The Dahlia is the national flower of Mexico and is named after 18th-century botanist, Anders Dahl. Dahlias have a vast range of hues from bronze to red and white to purple, and it's grown throughout the year. They carry a series of meanings with themselves; it can either be a sign of warning or a symbol of betrayal while in Victorian language, Dahlia stands for 'the flower has survived.' It expresses sentiments of dignity and elegance. It is also a symbol of commitment and a strong bond that will last forever. Thus, Dahlias are often used as flower decorations to celebrate love and marriage.

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The emergency stairs rang with hurried footsteps as he fled the scene with the Federal Security Service or FSB, formerly the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti or KGB, hot on his trail.
     "Stop right there, Lev Nikolaev!" one of the team leaders, Andrei, who was assigned this case shouted. Lev turned around and fired his gun at the railing below, resulting in Andrei backing away then glaring at him as Lev smirked and rushed off. 'Why did he shoot the railing when he could've clearly gotten a straight hit at me?' He quickly followed after him to the rooftop of a tall building overlooking Krasnoyarsk.
     Lev reached the exit and burst through, exposing himself to the rough winds created by the large wings of his helicopter waiting on the pad; his ink-black hair and brown trench coat danced vigorously in the air. Sitting in the pilot's seat was the woman he had learned to trust with his life. She smirked at him as he ran toward the black aircraft, but before he could get on, a bullet flew next to where his hand was gripping the handle, stopping him.
     "Shit," he muttered. He had chucked his empty gun away at the top of the stairs, so he was weaponless.
     "Don't make another move, Nikolaev!" Andrei warned, his gun pointed at him. Lev turned around slowly with his hands up in surrender and a contrite smile on his face. "If you come with us nicely, nobody else would get hurt."
He looked at the pilot, and Lev's face turned grim. "She has nothing to do with this. Leave her out of it!" he defended.
     "By assisting in your escape, she became your accomplice. Now, if you understand, get down on the floor." Andrei motioned with his gun. He needed to keep his act up until his backup arrived because he had just shot his last bullet, and he had no more magazines; if he messed this up, the criminal would get away again. Lev did not move, so he demanded once more, "Get down on the floor, you bastard!"
Lev chuckled a little. "Or what?" Andrei clenched his jaw angrily. "You don't have any more bullets, do you?"
Andrei's eyes widened, but he quickly recovered. "You're only going to cause her death by stalling!" He cocked the gun, hoping to sell his act.
     "You know, I counted all the shots you've made. I know for a fact you don't have any more bullets to fire." Lev smirked and put his hands in his pockets. "Guess I'll see you next time, Andrei." He turned around to leave, but to his dismay, his pilot was standing before him with a gun in her hands. He watched her with shock all over his face; he felt utterly betrayed. "Viktoria..."
     "Sorry, Lev, but you're not going anywhere," she stated sternly. Her beautiful face which usually sported a carefree smile was replaced by a serious look along with crystal blue eyes full of deadly intent, and her long, golden hair held in a braid whipped around her in the wind like a rope.
     "Viktoria, why? Please—" He took a step toward her, and she shot his leg without hesitation. He fell down, cussing in pain as he clutched his wound.
Andrei tucked his gun into its holster as he laughed. "Good job, Agent Dahlia! We really got him, huh?" He grinned wickedly at her, and she sighed.
     "Dahlia? Is that your real name?" Lev asked as he struggled to stand again.
     "It's my code name," she answered blandly.
     "So all this time, you were a secret agent...Everything was a lie? I trusted you." He frowned bitterly.
     "No offense, but that's my job, to earn your trust and get inside information about your sick organization."
     "It certainly is amusing to see their reactions every time when they find out they've been betrayed," Andrei commented and laughed again.
     "When will backup arrive?" Dahlia questioned.
     "Soon, I guess, but we should kill him right now."
     "What?" She turned to look at him in confusion. "Aren't we handing him over to the director?"
     "Why go through all the trouble when we can just get rid of him now and set it as an act of defense or say he was trying to escape, so we had to shoot him?" he replied with his hands on his hips.
     "That's not how this works, sir. You know that," she remarked with narrowed eyes.
     "Who cares about the stupid fucking director?! This bastard's family did horrible things to a bunch of people! Nobody will miss him! Once we kill him, their organization will be no more! Don't you understand, Agent Dahlia?!" he shouted furiously.
She watched him silently for a while. "Is this because his grandfather killed your wife?"
His eyes widened. "How do you know that?"
     "Wow, so it is..." She slowly pointed the gun at him now.
     "What are you doing, Agent Dahlia? Stand down!" he ordered, panic rising in him.
     "You shouldn't involve personal feelings or matters into cases, sir," she stated through gritted teeth. "It's very unprofessional."
He furrowed his brows. "Don't tell me that bullshit. You're siding with him now because of your personal feelings too. You got attached, didn't you? You never did before. All those things he did and said to you were fake, Agent Dahlia!"
     "No, sir, my personal feelings didn't get in the way. My decision to protect Mr. Nikolaev is based on factual information, unlike the false accusations and evidence you planted into his organization."
     Andrei's expression changed. "H-How did you find out?"
     "I've got my ways just like you do, sir."
     "No matter! The rest of the agency will get him, and you, you were a great agent. One of our best probably, and you will be missed, but if it'll take your death to destroy them, then so be it. The backup will be here soon, and I'll let them know you've betrayed us."
     "With all due respect, sir, I don't think Mila would be happy to know her dad was doing something like this."
     "You stay away from my daughter!" he spat out.
     "We were never going to hurt her, Andrei," Lev spoke up. "But I do have my men watching over her at the moment."
     "If I find that anything is wrong with her, I'll personally dig your grave!"
     "Sir, Mr. Nikolaev's grandfather may have taken away your wife, but his dad is already paying for his crimes in place of him in prison, and the organization has changed their ways. Many of the citizens are grateful to them. Just take a look at Mr. Nikolaev. He's too fragile and innocent-looking to do anything illegal," Dahlia declared.
     "Seriously?" Lev sighed.
     "What? It's true." She shrugged. "The past is in the past. You need to learn to let go, sir. You still have to take care of Mila. Don't let your grudge take a good dad away from her." Andrei swallowed and looked between the two of them then his eyes flickered away for a moment, causing Lev to take notice.
He turned around to see another agent peeking from behind the railing, aiming their gun at Dahlia. "No!" He covered her body with his as the gun went off, and the bullet dug into his back. She whipped around fast as lightning then shot the agent in the shoulder, and they fell backwards onto the second rooftop below. At the same time, the other agents burst through the exit with their guns, ready to fire.
     She glared at her superior and demanded, "Tell them to stand down!" Andrei flinched at her harsh tone. He'd never witnessed her being so furious, not even when a mission went wrong. He raised his hand, and the others put their guns down reluctantly. Lev's body crumbled to the floor, and she knelt beside him. "Why did you do that?" she asked with furrowed brows.
     "Because I can't let you die," he answered painfully.
     "My job is very dangerous. My death is inevitable. You didn't have to sacrifice yourself for me." She frowned. "You're such an idiot."
     "Hey, it was my choice, and I'll be alright. I'm strong enough to get through this..." He coughed a little.
     "What do you mean? You don't even fight because your body's physically weak. How can you get through this?" She frowned even more.
     "Well, at least I got to know you, Vera."
     "Stop talking. You'll make it worse."
     "Is it bad that I'm sad you're not even crying for me?" She huffed out a breath of frustration. "Ah, I also wanted to take you out on a date...Guess I can't anymore."
He gave a sad smile, and she shook her head. "No, you'll be okay. I'll agree to that date when you're better so stay with me." Her grip around his shoulder tightened.
     "Really?" She nodded. "That's a promise then." He smiled widely and sat up straight. "Let's go on that date after all this is settled."
She blinked at what just happened then glared at him. "Lev Nikolaev," she said his name through gritted teeth then gripped his injured thigh, and he howled out in pain.
     "Wait, wait, wait! I'm sorry, Vera! Please let go of my leg!" he shouted through the indescribable pain.
She scowled at him then let go. "Let this be the last time you try something like that." He nodded quickly. "I thought it was weird when I didn't see any blood. You're wearing a bulletproof vest, aren't you?"
     "Of course, I can't risk exposing myself to danger without precautions since I'm so weak," he stressed the last word.
She rolled her eyes at him then walked up to Andrei. "Let's go, sir. It's going to be troublesome explaining to the director." She held his shoulder and led him toward the exit. "Expect that you'll be fired at the least."
     "Wait, what about my leg?" Lev questioned.
     "One of the paramedics will take care of it." She waved him off.
     He sighed and mumbled, "She better not go back on her promise."

