Okay, normally, I don't like to bore you with all the dirty details but I want you guys to know just how much I worked to get this chapter out to you. My regular computer had to go to the computer doctor so at this point I'm hoping that it can be saved and, if it can't, at least my data can be recovered. I woke up my old laptop (last used in 2017 when it was old as sin). It has been hours of trying to update, arguing with several internet browsers (including Internet Explorer!) and now I'm posting this by going back and forth between Chrome and Firefox. It takes approximately 7 minutes for this thing to load a webpage. So, here is this chapter, brought to you by if not blood, at the very least sweat and a lot of tears. I am unsure if I will be able to update Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince if any of you also read that story so those updates may have to wait until I (hopefully) get my current computer back into my custody next week.

Chapter warnings: character(s) in bindings; violence;

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~

"Do you think that he bought it?" Jake asked.

"He didn't imprison me then and there so at the very least he doesn't have evidence that I'm lying."

"Why lie to him at all? It doesn't really make a difference at this point if he thinks the assassin is dead or alive, does it?"

"It doesn't," Rose agreed, "but the Huntsman being distracted on a wild goose chase for the next few days is what I need. I have to make sure that I have enough time to see you and Lao Shi and make sure that I have time to do anything that needs to be done or that's been overlooked."

"Has anything been overlooked?"

"No, I'm a perfectionist," Rose assured him with a grin. "I even did as you asked and I got to speak to Haley."

"What did Haley say?"

Rose was glad that she had a task to do, even though it made her feel slightly ashamed that she was hiding from Jake's emotions the way that she was and probably over oiling his wings. Jake had just been so good to her when she was cracking from emotion and she just didn't know how to be the type of person that he was. Would she like to be his peace too? Yes; they were friends now, no matter how strange the circumstances, and it was what friends did for each other. Rose just didn't know how.

"I mean, they're sad, obviously. She said your room is still intact." Rose walked behind him and switched to the other wing. "But she said your dad still sings in the morning and your mom has a vegetable garden. She said it was important for you to know that."

"Mom always wanted a vegetable garden," Jake mused. "And, I wonder if Dad learnt any new songs."

"Haley didn't mention," Rose said quickly, "but, this time next week, you'll know for yourself."

"That's the goal," Jake said, and then he shifted, fluttering his wing out of her hands. "But, you're not going to die for me. I won't let that happen."

Rose could take a hint. She buried the wing oil in the sand along with some of the other potion reserves that Fu had given her.

"Jake, it's not about dying for you, but, people are going to die. It's an inevitability."

"It doesn't have to be," Jake said stubbornly, almost childishly.

Rose didn't begrudge him that. She knew how hard it would be to grasp what, exactly, was going to happen until he had lived some part of it. She just hoped that he was able to do what needed to be done and not get caught up in the enormity of what was going to be happening.

"Two years ago, the Huntsclan kidnapped you. Two weeks after that, the magical community decided that they were done and openly declared war. Since then, it's been a back and forth of who was really winning this war. This battle is the chance to turn the tide, for good, and for the right side." Rose crouched down by his head.

"You've told me all this," Jake muttered.

"I know. I'm just reminding you. You might be a catalyst but it's not about you. It's about the Huntsclan never getting the chance to do this to anyone else, ever again, because they've gotten away with far too much for too long."

Jake nodded. 'You're right."

"I know. I always am."

Smoke poured from Jake's nostrils. "Not always."

"Statistically speaking, the odds were in my favour." Rose scratched Jake's head. "Goodnight, Jake. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Rose set the security cameras back and then escaped into her room, dropping silently from the vent onto her floor. She stretched, feeling the weight of the last day press down on her shoulders. She didn't care that the lunch hour was coming up and that Master would expect to see her there. She didn't care if there were orders that he would want to give her. She just cared about being in her bed and that was exactly where she went, falling into a sleep so peaceful it felt like death.

(-.-)

Rose surveyed her naked body in the mirror, poking at the bruises that had yet to fade and evaluating the scabs and scars. The burns from Lao Shi were still proving to be a problem but Rose flexed, feeling the barest pull on her skin. She wasn't pretty but she was more than functional to go into battle. In a few short days, that was all that was going to matter.

