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.

"There had to be more than last time," said my mother.

"More?" exclaimed one of the other guardians. "That last group was unheard of. I still can't believe nine Strigoi managed to work together—you expect me to believe they managed to get more organized still?"

"Yes," snapped my mother.

"Any evidence of humans?" someone else asked.

My mother hesitated, then: "Yes. More broken wards. And the way it was all conducted…it's identical to the Badica attack."

Frostbite

-Richelle Mead

Bonds of Time

Chapter Eighteen

Let Her Go

Adrian was silent for the first hour of the flight. He didn't speak to me at all as he typed furiously on his laptop. Part of me was curious as to what he was doing; the other part was dreading the upcoming situation at the Drozdovs. At some point I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, I woke to the sound of furious whispers. I stayed still and kept my breathing even as I eavesdropped.

"You had to have done something!" Adrian hissed. "I've never seen her look so heartbroken before."

"It's none of your concern, Ivashkov." Dimitri's accent was thicker than ever. "Now I need to speak to Rose. And if I find that you're the one who helped her sneak on this plane you will deal with me."

Adrian's response was low and angry. "No, I'm not leaving, because if you hurt her again I want to be here to end you myself."

"I'll kick both of your asses if you don't shut the fuck up." I grumbled as I yawned and scratched at the wig again.

"How was your nap, Rosie?" Adrian cooed as he put an arm around me and leaned back to smirk at Dimitri.

I cut my eyes over at Adrian and lifted an eyebrow at him. "Interrupted by your bickering."

"Rose, can I talk to you?" Dimitri glared at Adrian who just smiled slyly. "Alone."

"I've already said that I'm not going anywhere." Adrian shook his head and rubbed my shoulder. "Tell him, Rose."

"Actually, he does have some explaining to do." I glanced at Dimitri. "Give us two minutes, please."

Something in my weary tone must have surprised Adrian because he squeezed my shoulder and stood up. "I think there's a mini-bar somewhere that needs emptying. I'll be right back."

Dimitri's expression turned stony as Adrian walked away. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Considering the number of guardians that have volunteered for this suicide mission, I figured they could use all the help they could get." I turned away from him. "Shouldn't you be at the lodge guarding Lissa? Or would you just find yourself in Tasha's bed again?"

Dimitri closed his eyes and put his head down. "You were right about her. She was not acting like herself. She has always been lonely and jaded, but I didn't expect her to react so desperately."

"So she hasn't tried to jump your bones in the past?" I asked curiously, and saw him shake his head. "That's surprising."

"She was trying to compel me." Dimitri said in a harsh whisper.

"Looked to me like she was succeeding." A humorless chuckle escaped my lips.

"I was not compelled." Dimitri said, he leaned closer to me. "I hoped that she would stop, that she would come to her senses, but it was like she was possessed."

"So you just obeyed her?" I asked in confusion. "When were you going to stop her? After you knocked her up?"

Dimitri looked as though I had slapped him and I had to bite my lip to keep from saying anything else.

"No," Dimitri growled, "I was getting ready to walk out and report her to Guardian Petrov when you walked in."

"Really." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Do you not understand how hard it would be to report her for using compulsion, if all I could say was that she asked me to remove my shirt and sit on the bed?" Dimitri scoffed. "I'd be laughed at and then probably fired."

Dimitri reached into the pocket of his duster and pulled out a small silver medallion and a cell phone. "I started recording our conversation when she asked me to go to her room and I declined. She turned around and looked me in the eyes and ordered me to go. I've never really been susceptible to compulsion, but when the Princess began using it, Kirova gave me one of these medallions that they had confiscated from Victor. It protects the wearer from even the strongest compulsion."

Dimitri looked around to be sure that we weren't being watched as he grabbed my hand. "You have to believe me, Rose. I would never betray you like that. I just didn't understand what could be so important that she'd have to compel me. And you are right about what she wanted."

"A baby." I shook my head. "But if you didn't have any clue of why she wanted you to go to her room, why did you start recording the conversation?"

"I trust your instincts." Dimitri smiled sadly at me. "She was an old friend and a good person the last time we spoke, but when you said that you didn't trust her, I took that into account. I've sent a copy of the recording to Guardian Petrov. She has informed me that she will keep an eye on Tasha and take the necessary steps to press charges. "

"Damn straight I've got good instincts." I looked at him over the top of the sunglasses. "Adrian's walking back, comrade."

