AU/AH. Trigger Warnings.

The idea came to me out of absolutely nowhere and well, here we are. It will be a two-shot, maybe a three-shot if we're lucky.

You can thank HiccupedStudios for telling me to use a Halsey song for the title ;)

I shook my head as I watched Ivan try to score, but I already knew that he wasn't going to. She wasn't truly interested. I had watched her play the same game with four other guys here tonight.

"Did your sister finally dumpy that loser boyfriend?" Mikhail asked as he set a new beet down in front of me. I snorted and sipped the foam.

"Which one?"

"Both?"

I rolled my eyes. I grew up with three sisters. Karolina was the eldest, seven years older than me. Sonia was three years younger than me, and then there was Viktoria who was eight years younger than me. I loved all of them with my whole heart, but it seemed like Karolina was the only one with a straight head on her shoulders. She made some mistakes when she was younger, but she grew up, matured, get her life together. Sonia and Viktoria on the other hand…well, they didn't have the best taste in men.

That taste was of men that reminded me entirely too much of our father.

"Sonia hasn't cut him loose, but Viktoria cut Joey finally. All it took was a favour that I was owed from Nikola," I said with a smirk.

"And what was that?" Mikhail asked.

"I simply asked him to ask her out for a date. Take her out, show her what a real man is like. And now they're geared up for a third date," I said with a shrug. I wasn't thrilled that my little sister was dating a friend, but I had always known that he was sweet on her, and she had always had a crush on him.

"Now if only you could wrangle the unruly bunch," he Mikhail laughed. I shook my head and sighed.

"I'm not a miracle worker," I retorted as I took another sip of my beer. Viktoria had fallen into a friend group that I wasn't completely fond of, but they protected her, nonetheless. Lissa Dragomir, Mia Rinaldi, Sydney Sage, and Rose Hathaway. Lissa and Sydney were more or less the mother hens of the group, kind and smart ladies with good heads on their shoulders. Mia was a bit of a party animal but came from an equally bad homelife that I had come from.

Rose, on the other hand, I was not fond of. Well, no, that wasn't true. I was entirely too fond of her but never could get along with her.

That wasn't to say that she wasn't a good person, because she was, but we had always butted heads. Mama said it was because we were the same; strong-willed, stubborn, loyal, and protection driven. If Sydney and Lissa were mother hens, Rose was a warden. There were so many times Viktoria told me that Rose had been suspended in school for being in fights, but none of those fights were because of her but in defence of the others.

Rose was a diamond in the rough. She grew up in a hard home life too. Her mother was never there, her father was almost non-existent until she turned eighteen. There were many nights were there was an extra plate at the table for Rose.

And there were also many nights that involved a stolen kiss in the kitchen when she should have been sleeping.

They were the kind of kisses that were fueled by irritation. Ones where you can't fathom hearing anything else coming out of their mouth, but couldn't stop thinking about their lips. And every time it happened, it was fuel for another fight.

Part of the problem was our age. Well, in her opinion, that was what my problem was. She always flipped the fight around on me, saying that I needed to grow a pair and man up to my feelings, but I would usually retort that she was childish, and that never ended well.

Maybe if my ego wasn't so bad, I would admit that I wanted her, but I couldn't. The part of me that couldn't let go of her being my little sister's best friend would get in the way. The memory of the curly hair eleven-year-old sitting at my kitchen table with a black eye, almost skin and bones after being left in the care of her mother's current fling.

"We all know how you could wrangle one of them," Mikail mumbled and I cuffed him on the back of the head, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Don't," I muttered.

"Oh come on, just bang her and get over it. Everyone knows you're hung up on Hathaway," he said and I rolled my eyes at him.

"I think Sonya has made you into a somewhat romantic," I grumbled. He smirked at me and got up, mumbling that he was going to see Sonya at the bar. I nodded and watched him walk up to his girlfriend, working behind the bar. The two of them were perfect for each other, and Sonya was almost finished her degree to become a teacher.

I glanced back at the two of them, smiling to myself as I saw the two of them, their heads bent together. I looked down at my beer again and took a sip. The bar wasn't overly busy tonight, but it was busy enough.

I heard the bell over the door over the hum of music and voices and glanced up out of occupational habit. I hadn't been a police officer long, but long enough to be observant.

And long enough to know something was wrong.