Tonight, she would have the last one on one with Master that she would ever have. Tonight, she would speak with Lao Shi and finalize their battle plans. Tomorrow, she would talk to Jake about all of those plans and then, the day after that, it would be over. At six p.m., when the city was dark, but the Huntsclan were all still sitting down to dinner, and wouldn't be thinking about an attack happening, let alone a direct attack on the stronghold.

Rose couldn't help but smile about it all. How sweet it would be, to be at the elite table just to the Huntsman's right side, watching his face for when news of it all reached him. The thought of it was so sweet that she could nearly taste it already, even as her fingers touched her body in all the places that her life had gone wrong. It would never be worth it. It would never make up for it, but she was ready to taste some of that sweetness and have a proper victory for herself.

Rose felt as though she were just going through the motions as she dressed in her robes and met Master down on the training grounds. Just as they had time and time again, their weapons clashed. Rose gained footing and then she lost it. She maneuvered the end of his long staff down toward the ground and he seemingly let her as he spun in from the side, hitting his fist against her side. Rose gasped, her knees going weak as he hit her healing wounds in just the right way. She had to take a step back and try to get her footing again, but Master sensed every weakness that she had it seemed and before she could sort herself out, Master had her flat on her back, his spear at her throat.

The Huntsman sighed in disappointment. "Where is your mind, Huntsgirl?"

"I suppose I'm thinking about Huntboy 47," Rose confessed.

Beneath his harsh mask, the Huntsman's eyes flashed. With a seemingly genuine note of surprise, he said, "That traitor? Why?"

"Because he was a traitor and because he was also a valuable asset to the Magical Militia. Wouldn't it be a good time to strike on them, with so many of us here and them down their strongest fighter?"

Master didn't respond as Rose was hoping and her heart fell as he spoke again. What Rose wanted to hear was that it was the holiday season and that there was etiquette even in war and that if Master was planning an attack, it would be far off enough that it wouldn't impact her. Instead, Master winked at her and a chill ran over her bones.

"Great minds think alike, Huntsgirl. Meet me back here tomorrow at nine p.m."

For a moment, Rose couldn't speak and then she recovered. "Yes, Master. I'm so glad we're on the same page."

The Huntsman reached out his hand to her and helped her up. With a nod of his head, they squared off and then began to spar again.

(-.-)

"Right, so this is where Jake is, just beneath the floor. When he starts to come up, you're going to want to keep your troops as far away from it as possible, try and get everyone to the rooms in the south like we talked about. If you fall into that room, it is filled with a gas that will kill you if you take one breath. Take no risks with it," Rose said, pointing down at the blue prints.

From his spot on the other side on the table, Spud let out a meep.

"The gas doesn't get out?"

"No, it doesn't," Rose promised Haley. "Only in Sector 1 and the dungeons are gasses used. The Clan doesn't really believe in killing their own for the greater good."

"We've passed these out to everyone in the Militia and sworn them to secrecy," Lao Shi confessed. "We needed to give them enough time to memorize it."

Rose shrugged. "If the news ever got back to the Huntsman, he'd just assumed that his traitor did it before he died."

Trixie put her head heavily in her hands and stared down at the array of documents, her shoulder resting against Rose's.

"This is going to work, right?" she asked. "He'll be able to get out? We'll be able to get in?"

"It's not going to be easy but I think this is the best plan that we could have," Rose said. "This is our best chance and we're all going to put everything we have into it."

Haley nodded, although she looked unsteady as she stared down at the blueprints. Rose could hardly imagine how intimidating it all looked but she knew what it was like to have weight on shoulders too young to bear it. She put her arm around Haley's shoulders and drew the young teen into her side.

"We all know what we're doing and we all trust each other. There's more than just you out there, right? You've got a whole team."

"Right," Haley whispered, but she didn't seem so convinced.

"Seven o'clock," Spud said under his breath as he started to pace the room. "Seven o'clock."

Rose didn't have to look at the clock or start to do the math like the others were doing. The countdown in her head had started more than a month ago. In 24 hours, she would have her nine o'clock meeting with Master. In 25 hours, she would have her last strategy meeting with Jake. In 32 hours, she would be waking up to go about the last day of the Huntsclan's existence normally. In 46 hours, the Magical Militia would begin their break-in and she would set Jake free. Whatever happened, whoever lived and whoever died, it would be all over by the time that the sun rose again.

Rose was ready for it to all be over.

"Will we see you again?" Fu asked, "before?"