"So what'd I miss?" Adrian sat down smelling strongly of liquor. "Am I kicking his ass, Rose?"

"Nah," I shook my head and smiled at him. "We're good."

"You're not going to the Drozdovs, Rose." Dimitri said as the pilot announced our landing.

"I'm not staying here and waiting." I stared at him in determination. "You know that I can help. And I won't sit here while you and my mother go out there to fight who knows how many Strigoi."

"Do I need to get your mother over here to make you see reason?" Dimitri threatened. "Or will you just listen to me for once?"

"Fine," I crossed my arms and my fingers as I leaned back in my seat. "I'll stay on the fucking plane."

Dimitri gave me a shrewd look then looked at Adrian. "Will you keep her here, where it's safe?"

Adrian looked at me as though he was trying to decipher my reason to stay behind. "I won't let her out of my sight."

Twenty minutes later, Adrian drove a massive black SUV through the airport gates and onto the Northern Californian highway. He had to compel one of the guardians to let us commandeer the vehicle. We had watched the guardians gather at the landing strip, among those was Arthur Schoenberg and two people I didn't recognize. We had made it all of five minutes down the road when a guardian headset that was hanging from the rearview mirror began yelling at me, loudly.

"Rosemarie Hathaway!" My mother shouted, making both Adrian and I grimace. "What on earth do you think you're doing back there?"

I reached forward and clicked the power button, cutting her off mid rant. "Guess she caught me."

"Are you sure you need to be here for this, Rose?" Adrian glanced at me as he sped up and passed the other three SUVS in our convoy. "I'm starting to get a really bad feeling about helping you."

"Are you chickening out on me?" I asked him seriously. "I can drive if you don't want to."

"You're mom and boyfriend are going to kill me, and for the life of me I can't choose which one of them scares me more." Adrian shivered as though the mere thought frightened him.

"I'll handle them." I waved off his concern despite the fact that I was scared shitless.

"So in your dream, this was a pretty bad attack?" Adrian asked nervously.

"Yeah," I sighed and rubbed my temples to ease the headache that was building. "Just like the Badica attack, there were no survivors."

The drive was long and Adrian and I took turns being paranoid about what would happen when we finally got to the Estate. From what I gathered from Adrian, the Drozdov home was a heavily warded eight hundred acre estate that was nestled deep in the mountains. Adrian's contact had called him almost halfway to our destination saying that they were unable to help us at that time, sending Adrian into a fit of rage. With my hand on his arm, I pulled the madness from him, helping him calm down and leaving me with a growing feeling of dread. It was shortly into the afternoon when we pulled up to the massive wooden gates. Adrian was sun burnt and tired when he parked the SUV, making me feel even worse about him being a part of this.

"Stay here, I'm going to see if the gate works." I told him as I opened the door and stepped out.

The others hadn't arrived yet and already my heart was pounding behind my ribcage just thinking of the massive bitching out I was going to have to deal with. The code box to the gate was fried and looked like it had been shot with a machine gun. I could feel the darkness swirling around me and already the ghosts were beginning to appear, their gaunt translucent faces looking at me, studying me as they crept closer and closer. Letting them get so close was inviting in a world of trouble and insanity, but I needed all the help I could get.

"Are there survivors?" I whispered quietly as I stared at a young girl with a haggard face who stood at the front of the group.

She nodded her head and peered at me with dead soulless eyes. My heart leapt with relief. There was still time to save to save the occupants from a horrible fate. The sound of doors slamming pulled me from the moment and I turned around to see three very angry guardians standing in front of me.

I opened my mouth to speak but my mother held up a hand to stop me. "Don't say a word, Rose. There is nothing that you can say to justify this. You're getting back in that vehicle and Mr. Ivashkov will drive you back to the airport immediately. And don't think that you can wait until we're out of sight. There is GPS in those vehicles that we can track. I'll deal with you when we're back on the plane."

I kept my mouth shut as I walked back to the SUV, and got in slamming the door loudly. Adrian was lying back in his seat with the air conditioner going full blast with his jacket covering his face.

"You need to drive back to the airport." I said calmly. "They're tracking the vehicle and I'm going to be in deep shit if I don't get back to the plane."

"And you're just agreeing with this?" Adrian moved the jacket aside to give me a look.

