Unknown POV:

I sniffed the air as the wind blew fresh scent straight towards me, and grinned. There. A human, small, young, male, and terrified. Something moved through the woods towards him, deliberately cracking small twigs. He whimpered as a shadowy presence loomed over him. A scream split the night air as blood sprayed up, splattering the ground and filling the air with its copper stench. I moved back to balance on the balls of my feet. I got you now boy.

Integra's POV:

The report sat on my desk as I took a pull from my cigar. Vampire attacks had been reported, in a small town in Canada, but another message had just come in, saying they had stopped. Iscariot had no jurisdiction there, and all their vampire hunting agents had been located. Alucard and Seras had also been out in the field. Who then, had taken down this one? Some unknown force not affected by the recent battle for London? Or just some lucky boy with a silver knife? It was our duty to find out. I stubbed out my cigar. "Roger! Fetch Alucard and Seras immediately." Roger bowed. "Yes mam. Right away." A short while later both stood before my desk.

"A vampire has been sighted and eliminated in Canada. All Iscariot forces at that time were accounted for. I need you two to go over there and find who did it. Immediately. And no killing unless the target has been proven hostile to our cause." Alucard looked disappointed at the 'no killing' part. "As you wish master." He muttered as he phased through the wall. "Yes sir!" Seras saluted me and left by the door. "I'll find you." I whispered as I lit another cigar.

Unknown's POV:
 Another day, another dollar. I sighed as I rattled my way through baggage. Another day at the noisy, pushy, crowded, loud, airport. Another day hoping for a meager raise in my salary. I wiggled my shoulders, feeling my knives settle against my skin. It was chancy, wearing weapons at an airport, but no way in hell am I waltzing about without even a single blade to my name. A hand tapped my shoulder and I turned, seeing a man in a soldiers uniform standing over me with two coffins in his luggage. I raised an eyebrow "Need help with something sir?" I asked in my politest French accented voice.

I wasn't French in the slightest, but I was in Canada, and this man, even if he wasn't a vampire himself, he had one in his coffin and if the other one was empty, then that was another vampire on the loose. I looked him in the eye and was surprised to see that he was free of the slight pinkish discoloration caused by vampire hypnotism. A friend maybe? He blinked and stood on one foot. "I lost my way, I'm supposed to bring these over to…" he bent over to read the tag on the topmost one.

"Terminal C" I plastered a friendly smile on my face. That was for trucks and cabs. So we now had two more vampires running around in the city. "Right this way sir." I said walking towards it. He followed me and when we got there gave me his sincerest thanks. He looked at the truck he was supposed to be loading them in with exasperation.

I caught the look. Just when he opened his mouth to ask me for help I 'happened' to glace at my watch and yelped. "Oh crap, sorry sir I have to go and pick up a customer." I hightailed it, feeling a little guilty leaving him there to deal with the coffins by himself. On the other hand, I was going to be hunting those vampires later and was not going to give them any advantage which touching the coffins most definitely would be. Might as well stick my hand up their nose and say "Here, look! This is what I smell like! Come after me at night!"

Nope, not for me. A couple hours later my shift ended, and I collected my money and went home. I took the bus, because there was no way I was walking home. I'm young, female, and even if do say so myself, well-endowed. And if I walked home, monumentally stupid. It could happen. I'm blond. Well, normally. I pushed the wig on my head, mentally cursing its itchy black locks. I looked at my money mournfully, cursing the fact that I had to work at an airport.

But it was well rewarded, considering I usually managed to catch incoming vampires the same way I caught the ones today. That other one though, the one that came a couple weeks back, he was tricksy. Coming in by train, and burying his coffin as soon as he got here. Thank god Techno was working the clubs, or who knows how long he could have gone undetected.

Speaking of, this was his stop. A lanky, purple haired teen clambered onto the bus, carefully balancing boxes. He collapsed onto the seat next to me, dumping a box into my lap. "Wasn't your hair green yesterday?" I asked, waiting until he was settled before dumping the box back on him. He shrugged playfully. "I wanted to match your eyes, the color of my dreams, the sweet… ok, I got nothing. Do you know how hard it is to make poetical verses about purple?"

