Hi all. This is another one of my many Hellsing fics. Its rated M for some very dark content that is to follow. There are references to rape, abuse, blackmail and torture all of which are part of the plot.
This fic will occasionally change from the Hellsing POV to the Iscatiots POV - I say this now so no one is confused later when the story takes a turn and suddenly it get very focussed around Section 13. It will change from time to time, just try to appreciate it is a story better told if both sides take point at different stages.
Finally, and before we start, I am writing this fic around a full time career. This means it may take a while to finish, but that said I have already got the first major part of it done and am currently editing it before it gets posted on this site.
My sincere thanks for your patience and bless you all!

The Hellsing manor sat within its fields like a large well fed bird within a nest, the view from the bay windows on the upper floors was spectacular, from all around all you could see was the rolling hills, the well-tended gardens and in the far distance you could just make out the lights and towers of the city of London.
It was both a majestic and slightly spooky spectacle; an isolated house protected by armed guards that housed only one visible single occupant. A woman that was rarely seen beyond formal occasions and rare visits by her peers.

'Intelligent, professional and quite a cold sort of woman' would have been the general view of Integral Wingates Hellsing if you asked her peers for their opinion of her. But then they would admit that perhaps she was this way because her circumstances made her so. She'd inherited a hard job and respectable title from her father and she tried hard to live up to both those demanding roles.
She was certainly a dedicated and patriotic woman, her love for Queen and Country made worthy of respect by anyone who was similarly minded or even worthy of mentioning in high circles, and beyond the title of baroness she was also a good looking woman which did her no harm.

With her long pale blonde hair, her sharp aristocratic features and a tall, slender build she looked every part the daughter of a noble – everyone who met her would have admitted that she was easy on the eyes and pleasant enough company if you could get her to relax for two minutes.
But getting her to relax was harder still than actually finding the time to spend with her, when Integra met people it was often because she had to through her work. The job she had did not make it easy to have a sociable lifestyle.

So that was how she was viewed by the world at large; a secluded, serious young woman who did nothing but work and seemed incapable of relaxation.
Integra, were she to hear any of this, would have glared at the offender from across her desk behind her spectacles and curtly informed them that anyone who was capable of relaxing with her job was bloody welcome to it, they'd make a fine mess of things within two days and come begging for her to come and fix it before the weeks end.

She was her father's daughter, she was a Hellsing; a descendant of a noble family with a responsibility to fight back the darkness that came to her Majesties shores - certain attitudes came with certain jobs and hers was no exception – after all, would you have been content to lower your guard with a five hundred year old, blood sucking monster held in captivity by your family who was free to roam your house bound only by his word and an ancient arcane ritual?
Of course not, if you did then you were a damn fool!

However on this particular night she was trying to make an exception and relax. Not by television like most might have, because she believed it rotted the brain and not with wine because she knew it rotted the body, but by having a simple chat with her resident vampire. Having the time to talk was so rare for her that it was a luxury when it came.
Integra smoked of course but it was her one vice and one she saw as relatively tame when compared with the debauchery or excessive narcotic abuse like she knew some aristocrats indulged in.

She sat outside on the veranda, admiring the pale full moon which bathed the landscape in silvery light. A shadow moved, the wind whispered and a crawling sensation crept up her back giving her goosebumps. Her servant had come as she'd commanded him to and he now stood behind her.
She turned to regard him; he that was her faithful servant, he that was her most powerful weapon, he that was her families legacy;
Him; the vampire Alucard.

Alucard was a tall man, standing over six feet tall with a skinniness that enhanced the effect. His limbs were long and his hands large, it would have been comical except that the height and features of the man somehow dispelled the illusion of humour.
His face was long and narrow, he had a sharply pointed nose and dark cunning eyes. The thin smile and perfectly sharp teeth were offset by a mane of dark ebony hair that made his pale face almost luminous in the evening light.

"Might I join you on this fine evening, my master?" the creature speaks in a rich deep voice, one filled with confidence and authority. His tone is carefully controlled, the mark of a true aristocrat and something she's come to expect from the former Count.
The woman does not turn around to acknowledge his presence, it's a calculated move on her part; to react too quickly to him might somehow be interpreted as weakness by her servant, it might appear that he has caught her by surprise tonight or that she required his presence more urgently than usual. Both situations are undesirable to her.

