Alucard wasn’t one to ride home with the rest of the crew after a mission. He had always insisted that he’d rather walk or phase or…whatever he did to get home before they did. But this time was different. Integra wasn’t surprised that he crawled into the seat across from her, sitting the unconscious girl across his lap and holding her steady as the truck bounced along the uneven gravel road before they met asphalt. Integra looked unabashedly at the girl: she seemed to be only a little younger than herself, with golden blonde hair and fair skin. Her head lolled against the vampire’s shoulder as the truck rocked it, and she didn’t utter a single sound in her slumber.

                “What’s wrong with her?” Integra asked finally. “She seemed alert not fifteen minutes before.” Walter barely moved, but she saw his hand clench slightly on his thigh and was sure he was thinking along the same lines she was. Whatever this is; is it good or bad?

                “Her body is finally going through the last stages of being changed into a nightwalker, and it’s tired her out. She is fine, or will be soon.” Alucard’s voice gave no hint of emotion that betrayed any feelings for the girl he was holding. Integra suddenly felt a rush of pity for the poor little thing draped across the vampire’s legs.

                “You know that if I decide to let you keep her, and I haven’t decided yet- she’s your responsibility. I don’t want to have to clean up any bloody messes because you forgot to make sure she drank her blood or stayed out of the sun or anything like that.” She realized that she sounded like a mother scolding a child who’d brought home a puppy and was begging to keep it. The ancient vampire smirked and settled the girl more firmly across his legs.

After arriving at the mansion, Alucard had carried the police girl-as the entire mansion was now referring to her as the rumors spread from soldiers to staff-down to the basement to one of the unused guest rooms. Walter had taken one look at her bloody uniform, then the bright sheets and ordered him to stop. Integra snapped her fingers; she’d gotten an idea.

“Hang on a moment,” she’d said, running back up to her rooms and throwing open a drawer. She pulled a rarely used set of pajamas out and nodded in satisfaction before returning to the sublevels and shooing the men out. Taking a washcloth from the tiny adjoining bathroom, she carefully cleaned the blood from the now whole chest of the police girl. Taking all her bloody clothing off except for her knickers, she pushed the limp arms through the sleeves and buttoned the front. It’s like dressing an oversized doll. Well, better me than your new master. I wonder if you’ll end up liking him. She smiled and patted the blonde’s hair before catching her expression in the vanity mirror. Oh God, I’m starting to get attached. She opened the door and stepped out, barely missing Alucard as he pushed his way through. She and Walter peered around the doorframe as the vampire carefully pulled the covers over the comatose girl before taking a seat on the edge of the bed, his eyes trained on her face. Integra exchanged a look with the butler before they left Alucard alone and scurried up to the woman’s office.

“Well, what do you think about that?” Walter said in slight awe. “In all my years, I’ve never seen Alucard really act as though he cared about anyone before. I wonder…” The old man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Integra sat at her desk, turning the image over in her mind.

“Walter.” The man jumped to attention and bowed. “Get the police girl a uniform for when she wakes.”

“Ah, so we’re not exterminating her then, I presume?” he said with a twinkle in his eye. Integra smiled and shook her head. “Good. I’m glad we’re of the same mind.” She opened her mouth when a loud, feminine scream rose from the depths of the manor. “Oh, I better hurry. It seems like the child is awake.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alucard sat quietly, watching his new fledgling sleep and feeling their minds slowly bridge together. He wondered slightly at the newness of it all: he’d never had a successor before. The girl shifted against the pillow and moaned slightly. Was she dreaming of the horrors of her last hour of life? Alucard carefully brushed her bangs off her forehead and she relaxed, understanding the protective feel of her master before she even knew who her master was.

A part of him wondered what he would do if for some strange, unfeasible reason his master ordered him to get rid of the girl. He’d not known her for a full day; yet, he already felt some sort of rudimentary attachment to her. He frowned and scratched his chin. Well, he’d just cross that bridge if he came to it. He doubted that his master would force him to get rid of her anyway. She was more shocked than disgusted or angry that he’d shown up with an undead girl in his arms, but she seemed to warm up to the idea rather quickly. Perhaps the woman simply wanted a female companion instead of the company of men all the time.

The girl stirred again and this time he felt the flutter of her mind in his own. Something in his chest twisted at the feeling and he felt a small grin grace his lips before he squashed it back down. Emotion. Ugh.  