Rose shook her head. "No. You guys are more than ready and I need to be able to meet with Jake and finalize my own plans. So, next time, it'll be in the middle of the Huntsclan."

The silence pressed down as they all looked around at one another, knowing that anything could happen between them and now, and despite best intentions, not all of them might make it to the middle of the Huntsclan.

"Watch your backs, they fight dirty," Rose said.

Haley said, "Whatever we do, get the gruel away from them. They use it too much."

"And the elites have the purple belts," Trixie added, "so take them out first."

"And I'll take my squadron around the back," Spud said, "to the communication towers."

"I wish you'd take one of our earpieces," Lao Shi said to Rose one last time.

"You know I can't," Rose said. "And, last thing: whatever you all do, don't stab me. I won't be in your colours this time."

"We won't," Haley promised and then she hugged Rose around her waist. "Be safe, okay?"

"You too," Rose said. "Everyone be safe."

(-.-)

Rose itched to do something. She wanted to go outside, go to the diner one more time, or even just go down to visit Jake, but it had been so long that she had just had a normal day inside of the Clan, and she knew that she needed to make her presence known. It wouldn't do for Master to get suspicious now and Rose knew how much she'd really been pushing her luck recently. So, she went about her day. She worked out, she attended a weapons seminar in person instead of online from her room as she normally did, and then she went to the library, studying the blueprints of the building until it was time for supper. She made sure that Master could see her sitting dutifully in her seat and then, before she knew it, she was meeting Master in the delivery bay at nine p.m., as he'd instructed.

Rose stood at his side, looking out onto the dark alleyway, but she couldn't see or hear anything out of the usual. She tried not to look at Master's face, lest he sense the anticipation and the nerves that were starting to shoot through her. Twenty-two hours.

And then, she thought, staring at the darkness ahead, I will rip out Master's throat.

Rose turned her head as she heard the rumble of a truck and headlights flashed down the alleyway. Security took a step forward to verify what the truck was there for and then he was waved on through, other Clan members seemingly coming out of the woodwork as the truck pulled to a stop in the delivery bay to unload the order. Rose waited for the Huntsman to say something as the first of the large boxes made their way from the truck.

"You asked if it would be a good time to strike on the creatures," the Huntsman said.

"I did."

"We will train with these new weapons while we have most of the organization here and then we will go. This is no longer a war I wish to fight in; this is a war I want to win. And there's only one way to do that."

"Which is?"

The Huntsman held up his hand and the Huntsboy who was passing by them stopped and with a nod from Master, pried the top off the large boxes. Rose was glad that her mask kept it from being apparent that her mouth had dropped as the Huntsmaster picked up one of the largest guns that she had ever seen – and Rose wasn't used to seeing many guns. She had been trained to operate one, as had everyone of the elite force, but guns had never been part of the Clan's modus operandi.

"Their magic will never stand a chance," the Huntsman said smugly.

"No," Rose agreed, feeling faint, just thinking of how many bullets a gun like this could get off in one go. "No, they won't."

"Here," the Huntsman said, and he placed the gun in her hands. "These ones are for my elite fighters. Not all the Clan has your intelligence."

"Of course, they don't," Rose scoffed, her old arrogance flashing through her, even as she took the weight of the gun into her arms. "And the others in the Clan? Will they get guns as well?"

"Follow me."

Rose let the Huntsman lead her on a tour of the array of guns that were coming in. He wanted every Clan member to be armed within the next couple of days. They would start training in the mornings with the elite soldiers and work his way down until even the ineptest of the Clan could shoot with accuracy.

"And then," the Huntsman said with a satisfied nod, watching the last of the guns roll from the trucks and into the Clan, "those things won't stand a chance."

"You're right, Master," Rose said. "They won't."

"I'll see you tomorrow morning. Training starts at 5a a.m."

"Yes, Master," Rose said. "Thank you."

The Huntsman took the gun from her and carried it off into the Huntsclan with him, leaving Rose alone in the delivery bay. She watched the deliverymen head back into their trucks. When the last of their brake lights had turned out of the alley, all of the Huntsclan's security guards turned and melded into the shadows, going back to their positions. Rose stared up at the sky, though she couldn't see the stars from where she was standing. She remembered being at the elite training facility, in the middle of nowhere Connecticut. She had walked outside in the middle of the night to see an array of stars and she wished that she could see that again. She wished that she could look up and believe in something bigger than what was happening right now and she wished that there was truth in the saying that the stars could offer guidance.