"Yes, please do, my servant." Integra replies casually as she clips her cigar and lights it off a gold plated lighter.
The vampire walks onto the veranda and stands beside her. His height does not intimidate her, nor does how he stands behind her when she is seated; Integra knows she is the Master here and so does Alucard, she needs no elaborate shows of fealty from her servant to affirm it to her.
"What a fine evening it is tonight," Alucard states as he turns his attention to the moon "I haven't seen one so perfect since…"
Integra finishes the statement "Since Cheddar and the police girl?"
Alucard chuckles in amusement "Are my thoughts so clear to you?" he asks her with a devilish smile.
"No" she draws off the cigar "I simply know you Alucard."
Beyond a wider grin that gets no real response from her servant. The silence carries on for a while, Integra smoking and Alucard waiting patiently for her to finish. They have all night to enjoy this, he has no missions to complete, she has no paperwork that requires immediate attention, neither of them wishes to ruin a moment of tranquillity…

A muted thump, not loud enough to startle but close enough to distract, breaks the silence.
Integra frowns "What on earth is that?" she asks when she hears a faint voice in the distance accompany the noise.
Alucard tilts his head for a moment, like someone listening to a phone. His lips part to reveal his white teeth in a crafty smile.
"It appears the police girl has gotten over her reservations about the size of her weapon, she's practising with her new toy on the targets over by the hill."
Integra grunts in acknowledgement and calls out for Walter. He is there within a minute being a truly efficient butler.
"Yes, my lady?" the elderly gentleman inquires politely.
"Walter, would you fetch me a cup of tea?"
"Of course my Lady." Walter bows and retreats back into the house.

Alucard smiles at something only he can see in the distance, Integra doesn't ask what it is or why he's amused because her vampire has a strange sense of humour and she probably wouldn't see the funny side. She decides that now would be a good time for conversation since the quiet isn't going to last.
"Tell me Alucard, how do you think the police girl feels about her situation these days?"
Alucard looks at her curiously, in the distance a second volley sounds "You mean how she feels about being a vampire? It was her decision to make, she'll come to accept what she is in due time." He replies evenly.
Integra shakes her head "Actually I meant being drafted into this organisation the way she was, she's had to get used to a lot of changes in only a short period."
Alucard shrugs and smiles at her "Like I said Integra, all good things to those who wait. If she's a poor performer then she'll improve, if she has reservations she'll come around… eventually." He admits after another half a seconds thought.
Integra smiles at his answer, but inwardly she's a little annoyed at its bluntness. It seems to her that Alucard feels largely indifferent to all of them.
Even Seras, who is pretty much kin to the old vampire now, seem only to be a matter of scant interest.

Alucard regards her for a moment "If you have a question, you have only to ask me. You know I'll answer it truthfully." He tells her.
"I know." she replies, it's for that reason she hesitates to ask.
"Well then ask me it of me my Master." Alucard presses gently "After all, at some point you need to rest tonight." he points over to the clock where the time is already past midnight "It'll only prey on your mind otherwise. I know how poorly you sleep anyway."
The lady of the manor sighs and is about to speak but the sound of footsteps interrupts her. She hesitates in order to let Walter set the cup down and then she gives him a quick smile as he bows and once again retreats.
She sips at the tea and sets it down "I wonder about you sometimes…" She tells her servant.

"Oh?" the tall dark haired male smiles at that.
"Yes. I wonder, what do you think of your situation?" Alucard seems caught off guard by her question, he is silent for a long time, and when he finally speaks his voice has a strange quality to it.
"I… I don't think any of your ancestors have ever asked me that sort of question before." he replies "My situation is something I never thought about," he smiles and raises his eyebrows "I sometimes think about what I might have done had I never been caught…" he grins and trails off allowing Integra to ask him about that if she wants to.
But she knows a diversion when she sees one "You won't be released whilst you're under me. You're too useful to this organisation, and besides I want an answer now I've asked you a question."
Alucards eyes are unreadable "I don't have one to that" He replies in a flat voice "and I don't want to think about it right now."