She was just a little snippet of a girl but the will to live stayed strong inside her, even as he drank her heavenly blood. Part of him wondered why he even chose to share eternity with anyone, much less this tiny little police girl with a heart of gold.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by her scream as she sat straight up, missing him entirely before gasping and relaxing as her fear disappeared. Did she think the whole ordeal was a nightmare? She remembered something and pulled up the nightshirt, just shy of flashing her breasts to him( not that he would have minded). He leered widely at her as she noticed him sitting there. He could see-no feel- the gears turning in her mind as she began to realize what had happened. She stared wide-eyed at him for a long moment before letting out a shriek and flailing about like a fish. He fought the urge to laugh at her as he stood out of the way of her arms.

“Police Girl. How does it feel now that you’re a vampire?” She looked blankly at him before checking for herself. At the sight of her new, dainty little fangs she screamed again in horror. He made a move to grab her before the sound of his master’s voice made him freeze.

“You’re too loud Police Girl. I don’t care if you are a vampire. You’re still English; have some manners.” He saw by the look on the Hellsing’s face that she was trying not to laugh as well. Walter was simply looking bemused as he held a Hellsing uniform. He caught Walter’s eye and the butler smirked and raised the clothing slightly for the vampire to see better; apparently Integra had decided to let her stay. Alucard felt the strangest sense of relief and grinned wider as the bewildered police girl gazed around at all three of them. Well, things just got a bit more interesting.  

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He walked out of the hospital, an energetic, clumsy Draculina prancing along happily at his heels as though he hadn’t just insulted her at least three times in the last ten minutes. She was prattling along-well, not really prattling; he found that she was the one person he could listen to without wanting to slice her throat and make her shut up- but tonight it was only background noise as he walked along aimlessly.

Why not drink? He’d asked her, and her beat-around-the-bush answer had shocked him: she didn’t mind being around him. Even as a human, no one had ever sought out his companionship. He wasn’t amiable, gentlemanly, or amusing. He lived for slaughter and gore. He had always enjoyed his solitude down in the cold, dark stone basements that reminded him of his castle.

He still was all these things, but at the same time he could feel himself changing. Whenever he trained the police girl, she always managed to find a way to walk back with him to the house, or talk his ear off on missions. She actively looked around for him whenever she wanted something or, even more strangely, ask him questions that she could have easily found the answers to from Walter or Integra. Sometimes she simply declared that she was bored or lonely before walking into his room like she owned the place and sitting as his feet.

That wasn’t the strangeness of it-no, he expected it from a woman. Females crave camaraderie and friendship. It was that he allowed it, and even actively sought it himself. He didn’t mind that the child hunted him down or even that she enjoyed his presence. He simply couldn’t understand how or even when he had grown to feel the same way.

“Simpleton. Why didn’t you go with the others? How do you plan on getting back to the mansion?” he turned and cut off her one-sided conversation. She blinked at him for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly.

“I dunno. I just wanted to go with you, I suppose.” He stared at her. Did she not even think about it? Did she automatically choose me over someone else? He shook his head and filed the thought for another time. He’d have to really consider how his little fledgling’s mind worked when he had time.

“Come on, Police Girl. Let’s return home.” He held out an arm and she linked hers through his, slinging her gun over the opposite shoulder and smiling up at him before resuming her chatter.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She slept through the helicopter noises and sirens. She’d have probably slept through Armageddon. He’d been watching her since the Frenchman had left for his own hotel, having propped open the heavy coffin lid to let some cooler air flow across her tiny form. She was in what appeared to be an uncomfortable position, but she was snoozing with a smile on her face so she wasn’t in any discomfort as far as he could tell.  He took a drink of wine and studied her. Every once in a while, when she wasn’t looking, he memorized her face. Some part of him wondered at how the pale skin of the dead didn’t seem to take away from her features. She wasn’t exactly beautiful; she was more of a cutesy, pretty little thing. He frowned and rubbed his eyes, feeling the unease grow beneath his feet and took a look out at the window. He’d have to wake her eventually, and sooner was better than later.  She stirred in her sleep and he leaned over, touching her cheek slightly with two fingers and shaking her head.

“Wake up.” She opened her eyes and stared at him in confusion.

“Oh, hello. Good morning.” She smiled at him and he grinned back, backing away slightly to kneel over her instead.

“Good evening,” he corrected. “There’s something interesting going on.”

                Somewhere he’d once read that man instinctively hid their spoils to keep them safe from enemy marauders. That’s why people buried money under old tree stumps and the like. He’d wondered if that was what he was doing as he shoved the protesting Draculina into a cupboard and held a finger to her lips to shush her. She had stared at him in fright before he’d pressed his forehead against hers reassuringly. She smiled and closed the doors, but he could still see the concern in her gaze. Don’t worry, little Seras. These men can’t hurt me. He turned and walked away to stand by the window. There, in the cupboard, no one would hurt her or shoot her. She could be safe while he protected her until the men were dead and they could make their escape.

