I've updated and expanded this story so you may want to read chapter 1 again too :)

I wanted to see what it would look like to actually give this (Holborn) story more than a page to play out. How would Beka really react if Tamora pierce had told a story rather than just left it there for shock value :P Sorry... I'm a little bitter about the Holborn story.

When Aniki had briefed him he nodded and made for the door. "I'm going to talk to her. If there's to be a scene it will not be here."

He made the short distance to the boarding house quickly and knocked lightly on Beka's door a heavy weight in his stomach. He heard shuffling and then the door opened. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to speak in private," he said. He could hear the stiff formality of his tone and it sounded like someone else's voice.

"I don't want to talk to you, Rosto."

"It's about Holborn, Beka. Please don't make me do this in the hall."

Beka sighed, and backed away to let him in, eyes cold and unreadable.

Rosto carefully closed the door behind him, trying to give himself a moment to determine what to say. It was unnerving, being in his old rooms and seeing the evidence of Beka's new life. Rumpled bedsheets, a dish of stale bread by the window. Her uniform hung over a chair, her spiked strap lay on the desk, her journals, her blades. There was evidence of Holborn too, but not his uniform. His uniform, his baton, his weapons were all gone. He left behind instead an empty bottle a broken chair and a vase of wilted wildflowers. Evidence of a cycle that Rosto had heard too well from the outside.

"Aniki heard from our birdies down at the dock this morning," he hesitated but then, knowing of no better way to say it continued, "He's dead, Beka."

"I should have known it would be you to come first."

Of all the reactions he had been expecting this was not among them. It wasn't until then that he realized there was a hint of copper on the air. Beka had blood on her hands. His eyes flicked over the rest of her rapidly and Beka chuckled bitterly, "It's not my blood."

Rosto tried to keep the relief from his face as Beka sank onto the rumpled bed.

"Beka?"

"I followed him," she admitted and Rosto made a mental note to have a chat with whoever was supposed to be keeping an eye on the boarding house. "Too late. He made it back to the Kennel but not much longer. For whatever else he may have been... he was no craven."

Rosto nodded his agreement and stayed quiet as Beka watched the pigeons beginning to gather outside her window. "Did you have him killed?" she finally asked Rosto. She spoke so softly that he wasn't sure he'd heard correctly until she continued. "It's not the Dog that's asking. I know we'd never find the proof..."

"It wasn't my doing, Beka." To his surprise, she seemed to accept his answer.

"Did you know? That he was going there?"

"Yes."

"I did too," she admitted, "I did nothing to stop him."

"Knowing he was going and knowing he was going to throw himself at a slavers nest with no backup are very different," Rosto pointed out.

"He would have had backup if I'd gone in sooner."

"A small room with one exit; No cover and that many armed slavers? You'd be dead too if you'd gone in sooner. And if I'd followed you we'd all three be dead. Part of being good is knowing when you can't win."

Rosto stood and walked over to her wash basin, dipping a cloth in the water and wringing it out. He offered her the cloth but Beka didn't so much as glance down at him. He knelt and began to rinse the blood off one hand then another. He retreated to the basin and wrung out the cloth, using Kora's wooden charm to purge the remaining bloodstains from it before returning to Beka's side. The blood was dried onto her hands by now (how long had she sat here, staring at the stains as they dried on her skin?) By the third pass with a clean cloth Beka pulled her gaze from the window to look down at him.

"It won't come off," she murmured.

"It is coming off. I'm going to go get some fresh water." She nodded and Rosto took the wash basin across the hall to Kora's room, knocking lightly "Kora?" There was a rush of wind from inside and he stepped back as the door heated up. "Kora, stop trying to roast me and open this door."

"You know better, R-" Kora started as she opened the door. When she saw the basin and it's bloody water she quieted. "What happened?"

"Holborn is dead. Beka is not going to want to stay in those rooms." He tossed the bloody water out Kora's window, somehow it hadn't seemed like a good idea to do that in front of Beka.

"I'll go talk to Aniki."

"Before you go," Rosto caught her, "she's dried blood all over her hands."

Kora nodded and returned to Beka's room with Rosto. She hugged her friend tight and to his surprise Rosto saw that Kora was crying. It wasn't until he noticed Kora's tears that it occurred to him the Beka had shed no tears. Kora pulled out another wooden charm and passed it quickly over Beka's hands. The dried blood vanished.

"You can have my room, Beka," Kora said quietly, "I'll move in with Aniki... or into the Dove."

Beka nodded gratefully and Kora hurried off to make arrangements with Aniki as Rosto returned her now clean basin.

"They bury him day after tomorrow, Rosto. Will you come?"