I set my beer down as I looked at her, her eyes breath coming in pants from her chest. Her eyes were big and bottomless as always, but that wasn't what caught my attention; it was the terror in them. I started to stand up when her eyes moved, landing on me. I saw the quiver in her lip as she weaved between the other patrons. The employee by the door knew that she wasn't old enough to be in here this late, but I waved a hand at him as she approached.

"Rose?" I asked.

I didn't get a response, instead, she slammed into me, her arms sliding around my waist. I hugged her tightly, feeling her tremble in my arms. Not simply because she was soaked from the rain outside. I ducked my head down to look at her face, and up close I could see the scratches and the tears.

"Rose? What happened?" I urged her. She shook her head and whimpered, tightening her arms around me. I furrowed my brows and looked up again when the bell over the door chimed. A few guys walked in but backtracked when they looked at me, or more likely Rose.

I pulled out of Rose's embrace and gripped her shoulders, giving her a slight shake so she would be alert.

"What happened?" I asked more forcefully and she blinked a few times and her eyes filled with tears again. I took her hand and moved through the bar, gesturing to Sonya that I was going to the back staff room. She nodded but I could see the worry on her face too.

Once I had Rose seated on the couch, I could see the disarray of her clothes. She was usually a proud person when it came to her attire, but looking at her, I could tell that there was a struggle. I crouched down in front of her, gripping her chin gently as I made her look at me.

"Rose, who did this to you?" I asked, but as I asked, I could see more of the struggle on her body. The light bruising that was settling in around her neck, the scratches on her neck and chest, the tear in her shirt.

When I looked back at her face, she shook her head.

"I don't know," she whispered a sniffed, "They took me by surprise."

"What happened?" I said softly, trying to get the answer out of her. She was dressed like she was going on a date, with a nice shirt and a jean skirt.

"I went on a date, and when we left, his buddies were waiting for us," she whispered and swallowed thickly. I took in a slow breath as my stomach started to turn.

"Tell me what happened after that," I said, rubbing my hands gently over her shoulders. Her lip started to quiver again, and I shushed her soothingly. Vulnerability wasn't something I was used to seeing on her face.

"They ambushed me. We were out near the back of the parking lot, near the park? And um, the one guy punched me in the face," she said. I closed my eyes for a second and let out a slow breath. There had four incidents of assaults in the last month, all in this area of town. All different girls, none of them were similar aside from the fact that they were essentially blind dates from dating apps.

"And after that?"

Rose's nose flared and her eyes flicked to mine again. "They got me down on the ground, and the one guy, he, he was trying to pin me down while he undid his pants."

I nodded and felt like I wanted to throw up, having heard a similar story a few times already.

"And I remembered what you taught us, about the heel of the hand to the nose. Or to punch right in the Adam's apple," she said as she wiped her face, "He yelled and let go of me and I screamed. As soon as he let go of me, the other guy tried to grab me and I kicked him and took off. I don't know where Jason went."

"That's the guy you went on the date with?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He was just gone," she whispered.

I nodded and let out a small breath. "And then you came here."

Rose nodded. "I remembered that you guys like to come here for wings and beer Friday nights," she whispered, "When Jason said where we were going, I checked to see how far it was to here. Just in case."

I nodded and pulled her in for a hug, running my hand over her hair. I knew that I shouldn't have, the police officer in me knew not to, but I needed it. She leaned into me and sighed, wrapping her arms around me.

"We should call this in," I said gently but she shook her head. I pulled back and cupped her cheeks.

"We need to, Roza. You are not the only one this has happened to. You are the only one who got away, and may be able to identify the others that were there."

Rose looked up and me and blinked. "He picked me up from my apartment," she whispered after a moment and I nodded.

"You really need to report this," I whispered and he sighed, closing her eyes and running her hands through her hair.

"Okay," she whispered.

I tapped my fingers on the desk as I listened to Mama, my eyes trained on the room that Rose was in with the lead detective for the case.

"Is she alright?"

"She's shaken up pretty bad. I'm going to swing by her apartment after she's done and pack a bag. I don't want her staying alone at her place until we find this guy," I said into the phone, glancing at my watch to see just how late it was.

"Poor thing," she whispered. I nodded to myself and looked up at where Rose was again, watching her hand her phone to the detective.

"I'll let you know if we get anything concrete. In the meantime, please talk to the girls. Maybe they'll take this more seriously?"