                The men did fight valiantly, even one choosing to end his own life rather than let the vampire tear into him. He’d turned away from the carnage and heard Seras come out. He heard her breath quicken at the sight of the dead bodies, but said nothing as she walked around the corpses and whimpered to herself. His mind was torn in two: part of him wanted her to know exactly who’d she been saddled with, the other begged him to let her live in ignorance. If she knows a part of what we are, she’ll want to know it all and we can’t tell her. It would only harm her instead. He ignored the voices as he watched the crowds outside the window.

                “Master,” he heard her voice call him with slight confusion and surprise. Where was the disgust and terror that was supposed to fill her tone? He didn’t turn to face her yet; she’d be able to see the puzzled expression in his eyes.

                “Seras.” Her name sounded strange on his tongue. He hardly used it, but at a time like this “Police Girl” seemed inappropriate. “Prepare for battle.” He heard her hesitate, felt the caution and morality churning in her mind. It made him nauseous.

                “But-” he cut her off angrily, his hands clenching and unclenching.

                “Is there a problem? Do as your told.” His slight shake of his normally calm demeanor surprised him, but Seras didn’t seem to notice. What would it take to get her to feel something other than this blind acceptance and adoration for him? It made him ill, simply because he couldn’t understand how it could be so. He wanted to shake her until her teeth chattered and force her to explain why she liked him so much. He didn’t like it; it made him feel as though there were still a shred of hope for his soul left in the pit of his black heart.

                But…” her tone turned almost chastising, as if she was trying to make him understand her point of view. “Master, these people. These are humans,” she insisted.

                “Your point?” he snarled. What right had she to lecture him? Who was she to condemn his actions? She was supposed to blindly follow him-she apparently couldn’t do that right either!

                “These people are human beings!” she repeated, her voice rising slightly. She was yelling now?           

                “I don’t care what those things are!” he exploded, whirling around to grab her collar. He didn’t want a fledgling that stood in his way at every impasse. He didn’t care about her anymore if she was going to wring remorse out of him for every action. It was time for her to see his side of things. “They came here to try and kill us! It no longer matters what they are. Now they must die.”

He ripped into her, shredding apart any sentimental hold she thought she had on him. He tried to make her hate him, yelling at her with everything he had. “They’ll be slaughtered-corpses! Left to rot in their graves like filth.” He saw the mix of anger and sadness in her eyes and, for some reason, tried to explain his reasoning to her as though she were worthy of understanding. “This is just the way it is. This is what has to be done! And no one has the power to change that: not God, the Devil or you!” he finished, his tone filled with a mix of fury and disgust at her silly, one-minded reasoning of life and death; good and evil. What did she know? She was just a stupid, ignorant child compared to him, who had seen enough of the world to hate it with every pore of his being. He watched the misery swim in her blue gaze as she listened to him, not even trying to interrupt.

“I know, but… they’re just-” her voice broke and tears pooled in her eyes and slowly spilled down her cheeks. That damned twisting feeling in his chest returned tenfold at the sight. He honestly hadn’t thought that she would cry in front of him. He hadn’t meant to make her cry; he just wanted her to stop being so soft. He felt his face soften and fought the urge to hold her. The only other option was to put her back on the ground, so he let her collar go and she bounced in the puddle of blood that was slowly staining the floorboards.

“This is just the way it is,” he said, more gently. He turned away from her and resumed his reconnaissance of the scene below.

“Yes, Master,” her soft surrender made him want to smile. He forced the thought to the back of his mind and began making his plan.

“Come along now, Seras. No time to be a coward.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She had grown up. No longer was she the timid, clumsy chatterbox who was simply pretty. Now, she was a beautiful woman in every sense of the word. It gave him the strongest sense of pride; he would have told her so, if they hadn’t been in the middle of a war. He knelt at his master’s feet as she acknowledged his return, and had stood up to see his little police girl was now crimson-eyed and strong. Her arm was missing, but when she drank his blood it would grow back; he didn’t have to worry about that. She smiled at him anxiously and welcomed him back. For the first time, he wished his master was somewhere far away so he could tell her how glorious she had become. She mistook his silence for contempt and jumped behind Sir Hellsing, peeping around the taller woman.