"No," I responded firmly, "You're driving back to the airport and are going to compel whoever you can to get a helicopter here as fast as they can. You're going to drop me off on the side of the road about a quarter of a mile from here."

"Sounds like something I can do." Adrian nodded as he sat up. "Are you going to be okay going in there alone?"

"Yeah," I said as he cranked the vehicle and backed up, "I'll meet up with the guardians and go in with them."

Okay, so I wasn't all that confident, but I had to do something to get him to safety. And considering how much trouble I was going to be in, I was less than thrilled to meet up with my mother, Dimitri, and Alberta.

"Okay, stop here." I said as soon as we were far enough away from the rest of the group to avoid them seeing me.

I dug around in the SUV until I found what I had been looking for. By the time Adrian left me on the side of the road, I had a backpack on my shoulders that held two silver stakes, a small medical kit and a machete that looked like it had seen better days. The trek through the dense underbrush was unlike anything I had ever been through and it took me almost half an hour to reach the clearing where the Estate stood. Despite that, I was still ahead of the rescue group, who had apparently taken a longer route as they walked along the driveway. The beautiful home was in ruins, there were wrecked vehicles and a destroyed helicopter lying in the front yard. The small traces of smoke I had smelled from the underbrush was coming from the house, but there was no sign of a fire.

"Rose!" My mother spotted me from fifty feet away.

I walked up to them with my held high and a stake clutched tightly in my hand. Dimitri looked like he was ready to breathe fire. My mother shook her head at me and Alberta sighed loudly as I joined them. It was Arthur who surprised me.

"Rose," he pulled me into a hug, "it's good to see you again. Although I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Me too, sir." I said quietly.

"Call me Art." He nodded at me. "We've fought together and I didn't have to save your ass, so you can call me Art."

"So what's the plan?" I asked him, ignoring the incredulous staring that I could feel from the fourteen guardians.

"What are your thoughts, child?" Art asked me as we looked at the smoldering ruin that used to be a beautiful estate.

"There are more than thirty Strigoi inside." I said, using my own nausea and the ghost's knowledge as a reference. "There has been some kind of explosion and the structure of the house seems unstable. The helicopter and transports have been taken out. We don't know how many survivors are inside."

"Very good." Arthur responded grimly as he measured my words.

We split up into four small groups as we covered the grounds and outbuildings for survivors. My mother, Tamara, and a young guardian who I'd never met before were in my group, as we entered into the once magnificent estate. There was destruction everywhere as we walked into the smoke filled main floor. Our steps were quiet and sure as we carefully walked throughout the household. We stayed silent, using only hand signals to talk to each other. I was grateful for that fact, as I was dreading what my mother and instructors had to say about me stowing away on their rescue mission.

After over an hour of careful movements to avoid weak points in the floor, my mother pointed to the surprisingly intact basement door and then at me. She then pointed at Tamara and the other guardian to take the stairs up to look for survivors. Things went downhill after we split up. We were slowly creeping down the stairs and into the basement hallway when we had to pause at the report coming over the headsets that we all wore. I could hear Art telling my mother about the humans that he and Dimitri had discovered in another section of the house. They confessed to setting explosives throughout the basement to flush out the Moroi the night before, and several had gone off too early which lead to the destruction of the house that morning. The others were set to go off later that night. The good news was that the Strigoi had gotten trapped down there when the sun came up, the bad news was that they had taken a young girl there with them as a hostage.

My mother turned to me with a determined look as she pointed to the stairs. I shook my head at her as I placed a hand on her shoulder. There was no way I could leave her with thirty Strigoi in a basement all by herself. She put her head down as we walked throughout the dark room. Our steps were soundless and careful, but still the Strigoi could be heard scratching at the door to the panic room. It looked like they had gone in there for cover and after the first explosion they had ended up trapped inside. My mother's eyes widened as she pointed to a small still figure in the far back corner of the massive basement. We didn't have the luxury of flashlights or electricity as we made our way to where the child sat huddled up against the far wall. Our only light was the slowly setting sun that counted down until the Strigoi really came to life. If we didn't get out of there by then, there was no hope for us.

"There is a remote detonator in the basement, Janine," Art said over the headsets, "the humans working with the Strigoi planned to bring the house down on top of the Drozdovs after this raid, but we captured them before they could make the call. From what this man says, it's supposed to be above the door handle to the panic room. One of the Stigoi was meant to set the explosion when the rest were clear."

