When Rose is shot by Tasha Ozera in Last Sacrifice, both Lissa and Adrian use all of the Spirit they can wield to try and bring her back. In a shocking turn of events, Rose is not only healed, but somehow ends up somewhere she never could have imagined. Canon up until Time-Travel. Rated T for language. First multi-chapter fic.
My pride was still hurt over the ease with which Dimitri had tricked us, but it occurred to me that he might very well keep me here with Lissa. Better to stay at this hellhole than be without her. Through our bond, I could feel her trickle of hope.
"Who's going to put in the extra time?" demanded Kirova. "You?"
Dimitri's argument came to an abrupt stop. "Well, that's not what I—"
Kirova crossed her arms with satisfaction. "Yes. That's what I thought."
Clearly at a loss, he frowned. His eyes flicked toward Lissa and me, and I wondered what he saw. Two pathetic girls, looking at him with big, pleading eyes? Or two runaways who'd broken out of a high-security school and swiped half of Lissa's inheritance?
"Yes," he said finally. "I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones."
"And then what?" retorted Kirova angrily. " She goes unpunished?"
"Find some other way to punish her," answered Dimitri. "Guardian numbers have gone down too much to risk losing another. A girl, in particular."
Vampire Academy
- Richelle Mead
Bonds Of Time
Chapter Two
Shake It Out
The second the SUV stopped my seat belt was unbuckled for me and I was pulled from the back seat like a disobedient toddler. A million snappy comments came to mind but I kept my mouth clamped tightly shut. I wanted to whine and complain about my treatment, but I really didn't think my captor would appreciate my sense of humor when I had bested three of his guys. Dimitri held my arm tightly and I looked over and smiled at Lissa as he half dragged me across campus. She'd been in another vehicle with her entourage of four guardians, including the three that I had beat the hell out of, and was actually getting to walk to her own fate.
Clusters of students were littered about the courtyard waiting for their next class when we walked through, but Dimitri was a man on a mission and didn't bat an eye at having two hundred plus teenagers staring at him. I, on the other hand, was eating it up. My white tank top was splattered in blood. My shorts were showing off my nicely scraped and dirty knees. Leaves and twigs were stuck throughout my ponytail. A flap of flesh was dangling from my forehead. Yeah, I looked totally bad ass. Camille Conta's gum fell out of her gaping mouth. Jesse Zeklos' eyes almost popped out of his head when I smiled widely, showing off my blood stained teeth and winking at him. And Mason. Mason was alive and whole and smiling at me, holding two thumbs up in honor of my legendary entrance.
Well, it would have been legendary if I hadn't once again collapsed onto my hands and knees and vomited a large amount of blood and bile onto the highly polished black leather shoes belonging to a very tiny Moroi girl. She lurched back in disgust and sneered at me with no small amount of loathing in her eyes. My laugh came out as a string of high pitched wheezes that would have sounded amusing had it not hurt so bad.
"Mia?" I licked my lips and looked up at her, tilting my head to the side. "Is that you? You haven't grown a bit."
"Hathaway," Dimitri pulled me back up, "we need to get you to the clinic."
"I'm okay," The metallic taste in my mouth was horrible and I wiped my lips with the back of my hand. "I don't need the clinic."
Extreme unease flooded through the bond and I was forcefully pulled into Lissa's mind without being able to stop it. Lissa walked into Kirova's office feeling like she was going up against a firing squad. Her fear doubled when the vulture like Headmistress stalked toward her with fury in her eyes. But a loud cough interrupted the bitch fest that was yet to be.
Victor Dashkov sat in the far corner, looking shittier than ever and I had to repress a growl at the thought of him being in the same room as Lissa. She ran into his waiting arms, bursting into tears when he hugged her. Despite my new-found knowledge and hatred for the sorry sack of crap, all Lissa could feel was loads of love for the deteriorating scrap of a man. But there was nothing I could say or do to get him out of here without large amounts of evidence that I simply didn't have. Yet. I wanted to vomit, again.
Thankfully, Kirova interrupted their reunion by interrogating Lissa at length about me kidnapping her. Lissa was vehement in my defense, claiming that it had all been her idea. That she had felt like she was going crazy before. She also said something that made my heart swell in pride.