"Of course."

"And lock your door, please? Both of them," I said. I felt a little more paranoid than usual tonight.

"I will. Try and get some sleep tonight," she said before she hung up. I told her I'd try and drummed my nails on my desk as I waited for Roses to be finished. I yawned and made myself a coffee as I waited.

"I thought you finished hours ago," Galina, one of the detectives said as she came over to the coffee pot.

"I did. But I brought Rose in," I said gesturing to Detective Austen's office. She looked towards the office and frowned.

"You caught them in the act?"

I shook my head. "No. She's one of my sister's best friends. She went on a dating app date, recognized the area and remembered I frequented Mann's on Friday nights," I said as I took a sip of coffee with a shake of my head, "Seeing the fear on her face made me sick to my stomach."

"Did they-"

"No, thank God. At least one of the five of them remembered the self-defence I taught them when they were sixteen," I breathed and closed my eyes, "I can't get the look on her face out of my head."

Galina frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. She and I had worked together when I was a rookie. She knew me better than any other officer in the building.

"Is that her? The one you told me about?" she asked quietly after a moment.

I nodded. "Yeah. That's her."

Galina smirked. "She pretty," she mused.

"She's gorgeous," I said and swallowed, "My mother likes to joke that we butt heads like we do because we're so much alike."

Galina snorted. "I've met her before. You two are exactly the same."

"You've met her?"

She nodded and looked grim for a moment. "When her mom's boyfriend overdosed," she said and I grimaced.

"I had forgotten about that," I said quietly after a moment. I took another sip of my coffee and stood up straight when I saw Rose stand up. She and Detective Austen walked out of his office. I walked towards her and gave her a flat smile. I found an extra shirt in my locker and gave it to her when she got here.

"We're done, but if you remember anything else, please let me know," Detective Austin said as he handed her his card. Rose nodded and blinked tiredly at me. It was closer to one a.m.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Do you need a ride home?" he asked.

"I'll make sure she gets home okay," I said and offered my coffee. She took it and took a small sip. She was never a coffee drinker, but I could tell that she didn't even care at the moment. Detective Austin looked at me with a raised brow and Rose caught it.

"Can I actually stay with you tonight? It's too late for me to go to Lissa's or Vika's," she said.

"Of course," I said wrapping my arm around my shoulder. She nodded and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I would call your mom, but it's so late. I don't want to wake her," she said quietly. I wasn't able to tell her that Mama already knew, but instead, I nodded.

"Come on, we'll stop by your place and then head to mine," I said leading her out the door, nodding at Galina as we left.

We stopped at her apartment, there for all of ten minutes while Rose packaged a bag. I stood at the door, arms crossed over my chest as I waited for her. My phone buzzed a few times and I looked at it, finding a message from my supervisor.

Don't come in tomorrow. Galina and Joey told me about tonight. Take the day and come in fresh. Make sure your friend is alright.

I wrote off a quick reply and nodded to myself, turning when Rose came out of the apartment.

"Got everything you need?" I asked softly. She had changed into a sweatsuit and pulled her hair up into a knot. She nodded tiredly and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, leading her back downstairs to the car. My head was on a swivel as we walked, my eyes training on each person that was on the sidewalk. I noticed the surveillance camera outside of Rose's apartment and made a note to ask for a copy of the footage when I got back to work.

Back at my apartment, Rose seemed like a zombie as she walked. She jumped when my dog greeted us, but after a moment she curled up with him on the couch. I watched her with a pinched brow.

"Can I get you anything?" I asked before going to make up the bed for her in the spare room.

"Whiskey?" she asked after a moment. I usually didn't condone underage drinking, but I think he needed it. Plus, she had always been welcome to drink at the dinner table at my house growing up, as long as she was staying the night.

I nodded and went to the cupboard, rooting around for a moment before I pulled out a bottle that I remembered her liking in the past. I poured some into a glass and sat next to her on the couch, resting my arm on the back of the couch as she drank half of it in one gulp.

"Thanks," she whispered. I nodded and brushed a few loose curls away from her face.

"The bathroom is the door in the middle if you want to shower before bed, and the guest room is on the right," I said. She nodded and closed her eyes for a moment, then leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I feel so stupid," she whispered.

"Oh, Roza. You couldn't have known this was going to happen. This wasn't your fault," I soothed, rubbing her shoulder.