"We'll be there."

Kora moved her stuff out of her room that day so Beka wouldn't have to sleep in the room she had shared with Holborn. Beka was quiet still, until that night, apparently.

When Aniki arrived at the dove the next day she looked nervous.

"What is it Aniki?"

"It's Beka. She was up all night. Sounded like nightmares."

Rosto nodded. It wasn't much of a surprise. He'd had them himself on nights he'd washed the blood from his own hands. Perhaps he should have kept a closer eye on Holborn, for her sake? Then he remembered the mad look of hotblood wine in Holborn's eyes. It was for her sake that he hadn't, and the guilt all but disappeared again. "We've had word from our waterfront birdies. The slavers haven't left Corus yet, if the rumors are true."

"That's the other thing," Aniki said. Rosto raised his eyebrows in a gesture for her to continue. "She got herself put back on the watch rotation already. I'd put good silver she's down at the docks today."

Rosto muttered a couple words in Scanran that made Aniki's eyes widen then he muttered "We have to find them first," not bothering to switch to common. His birdies had given him a few names but Beka had the advantage of having seen the cove's. Rosto made his way along the waterfront on the north end (Aniki had started at the Market bridge and moved south.) He watched carefully for a passing dog uniform out of the corner of his eye.

Finally he heard a dog's whistle and grimaced, turning and sprinting in the direction of the signal. Three short blasts two long. Rosto slackened his pace. That was the signal for the cage dogs... not a distress call. When he arrived on the scene the cage dogs were already carting away three coves in leather hobbles. He was just starting to suspect that perhaps he'd been wrong about Cooper's intentions when he caught sight of her seated in an alleyway. Her partner, a younger dog Rosto didn't know was wrapping up a gash in her forearm. Another sliced across her cheek. Rosto waited until the dog tied the band tight and told her to head back to the Kennel before he stepped forward.

"Trickster take you, Cooper, you been hearing Heskaly's drum?"

"What are you doing here?" Beka replied cooly.

"Are you cracked?" he repeated.

"I'm doing my job."

"You're looking for vengeance."

"So what if I am," Beka spat. "They're rats, I'm a dog. It's what we do."

Rosto swallowed hard and wiped a smear of blood from her forehead with his tunic sleeve. Despite his worry, he hadn't seen that spark in her eyes for so many months now. He could never admit out loud how unreasonably happy it made him to see her hunting down rats again... anything was better then that flat look in her eyes. "Let me help you, then."

"You're going to help me catch rats?" Beka asked with a laugh.

"I've no intention of burying you with him, Beka!" he retorted. "Killin' dogs in my territory without my permission? I've got as much a right to them as the dogs do." Beka nodded and Rosto let her from the alley, "we'll get you fixed up at the Dove, alright puppy?"

"We've healers at the Kennel-" Beka retorted

"Who are most distracted by a fire that broke out in one of the shops this afternoon. Common, luv, you said you would let me help. So let me help."

The healer finished and left Beka's room (and Beka had to admit it was nice to not have to wait in line behind the more seriously injured dogs.) Rosto had been watching her intently while the healer did his work and now finally, he spoke. "If I'm going to help you I need to know what I'm getting myself into. Is this anger or a death wish?"

Beka's cheeks flamed and she didn't answer save for a glare.

"Beka you can glare at me all you want but I'm still going to need an answer." When she didn't respond he sighed and moved to sit next to her on her bed. "You think I don't understand what you're felling, Cooper? I've buried friends. I've buried lovers. I know that mixture of pain and anger and guilt and it will eat you alive if you let it."

"I don't feel anything!" Beka suddenly spat at him.

He paused for a moment, caught off guard. "I know that's not true love, because you're angry with me right now," he teased gently.

"I've not cried for him, Rosto. Not once. Kora has. Even Aniki has cried for him."

"They cry for you Beka, not for him."

"Doesn't he deserve tears? Even if... No one should go to the Black God without someone to cry for them."

"He'll have that. Just not from you."

"That's why I have to cage his killers, Rosto. It's what I'm supposed to do, right?"

"If that will give you peace. Who's the new partner, Beka? He didn't have a scratch on him."

"Marco...He's a first year dog-"

"Craven?"

"No, just... just new."

"Well then, until your new partner is not so... new... I am your backup, understand?"

"And what is your Court going to think of you walking patrols with a dog?"

"They'll think it's unwise to murder dogs on my doorstep."

