A month outside the gates (a VA fanfic)ON HOLD

Chapter 1

RPOV
I'd just been called into Kirova's office and the only thing I could guess it to be about was Dimitri. I ran one of the long routes to the office while mentally chanting 'please don't be about Dimitri!' over and again.
So you can imagine my mental reaction when he's sitting in the second seat on the 'I'm being
interrogated' side of the desk. Shit! We're in trouble! She found out about the charm! Oh crap! I schooled my face into a mask and he caught it.
"Rose," he nodded at me, his own mask was in place but his eyes told me he found my freak-out-to-the-point-of-a-mask was a hilarious overreaction. "You may want to take a seat," he gestured to the seat next to him, "this may take a while." That so made me feel better, Comrade. I took the seat, even though I didn't want to.
"Why am I here? I've done nothing but follow rules since having my arse saved." Kinda, sorta, maybe, not really.
"Rose, you're going into the world for a month. And you'll have your qualifier on your last day," Kirova responded. What?!
"Comrade!" I pleaded, "Please tell me I'm not missing another month of school and training. You know I'm nowhere near ready for field experience, let alone the world."
"You can't possibly think you're being sent out there alone, can you Rose? You're still an Academy ward." Uh oh. Oh no. Just what We needed. A month together.
"Rose, you leave in an hour—with Guardian Belikov. No arguments. This is a training exercise. Now get out of here."

"Please explain," I begged Dimitri when we were out of earshot.
"Later."
"Comrade!" I growled. "What's going on?"
"Rose. You're not the only one who doesn't like the idea. I'll meet you in the garages in an hour. And pack only bare basics."
"Word choice, Comrade! Watch it," I warned under my breath. He simply shook his head and walked off.

Oh, this was going to be fun. Not. A month alone with the one man who nearly held my virginity, the one man I love, yet the one man I need is the one I can't have. Did the universe have to hate me? And what on earth was this about this month being a training exercise?! Unless it was twenty-four/ seven temptation resistance training I had no clue what it could entail.

My mind kept spinning as I packed the basic necessities and a few changes of clothes. I knew how to travel light thanks to running with Liss and was glad it was getting put to use again.