Sidenote: This ficlet has a more serious tone...give it time. This is kind of the odd ball of the series- I'm not sure why I made it first...most of the following ficlets will be more fluff and random (any suggested pairings? i like the odd ones...)

Mission One

Part 1

The night was cool and thickly calm. The silence was nearly overbearing. The human soldiers and mercenaries roaming the Hellsing Manor were on high alert. The moon was full and the night sweet- vampires would undoubtedly be on the prowl. What nightly creature wouldn't feel empowered by a night like this? There was one particular vampire that was quite contrite.

"This was not how I wanted to spend my night."

Officer Seras Victoria sat on her rump in the stone courtyard. She hugged her harkonnen canon closer to her chest resting the side of her forehead against it. She was surrounded by a twenty foot barrier, or at least she must be, seeing as how the human soldiers wouldn't come within that amount of space to her sitting form. It was as if she was the Grinch- and they really wouldn't touch her with a twenty nine foot pole. Only Peter Ferguson, her commander, would come within her reach, which was obvious since he was approaching now.

Seras hurried to her feet and saluted.

"Officer Seras Victoria- you orders are to parole the neighboring grounds for any suspicious persons. A vampire attack is expected."

"Expected, sir?" Seras dropped her salute and tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Ferguson overlooked her brief interruption and continued, "We've received intelligence that unveils a vampire's plan to attack the Hellsing Organization directly. For England and her majesty, accept your orders."

"Yes, sir." Seras saluted again, "Am I to form a tactical unit, sir?"

"No- your mission is to survey solo."

Ferguson saluted and upon Victoria mimicking his action, he turned and left.

Victoria slumped back against the wall. She didn't mind the missions she supposed, even looking forward to one tonight. There hadn't been much FREAK activity as of late, but she hadn't expected this sort of detail. She was tired of all this waiting. The last three nights, all staff was posted within or without the mansion on guard for intruders. No one really knew why all of sudden the alert was sounded. No FREAKs had shown head nor tail in the last two weeks. Now, apparently one was just going to attack- just one? It was curious.

Seras shrugged and idly dusted the back of her skirt. The fabric was nearly soaked through. Seras pouted, but hefted her harkonnen, the one weapon that sort of required two hands in order for her to handle the weight, over to lean against the wall. Sort of meaning she wasn't drinking her blood like she was supposed, and ordered to do, much to her master's chagrin.

As Seras moved from her chosen spot near the wall, the soldiers all cast wary glances between her and her colossal weapon that remained where she had been sitting for the past two hours. She sighed and walked on, eyes downcast. They were all wary, if not frightened, of her. She couldn't blame them- she was the very monster they were sent out nightly to search and destroy.

Even in her own thoughts, Seras flinched at the word 'monster.' It wasn't easy to admit it, even if only to herself. Seras still fought her master about drinking blood. It wasn't like she wanted to disappoint her master, Alucard, but it just felt so wrong, like she was forfeiting a part of herself by doing it.

Seras shook herself free of her thoughts and concentrated fully on her mission. This was no time to be immersed in thought.

Seras had long left the courtyard, sheltered within her own thoughts. She had now circled the mansion and was approaching the rear of the grounds. It was a plausible place to start since it was the most shadowed. Seras regarded the tree line suspiciously, feeling for any unwelcome presences.

Unfortunately, all she felt was an elderly man; she knew he was elderly by the thinness of his blood and also the slower circulation. She knew he was a man by the lower tones to his voice while he spoke to who she assumed was his dog named 'Fifi'. Why ever Fifi- it was, well cute, but somewhat ridiculous and cliché. More importantly though, even as she despised herself for it, the thump of his heart and the pulse of the blood in his veins, made her hunger grow. It exhilarated her and Seras tensed as the tiny hairs on her arms rose in anticipation.

Seras shook herself, admonishing how easily she was distracting tonight, and prepared to cross the open lawn. She would have to enter the dark, but not overly thick woods in order to make certain that no wayward vampires were lurking within. She didn't sense anything, but her gut was nagging at her. It was telling her to search through it anyway and Seras listened.

There could be a predator in any of those shadows slinking under the trees that lined Hellsing's expertly landscaped lawn. She wouldn't lose anymore men because of her. Captain Gareth was killed by Paladin of the Iscariots with her right beside him. Her senses will never be so dull and oblivious again- she promised herself that. She'd lost and would lose many of her fellow soldiers of Hellsing, but none would die right beside her when she could prevent it.