The slavers went underground the next day though, and for all her patrols she heard nothing of them that day. She walked with her new partner and a stone in her pocket. Kora gave one to her and one to Rosto. If she saw any signs of the slavers she was to warm the stone with her fingers and Rosto would know that she needed help. When he found her after her watch she was surrounded by her pigeons listening with a look of irritation on her face. He pulled the stone out of his pocket and rubbed it gently between his thumb and forefinger. Beka jerked suddenly her hand slipping into her pocket as her eyes snapped open.

"I thought maybe it wasn't working," he said, speaking quietly and settling down next to her so as not to scare off the birds. The birds scattered briefly but the group soon reformed around them. He fell silent as she closed her eyes again. Rosto took the basket of stale bread from her and took over the task, shaving slices of the hardened bread off with a wrist blade as she listened to their tales. Occasionally she would speak, but it didn't take him long to realize that she wasn't talking to him. Had near forgotten his presence more likely.

"They killed you for not seeing the dogs coming? That's rather harsh." She was quiet for a few moments then spoke again, "They had no loyalty to you, did they? Perhaps they're the ones that need a lesson in loyalty. I can give you your vengeance. Tell me how to find them."

As the street began to darken the pigeons scattered. He saw a grim smile pass over her lips and she stood, brushing the last of the crumbs from her tunic.

"They take to the river just before dawn."

"We haven't long then."

"We don't need long. I know where they dock tonight."

"They? How many? How are they armed?"

"Some half a dozen left, now."

"And their position? Entrances exits?"

"I don't know. Let's go find out."

"Cooper," he grabbed her arm, "don't be cracked. Those kind of odds take some planning. These aren't unarmed rabble, they're slavers. They'll be armed, and after you took three of them yesterday, they'll be waiting."

"There's no time, Rosto. They're moving just after dark, my birdie didn't know where to. We have to move now or we'll miss them."

"Let me at least get Aniki."

"I'll meet you at the Market Bridge," she pulled away and Rosto tightened his grip.

"Don't go in without me, Beka. I'll send someone to notify Aniki and Ersken and I'll be right behind you." She nodded distractedly and took off in the direction of the waterfront as he made for the Dove. After a moment though he stopped and turned. There's no way Beka Cooper was going to wait for him at that bridge. He turned and ran after her, legs burning as he tried to keep her in sight. He gained on her as they approached Nightmarket but he had to stop and grab a minnow to take his message back to the court and she was almost out of sight again before he finished. He cursed under his breath as he pushed through the growing night market crowds. He saw her pause in the distance and he hoped that maybe she was in fact waiting for him, but a moment later she had turned and was sprinting down Rovers street towards the Market of Sorrows.

"Pox, Cooper." he grumbled as she moved beyond his sight. "Out of my way," he growled and several coves jumped away to clear a path. He felt heat against his thigh, growing warmer as he ran; the stone. She had activated it. His chest was tight with more than the exertion of his sprint. She was going to go in. She was going to get herself killed just as Holborn had.

He remembered what he had told her. You'd be dead too if you'd gone in sooner. And if I'd followed you we'd all three be dead. Part of being good is knowing when you can't win. They wouldn't win against a half dozen prepared slavers, maybe more, in unknown terrain. And yet he knew he'd follow her in anyway. Suddenly the stone grew uncomfortably hot as he turned a corner and a hand reached out to grab him. He was jerked to the side and stumbled into a blind alley. He hadn't been paying attention ... Maybe he was the one with a death wish. He caught himself, pulling a blade and pushing his attacker into the side of the alley.

"Rosto!" Beka hissed and he lowered his blade. "What are you doing, we can't just run in there."

Rosto breathed a sigh of relief, leaning one forearm against the alley wall as he caught his breath. "Gods, Beka, I thought...Never mind. I sent a runner back to the dove. Aniki will alert Ersken and then bring some of hers."

"There's a rusher on the corner whom if we're lucky wasn't alerted by you rushing in like a cracknob. That's where they are."

"So now we wait?"

"So now we follow. They're moving, any minute now. How will Aniki find us?"

"You know the street gixies can always find someone for a copper or two."

They followed the cove's for several blocks. There were eight of them now. Fully armed and clearly on high alert. Suddenly Beka caught sight of Phelan out of the corner of her eye. She turned to tell Rosto but he had already noticed. "Aniki is right behind us," he told her. "two more of hers in the crowd. They'll move in when I do."

"We have to let them get to their new position," Beka said.

"I don't like giving them the advantage," Rosto murmured back.

"If we move in while they're on the street they'll scatter."

Nearly to the North gate, the slavers slowed their pace and entered a boathouse along the river.

"They've changed plans, Beka." Rosto whispered. "They're taking to the water tonight."

