TWO YEARS LATER

~ ROSE ~

The sun was barely setting and the Strip was just starting to really shine with lights and sounds. I made my way into the club. Marie had beaten me here and was already at the bar. I moved past the crowds towards the VIP lounge, and then took the door to the left – the dancers' entrance.

Marie and I had moved to Las Vegas from Spokane just under a year ago. She followed a boyfriend, and I followed her. They broke up the next month, but by then she was already working as bartender at a new place on the Strip. Finding work for myself had been a bit harder. In Spokane, I was a waitress, but in Nevada you had to be over 21 to serve any alcohol. In a strange turn of events, you did not have to be 21 to be a dancer. You only had to be a legal adult.

Once again, it was Marie who had hooked me up. I don't think I would ever stop owing her, though she was one of those people who never expected anything in return. The bar she worked at wasn't technically a strip club. The dancers never removed their clothing. However, they did have several stages and several poles which were used for entertainment. The dance classes that I had taken in Spokane plus my apparent athleticism made the position a natural for me. A little training, and the job was mine.

Perhaps some people would be embarrassed to work as a dancer in Las Vegas. It certainly came with its fair share of assumptions. However, with no real friends or family outside of Marie to account to, it didn't really bother me. I knew who I was and what I did. I wasn't ashamed of it. When I danced, I did so under a pseudonym like the other dancers. My outfits were fairly flashy and revealing, but I tended to gravitate towards the more modest options available. Some of the other dancers reveled in the extra attention they received when they wore something more shocking, but I didn't care for it. I was here to make a living, that's it.

– DIMITRI –

Adrian was dragging Christian to Las Vegas for his bachelor party. The wedding between Christian and Lissa was not for another few weeks, but this was the best timing with every other social event leading up to it. Eddie and I were accompanying them, both in a personal and professional manner. Like the rest of us, Christian wasn't extremely social, and he hadn't made many other real connections in the past couple of years. Also like the rest of us, he didn't really care.

Eddie and I both protested taking the time away from Lissa to attend his bachelor party, especially having both of us taking leave at the same time. Lissa eventually had to force leave on both of us, threatening to go to Vegas, thus dragging us along, if we didn't. Her final argument was that she wanted to be sure that both Christian and Adrian were well protected and trusted us to do the job. We finally accepted under the condition that she would not be leaving the wards over the weekend and I handpicked our substitutions.

I could see many of the same traits in Guardian Castile that also resided in me, both good and bad. Becoming so dedicated to our jobs that we didn't take time for ourselves was just one similarity out of many. Neither of us had taken vacation since we started guarding Vasilisa. We had personal experiences that pushed us to this fault, but it was a fault just the same. It had crossed my mind before that one of the benefits of my potential partnership with Rose was that while we shared some of the same strengths, our personal weaknesses would have been balanced by the positive attributes of the other. Her natural openness pulled me from my solitude, my focus grounded her more troublesome spontaneity. I appreciated Eddie's talent and dedication, but there was a part of me that knew that we would never have the same professional chemistry that Rose and I had. Granted, the chemistry between me and Roza went far beyond professional...

No. I can't allow myself to think like that. She's gone. Dead or alive, she's gone and I have to accept that. I still continue to pray that I'll see her again, but my hope dies a little every day.

"Belikov."

Eddie's voice finally pulled me from the vice grip that line of thinking tended to hold me in. I turned to him to see a familiar look on his face. Some might mistake it for pity, but it was actually one of sad camaraderie. He understood where my mind roamed on occasion. His thoughts guiltily drifted to his best friend almost as much as mine did to Rose, and while I was allowed to imagine her somehow alive, he was stuck with the harsh and final reality of Mason's death and the guilt that he was unable to prevent it.

"Are we still going with the original plan? I'll play near, you'll be far guard?" he asked while slipping in his earpiece.

I turned my own receiver on to check the equipment with him. "Yes, I think that would be best. We can switch later in the evening though, if you need a break." I gave a rare grin when I saw that he understood what I was hinting at.

Both Moroi were a bit difficult to handle when completely inebriated. Granted, Adrian had much more practice holding his liquor once his vow of sobriety for Rose's sake ended six months after her disappearance. He was willing to continue, he wanted to continue, but it became evident that he couldn't handle the darkness any longer and would become lost himself unless he took preventative measures. Vasilisa had been the one to convince to drink again...in moderation.

