Rosemarie Hathaway was angry. It didn't seem like anything new to the people around her. Rose was a brash young woman who almost always got what she wanted. Ever since she arrived at the base camp, she had almost singlehandedly changed the entire program they had going on there. For the better, of course. She was young, but she wasn't an idiot. Which is probably why the queen herself had sent Rose to do this mission. Actually, Rose had no idea why the queen had chosen her to be here. She resented her for it, of course, but there was really nothing she could do about it. She had been here for three months now, and missed the Academy every single day.

Rose brazenly walked up to Markus, the camp leader, who was underneath a tent, looking at paperwork.

"Markus!"

He glanced at her carelessly. "Rosemarie."

Rose crossed her arms. She had told him not to call her that many times. "You have a lead."

It wasn't a question. Rose knew things, almost too many for her own good.

Markus placed his hands over the papers he was looking at and frowned. "And if I did?"

"This isn't an 'if' scenario, Markus. I know you have one. Why was I not informed right away? I had to infer crap from a rumor I heard from Jessica. I'm your second in command! I need to know this kind of stuff!"

"I'm busy, Ms. Hathway, you aren't my first priority at the moment."

"I would certainly expect I would be of some priority if I was trusted enough to be placed in your camp as your next in line. By the queen."

Markus clenched his fists and Rose knew she had hit something in him. He didn't like her, that she could tell right away. But he had to much respect for Queen Tatiana that he couldn't deny Rose.

"Fine," Markus growled. "Yes, I have a lead, and yes, it is highly important and confidential." He said the last word like Rose would go around camp yelling every last word he told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Give me what you got," she demanded. He handed her the papers slowly.

"Careful with those. Don't need your young dirty fingers messing them up," he warned.

"Yes, Grandpa," Rose snapped at him. He thought he could treat her like a two-year-old because he was 23, which made him five years older than her. Five! As if he had any real authority over her. As if! She took the papers and stalked away to her tent.

The camp they were located at was simple called Base Camp 13. Nobody knew exactly where they were. They had to be flown in with blindfolds. The project they were working on was top-secret, and only certain people, such as Markus and herself, knew the real reason they were there.

It had something to do with the Strigoi trying to murder all the royals, but it was more in depth than that, and Rose knew it. She believed they were all working together. The queen apparently agreed with this, for right after the attack on the Academy three months ago, she had sent for Rose to be taken straight out here. In the middle of God-forsaken nowhere with no outside contact.

That was a killer. No outside contact meant absolutely no contact with anyone. Not Lissa, not Eddie, not any of her friends, and not...not Dimitri.

Rose was frustrated again. She set the papers down and placed her head on her desk, forgetting about them. When she had found out about this, she had assumed that Dimitri would be coming with. After all, he was her mentor and the one who had taught her all she knew. It only made sense. But the queen had other ideas.

Three months earlier...

Dimitri's laughter rang across the gym like a bell as Rose fell flat on her back. She sat up quickly and flipped him off.

"That's not very ladylike, Roza," he told her with a relaxed smile and pulled her to her feet effortlessly.

"When have I ever been ladylike?" She shot back, still angry. They had been fighting and she thought she could beat him and made a wuick bet. Now she owed him thirty chocolate bars, which sucked. She had no money and she wanted free chocolate. Not the other way around.

"True," Dimitri amended, and crossed the floor to grab his water bottle. He took a large gulp after unscrewing the lid and then tossed it at Rose. She stepped to the side and let it fall to the ground. Dimitri raised his eyebrows.

"Really? You're going to be petty about losing?"

Rose glared at him. "I'm not petty about losing!"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes you are. You're being the pettiest person I know at the moment."

She went to pick up his water bottle. "I won't deny I'm being petty, but it's not about losing. It's about having to buy you thirty chocolate bars. I'll never be able to afford that!"

"Shouldn't have made the bet then," Dimitri told her breezely. She stuck her tung out at him, and threw the water at him. She missed where she was aiming—his head, and hit his neck instead. He cried out in sudden pain.