"I was going to go with or without Rose." Angry tears were leaking from her eyes, while she pointed her finger at Kirova in accusation. "I wouldn't be alive today had she not been there to save me from the psi-hounds that you sent. They were going to kill me!"
Okay, that part made me cringe just a little bit. Thanks to something called automobiles, the psi-hounds were fairly simple to evade. Not to mention the fact that it was Victor that sent them.
"Be assured, Miss Dragomir," Kirova leaned forward and stared at Lissa, an insulted look on her face, "we never sent psi-hounds after you, just guardians. But it's no matter now, you're back and you're safe. You may leave now and attend your third period class. I think you'll find your books and belongings where you left them in the dorms. Guardian Petrov will escort you to your first class."
"But what about Rose?" Lissa didn't move from her chair, looking both shocked and more than a little irritated. "She's hurt. May I go see her first?"
"It's not advisable." Kirova stuck her beak in the air. "You will wait until she is released from the clinic."
"What will happen to her after that?" Lissa close to compelling answers from the older woman, I could feel the determination bubbling up in her.
"Miss Hathaway's future at this school has yet to be decided." Kirova looked far too happy about that. "She will receive medical care and we will figure out whether or not we allow her to continue her education. Now please, Miss Dragomir, you're already running late."
Darkness flooded into her mind, as she gave into her fear, but I wouldn't let her jeopardize herself. Pulling all of it from her at once was like touching a live electric wire and a dead body at the same time. The pure rage and hatred that the darkness caused felt gross and slimy in my mind and at the same time gave me enough energy to pull my mind back to my own body.
Dimitri hovered over me shaking my shoulders and repeating my name. The bright florescent lights in the clinic assaulted my eyes and I cringed away, instinctively raising a hand to block out the light. The feel of my back rubbing against the thin sheets grated on my nerves. The hum of the lights made me homicidal. The pain surging through my body begged me to inflict pain on someone else.
I took in a shaky breath to calm myself before speaking. "Whoa, Comrade," I tried to gently break his iron grip, afraid that I might lose control and hurt him, "I might just puke again if you keep moving me."
"You were catatonic." Dimitri looked at me with worried eyes. "I couldn't get you to respond."
"I was with Lissa," I internally winced at my careless choice of words.
The whole time travel dream crap was starting to get confusing. This Dimitri had no clue of the bond that I had with Lissa. Aggravated, I slapped the palm of my hand into my forehead, then yelped when the searing pain erupted on impact. I had also forgotten about my own freaking injuries. It was not a good night for me. Figures that it had to be a Wednesday. I hated Wednesdays.
"We have a bond." I gazed up at him dazedly.
Dimitri and seen him staring at me with narrowed eyes. "Explain."
"I can sense her emotions." My tone was harsh and my slurred speech made no sense to my own ears, but there was really no way for me to control it at the moment. "It helps me keep her safe."
He probably thought I was going insane, and I couldn't help but think that he might be right. Any comments he might have had were brutally interrupted by another round of bloody coughs. I tried to pull in a breath full of air, but choked violently on the air itself.
"Doctor!" Dimitri called for help, turning me onto my side.
Dr. Olendzki rounded the corner with a young blond Moroi nurse right behind her. My perverted young mind automatically went to what the two of them could have been up to in the back room while I was drowning in my own fluids and waiting for them to show up. Fortunately there was no sexiness involved with what they did to me. The procedure of having the fluid drained from ones was far less fun than it sounded. There were tubes, there was a lot of gagging and the pain was enough to knock my ass out cold. Thankfully my non-consentual sleep was peaceful and pain free thanks to the good drugs they put me on.
While I was unconscious, I was pulled into Lissa's mind once again. She was back in Kirova's office and Dimitri was sitting in the chair to her left. Kirova looked far less friendly without Victor in the room.
"Miss Hathaway may have tagged along with Miss Dragomir," Dimitri said in a serious tone, "but I have reason to believe that she didn't do so out of malice or rebellion. I sincerely think that she did what she thought would be best for the Princess. I also have reason to believe that the two girls share a bond."
"It's true," Lissa put her head down.
"Impossible." Kirova exclaimed, looking at Lissa with disbelief etched on her face.