Rose didn't need guidance, not like that, not anymore. She knew what the right thing was now and she knew that it was the choice that she had to make, even if it was the harder thing for her to do.

Rose left the delivery bay, flying through the night. It wouldn't matter if Master found out that she was gone; she could think of a lie later. For now, she had to warn Lao Shi. Guns were so far out of anyone's wheelhouse and he needed to start alerting his troops now. She felt like her heart was going to burst from exertion as she landed on his doorstep, only remembering after she knocked to yank off her mask.

It was Lao Shi who answered the door but Rose didn't wait to be invited in. She whirled by him, into the back part of the shop where the windows were almost always covered and they wouldn't see her. Nothing could see her.

"Rose, is everything –"

"A large shipment of guns arrived at the Clan today. Handguns, assault rifles, anything, everything! I don't know if there's anything you can do about it but you needed to know."

"Is everyone armed tonight?" Lao Shi asked.

It was almost too much for Rose to hear the fear cracking his usual demeanour.

"No. Only the elites will be by tomorrow night but they'll have the assault weapons," Rose said. "Is there anything –"

"Awareness. A chance for better armour." Lao Shi met her eyes and seemed to know what she was asking. "There is nothing we can do for Jake."

"Except awareness," Rose said. "I still have to go see him and I can't be too late. With training that early tomorrow, the Huntsman will be checking when I'm in my bed."

"Go, then, Rose, run," Lao Shi said, but as she turned toward the door, she felt his hand on her arm. "And, if I do not get another chance to say it after: thank you for everything you've done. You are a very brave girl."

Rose felt her throat close up with an emotion that she wasn't sure she'd ever felt before and didn't know how to name. She placed her hand on Lao Shi's shoulder, hoping that her touch and her face said everything that she didn't know how to put words to, and then she pulled the Huntsclan mask over her face, running back the way that she had come. She went back through the delivery bay and then got into one of the vents from there, scurrying down to the control room and then into the dragon hold.

Jake turned his head as she yanked her mask off and she could see the relief set into his shoulders.

"I know, I'm late, but I had to make an emergency run to your grandfather's," Rose said, blurting out the whole story before she was even all the way across the sand. She knelt down by his head and undid his muzzle straps. "So, we need to be even more careful tomorrow."

"I wasn't planning on being reckless," Jake said, "despite what Trixie and Spud might have told you about me."

Rose made a 'hmm' sound in the back of her throat and then dug up the potion reserves. She couldn't chance that she would have time to give him anything tomorrow so she unceremoniously opened his mouth and poured his potion down his throat.

"Ach! Warn a guy, would you?" Jake spluttered.

"I'm sorry! I just feel …"

Nervous? Amped? Concerned? She felt and, in this moment, it was more than enough for her to know that she just felt something real and honest. There was no bloodthirst, not even that rage that she carried in her all the time. She just felt worried over her companions but an inner peace inside of her that it was all going to be over soon. She could see it all in her mind's eye: the look on the Huntsman's face when she and Jake emerged, the heat of bodies and the slickness of the blood on the floor; the freedom of knowing that she would never be going back to this life, no matter what happened to her.

"Rose," Jake said, his serious tone dragging her from her thoughts.

"Jake," she replied, trying to mimic him. "What?"

In the small amount of space that he had to fight his binds, he inched his dragon paw toward her, his claw hooking around her pinky finger. Rose looked at the red scales against the dark gloves she wore as the Huntsgirl. She raised her eyes and met his dark ones, thinking of the person that was behind them. Would she ever see that person? Who was he going to be, when this was all over?

"You'll make it out of here too. You can't give up on yourself before it's over."

This again.

Rose tried not to make a face about it. She knew that Jake didn't get it. He had stayed down here for years, being prodded, poked, even tortured, because he had faith that it wouldn't last forever. He was going to be rescued. He was going to get his life back. Rose supposed that she couldn't blame him for not fully understanding that she didn't have a life to go back to. If she died, well, it was better than what she had now.

"There's things you'll miss," Jake prodded. Rose rolled her eyes. "Like Maggie's Diner. Or getting to be free!"

"I don't know what being free is like," Rose pointed out, "I can't miss what I don't know."

"What about me?" Jake asked. "Would you miss me?"