Integra stands up and now looks up into his eyes "Then tell me honestly, do you still hate my family still after all this time?"
Alucard smiles his usual thin smile "Well… I have my reasons to hate your ancestors Integra. But you've given me no reason to hate you so far."
Integra blinks at that "Why do you hate them but not me?" she eventually manages to ask.
The vampire leans forward to regard her with a toothy grin "You ask me 'why'? You who just minutes ago claimed to know me so well? Think of our history Master, and you'll figure it out."
The Hellsing leader feels colour rising to her cheeks, she has the impression he's mocking her "Spit it out Alucard I want to know."
Alucard smiles "Why don't I hate you? That's like asking why I turned Seras into a vampire. I see myself like the gun in your hand and the sword in your scabbard. The only difference between me and those items is that I can talk." He gives her a look "Unless I'm mistaken Integra, and you see me as something more…?"

Integra doesn't like that question, it's far too personal and unprofessional. Having said that, she doesn't exactly have an answer for it. She turns her head away "Good night Alucard." She turns away and walks inside, feeling that it would be best to leave this conversation for another time.
The vampire knows he's being dismissed and takes his leave too.

As Alucard strides back into the study he looks up at the picture that hangs above the door. A large oil painting of the late Arthur Hellsing, Integra's father and his last Master.
Portrait and monster stand for a moment staring at each other, the beard had not been present when Alucard had seen him last but the crafty eyes and confident smile were definitely the same.
What interesting Masters he'd had over these years, the vampire thinks to himself as he returns to his cell in the lowest dungeons of the Hellsing Headquarters, not all of them have been as fun as Integra but all have been smart enough to know when it's time to call it a day and stop his fun before it consumes them all.
They've each of them sealed the vampire away before things ever got too far out of hand, much like sending a naughty child to his room as a punishment. He's more than resented them for it.

Integra is the single exception to the rule. More than ten years she has given him freedom; it's the longest spell any of them have given him and it's the reason he doesn't hate her; she must be different from her ancestors.
No, it's also deeper than that; he's come to respect her without her needing to earn it, maybe he's even in love with her in his own strange way.

The vampire sits on his throne heavily, a grunt escaping his lips. He closes his eyes for a moment and reflects. He isn't aware of exactly when he falls asleep but he knows he has when he starts to dream.

'All flesh is grass and all the comeliness there of as the flower of the field, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God abideth forever!'
The pain as a stake drives through the flesh of his pectoral muscle, the tangy coppery taste of blood flooding into his mouth from within chokes him as he awakens sharply from his slumber. The vampire coughs and spews his own lifes blood out of his mouth in a watery choke of pain.
He opens his eyes, the darkness heavier on his shoulders and a solitary figure standing over him. He is confused, for such a thing has never happened to him up till this moment and before now it is something he never considered could happen against all of his power and cunning.
He stares for a long moment at the man kneeling above him, a single man that is slowly becoming apparent as his vision clears. The man known as Abraham Van Hellsing, if he recalls it correctly from the blood memories of both those English girls.

This man has defeated him, this man is his downfall; the Count knows this and yet he still needs to hear it from his own lips to believe it's possible it's happened.
"Have I been… bested…. Sir?" he asks as a tear of pain leaks down the side of his face.
"Yes you are bested, this is not a nightmare you will be awaking from. Your castles are plundered, your dominions' in ruin, your servants destroyed." The mans voice is level and matter-of-fact; a voice that speaks of experience. The man is reaching his autumn years and grey hair already lines his temples above a stubbled jawline and piercing blue eyes.
"And the girl has fled from this place forevermore!" he adds coldly as he glares down at the vampire that lies helplessly beneath him "She will never be yours Count!" he states arrogantly.

The Count only stares back at him, his face level and his lips pressed together in a thin line. His silence is proof that he does not truly believe everything that he is hearing because this is just a man talking and surely this mere man cannot have bested him so utterly that all this is true...
Both stare at each other for a long moment, Abraham and the Count both lost in their thoughts.
A more perfect tableau of humanities resolve against this monsters' arrogance could not have been created but for those few silent seconds when both were there staring at each other.

Then sudden motion; Abraham raises his fist with a hoarse cry of determination, Alucard tries to sit up from the gravestone he feels propping him up. The old mans' clenched fist slams down on the stake that still protrudes from his chest.
The pain is unbearable; the vampire is flung back from the strength that Abraham has put behind that blow. The Count screams in pain as he falls back.
A second later those same large hands have grabbed him and he is eye level with the old man.
"You are judged and found wanting Vampire King! You have nothing! You are nothing!" Abraham snarls at him angrily through clenched teeth.
"Nothing!" the old man repeats sternly just as the Counts world turns to darkness.