I grinned "Go get run over by a bus." He gave me a hurt puppy look. "Such a warrior maid, who can slay men with but a scornful word, coating them in the blood of…of… hurtfulness." I snickered. "I'll coat you in rubber." Instantly he straightened. "You wouldn't!" I laughed out loud this time. "I damn well would, this is me we're talking about." He sighed. "True. I ought to get points for trying." I shrugged. "First off, I probably wouldn't just because I'd need to leave an opening for you to breathe; second, I know a bunch of people, my brother first among them, who would happily kill you for flirting with me."

He sung an arm over my shoulder. "I need the practice to flirt with the girl of my dreams, should I ever find her, and I know you won't take offense because you know I don't mean it. Also, I just like annoying you." I pushed him off. "You are an insufferable idiot, and I… oh bugger." He turned to see what I was staring at and snickered. The television hanging from the buses ceiling was showing a little boy in the hospital, telling reporters what happened to him. "I-it was d-dark a-and I w-was r-really scared a-and this t-thing tried to k-kill me and t-then it w-was gone a-and then t-there was b-b-blood." I blushed, but the story wasn't done yet.

"A-and then…" the boy paused, and a subtle change crept over his features. "t-there was this g-girl and she was f-fighting the m-monster a-and yelling s-stuff at it a-" The television mercifully short-circuited. I glared at Techno. "Say one word and you are dead." He grinned. "I had nothing to do with that short-circuit if that's what you mean. Is that why you're wearing contacts?"

I shook my head. "See, this is why you shouldn't flirt with me. I saw a man in uniform bring two coffins in, and one of them was full. I had my contacts in, and my wig on, and I didn't touch them, but I'm not taking chances." I looked up. We had reached our stop and as we got off I felt a chill ride down my spine. I sniffed but I could smell nothing. Wait…Crap! I swallowed. The other vampire, the one who wasn't in his coffin, was somewhere nearby.

Techno's POV:

The Captain suddenly tensed up as we passed a hospital. "I suppose you are still embarrassed over that one incident." I said causally, watching her reaction. She nodded and blushed. "I just hate needles." I gulped. She continued. "And it was a long time ago, even if it was a big a deal as he said." I don't know how she does that. For all anyone else knew, we were just a couple of casual friends, shooting the breeze about some hospital accident, for someone familiar with our code, we were two people chatting about how there was a very powerful, and very old vampire, very close by. That girl's got skills. Acting skills.

We got to our apartment building safely. "See you tonight?" I asked, trying to blush like a boy asking for a date. She grinned. "Of course silly." I headed out the door, trying not to do a touchdown dance. Two vampires in one month! This was going to be fun. I sobered up though, thinking of one of Captain's most cherished rules. "Always assume that when you encounter a vampire, he's going to be much more powerful than you. That way, he can't take you by surprise nearly so much. Because one day, there might actually be a vampire stronger than you, or me."

Alucard's POV:

After picking up Police Girl we decided to head down to the hospital and see the last victim. The woman at the door eyed me suspiciously but let us in to see him. The boy was sniveling in his bed, holding his arm. Police Girl gently talked to him as I let my eye wander over to the window. A bus had pulled up beneath us and disengaged its passengers. The roving throng pushed and pulled beneath us as the humans went through the stupid motions of a mediocre existence.

Police Girl said "The boy only saw that his defender was female, and young. He was attacked in the forest nearby." I scowled. Stupid boy. As we headed out I caught a scent of something…interesting. It started at the bus stop and went on towards an apartment block. It was human, but there was something off. I narrowed my eyes behind the red-tinted glass of my sunglasses. Could it be…?

The Captain's POV:

I yawned and stretched, memories rising to the surface of my brain. The knocking sound that had woken me up did not cease. I carefully eased myself out of the maze of cats and blankets that covered me. I stumbled towards the door, from which the pounding was emanating. "Zara open this thrice-be-damned door before I break it down!" A male voice issued from the other side. I smiled. "A bright and shiny good evening to you too." I yanked open the down, ducked the knock that was intended for the door, and swept the legs out from under the knocker. My brother fell to the floor with a painful "Oomph!"