— — —

     Lev stood outside the mansion, leaning against his car, as he waited for Vera. He looked at his watch and tapped his foot a little. 'I wonder how she'll look,' he thought. He was wearing a fitted, all-black suit with black dress shoes, and his hair was parted a little over to the right, the ends hanging against his forehead; he looked extremely charming.
     Heels clicking against the pavement was soon heard, and he turned to see her walking toward him in a baby pink, off-shoulder tulle dress that reached her knees where the skirt part was two layers with the light pink fusing into a pastel yellow by the hem and white, pointed heels. A rose-gold necklace adorned her neck, and her golden hair was curled into loose waves with a small plait on the front of one side secured by a hollow, rose-gold, heart-shaped barrette.
She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear with one hand while the other held onto the chain strap of her white, shoulder purse. "Did you wait long?" asked Vera. She wasn't wearing much makeup except for some peachy lipgloss and a little blush since she was already really beautiful.
     "The housemaids did a wonderful job..." He gazed at her for some time until she spoke up.
     "Are you done staring?" She folded her arms. "I'm going to head back in if we're not leaving soon."
     "Ah, don't do that, Vera." He opened the car door and reached inside then took out a small bouquet of Wizard of Oz dahlias. "Here, for you." He smiled gullibly, and she took it gently.
She observed the many light pink petals surrounding the yellow center of the flowers then smiled a little and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Lev." He turned bright red as a result, and she chuckled. "I see you're still a kid."
     "Hey, I'm nineteen!" he defended himself.
     "And I'm three years older, so you're a kid to me." She ruffled his hair, and he sighed.
He opened the passenger's door for her to get in. "Get in, my lady."
She did so, and he also got into the driver's seat. "Where are we going?"
     "You'll see when we get there." He grinned widely.
     "Oh, how's your leg?"
     "It's healing up well. Why'd you have to shoot me anyway? It wasn't in the plan."
     "It made my betrayal more solid."
     "Andrei would've believed you either way. You just did that for revenge because of something I did before, didn't you?"
     "Now, why would I do something petty like that?" She smiled a little, and he sighed once again.