Alucard's eyes snap open and he forcefully reminds himself that he was only dreaming again. That Abraham is dead and he is still alive.
Though he might have been bested by him, at least he has outlived the man, and his son, and his son...
Yes, the Hellsing line has learned the hard way that not all monsters have to have fangs and drink blood to be thought of in a similar fashion. There have been more than enough human monsters to match the inhuman one in this family according to the vampire.
Abraham hadn't once let him out of the basement after he'd caught him. He'd kept the former Count trapped down there as he experimented with locking down his powers to various levels of release, a double humiliation for the Count since he was both reliant on the man to survive and had to live with the knowledge that he was now going to be used by this same man to kill his own kind.

The killing hadn't been such an issue, but the lack of freedom had. It had angered him beyond measure and reinforced his hatred of the man.
Eventually he'd rebelled; he'd tried to fight back and break free. It was then that Abraham had revealed how well he'd locked the vampire down; he'd robbed him of his power and sealed him away.

He'd lay there, forgotten and mummified for some years until the son of Abraham had awoken him and field tested him against his own kind for the first time, having both the liberation and amusement that came with this had actually made him grateful enough not to hate his new master so forcefully, but then the crisis had passed and then he'd been sealed away again and informed he was too powerful. He was told he'd be used 'if things were dire'.
As he'd slowly passed away into near death by starving and dehydration all over again, he'd cursed the family that had bought him to this ruinous place and then swore he'd get back at the family that had done this to him if they let him out again.
They could not treat him so disrespectfully and not expect repercussions! He was a Count, and he had his pride!

The 'dire times' had come once again, fortunately for Alucard, with the events of the Second World War. At first it had been hard work; Arthur would have been hard pressed to win the vampire over but for two things. One, a lot of time had passed and Arthur had done his homework on the Count, promising he would not treat him so callously as his forefathers had.
Two, he'd had a good offer to use along with the fresh blood he'd offered the vampire to feast on as they talked together.
Violence, war and an enemy he would not have to hold back against, surely he wanted to have something to do after all this time?
Alucard could not bear to pass the opportunity up and so Arthur had released him and used him but Alucard came to suspect that his apparent trust in him was only because of Walter, an agent on whom he could completely trust, being around to keep an eye on him.

Things had been going so well at that point, it had changed his outlook on the Hellsing family although he'd never mentioned it; for the next few years Alucard had been free to have as much fun killing England's enemies as he had his own back in his time, he had made a friend for the first time in centuries too - the 'Angel of Death' was a very agreeable companion, and Arthur Hellsing was even making his quarters more comfortable for him by providing a few furnishings.
His opinion was valued, his privacy respected, his hunger was sated by donated blood. For having a life that was so heavily monitored and guided, it was still a pretty good existence.
But then finally that fateful day had come and Arthur too had sealed him away and let him to rot like all the others had. It almost broke his heart to be shut away again.
Arthur had at least found the kindness to make Alucards transition quicker than the last few times though. Another mercy the others hadn't shown.
Another reason to resent his existence; how much better it would have been if they had met under different circumstances.

'I'm sorry old chap,' Arthur told the Count 'I don't want to do this, but you have to understand – you're a too strong a medicine for all the little problems we're having these days.'
Once again he was too powerful to be used, and he wasn't trusted enough to be left alone either.
As Alucard miserably accepted that it was going to happen all over again like it had before he begged Arthur to kill him after he fell asleep so he didn't have to go through it again.
'Master I can't bear it anymore! You don't know what it's like to live like this!' he'd begged the man standing over him.
Arthur shook his head sadly 'We may have need of you again in the future Alucard. I'm sorry but I can't kill you.'
Alucard was sorry too; how much easier it had been for him when they'd been on opposite sides of the game board. How much simpler life had been when he'd been the monster they hunted and not the thing that they used for hunting...

Alucard sighed and closed his eyes again.
"Never" he whispered into the darkness angrily "I'm never going to let them do that to me again. No matter what it takes; this time I'm staying free of that miserable prison."

Please R&R
- S17.