Rose felt caught off-guard, somehow, though she wasn't sure why. He was still holding onto her pinky and she felt like it was getting harder to breathe, but that didn't make any sense. Nothing had changed. Why was it getting harder to breathe?

Rose shook Jake's paw off of her, going back to the potions cache. She needed to do something to do with her hands. She would feel better that way.

"You're not going to die," Rose said. "I didn't go through all the trouble of getting you out of here for you to die doing something stupid."

"Who says it's going to be something stupid?"

Rose scoffed and Jake at least had the sense to look contrite.

"Well, it might not be. Plus, you might do something stupid."

Rose rolled her eyes and grabbed his wing, massaging the last of the potion into it. "I've never done anything stupid in my life."

"No, never," Jake said, suspiciously amicable about it. "No double agent here."

"That's not something stupid and you should be grateful! I'm saving your sorry butt."

"I'm just saying –"

Rose whacked him on the shoulder.

"Ouch! I am grateful but I also think that you going into this like it's a suicide mission is a stupid thing too. If you can't see yourself coming out on the other side of it, then you won't try as hard. It's a whole visualization thing."

"Are you trying to tell me that you've just been sitting down here meditating?" Rose asked. "I don't believe that for a second."

"I spent two years with either you people poking and prodding me or with my own head for company. Yeah, I guess I've been meditating."

Rose aggressively kicked sand over the potion bottles. "Don't say you people."

"Sorry," Jake said. "But, don't you see how that kind of feeds into my point? If you don't want to be one of them so bad that you're willing to do all of this, shouldn't you give yourself a chance to experience life after this?"

Rose knelt down by his head. "Look at it the other way. If I cling to that vision of after too much, I might not be able to make the hard choices, because I'll just be thinking of me. I've been selfish for a very long time and this is how I atone. By sending you home, by making sure that Haley doesn't have to lose more innocence, by putting a family back together. If I have to sacrifice myself so that the Huntsclan can never rise again and the Magical Militia can disband because times are peaceful again, that is what I will do. This is a cause worth dying for."

Jake stared into her eyes for a long moment before nodding. "I'm just asking to try to not die."

"As long as you promise me the same thing."

He grinned at her, flashing his sharp dragon teeth. "All right. Deal."

Rose went to make herself comfortable in the sand next to him again, even though she knew that she should probably be in bed, already asleep. Weapons training was going to come early and, then, well, who knew when she'd be able to rest again? But, she didn't really want to leave Jake yet, either. It might be the last time that they could sit and talk and she wasn't ready for it to end. Except, the world had different plans. She had barely folded her legs when her phone went off. She slid it out of her pocket and the Huntsman's text sent a surge of anxiety through her like she'd never felt before.

Huntsman: Come to the jail immediately. You need to see the new prisoner.

"Rose? What is it?"

"The Huntsman caught someone. I have to go up to the jail," Rose said shakily, her mind whirring with all of the possibilities. "The Huntsman said he caught someone."

"Who?"

"I don't know. I have to go." She climbed to her feet and then she looked down at him. She didn't want to go.

"See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Rose redid the straps on his muzzle for the last time. She could tell from the way that he was looking at her that they were thinking the same things. The next time they saw each other, everything was going to be so different.

Impulsively, Rose leant down and kissed his forehead, his scales dry against her lips.

Then, she started running, up the stairs, through the control room, and into the vents. She scrambled out in her bedroom and then tried to look like she wasn't in a panic about anything as she entered the elevator and pressed the button for the jail floor. She pulled her mask on over her face and took a deep breath, smoothing out her features and pulling that cold-hearted façade over herself before she stepped out of the elevator, her stride strong and her shoulders set.

The Huntsman stood next to one of the jail cells and when he heard her footsteps, her swung around to stare at her, his eyes hard.

"Master," Rose said, trying to sound reverent. "Who's the new prisoner?"

His hand shifted on his spear and Rose watched as other Clan members came out of nowhere, blocking her way back to the elevator. Rose felt a chill go down her spine as several things hit her at once.

The Huntsman knew who she was and, tonight, she had forgotten to loop the tapes.

Rose set her jaw, thinking of the weapons inventory that she currently had on her and thinking that there was a vent behind Master's head. If she could only –

"Don't even think it, Huntsgirl," the Huntsman said. "There's no way out of here for you."