They moved in on the house and Beka could see rushers dropping out of the crowd to join them. Certainly strange backup for a dog, but she was glad to have them. Phelan slipped around the other side of the house, positioning himself and one other that followed him by the rear exit. The others folded in behind Aniki. "They're mine, Rosto," Beka warned him. "We're here to cage them, not to kill them."

"No promises love, but I'll do my best to leave some of your prize intact."

There was a sudden noise from the backdoor of the house and Rosto charged forward. Clearly that was their cue. The door crashed open and Beka had a split second to take in the layout of the house as the rushers gathered at the backdoor realized they were coming in the front.

"I arrest you in the name of the King," she said, as loudly and sternly as she could manage.

The rushers looked confused for a moment and then one began to laugh. Rosto moved before Beka had even processed the situation and slammed the laughing cove into the wall. Droplets of blood trickled down the knife at his neck and dripped to the floor. The cove had a naked blade in one hand but Rosto held his wrist securely to the wall with his other hand. "Her king's baton or your king's blade," Rosto growled, "Choose wisely."

Aniki and hers had begun to advance and Phelan knocked down the door behind them. Then there was a thud as the slaver Rosto held dropped his weapon. Phelan moved behind the remaining slavers. They were still outnumbered, though, and it wouldn't be long before the slavers realized this. Beka pulled out her whistle and blew the signal for cage dogs as she moved to Rosto's side and quickly tied his captive's wrists with her leather cord. Rosto wiped the blade on his trousers easily but Beka could see he still held himself tense as a spring. The stillness lasted only for a moment but finally someone moved. One of the slavers lifted a blade and charged towards Beka, knife raised and several others seemed to take this as a signal to move. Beka ducked to the side and nap tapped the cove who had charged her. She'd barely raised her baton again when another cove was on her from the side. Before she'd a chance to move the cove fell, one of Rosto's blades in his chest. The two coves that had not moved let this convince them that their choice was ideal. They backed away from Rosto into the back wall, dropping their knives. Phelen held one more at blade point and two were crumpled at Aniki and her partner's feet. Beka didn't see any blood though, so perhaps they still lived.

By now Beka could hear the responding dogs yelling in the distance. She and Rosto advanced on the two that had yielded and Beka hobbled them to each other, since she only had the one spare cord. Beka knelt down beside the cove that still had Rosto's blade in his chest, checking his neck for a pulse she knew would not be there.

As she surveilled the area she glanced at Rosto. The way his eyes flicked over the room told her that he had noticed it too. They were missing one. Rosto glanced at a pile of lumber against one wall, the only real cover. Beka nodded, coming up on one side as Rosto took the other. They were about to move when one of the hobbled cove's cried out. He didn't say much before Aniki hit him with the butt of her sword but it was enough to warn the rusher. He jumped up, making for the far end of the pile where he nearly ran into Rosto.

"Wrong way," Rosto growled. The cove slashed out at Rosto who jumped back then dove back forward again plunging his wrist blade into the cove's shoulder. The slaver cried out and dropped his blade, his arm hanging limp. Rosto already had another in hand and it came up to the rusher's throat in a flash.

"Rosto, don't!" Beka called in warning. Rosto froze, the blade a hair's breath from its mark. The hesitation was enough, and the slaver made another slashing movement with his good arm. A hidden blade that neither had noticed. Rosto stumbled back and Beka dove forward, striking the rusher and sending him crashing to the ground.

Beka knocked the blade from the cove's hand in case he should wake and hurried over to Rosto where he leaned against a wall. "Rosto?" she asked breathlessly.

One arm was clenched over his stomach but he nodded to her, "It's nothing, love. Go cage your rats, it barely touched me." The rusher's from Aniki's district were watching the scene now and Rosto pushed himself away from the wall. "I've no death wish," he murmured quietly when Beka hesitated, "if I were dyin' I'd tell you. You'll do me more harm making fuss of it."

Phelan and Aniki took their rushers back to the court, melting into the crowd like smoke as cage dogs took over the scene. Rosto stayed with Beka until the cage dogs had carted off the remaining slavers. All to the cages but the one that Rosto had already sent to the Black God.

"We were outnumbered, and he charged you," Rosto murmured to Beka as they exited the building. "I won't apologize for that." He extended his wrists with a half-smile. "Will you hobble me for it, Beka?" One arm was coated with blood and she pulled his arms apart to see the gash on his stomach better.

"You know I'm out of cords," she said inspecting the wound carefully. It wasn't exactly what she would call nothing, but they'd both had far worse. "I know better," she muttered, "I would never have distracted a dog like that. I'm sorry, Rosto."

Rosto shrugged, "I'm no dog."

"I'm still sorry."

