Another shot (A Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Another Shot Chapter 3

"Roza..." I gripped her hand and lead her out to the gym.
"Dimitri." She gripped my hand back and leaned into my side. She was exhausted. Her beauty hadn't diminished but years of missions and sole parenthood was taking its toll.
"Roza. Take some time off. Real time off. I can see the toll the last six years has taken. I'm sorry I started the pain. I really am."
"I can't just drop everything Dimitri. I get Easter and Christmas but I need the extra money to raise Stasiya."
"I'm here. And sure as hell ain't leaving until you order me to go Rose."
"I'll order you to stay- does that help?" She'd lost most of her bravado. How much death had she wielded? How many team members and friends had she lost? How much had she suffered without me?
"A little. Rose..." How did I approach this? I opened the gym door and with her by my side it really was like coming home.
"Dimitri. I know what you're getting at. Here."

She stepped in front of me to speak then spun around offering for me to lift up her hair. I did and almost cried at the sight. She had the two molnija marks from Spokane, the two battle marks from the attack and rescue and the promise mark. But that wasn't all. She wore so many battle marks, twenty easily but she had barely any bare skin left. She had another six molnija marks wherever they could fit and an infinity symbol. She still wasn't the age I was when I met her and yet I hadn't killed since the rescue. She was actively seeking them out.

"What's the infinity for, Rose?"
"Usually it's either ten years service in Elite or over fifteen missions. I got mine after my sixteenth mission three years ago. They stop marking you after that- normally. I still get the odd molnija mark and two battle marks weren't Elite missions, nor the academy attack and rescue. It really does mean the bearer has killed more Strigoi over their time than can be counted. Most Elite only go on one mission a year. I go on about five or more. Four missions a year is the bare minimum I go on. I've been offered Captain three times and turned it down each time. The Captain never goes on missions. Each time I turn it down I'm gifted with the punishment of an extra two missions. I prefer being involved- always have. I have hundreds of deaths on my hands if not thousands. How there is so many Strigoi I don't know. I've lost plenty of teammates and friends in the process. The missions usually send twenty and come back with twelve to fifteen. My alarm system is so fine tuned I could tell you how many and how close or far they are and where. It's the only reason I survive. I can jump them before they surprise me."

Oh Roza was all I could think. I knew she'd wield a high death count but this was insane. It was heart wrenching.

"What about the darkness?"
"Channelled out in every kill. Keeps Lissa sane." What about her own sanity?
"Yours, Rose?"
"Hmm. I'm hardly sane when I've been through what I have but in terms of darkness insanity- it doesn't touch me." I was still looking at her neck. It was a sight I didn't think I'd have to behold. It symbolised something I'd never wanted her to go through. Yet I'd inadvertently pushed her into it. I'd certainly trained her to be ready, to be good enough. "Go ahead. I know you want to. Trace them, kiss them. They're only there because you trained me to be good enough."
"Oh Roza. I knew you'd have a higher count than me eventually but I never saw this coming..." I started tracing the marks ever so delicately. "I knew you'd be good but I never wanted this to happen to you. You're still not the age I was when we met." One hand was tracing her marks while the other was tracing her, relearning the shape and lines of her body. I reached her tummy and pulled her to me.
"Does that matter? I was slaughtering at seventeen. I went hunting after being hunted. It's what I do, Dimitri. Who I am. Elite turns Guardians into Hunters. That's the difference between you and me. You're a Guardian, I'm a Hunter. You're prey, I'm predator. You defend, I attack." Wow. That was new. "Stasiya has a Guardian for a father and a Hunter for mother."

"Is it a title?" She was using it like it was.
"Yes. The press still addresses us as 'Guardians from Elite' or 'Elite Guardian'. The Queen, Council and other Elite members address us as 'Hunter' because that's what we do. It becomes a part of you. Like growing up a novice knowing you're destined to be Guardian such and such. You graduate as Guardian and that's how you enter Elite- thinking like a Guardian but you quickly learn being in Elite demands its own way of thinking. They created the title 'Hunter' the year after I was added to the team. That was how I thought, as a hunter, I had access to information they didn't; basically, I'm the reason an Elite Guardian carries the secret title of Hunter." Whoa.
"How often do you contact the ghosts?" It was risky at best and could completely send her over the edge at its worst.
"Each week. Usually twice a week if planning a mission. Each day up to twice a day during a mission." Shit! "I've learnt the control but the more death I dish out the easier it becomes to communicate with them. I can hold a proper, strategic, two-way verbal conversation for about fifteen minutes now. Lissa also has a rotating set of charmed silver rings for when I'm in battle- blocks them out."
"Oh Rose." I turned her in my arms so she was now facing me. Every feeling was playing on my face and in my eyes. The concern, the worry and, most importantly, the love. "I love you Roza. So much."