“You’ve seemed to have grown a mustache.” When he still didn’t answer, she rubbed her own lip. “A…mustache?” she half-joked. He suddenly had the urge to touch her and placed a hand gently on her head, ruffling the locks like he used to do when she succeeded in a particularly hard training exercise. She looked at him wide-eyed and he was reminded of when she lay in the bed, waking up after dying to stare at him with the same expression.

“Yes, my Seras Victoria.” He smiled at her. She gave him a happy grin, catching the meaning under his words. Of course she would; she’d always seemed to know him better than he knew himself. He glanced over to see his master watching her vampires happily, as though she’d been wishing for this to happen. It was a nice moment- until supposed holy damnation literally jumped from the heavens to try and pierce his heart.

She was waiting in his throne when he first entered his room. She didn’t seem to be angry that he’d went to Integra first, although he could feel the slight jealousy in their rekindled bond before she forced it away. She looked up as he walked across the room towards her and smiled kindly.

“So you’re back.” It was a hidden question-was he back for good? Was he ever going to leave again? He nodded and lifted her out of the chair long enough to take her place. He placed her on his lap, expecting her to flounder around and end up in the floor. Instead, she leaned against his shoulder and sighed.
                “I thought you might be jealous that I went to announce my return to our master first,” he teased, knowing full well that she knew he could have felt her envy. She shifted against him and rose up enough to look him in the eyes.

“It’s okay that you went to her first. She’s old now and won’t be around forever like I will. I’ve been waiting for thirty-odd years now. I can wait some more.” He noticed that her eyes were darker than his, a more crimson color than his own sienna-red eyes. He watched her shadows skate across his legs and took a closer look at her arm.

“You could, but you won’t have to. When you drink my blood, you’ll get that arm back.” She laughed at his offhand statement, her voice echoing around the room and in his ear. “Police girl, I can only take so much before my eardrums bust.” She stopped and arched a brow at him, shaking her head slightly.

“Oh Master, you don’t change at all, do you?” she pushed her good arm around behind his back and squeezed tightly. He patted her thigh and shrugged.

“I cannot help it if you were expecting something different.” Exhaustion ate at his vision; even with virgin blood, he was still dead-tired and dawn was approaching. Seras caught his expression and her eyes filled with concern.

“You’re still not fully recovered.” When he didn’t correct her, she pressed her lips together and began to loosen his necktie. He opened one eye lazily to watch her drape it over the table before adjusting his coat and curling her little body around him on the chair. “Sleep, my Master. I’ll stay here today too.” She closed her eyes and leaned against his chest. “I’m glad you’re back,” she murmured. He placed one hand on her hair and rubbed it softly as he leaned against her.

“Would you have waited here forever?” he whispered. He felt her nod and scoffed. “Then you’re still an idiot.” She giggled and poked him in the ribs before settling again. He felt through their bond and the emotion shocked him. “How long?” She sighed and he looked down to see her open her eyes and blink up at him.

“You’re not going to sleep,” she accused. He frowned and she sighed again, rubbing one eye before placing the softest kiss he’d ever felt against his chin.

“Since I’ve known you. Now go to sleep. We can talk about all this tomorrow.”

                There were days when Integra felt her age mentally. Today was one of those days. Waking up, she piddled about her room preparing for the upcoming events before stopping at a gunshot mark on her wall. She’d thought that Alucard returning last night was a dream, but here was the residue to prove her wrong. Hurriedly she finished her preparation and made her way to the basement. Peering into Seras’ room, she found the coffin open and the vampiress nowhere to be found. She walked down another level, feeling her arthritis protesting at the extra exertion. Carefully, so carefully, she opened the door to her vampire’s room and saw both of them piled on the chair together fast asleep. It warmed her heart and she leaned against the frame for a moment, watching them before closing the door and leaving the two to their slumber.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suddenly

Suddenly, you’re here.

Suddenly, it starts.

Can two anxious hearts beat as one?

Yesterday I was alone; today you are beside me.

Something still unclear: something not yet here has begun.
 

Suddenly the world seems a different place.

Somehow full of grace, full of light.

How was I to that so much hope was held inside me?

What is passed is gone; now we journey on through the night.
 

How was I to know at last that happiness can come so fast?

Trusting me the way you do; I’m so afraid of failing you.

Just a child who cannot know that danger follows where I go.

There are shadows everywhere, and memories I cannot share.
 

Nevermore alone, nevermore apart.

You have warmed my heart like the sun.

You have brought the gift of light and love so long denied me.

Suddenly I see what I could not see,

Something suddenly has begun.