"I have seen it for myself." Dimitri nodded at her. "Also, Miss Hathaway was able to take out three fully trained guardians while badly injured and she would have attempted to fight the rest of us had Miss Dragomir not stopped her."
"That only shows that she is uncontrollable." Kirova scoffed. "The girl has a history of being violent and rebellious. And that's besides the point. She is too far behind in her training. We don't have the staff to dedicate to get her back up to speed with her peers."
I fought against the bond and returned to my own sleepy mind. I didn't like staying in Lissa's mind any longer than I had to. It just felt wrong. My heart hurt at the thought of being sent away from Lissa. It almost hurt worse to think of being away from Dimitri. Dream or not, I remembered everything with perfect clarity. It didn't help my sanity that things were playing out in the exact same way. It was disturbing to think that the horrors I'd faced would have to be revisited, but in the same sense, if the dream was coming true, I had the opportunity to change everything. I could save a lot of lives. I could prevent terrible things from happening, or at least I thought I could. I was still trying to wrap my mind around the craziness of my current situation.
My mind went back to the night at the little cabin on the edge of the grounds. The night I'd slept with Dimitri. Yeah, there is no way even my vivid imagination could make up something that great.
I fell asleep remembering the way it felt to lay in Dimitri's arms, letting his large warm arms guard me from everything and everyone in the world.
My eyes were still foggy with sleep when Dr. Olendzki woke me first thing the next evening, sentencing me to another day in the clinic until my ribs were fully mended. The elderly doctor smiled kindly and patted my hand as she injected another round of the good shit into my IV, making the residual pain ebb into the background.
Kirova shown up to visit me not long after, letting me know just when and what I'd be released to do.
"Miss Hathaway," Kirova looked at me like she was ready to strangle me with her bare hands, "Despite me own reservations, it has been decided that you can return to classes. But be warned that you are here on strict probationary terms. If you step one toe out of line I will have you shipped out of this school faster than you can blink. In that same light I want to let you know that you will not be allowed to attended anything other than classes and meals. You will have to double your workload to catch up to your peers and you will be taking on extra training with Guardian Belikov at any time he demands. Taking Miss Dragomir out of this school is by far the stupidest thing I've ever seen a novice do and I will not have you setting a bad example for the other students. Do you understand the conditions I have set?"
"Yes ma'am." I put my head down and tried to keep from smirking at the fact that Kirova had spit all over Dr. Olendzki's chart during her rant.
"Do you have anything to say to explain your deplorable actions?" Kirova asked with a smug tone.
The poor woman thought that she had me all subdued and broken. "Miss Karp was the one to convince us to leave."
The minute that I said the name of the former instructor, Kirova's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but I didn't shut up. "Miss Karp looked me right in the eyes and told me that I had to get Lissa out of the school. She told me that we had to leave or Lissa would be in danger. It didn't really make sense to me at the time, but when Lissa came to me crying and begging for us to leave. I had no choice but to go with her. I couldn't let her go alone and I wasn't sure who to trust."
Kirova held up a perfectly manicured hand to stop me from continuing. "While your intentions may have seemed right, you should have told someone that Vasilisa felt threatened here. We would have assured you both that there is absolutely no threat to her at this school."
Yeah, if you don't count her sadistic uncle and the hyenas that they call teenagers. I thought to myself.
"We're done here, Miss Hathaway." Kirova finished, glancing at her nails. "Report to Guardian Belikov first thing in the morning before breakfast. He'll have your revised schedule."
Kirova left without another word and I let out a sigh of relief. I felt much better and wanted nothing more than to get out of here and go see Lissa, but I knew that it wouldn't fly with the good doctor, so I put my head back against the pillows and fell into a restless sleep. My dreams were haunted by a Strigoi Dimitri watching me, teasing me, biting me.
Twenty four hours later, Lissa dropped by for a brief moment, on her way to breakfast. She'd brought one of my favorite track suits - folded neatly in a little bag - along with my bath kit.
"I'll see you at breakfast." She pulled me into a quick hug.
Her weary resignation trickled through the bond. While she'd fed, and slept, making her coloring appear healthier, her state of mind was frayed and worn.
"Chin up, Liss." I lightly punched her shoulder. "We can do this. We are young. We are strong."