I split off from my mother when I heard that. She saw my movement and spun around with a furious look, but I ignored her as I quietly walked up to the door. I could see the red handled remote hanging from a strap on the doorknob. The sounds of screams and wails made me take a step back, away from the door, after I had grabbed the detonator and moved to where my mother was standing. She kept a hand on my arm as we kept our backs to the wall and made our way to where the little girl sat.

The ghosts surrounded me and I could see the anticipation in their eyes. With my stake grasped firmly in my hand, I looked up to see two Strigoi hanging from the rafters overhead. The first jumped down and cocked his head to the side with his fangs bared. With a lightning quick move I plunged the stake into his chest and then pulled it out as he flopped to the floor. He must have been newly awakened because there was no way that I could have done such a thing with an older and more experienced Strigoi. The second was a middle aged woman. She hissed at me through her teeth as I backed away, blocking her view from where my mother was, and she darted toward me. I dropped to one knee and let her sail over my head and land onto the cement floor with a loud thump. She jumped back up and darted forward. Her fist hit my temple and my head flew backwards under the force of her punch. When I regained my balance, I shoved the stake forward and she shrieked in rage as it impaled the top of her ribs, nowhere near the heart. Before I could even register what happened, she dropped to the ground motionless.

"Quiet." My mother breathed as she pulled her stake from the Strigoi's back, grabbed my arm and pulled me into the small alcove where the little girl was at.

A loud explosion sent us flying to the floor and covering our heads. When it was over, I scrambled to my feet and helped my mother up. We both stumbled and coughed. The little girl cried quietly as I pulled her into my arms and tried to get her to stop crying. The Strigoi trapped in the bomb shelter were screaming and yelling loudly and we didn't need to tip them off to the fact that there was fresh blood so close to them. The little girl had tears streaming down her face and more tears pooling in her eyes. She looked from me to my mother in fear and buried her head into my neck. I didn't know what else to do but hold her as my mother searched the room for another way out. The small hallway we had walked through was completely blocked off. The vents were barely large enough to give us light to see, but still to small for us to crawl out of, not to mention that they were set four foot deep into the ground and made of concrete.

After we reported our position and situation, there was nothing else to do but wait. We must have sat down there for hours, waiting in silence and hoping that our rescuers would show up before the Strigoi clawed their way through the thick concrete walls.

"Other than the Drozdov's daughter, everyone has been extracted from the buildings." Dimtri's silky voice sounded over the headset.

I pressed the button on my headset. "We've got her. She's a little shaken up but okay. You'll need to check the air vents along the bottom of the basement to find the quickest extraction point for her. Guardian Hathaway and I will probably have to fight our way out."

My mother gave me a look of grim determination as she pressed the button on her headset. "East wall, sixth vent over. Bring a rope."

"I'm on my way." Dimitri responded quickly.

"Come on, sweetie." My mother cooed to the little girl. "Let's get you to your mom and dad."

She whispered to me as I handed her the detonator. "Rose, make sure she can fit through there."

The little girl was tiny, she couldn't have been more than two or three, but still, the vent wasn't very big. I took off my leather jacket and wrapped it around her tiny shoulders and used the arms of the coat to tie it around her tightly to keep the rough concrete from scraping her tender skin. I heard the creaking of metal as Dimitri pried the metal guard from the vent and sent a line of rope down.

"You stay very still while they pull you up, okay." I told her as I grabbed the rope from the end of the vent and carefully tied it around her.

"Quickly, Rose," Janine hissed at me as the ceiling above us began to creak ominously.

I tugged on the rope twice to let Dimitri know that we were ready as I pressed the button on my earpiece. "We've got her ready."

"Okay, lift her into the vent." Dimitri responded quickly. "We've got the medics at the chopper waiting, but they're almost out of fuel so you're going to have to hurry."

"Got it." I told him as I broke the connection.

"Good luck, kiddo." I said as I lifted her into the vent.

My mother and I both watched as she was pulled safely through.

"That's it," Janine smiled at me as she turned around and pulled the detonator out of her jacket pocket, "let's find another way out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice." I laughed as I turned around and headed towards the pile of rubble that blocked our path to the basement stairs.

"Rose!" My mother yelled. "Move!"

She shoved me roughly to the side as a huge portion of the ceiling fell down. Huge chunks of concrete and metal along with tools of different types rained down on top of us. Chaos ensued as I heard the loud crunch of a concrete block falling on my arm and screamed. I staggered but managed to remain standing. I was trapped; my arm was pinned as I tried to cover my head with my other arm.

