Fandoms: Sanctuary, Vampire Academy
Story Title: The Guardian and the Psychologist
Character/Relationships: Rose, Will, mentions of Dimitri/Rose
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for Last Sacrifice
Prompt: (character) meets a character from another fandom that is their complete opposite
“Come on Sydney, we have to hurry!” Rose’s tone of agitation and stress was no doubt due to the bloodied man whose weight she supported as the small group moved through the streets as quickly as possible with one of their party injured and unconscious.
“It’s just up…here!” The young Alchemist exclaimed and turned a corner, leading them onto a street with only a single towering mansion backing onto the river. If the building itself was not imposing enough, the thick stone wall that surrounded the massive grounds was .The single visible entrance was a large wrought iron gate, with a delicate pattern and sharp edges to discourage climbers. The entire area screamed ‘STAY OUT’, but given Dimitri’s rapidly deteriorating condition, that was not something they could afford to do.
Sydney pressed a button on the keypad near the gate. “Doctor Magnus?” She glanced to the patch of darkness where a camera was most likely concealed. “Doctor Magnus, we need your help!”
There was a moment of silence before a voice, distorted but undeniably British, came from the speaker. “I’m sending someone down.”
~*~*~*~*~
“Well, at least we got here.” Lissa sighed after Dimitri was rushed into an operating room. Lissa was referring to her intended meeting with Doctor Magnus, head of the Sanctuary Network, in an attempt to consolidate Moroi society’s influence, safety, and most importantly, secrecy. Of course, they didn’t intend to arrive in such a manner. A few blocks from the Sanctuary, they had been ambushed by Strigoi.
Now, the girls at a loss for what to do, examined the hallway in silence. However, they were cut short in their inspection or their surroundings as a young man approached.
“Sorry, I’m Will. I thought you might like to clean up and change while we wait for the Doc to finish.”
“Is he going to be okay?” The question burst from Rose before she even thought about what he had said.
“He’s lost a lot of blood, and some of the damage was very severe, but it looks like he’s gonna pull through.” As he said this, he took in her every reaction, which Rose found unsettling.
Lissa, bound to be polite by both her new station, and her upbringing, addressed him. “Thank you, Will. We would appreciate that very much.”
“I’ll show you to your rooms.” He smiled “Welcome to the Sanctuary.”
~*~*~*~*~
Rose sat on her enormous bed in the room adjoining to Lissa’s. She was playing with her stake as she contemplated their earlier meeting with Doctor Magnus. She had told them that Dimitri had indeed stabilised, but would not be awake for hours, or available for active duty for weeks. Then, as planned, she and Lissa had discussed the future relationship between the Moroi government and the Sanctuary Network. There had been a previous agreement, but it was practically the equivalent of mutual ignorance. Both were now looking for a way to strengthen alliances. As a peace offering, of sorts, Lissa had volunteered several Moroi to investigate the scientific aspects of their magic, while Doctor Magnus promised to look into weaknesses in Strigoi physiology and synthesising or mass producing the effects of Spirit.
Rose heard a knock at the door the second before Will, who she now knew to be a psychologist, entered.
“Just wanted to see how you were doing.” He said, with hands stuffed casually in his pockets.
“Fine.” Rose found that offering no details went a long way towards people giving up on deep and meaningful talks with her.
“I was told that you and Dimitri are…involved.”
“Yup.”
“It must be hard to let him risk his life as a guardian. It must be hard to risk your life by being a guardian.”
“Not really. We’re trained from a young age to defend ourselves, to protect others. I would die for Lissa, and in fact I almost did once.”
“When was that?”
“She was almost shot by a political activist. But I got in the way.” She said it in a matter of fact tone, giving no inclination as to any emotions she felt. But, despite her impartial voice, her body language conveyed stress and pain. He’d obviously touched on a bad memory.
“Lissa tells me you’ve got a…thing with psychologists. Care to enlighten me with your reasons why I’m so offensive.” He said it jokingly, but with true curiosity.
“I’ve actually only had one. She sorta just annoyed me by answering questions with questions.”
“Tell me about it. It takes forever to get just a morsel of info from the Doc. She is far too good at avoiding questions.”
She almost laughed. He actually sounded like a real person. “Well, actually, my counsellor was a bit like you. She was convinced that I was denying myself what I wanted as punishment or something.”
“Were you?”
“Hey, I’ve got the guy. Got the job. What more could I want?”
“I’m not gonna answer that for you. I can’t.”
“Yep, now you definitely sound like her.”
“Well, I’ll have you know that a counsellor is completely different than a psychologist. I have more training , making me far better at annoying people.”
This time she actually did laugh. “I couldn’t do it. The learning bit, I mean. I sit in on Lissa’s lectures and they drive me mad. I’d take a Strigoi over that any day.”
“Yeah, you see, fighting’s not so much my thing. I’ve almost had it one time to many on missions. Definitely prefer research to abnormal-hunts, even if it does have its own kind of thrill.”
“You know what Doctor Zimmerman, I don’t think I’d last a day in your life.”
“I think I agree. Angry, super-strong vampires? I’ve had enough for this lifetime.”
He turned to leave the room. Rose had to ask. “I’m guessing you came here to do some weird counselling thing. So why didn’t you?”
He turned to her before shutting the door, an in an overdramatic voice said “Oh, but I did.”