"Rosemarie Hathaway!" He gasped, grabbing his neck in obvious agony. "What is the one place I told you to never hit me?"

Rose rushed to his side, dropping the petty attitude. "I'm sorry, I didn't try, I forgot—"

He looked her in the eye. "You forgot?"

No. She most definitely did not forget how he almost died in the cave two weeks ago...or worse, he almost turned Strigoi. Thankfully, as if by some miracle, they got him out in time, and Lissa was able to restore him. Even then, he didn't wake up for three days, and Rose never left his side, no matter how suspicious it might have looked. When he finally woke up, he was very weak for a few days, and had just been discharged today. There were two bite scars in his neck that would never permanently heal.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, rubbing his back awkwardly.

"It's..fine. It's not your fault I had my back turned in there and was an idiot," Dimitri said, breathing heavily.

Rose shook her head. "Don't blame this on yourself. Any one of us could have gotten attacked. You're not an invincible god no natter how the rest of us like to think you are. You're going to lose a batyle every now and then."

Dimitri shook his head, but grinned suddenly. "Invincible god, you say?"

"Shut up," Rose muttered.

"Never," Dimitri promised, and suddenly he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his chest. Rose inhaled sharply. Her face was two inches away from his and getting dangerously closer.

"Dimitri...?"

"I don't think I've thanked you properly for getting me out of that cave, have I?"

Since that night in the cabin, neither of them had come quite this close to each other, and Rose had assumed they were back to quiet awkward relationship again.

"...No..?"

Dimitri leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, and Rose felt her heart speed up rapidly. She locked her fingers into his long brown strands of hair and pressed herself closer to him. He broke apart from her smiling.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this in here," he breathed easily. "We're still not in an exactly appropriate relationship."

Rose nodded slowly, and went to detatch herself from him. He grabbed her hand suddenly. "Wait."

She turned to face him again, confused. He had just said—He leaned in to her again and she prepared herself for another kiss. But he stopped almost half a millemeter away from her her ear.

"I love you Roza," he said softly and tenderly. She melted against his warm embrace instantly.

"I missed you, Comrade," she replied. He grinned against her neck and she felt content...and loved.

That feeling would be short lived, however, as Alberta came bursting into the room not moments after they let go of each other. Rose internally sighed with relief that they had not gone any further.

"Rose, my office, now," she said. Dimitri stood up questioningly. Alberta nodded. "You can come too, Belikov."

Soon Rose was sitting in a chair across from Alberta's desk with Dimitri standing behind her.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked immediatly. Alberta smiled.

"Quite the contrary, Ms. Hathaway. The queen has asked for your assistance in a very special project."

"You mean...me? Queen Tatiana asked for...me? But she hates me!"

Alberta kept a tight smile on her face. "Rose, no she doesn't. Anyway, she has noticed your abilities on the field and has decided you should be sent to a base camp so she can put your talent to good use."

Rose leaned back in her chair. This was new. "Um...that's an honor...uh, how long would I be gone for?"

Alberta frowned. "Ah, yes...I asked this as well. I believe...five years at the least."

Rose flew out of her chair, and it nearly fell over had it not been for Dimitri. "Five years?"

"Five years."

Rose began to pace the room. "Five whole years working on a secret project that I don't know anything about...how...? Will Dimitri be coming?"

Alberta watched her as she came to a stop in the middle of the room. "No. Just you, Rose. The queen wants just you."

She gazed at Dimitri helplessly. "This is a great honor for you, Roz—Rose. And I don't think it would be wise to turn down the queen's offer."

In other words, it wasn't an offer. Rose had no choice. She sat back down in the chair and drummed her fingers along Alberta's desk.

"I suppose I'll say yes then. Anything else I should know?"

"No contact with anyone outside of the base. Not even with Lissa. Guardian Belikov will be assigned to her in your absence."

That night, even the comforting arms of Lissa or Dimitri weren't good enough. The next week, Rose was sent out to Base Camp 13 with no idea when she would return.