"Mom!" I yelled for her when the dust was settled. "Mom."

Silence engulfed me. There, lying trapped underneath the rubble not one foot away from me was my mother. She had a look of shock plastered on her face as she stared up into what must have been the Drozdov's garage. She had been crushed by a sheet of concrete from her chest down.

"Mom!" I yelled as I tried to free my arm. "Mom! Wake up!"

My breaths were coming in short gasps and my heart raced as I searched my surroundings for something to pry the concrete off of my arm. A piece of rebar stuck out amongst the rest where it had broken off and I grabbed it quickly and shoved it in between the pieces of concrete, using all of my strength to free my arm. It didn't work, there had to have been almost four hundred pounds of concrete pinning me there. It had to have been some kind of cruel joke. My mother was the epitome of cool, calm, collected and prepared. There was no way she could have been caught off guard. There was no way that she could be gone. Not here. Not this way.

"Come on, mom!" I screamed at her, but she laid still and unmoving. "NO!"

My scream of rage and pain had only one affect. The Strigoi behind the concrete wall began digging furiously in an attempt to free themselves. My chest hurt badly, and my eyes watered as I tried to keep myself from crying out anymore. The rescue team had to leave within the next few minutes or the Strigoi would break free and attack without hesitation. Something red on the ground below me caught my eye and I had to use the piece of rebar to drag it close enough to reach. It was the remote detonator that would set off the explosives surrounding the basement.

The dark fog swirled and pooled around me and from the mist a form emerged. Just as she was in life, my mother stood before me, mere shadow and vapor. Her hand reached out and her icy touch grazed my cheek. I shook my head at her as I looked away. It was too much. Her hand grasped mine and I could feel her trying to tug at it.

"I have to." I said to her as she looked at me with tears in her eyes. "But I'll see you soon."

She shook her head furiously and tried and failed again to really grab my hand. "I'm sorry, mom. I should have protected you. I should have listened to you."

She tugged at my hand once more and then stopped. Her eyes looked so sad that I had to look away. She wasn't supposed to die. It was all my fault. I had changed things and had inadvertently put her in the path of danger.

"Please don't leave me." I pleaded with her. "Please, stay until it's over."

She smiled sadly at me and stood as close as she could. My vision spun wildly and I swayed on my feet. My mother tapped my forehead with an icy finger to keep me awake, and I looked up to see her pointing at her earpiece. She was right, I could still call out. It didn't have to end this way.

"Dimitri?" I said into the earpiece. "Where are you?"

"I'm almost to the chopper." Dimitri responded within seconds. "What was that noise? Where are you and Janine?"

"She…she didn't make it." I whispered as I looked from where my mother lay to where her ghost stood.

"Roza," he said softly, "are you okay? Where are you?"

"One of the supports gave in. The ceiling collapsed." Tears began pooling in my eyes. "I'm trapped."

"Where," Dimitri growled out and I could hear him cursing in Russian.

"Look, there's no time." My throat felt tight and I had to get the words out before I wouldn't be able to. "If I don't blow this thing now, they're going to escape. The sun is setting and we won't be able to get down the road before they're after us. There are too many."

"Is she injured?" I could hear the voice of one of the medics ask him about the little girl and I hoped that she'd be okay.

"Take her." Dimitri ordered the medic.

"Rose, wait." He begged me. "We can fight them off and get to you."

"No!" I cried. "This is the only way. I have to blow it now."

"Roza," I could hear the strain in his voice.

Time was up. I held tightly to the switch and forced my hands not to shake as I pulled the safety guard off. There was so much that I had left to do, see, say, and experience, but if that was my last moment there was only one thing that was important.

"I love you." I said as loudly as I could. "Damn, it feels good to finally say that. I love you, Dimitri. I always have and I always will."

"Don't." He pleaded.

I pushed the button and the world around me exploded into the most glorious light.

End Chapter Eighteen

Thoughts? Comments? Let me know. I always reply and love to hear what you think.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed & favorited Bonds of Time.

Special love to Caden29 for her supreme awesomeness! ::Sends homemade sugar cookies and whiskey::

I've been thinking about writing a companion piece for this story, starting from the beginning, from Dimitri's POV. Let me know if you would be interested in reading something like that.