Victoria nodded to herself and slid around the last corner of the mansion. She ceased her sprint across the open ground field with a short dive, roll, and now rested crouched against the trunk of a tree. It was strikingly silent. Even at night, when the birds went to nest, and the small animals to their thickets, dens, and tunnels- it shouldn't be this quiet. Seras slid her back flat against the trunk and peered around the rounded edge. Her crimson eyes narrowed as she searched. Her vampiric sight allowing her access to the darkest of hiding places.

Unfortunately, she didn't notice the hands descending upon her until they were choking her throat.

She gasped. With one eye shut, she scrabbled at the hands wrapped around her throat. Victoria let loose an exasperated noise she reached up, grabbed her attacker, and used all of her possessed vampiric strength to rip the body from the tree. The body hurled across the grass out into the open and the light. Victoria rubbed her tortured throat as she watched the ghoul rise. With a series of grunts and murmurs, the ghoul rose, yet it wasn't a ghoul at all. Its flesh was neither corpse-like nor was it dead. She could hear the beating heart, the flowing blood, and the heavy breath.

Seras stood stunned with wide eyes as she watched it lumber towards her. The ghoulish figure had tears running down the thickened flesh of its cheeks.

"It's not human."
"Yes, Police girl."

Her master emerged from the walls of the mansion to rise behind her quivering form. He didn't even glance in her direction. Alucard was for once serious. The normally present grin had fallen as he stared the creature down.

Suddenly the body twitched, tensed, and fell. The creature didn't turn to dust, but it did exhale what could only be assumed was a sigh. The effect was the diaphragm contracting after its death. Seras stared warily down at the once human male.

"What is it, master?"

"A pathetic attempt at creating a ghoul, police girl."

Seras flinched. Her master's was, as ever, condescending in his displeasure of her ignorance of the dark world they lived in. Apparently, it was quite obvious, though a ghoul had been her first thought. Before Seras could ask anything else, her master faded from sight through his shadowy portal.

Seras released a soft sigh. She fell onto her four poster coffin bed. She was finished her perimeter before returning to the courtyard. Furguson had then relieved her of duty for the night, or morning, as dawn was soon approaching the horizon.

Seras had managed to stay awake in the shower and was now changed into fresh clothes. The pants dropped down just below her knees, but the tank had shrunk a little revealing the bottom curve of her pale stomach. She hadn't really known much about the washer and dryer when she was first off on her own. It was cotton and she'd dried it on high, a setting normally reserved for whites only. Not that it mattered now. Seras would never gain weight. Her body was however much heavier, since it was literally dead weight, except that she was still moving.

Seras eyed the blood sitting solo on her wooden table in the middle of her room. She scooted up into the middle of her bed, pushed the bottom to lower her coffin lid, and turned over. In the stark darkness, the young draculina soon felt the insistent tugs of sleep. Seras didn't fight like she did many other things. Her life seemed to be all about battles nowadays. Would she ever know any peace?

When her lid rose the next night, Seras was surprised, but not completely shocked to see her master sitting at her table. His feet were perched up on the table's surface and he was laid out in a casual slouch. His sunglasses, sometimes a yellow shade while others a red, slipped down his long, angular nose to reveal steady claret orbs. He stared at her, making her fidget.

"Obey your master- drink the blood. You do remember what happens when you don't, police girl."

He placed special emphasis on her name as he faded out of the room once again. Seras sighed once again and tried to shake off the memories of Gareth that flooded her mind at her master's reminder. She gritted her teeth. Something deep inside her wanted it- the ruby liquid that sustained her eternal life. She remembered the iron quality that was caused by the hemoglobin. Seras sat at the table with one hand on each side of the bucket. Her shoulders suddenly drooped and her head tilted forward. She reached forward and picked up the bag. With severe slowness she brought the bag to her lap, ripped the seal, and drank.

Seras shuddered. It was so good, and yet not good at all. She could almost feel her humanity slipping away and for a short instant craved steak and kidney pie. She knew she couldn't eat it- wouldn't ever eat solid food again. Seras mourned her loss even as her body gained a pinker, seemingly healthier, color. Her skin seemed to shine and the tired aches in her body evaporated.

Her master was right- but then he always was.

"Yes sir!" Seras saluted and slid into the van.