Christian, on the other hand, rarely drank. But when he did so, he became much bolder and tended to attempt risks that he shouldn't. Most of the time, it was harmless and amusing, but it could get out of hand quickly. It was almost like the two men switched personalities when drunk, only they took things to the extreme. Christian became wild and unabashed, willing to both pick fights and sing karaoke, while Adrian would become brooding, angry, and borderline depressed. Tonight, we would not only be protecting the Moroi from outside forces, we would also be protecting them from themselves.

With a final check to assure myself that my stake was in position and my concealed firearm was loaded, Eddie and I knocked on the adjoining door to the hotel suite.

Adrian answered and quickly surveyed me before giving me a pointed look that told me he was less than impressed with my attire this evening. While it wasn't the traditional guardian uniform, I also hadn't strayed far from it either. I had exchanged the black blazer for my preferred leather duster, but otherwise, I would be right at home in Court.

I gave a silent apathetic shrug at his disapproval before he turned his sights on Eddie. Apparently he had made the better choice wearing jeans, but only just.

"Well," Adrian started "at least you two won't prove to be too much competition with the ladies tonight."

Eddie and I exchanged a quick glance and he rolled his eyes. The rest of our group didn't seem to understand that we weren't looking for romance, be it long term or only for the night. They knew better than to attempt to do so with me, but the one time they tried to set up a blind date for Eddie, it had ended in disaster. Castile was too dedicated and engrossed in his position to worry much about personal companionship. I had been the same once and would like to say that I felt that way now, but the bitter truth was that I simply had no desire to find intimacy with another after I lost my Roza. Not only did my heart still cling to her memory, but I had yet to find someone who could stir up anything close to the same emotions and feelings within me as she did.

That doesn't mean that I hadn't had offers. Tasha continued to offer her proposal for a few months after the Spokane incident. At first, I had tried to let her down gently by telling her that I now felt an increased responsibility to Vasilisa's protection after she had lost her second guardian. When that didn't work, I was frank with her and told her that I didn't feel that way towards her. I had to state such three times before Natasha lost her sense of propriety and brought up Rose and how it was perhaps fate that she should be taken before our "irrational relationship" progressed any further. Granted, her words were exceptionally more colorful and insulting, enough so that I felt my own temper waning. It was the first and only time that I had ever been tempted to strike a woman out of anger and outside of training. Thankfully, I was able to satisfy my rage with some – very loud – choice words of my own. I haven't spoken more than a few words to Natasha since. On the rare occasion she visited Christian, she knew well enough to keep her distance.

Occasionally, I would be propositioned by a woman, but each one was met with the same rejection and dismissal. None of them compared to my Roza and I was content to live my life with only her memory and my dreams if needs be.

We made our way downstairs and picked up a cab. We were staying at the Luxor hotel and the club that Adrian had been talking about all evening was apparently on the other end of the Strip. We were on a human schedule so we were heading out at night, and while Las Vegas was a busy vacation spot, it was also a high risk area for Strigoi. Drunken tourists weren't typically reported missing quickly. I would have preferred a rented car for security sake, but I also knew that parking would be more than a little difficult.

The club was called Wonderland. The name alone made me hesitate, and I could see I wasn't the only one. Adrian was gun-ho to get in, but Christian eyed the building suspiciously.

"Adrian, Lissa only had one request: no strip clubs."

Adrian unleashed a trademark smirk, as if he knew exactly what Christian's reaction would be. "I promise you, there are no strippers here. These girls are simply dancers. Heck, call them artists if you will! Plus, they don't need to remove their clothing to get the party going."

Without a moment for further argument, he dragged Christian in by the wrist, leaving Eddie and I to follow him. Eddie followed the two Moroi to the bar while I made my way across the room to get a better vantage point of the area as a whole.

It was a human club, and as far as I could see, there weren't any other Moroi or dhampirs here. A large bar ran along the back with several bartenders behind it. A large stage sat opposite of the bar, with several arms extending into the audience seating area. At the end of each arm was a dance pole, and in the center of the main stage there was a long stretch of silk fabric that hung from the ceiling. The rest of the area was dedicated to seating, and consisted of many small round tables for the patrons.

I logged the particulars in the back of my mind. One main entrance with a bouncer, one main exit with another bouncer, three visible emergency exits, a set of restrooms, a VIP room and two "employee only" doors. One was leading to the stage, and the other leading to what appeared to be a store room for the bar. I could be fairly certain that the restrooms were secure since they didn't typically have any windows or doors leading to the outside, same with the bar's store room, but I'd have to keep a special focus on the VIP room and the stage door since they were unknowns and I couldn't be confident of the layout behind those closed doors. I confirmed my notes with Eddie over the earpiece and saw him look over the room before affirming my analysis.

