hey… If you run into Dimitri or Guardian Hathaway… you haven't seen me." I said. He nodded.

"You've got it." He said. He turned and disappeared. I walked into the dark gym, letting my eyes adjust before I found the light switch. The room was huge, and open. There were lots of work out machines, and then a bunch of fighting dummies and stake dummies lining the walls of an empty portion of the gym, along with a punching bag. I walked over to the bag, not caring to wear gloves or prepare. I just lost control, letting everything out into the bag. I threw punches and kicks, getting everything out of my system. I wasn't sure how long I'd been going, before I felt something wet start to trickle down my wrists. I stopped and looked at my hands to see my knuckles were raw, bleeding, and disgusting. I sighed, and sat down against the wall, placing my forehead on my knees. My mother being here wasn't the best thing for me. I would have been ten times better off without seeing her. I understood what Dimitri thought he was doing for me. I understood that he thought it was what was best, but a little warning would have been nice. I wasn't sure how long I sat there, before I heard the door open, and looked up to find Dimitri walk in. I cussed under my breath.

"I've been looking for you."

"Adrian told you where I was…didn't he?" I asked. He shook his head. "Now you're lying to me too."

"Alright, yes… Adrian told me." He said. I nodded. He walked over, and finally noticed the puddle of blood where my hands were. "What'd you do?" He asked, reaching for my hand as he knelt down beside me. I snatched my hand away from him.

"Don't touch me… Dimitri."

"Rose, don't-." I pushed myself up off the ground, and he stood up as well. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I should have, and I'm sorry."

"I don't need you deciding what is and isn't good for me. I was much better off not seeing her. I'm better off without her."

"She's still your mother." He said.

"Oh yeah, well when you drop your kid off and leave her for ten years, I wouldn't exactly say that deserves the mother of the year award." I told him.

"She's been doing her job."

"Her job was to be a mother, to atleast pretend that she gave a shit out me to begin with." I told him, walking away.

"Rose, stop walking away… talk to me." He said, grabbing my wrist gently.

"Maybe you should have talked to me before you went making calls about what was good for me." I said, pulling my wrist from him, and walking away.