She blinked up at me a few times before sipping her whiskey again and then standing up.

"I'm gonna go have a shower," she said quietly, heading towards the bathroom. I nodded to myself and watched her pick up her bag and head in. I looked at my Huskey, Nanook and smiled at her.

"You're a good girl," I said leaning over and rubbing her face affectionately, pulling a grumble from her chest. I smirked at her and grabbed her leash to take her outside, making it back upstairs before Rose came out of the bathroom.

Rose was in the shower for a bit, but once she finished she whispered her goodnight and went into the guest room. Nanook climbed on the bed with me and laid at my feet with a huff. When I looked at the clock again, I was grateful that work said to take the day off. It was already four in the morning.

When I woke I could feel that I wasn't alone. It took everything in me not to jolt, but instead, I looked down at the weight holding me in place. I smiled tiredly and wrapped my arm around Rose, kissing the top of her head. She was curled into my side with her head on my chest, her hands in a vice grip on my shirt.

Laying like this, I thought back to a night that I had tried, and failed, to forget. Except what brought us to this position wasn't as daunting and terrifying. Instead, it lingered in my mind for days, laughing at me with the smell and feel of her body, the way it felt between my hands.

I rested my head back against the pillow and ran my fingers through her hair, kissing the soft curls as I looked up at the ceiling. Nanook was curled up at my feet, her eyes watching us carefully with her head resting on her paws.

I could feel Rose's breath in alternate patterns of mine, her chest falling as mine raised. She was in a dead sleep, her nose twitching the slightest bit, her toes pressed against my shins. I hoped that in sleep, she was able to forget, to dream about the pandas that hate macaroni, as she had so often said in her sleep as a teenager.

I guess she was still a teenager, but now an adult too. Nineteen was a terrifying time of life. You felt like you were old enough to conquer the world, but you could barely figure out how to do your own taxes.

I knew she was awake the moment she flinched. I kept my arm tight around her, my breathing remaining the same as she became aware of her surroundings. I knew that she spotted Nanook first, her foot moving to brush against her hind legs and then she moved her head up.

I looked down at her and smiled softly.

"Morning," I said. She blinked at me and nodded, resting her head comfortably on my chest again.

"Morning," she said, "I was sort of hoping that it was all a dream."

I rubbed my hand over her shoulder. "I know. But, it's a new day. We'll find the son of a bitch," I assured her. She looked so small, the look in her eyes showing how little she trusted my words despite trusting me. I kissed her forehead and rubbed her shoulder again.

"I promise," I whispered, it was a dangerous thing to do in my profession, but I needed her to feel safe again. She didn't nod but instead closed her eyes again and got comfortable.

"I need to call the girls. I didn't check in with them last night."

"Vika probably knows already," I said quietly, "I called Mama when we were at the station."

Rose nodded and sat up, rubbing her hand over her face. From this angle, I could see the distinctive hand mark around her throat. I brushed my fingers over her neck and she tensed but relaxed.

"How bad is it?"

"It's not terrible, but it'll be darker soon," I said sitting up and tucking her hair behind her ear. She nodded and yawned before rubbing her face.

"I need caffeine," she murmured as she climbed out of bed, stretching her arms over her head. I got up too and followed her out of the bedroom, calling Nanook so I could take her outside. She scampered after us, howling in her impatience. I shook my head at her and hooked her leash on, taking her out front so that she could go to the bathroom.

When I came back inside, Rose was at the counter, with her brows pinched as she read her phone.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just the girls losing their shit over what happened last night," she said as she set her phone down on the counter. I frowned and poured us both a cup of coffee. I handed one to her and I took a sup from the other one.

"Do you remember anything else from last night?"

She shrugged. "I think the guy that was holding me down's name was Tony."

I sent a text to Joey, letting him know what Rose remembered.

"I am so not ready for today," she grumbled, letting her head hit the counter. I rubbed her shoulder.

"You'll get through it," I said gently. She groaned after a minute and her head shot up.

"Oh, my God. He knows where I work," she whispered, her eyes widening.

"If I have to hang out at your work today, I will," I said reassuringly. She looked at me and sighed, her whole demeanour changing.

"It's going to be okay," I assured her. She looked exhausted but nodded. It was a start.

It's a bit of a tough one, but let me know what you think. The next one should be up soon!