Music pulsed through the hidden speaker system, and several dancers, males and females alike, made their way to the stage. Adrian was right, the vibe that they gave off was nothing akin to that of your stereotypical stripper. Yes, their outfits left little to the imagination and their rhythm was provocative, but it was worlds better than what I had been expecting from Adrian's plans for this weekend.

Christian and Adrian were one drink in, with Eddie standing nearby and blending in to the duo. They looked every bit the part of a bachelor party. After a while, even Eddie seemed to be relaxing and enjoying himself.

Suddenly the music started blaring a new song, and the three boys focused their attention on the center stage. The lights strobbed in time to the base beat and I continued to survey the area, ignoring the commotion. Within a few moments, my eyes grazed over my companions. Their posture was completely different than it had been before.

Christian and Eddie seemed confused, looking incredulously between Adrian and the stage. Adrian was now standing, looking like he was barely being held back from rushing the stage...or fainting. Despite his playboy reputation (which I had since come to learn was fairly unfounded) it would take quite a show to elicit that sort of reaction.

I turned my attention to the scene that had apparently captured his. Several female dancers were on the stage. Some were near the center stage, some at the poles near the end of the spoke arms. Nothing seemed to be too out of the ordinary until I sat the dancer in the dead center of the main stage.

I looked back towards Adrian who was now desperately trying to meet my eyes. As soon as he did, he nodded. Nothing else...just nodded. This simple, silent action was enough to drop my focus from every other single thing in the room.

Everything else fell away except for that one girl. My Roza.

She stood under the lengths of silk fabric, tinted purple by the surrounding lights. Her dark hair was the first thing that stood out to me. It was long, a bit longer than I remembered. She was still as trimmed and toned as the day she disappeared, something that was only too obvious because of the outfit she wore.

The base seemed like nothing more than a black sports bra and a pair of extremely short shorts, something that wouldn't have been completely unheard of in the gym during training. It was the multiple black bands that connect the two pieces and the sliver studding made it appear more risqué. I watched as she climbed the silk, stopping about twelve feet above the stage. She almost appeared to be flying as the silk caressed her body, holding her in place. She seemed to be the angel that my mind now imagined her to be. Not like the typical angel that you would expect to descend from heaven, but more like an avenging angel: strong, powerful, mysterious, and totally mesmerizing.

As the song built up to a climatic end, Rose wrapped the silk around herself, twisting in a complex pattern. The moment the final beats played, the final stanza ringing out, she suddenly dropped from the air, spinning wildly as she did so.

I felt my body pull to towards her, feeling the desperate need to catch her and protect her even after all these years. But before I could take even three steps towards the stage, the lights died as did the music. I couldn't tell if she had hit the ground or not. My heart stopped, wondering if she was okay, as the lights came back up. She stood next to the aerial silks, acknowledging the crowd with a small wave before taking a bow and disappearing off stage.

Without further delay, I strode over to the rest of our party. Christian simply stared at the now empty stage, Eddie kept asking how it could possibly be her, and Adrian's face flashed back and forth between disbelief and joy.

"Adrian, was that Rose?" Despite his earlier confirmation, I needed him to say the words.

"Yes, the moment she stepped out, I could see her aura. Thank goodness I'm going slow on the drinks tonight. I could recognize her instantly." His face beamed with excitement while the rest of us appeared more confused and disbelieving than anything. Almost reverently, he spoke again. "She's alive."

He said what I was unable to.

When Eddie finally found his voice a moment later, he signaled over the bartender. While I didn't blame him for the sudden need for a drink – Lord knows I wouldn't mind one myself after what had just happened – I was surprised, since he didn't tend to partake. The short haired blonde sauntered over and gave a wink his way. She reminded me of Lissa, but I didn't have long to ponder the resemblance.

"What's tonight's poison of choice, hun?"

"Actually looking for a name," he replied as her smile faltered just a little. "Who was that dancer, the one who was using the aerial silks?"

"Oh her? She's pretty amazing, isn't she?" An odd sense of pride crossed her face while she spoke. The rest of us nodded and gave a small sound of agreement. "She goes by Shadow Kiss here."

Adrian and I raised our eyebrows to the odd yet fitting pseudonym. It seemed like all of the staff here had some false name to keep an air of mystery here.