The human soldiers around her all stiffened and pulled back against their seats. Seras bit back an irritated growl. They were being ridiculous. Couldn't they see she was not the same as those animalistic monsters they were fighting? She protected them, led them, and trained them! Seras's face held a pitiful expression of sadness. If anyone noticed or cared, they didn't say anything.

If she were human, they would be fawning over her, protecting her, and trying to comfort her. Well, maybe not exactly, but her old unit had. They'd called her Kitten, a name she hadn't liked in the beginning, but it grew on her. When she entered the military, she hadn't wanted to be treated with kid gloves, yet she had. Now did she want it back once she was finally free from it?

The van skidded to a halt, and the back doors were thrown open. Seras shifted her hand to her side to check for her weapons. A large hand gun was clicked into place at her hip. For this mission, they would be going into the heart of London and Seras thought her canon, though effective, was too bulky and showy. So, she opted for the smaller, more discreet gun Walter had fashioned for her a while back. More ammo had arrived and she was able to use it for the first time in a month. She wondered idly why her ammo had been so hard to replace, but she soon shook off her thoughts and followed her men into the abandoned building.

"Yes Mum, the first two floors were clean. No FREAKS or ghouls present. Officer Victoria is still in the process of clearing the basement." Ferguson spoke into the car phone.

Sir Integra remained at the office for this raid. She sat at her desk fingering a single sheet of paper.

"Understood. Keep me informed."

Integra hung up knowing there would be no reply. The piece of parchment, a letter, another letter from the same anonymous sender as the last, contained a curious letterhead. It was once she recognized, but could not place for some odd reason. Since the Valentine Brother's direct attack upon the Hellsing Manor tension had been raging from all sides. Despite not knowing the source of the letter, Integra had reacted immediately. She would not allow her headquarters, her center of command, to be invaded so easily as before. Each death was on her head, every drop of blood on her hands. Such a catastrophe would never befall Hellsing's honorable and pristine history.

The problem was of course not only the letter's sender, but Victoria's ghoul sighting. Merely one ghoul and from Alucard's concise, cryptic answers Integra surmised that it wasn't fully changed. The vampire had been a novice. It's pure instinct- turning a human into a ghoul. Integra hadn't known there was a halfway point between the two, even with her in depth education from her late father.

His sickness and eventual death had left her education incomplete, but Integra had learned more through experience. Experience with Alucard as well as through Hellsing's missions. However, these FREAKs were different from the usual vampire. They were humans implanted with a chip that morphed their physiology. It was unnatural and they never lasted long because their body rejected the transformation.

Were the FREAKs changing humans now without having the proper vampiric instincts to guide them? Or was it something else?

Integra removed her silver framed spectacles and pinched the bridge of her nose. It had been a long day and would be an even longer night.

Seras twiddled her thumbs and pursed her lips. She turned her head to side and stretched her legs from the bent position. She made a small noise as she relaxed her lithe frame upon her bed. She couldn't sleep. There was something nagging at the back of her mind again. She wondered what it could be.

After all, Seras had finished the wash, cleaned her harkonnen and hand gun, which had yet to be given a specific name, and drank her blood. The latter was done much more hesitantly and remorsefully than the former two actions.

It was so quiet. After those few days on high alert, she'd had only one mission, which really wasn't much of anything. The entire building was empty, not even a blood stain. It was dusty, creaky- the usual place for a vampire hideout, yet it yielded no vampire. Did they have prior warning of their search?

Seras rolled over onto her side peering out over the edge of her bed at her sparse room. She had the urge to visit her master, but the chances of him being in his room were slim. That man, no that vampire rarely remained in one place for long. He was constantly moving about. Alucard could never be considered a man. Seras couldn't see him as ever being human. Regardless of his monstrosity, perhaps his constant movement kept him from being bored?

An unbidden smile appeared on her pretty lips at the thought of her master running laps around the mansion for amusement. Seras flipped onto her back for a minute before sitting up. She couldn't sleep and there was no point in wasting the time just laying here. Seras quickly changed into a clean uniform, freshly pressed and headed to the shooting range. Lucky for her it was inside. She could go out into the sun, being of Alucard's blood, but it was still uncomfortable and she did get a sort of sun burn quite easily.