Rosto nodded and put an arm around Beka's shoulders, "Let's go home, puppy."

After the funeral Rosto found her standing in the midst of one of her spinners. The one closest to the house, he noted. He wondered if she could hear Holborn in there (If there was anything worth hearing.) He watched her for a long time. Eventually her black shawl broke free of her shoulders and drifted towards him. He caught it, but Beka still didn't move. Perhaps she hadn't noticed. Finally she lowered her head and stepped out of the spinner. He moved forward and wrapped the shall back over her.

"I was starting to think I'd have to sling you over my shoulder and carry you home," he said, testing for a smile without success. "Our folk went to the Dove for supper if you'd like to come?" Beka just pulled the shall tighter. Rosto put an arm around her. She seemed to bring the cold wind with her from the spinner and he rubbed her arms gently to warm them. "Thought so. So we had supper laid out in your rooms, Beka. I'm staying to make sure you eat it. Don't think you can throw it out the window."

Rosto did as he had promised, helping her clean up Achoo and lighting the fire in her room that she hadn't bothered to light. He brought warmth into her rooms when she thought she couldn't feel it anymore. He was talking about court business, to distract her probably. If she could be bothered to pay attention she might have learned something but it all kind of blended into a soothing incomprehensible murmur after a while. Until he started talking about the duels. She'd no idea there'd been so many these past few months. He'd pulled out the daggers from his hidden sheaths and was checking them over to see if any were in need of sharpening. Beka followed his lead and did the same. They didn't need sharpening, but it was a pacifying habit regardless.

"They'll be more since the fiasco at the water-front," he commented slipping wrist blades into place with a snap.

Beka looked up, "What do you mean?"

"I took an order from a dog... haven't you heard the tale?" He chuckled, "I'll have to start making examples, Beka, you watch. I don't have the time to sort out every new Tom that comes swaggering into the Dancing Dove." Rosto broke off and looked at her. "You're tired," he said, "Think you'll sleep tonight?"

"Aniki told you." It wasn't really a question.

"Did you think they wouldn't?" he asked, tucking the last dagger back into the sheath at his back. "All right, then," he said, "Aniki will be in later. You get her if you need anything." His dark eyes were fierce as he watched her. "I mean it, Beka, we're your friends. We want to help."

Beka kissed his cheek, "Thank you, Rosto. You're a good friend." He put an arm around her and gave her a quick squeeze, "You'll be ok, Beka."

"Rosto?" she asked as he was about to leave.

He paused and turned.

"I was relieved." Beka said quietly, "I think maybe I wanted-" He grabbed her arm and pulled her attention back to him.

"It wasn't your fault, luv. He wouldn't have listened to you had you begged him not to go. He got in over his head, and he fell. That's all."

Beka nodded, eyes still distant. He kissed her on the forehead ever so gently his hand pressing the back of her head forward. "I'll see you tomorrow, love."

Her eyes stayed clouded, and every smile was followed by a pained look. She wouldn't let herself move on, because she still felt she wasn't supposed to. She avoided public gatherings, but she allowed her friends to come visit her in her rooms in the evening sometimes. Finally one day Rosto caught sight of her over dinner at the Dove. She was seated with Aniki and Kora, for the first time since Holborn had insisted it wasn't proper for her to dine there. She smiled a half smile at him as she left afterwards. He followed her out the side door as he used to so long ago.

"Mind some company?" he asked. When she shook her head he silently fell into step beside her. They were most of the way back to the boarding house before she spoke.

"I'm back on Happy bag this week," she told him softly. Holborn had insisted against her being with the Dog's collecting the happy bag too. He didn't approve of her 'association with rats.'Rosto nodded, unsurprised, he'd heard of course.

"I'll see you then," he said and she smiled; for the first time it didn't look like it pained her to do so.

The next morning the light broke through the clouds, a peak of glimmering hope amongst the grey. She came to breakfast. She smiled and ate apple pastys and for a moment the old Beka was back.

"Hey there, luv, save some apple pasty for the rest of us," he teased her gently at breakfast.

"I'm not your luv, Rosto, and I've got no time for white-haired loobies!"

He was only grinning because she was distracted from that last apple pasty. It had nothing to do with the spark in her eyes. Almost nothing to do with it...

I missed writing Rosto. See if you can remember which scene was taken partly from canon... (It's the post funeral scene. The only glimpse of Rosto we get in the book!)

We've decided our new Beka Rosto fan club name is 'forever bitter' ... works, right pascale!? Leave a review if you're forever bitter too, lol

Anyway, this particular one is really just Beka/Rosto friendship. I love their friendship too (even though I am still *forever bitter* that it didn't become more :P)