"She looks like an old friend of mine, one I haven't seen in a while. Could you give us her real name?"

The bartender, who apparently went by "Princess" eyed us for a long moment or two, before decided that she could trust us with her coworker's name.

"Ivy. Her name is Ivy."

I felt the weight sink in my chest. The others visibly fell at the revelation as well. She had looked so much like her. Adrian had been so sure. Perhaps the alcohol was affecting him more than he initially thought.

The worst part was that I had actually thought – I had actually hoped – that we had found her. The pain felt like the sting of a fresh wound rather than the dull ache of an old scare that I had been suffering with for the past several years.

"Thank you" Eddie offered sadly.

The girl looked between us for a while longer, furrowing her brows as if debating whether or not to say something else. Finally, after checking to see that nobody else was nearby, she leaned over the bar.

"When did you last see your friend? How long has it been?" Her voice was loud enough for us to understand her words, but quiet enough not to be over heard by others.

"Two years, five months" I said quietly, the words tinted with disappointment rather than secrecy. My answer was automatic. I didn't have to think for even a moment. The day I lost Rose was even more ingrained into my mind than the day that I had met her.

Christian and Adrian looked a tad surprised by how accurately I remembered her absence. Eddie just nodded knowingly in sympathy and understanding. He had lost someone too, and couldn't forget the date if he tried.

'Princess' or whatever her real name was looked off for a moment, her mouth moving silently as she seemed to think over what I had just said. After a moment, she snapped back towards me with a look of shock.

I couldn't understand her reaction at all, but she glanced between me and the stage for a moment before asking for my phone number.

I had been hit on before, and while it sounded like a classic line, the delivery was entirely off. I had no clue why she wanted that particular information, but the way she asked for it left me agreeing without question. I wrote it on a small piece of scrap paper, along with my first name, and as soon as the final digit was written down she pulled it from under my hand eagerly.

"Thanks. You..." she hesitated, choosing her words carefully but still showing signs of her earlier energy. "You might be hearing from me...or someone...soon." With that she turned, and walked away, heading back towards the other side of the bar where several other patrons waited impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming!" She threw one last look our way before tossing her head back and giving a short, self-satisfied laugh.

"Well, that wasn't the strangest conversation ever" Christian confessed sarcastically.

"Yeah," Adrian agreed, looking slightly perplexed at everything that has just happened. He quickly composed himself though and gave his signature devil-may-care grin. "And who knew that Belikov would be the one scoring with the ladies tonight?"

I gave a small huff of annoyance as I turned to return to my earlier position on the other side of the room. Adrian and Christian chuckled as I left, and Eddie shook his head in mock irritation, perhaps lamenting the fact that he still had to play near guard to the two Moroi who would only become more annoying as the night – and drinks – continued.

We stayed at the first bar for a while longer, before moving on to one of the few Moroi clubs in town. This one was called the Witching Hour. Adrian had reserved a small private booth to enjoy the dancers, who resembled the classic and perhaps stereotypical Vegas Showgirl rather than more modern performances that we had seen at Wonderland. Eddie and I were able to relax a bit more – though not completely – since this place was both warded and had several trained guardians on retainer as security. Eddie even succumbed to the pressure of the Moroi and accepted one drink in exchange for them not pressing the issue any more that evening. I declined and they knew better than to push further.

Author's Note

This chapter is very easily one of my five favorite chapters I've ever written. I love the twists, I love the turns, and I love writing the conversation between Marie and the boys. What do you guys think of her? And just so you know, the next chapter is ALSO in my top five favorite chapters and might just be better than this one in my opinion :)

I know the sudden location shift to Vegas was a bit of a surprise, but I thought it would be nice to add some of the same canon locations from the original series, including the Witching Hour and the Luxor Hotel. What do you guys think about Rose's new job?

Since this is my first original plot line, it has been fun to see a few of you give your thoughts as to what you think will happen next. If you'd like to share your theories, feel free to let me know in the reviews or send me a message. I have about 90% of the story fully written and 100% of it plotted out with my beta so there is very little chance of me changing anything, but I'd love to hear your ideas all the same. I will warn you though, I can't/won't confirm or deny anything.

Thank you again for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following. I've been honored to have my story shared by so many people and you guys are absolutely amazing. I do my best to reply to every comment that I can (you must be signed in AND have private messaging turned on) and I'd love to get to know you better.

See you next week!