The petit woman opened the door only to find several pairs of eyes had swiveled over to her. Being early midday, there was a gaggle of soldiers training, honing their skills so as to only target the heart and head. Seras squirmed, a little uncomfortable. She moved to the artillery cabinet and removed one of the larger pieces. To anyone who didn't know who she was, rather what she was- this semi-machine gun might have seemed too big for her nonetheless way too heavy. However, Officer Seras Victoria handled it as if the thing weighed no more than a pencil. Compared to her usual outfit, the harkonnen, this gun was nothing.

Seras walked past, ignoring the stares as if they didn't bother her and in fact she was getting used to them, to the last spot on the line. She loaded her ammo she'd grabbed as an afterthought and fired off a few rounds. Not perfect, but what can you expect from such a weapon? It created such a large hole that it didn't really matter if she was three inches off target.

Seras continued, moving from heart to head and then back again. Everything faded into the background and for the first time since she was turned, Seras forgot how lonely and awkward she felt in this new role. She still didn't enjoy killing, but she couldn't very well let those rogue vampire FREAKs send out waves of ghouls to kill and terrorize innocent people.

When she was fresh out of ammunition, Victoria came back to reality. The range wasn't empty, but it wasn't as full as when she came in either. It hadn't been that long either, so several of the men must have left upon her entrance, or shortly thereafter. Seras rolled her eyes, surprising herself after she realized what she had done. She used to hate how afraid they were of her. She didn't understand why they couldn't see the difference between her and the other vampires of the night. Why was her attitude towards that changing now?

It must be because she's been drinking her daily blood packs.

"Or maybe you're finally tired of those pathetic human emotions, police girl."

Alucard's voice flooded her mind, followed by a dark, but not completely unwelcome presence inside her head. It wasn't painful, his probing of her thoughts, but it was a bit uncomfortable, like her head was swelling. Then it was gone, his last remark a dark, echoing chuckle. He did that now and again. Seras never knew what it was he was looking for, not that he'd let her in on any of his thoughts. Their little link seemed to only go one way. But why was he up in the middle the day? Seras shrugged and smoothed her proverbial ruffled feathers at Alucard's sudden intrusion.

His comment though had left her with an indignant flush, but it made her wonder. Her vampiric instincts and tendencies might be beginning to overshadow her human emotions and morals; not that vampires didn't have emotions. Seras was convinced they did. Her master at least felt euphoria and excitement when he was in battle. Did that really count though?

Seras trudged back to her room. She could practice her aim all she wanted. What she really needed to practice was her hand to hand as well as her underdeveloped vampiric skills. Seras didn't like the effects they had on her personality, but they sure were helpful in a fight. The problem with hand to hand was- who could she fight? Even if she was 'a half starved vampire' that no one needed or had room for, one punch would send a normal soldier flying across the room. It wasn't as if Alucard would actually train her either, it wasn't in his character. He probably thought learning through experience as well as mistakes would make her over all stronger and tougher.

Seras sighed. Today was already moving so slow, somehow she knew tonight wouldn't be any better. That nagging feeling just wouldn't go away. Upon arriving back at her room, Seras promptly went to her bed and nearly passed out. She didn't bother to change from her uniform; she only had a few hours left before she would need to be up for duty. The human soldiers had shifts, but she was expected to wake when the sun fell and her duties ended when the sun fell. The humans were given 4-6 hour shifts. This ensured they remained sharp, but still it seemed a bit unfair. Her shift was at least 10 hours, but then again she wasn't human, was she? As her eyes slid slowly closed, she didn't notice the blood being delivered to her room or the pale, elderly hand that lowered the lid of her coffin.

"Alucard," Integra called with her mind.

Her servant took his dear old time answering. It wasn't for several minutes afterward; she could nearly feel the vein that was no doubt popping out of the side of her forehead. When he did happen to arrive, Integra laid him down with a fierce glare.

"Alucard- take Officer Victoria and search this perimeter. It's a few blocks, but we believe the sender of these letters resides within that area."

"No back up my master?" Alucard grinned.

"Do not patronize Alucard. My soldiers have more important duties to take care of."

Integra smirked slightly as his grin faltered slightly. However, it soon returned in full and she knew he'd scoured her thoughts for why she wasn't sending the human soldiers in.

"How interesting," Alucard murmured darkly as he slid back down through the floor.

Most stories will begin and end in one chapter, some may leak into two or three and some chapters may contain multiple stories. Please read and review- suggestions are welcome. I'll do my best to remain both canon and within the boundaries of character's personalities.

Side note: I do not claim ownership to the characters, anime, or manga- only the story(ies).