Her amusement bolstered my spirits and a smile lit up her face. "Are you seriously quoting Pat Benatar?"
"I work with what I know." I shrugged.
She pulled me into another quick hug, chuckling lightly as she left me to get ready. I made use of the clinic's facilities and had a very relaxing shower, making sure I was thoroughly scrubbed, dressed, and had my game face on. And after a quick word with the nurse I walked out of the clinic with my head held high.
Despite the crappy circumstances, I finally felt like I was back home. The cool fall air felt wonderful as I walked to the guardian offices.Maybe this time around, I could work a little bit harder to make good grades while trying to save the world.I thought. Yeah, I really didn't see that happening. Dream DeLorean couldn't dictate a girl's will to live a little.
Dimitri was waiting in the conference room, a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, when I walked in. He lifted his eyes to mine and I saw a glint of some emotion in his eyes that I couldn't quite decipher. He nodded to the chair across from him and I sat down without taking my eyes off of him. At six foot seven he dwarfed just about everyone he came across, even sitting he was a sight to behold. It didn't hurt that he was devastatingly gorgeous. But unlike the Dimitri I had left in my dream, this one didn't have the immense sadness of death hanging on his conscious. This Dimitri didn't have innocent blood on his hands like Dream Dimitri did. And I already knew I would do everything in my power to make sure he never went through that kind of pain.
"Your schedule, Miss Hathaway." He slid the piece of paper across the table.
"Rose." I corrected him. "My name is Rose."
"You're going to miss breakfast, Rose." He said with inflection. "I'll meet you in the gym in thirty minutes."
I stood up and clicked my heels together as I saluted him. "Aye, Aye, Comrade."
He shook his head and sighed in exasperation, but as he went back to his book, I thought I saw the ghost of a smile cross his face.
Breakfast was more wonderful than I could ever have imagined. A girl like me really loved the whole buffet deal that they used at the Academy. By the time I sat down my tray had to have weighed at least five pounds. Lissa looked at the mountain of eggs, bacon and toast with wide eyes.
"Are you okay?" I whispered, seeing that the weary and tired expression had returned.
"I'll be okay," Lissa scrubbed at her face with her palm, "they've put Natalie in my room and she talks nonstop. We were up half the night 'catching up'."
My heart rate picked up dramatically when I thought of the bad things that could happen with Victor's daughter being in Lissa's room. Natalie was a sweet girl, and I really believed that she'd just felt so out of place and lonely at the school that she hadn't realized what a big mistake she was making by going along with her father's schemes. All I had to do was try and help her feel more included. Maybe that would keep her from destroying and ultimately ending her own life in a vain attempt to win her father's attention.
"I saw what happened in Kirova's office." I said in between bites of food. "I appreciate what you said."
"It was all true." Lissa put her hand on top of my empty one. "But really, Rose, you need to start chewing your food. Swallowing it whole can't be good for you."
I smiled at her, showing a mouthful of half chewed bacon, making her giggle and shake her head at me. "You're certainly in a better mood."
"Don't get me wrong," I shook my fork at her and took a gulp of orange juice, "I'm still pissed about that tree whooping my ass, but I can't deny that the food here is better than my cooking."
"Your cooking was great!" Lissa exclaimed. "We never starved and you only set the kitchen on fire twice."
I smiled at the fond memories. "Are the others treating you okay?"
Lissa's smile faltered and I felt her agitation leaking through the bond while I mentally kicked myself for bringing it up. "Aaron's new girlfriend is a real piece of work. And Camille keeps asking stupid questions. But otherwise I haven't really been sticking around long enough for them to talk to me."
"We're the hot gossip for the moment," I told her with an air of acting like it was a good thing, "and don't worry about little Mia. She's probably still pissed off about me puking on her shoes."
Lissa's eyes widened in amusement as she put a hand over her mouth. "You didn't!"
"Oh yeah, bloody puke from shins down." I laughed at the appalled look on her face, "She probably had to throw them away."
The bell rang and Lissa and I both shot up out of our chairs and bussed our trays. "Good luck today, Rose."
"Don't worry about me." I hugged her tightly. "I'll be sparring with the hot Russian all day."
Lissa shot a scandalized look over her shoulder as I took off in the other direction. If she only knew.
End Chapter Two