I kicked him. "Up you get, there's two more vampires on the loose and I for one am not going to sit around." I went into the bathroom to change. My leather fighting outfit was there, as well as an impressive assortment of knives. I had about fifty, from a tiny needle-like throwing knife to a huge blade that was almost a sword, and everything in between. I actually didn't have that many, because I had 25 loosely hidden ones, ones that a determined searcher might find, and 25 that you had to stripe me down to the skin to find, and even then I still might have had some.

That might have seemed a tad excessive but I was very much a human, with a human tendency to miss, and a human tendency to be caught. Also, I hated guns. Loud, and messy, with a need to be reloaded. A knife does not need to be reloaded, does not shout to the world, "Hey! Look! I'm something you shouldn't have!" and does not blare it's presence with every usage. Of course, all my knifes were very blessed silver, religiously renewed every day by myself, and re-blessed every Sunday by the most faithful religious official I could find.

They bit. Oh, dear god did they bite. Some of the weaker freaks only needed me to slash them before they dissolved. Again, maybe excessive, but I knew that the longer I went, the more likely something nasty was going to come after me. I checked my appearance in the mirror. My blonde hair was slightly past my shoulders, and bright purple eyes blinked out at me from a slender face. I had bound my breasts flat, purely because it wasn't worth the attention leaving them unbound, and the more inconsistency in my sightings would help me save face in front of the public.

I had black fingerless gloves on, because I didn't want to do a FBF on the vamps. I probably would do a partial freak-out anyway, but no one deserves to die like that. I shuddered. Aforementioned leather outfit and I was ready to rock and roll.

***Time Skip***

Ohhh boy. I put my face in my hands. Everyone had heard about me saving that kid. It was considered the best thing I had every done. I hate, I just hate it when everyone starts praising my 'glorious image'. Techno walked over to me. He opened his mouth to speak and I pointed my finger at him. "If you value your life, your sanity, or your existence you will not say one word." I uncovered my head and stood up. He had both hands over his mouth and was desperately trying not to say anything. He burst out. "I know you're pissed and everything but I told them about the vampire andAuger found something." I raised my eyebrows.

Auger was our technology/researcher person. I swear that girl can find anything. She wasn't special like me or Techno or Maniac but she was still good. I walked over to our computer where she was rapidly typing. "What do you got for me?" She took a sip from a pop bottle next to her before answering. "I've looked on our list for old, strong, male vampires. Several matches came up, and I cross-referenced which ones might have been associated with any military group. I had two matches, and narrowed them down by looked at security photos by the area you sensed him. This is what I came up with."

She double-clicked and two windows popped up. One was a bit from our profile list, and the other was a replaying clip that showed a very tall man in a red coat walking out of the hospital. Techno nudged me. "Time I've seen anyone top you in height for years." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not even that tall. Five ten, tops. The problem," I tapped the screen. "Is this guy. If our profile is anything to go by, he's going to be a nasty fight."

I rested my head on my palm, pondering the problem. I sighed, realizing that this was not going to be very comfortable. "He's too good for us, even combined. Especially combined." Techno frowned. "Why's that?" Ager sipped her pop. "Think it through. If she does a Full Body Freak on this guy, which is not all that unlikely, we're just in the way. Do you want to be in that thing's way?"

I pushed my hair back. "I'll take him. You guys will need to go to the airport, were I've scheduled a flight for all of you. Zan will drive the van there. Pack everything you cannot live without and get on that plane. The rest will be mailed in due time. Once the plane lands you will go straight towards the European Safe House. I'll meet you there, if I'm not dead or captured. Auger protested "But Captain, he'll-" I cut her off "That's not important. The easier you lot leave the more of a chance I'll have."

They both nodded and headed for the door. Everyone was hugging me, and some were crying, but I felt as cool as ice. My friends and family would be safe no matter what and I really didn't care what happened to me beyond that. I watched the van pull out of the abandoned parking garage and speed along the road. I pushed my hair back again; even though it wasn't in my way. Well, here goes nothing.

Alucard's POV:

I stalked trough the forest, feeling annoyed. The footprints from the attack on the boy had been brushed away by camera crews and gawkers, the scent damaged likewise. It was stupid, how the rest of humanity had decided to come blundering along, ruining the scent trail. I caught another scent, going away, but it had led straight into a stream. "Master!" said Police Girl's voice in my head "I found her house!"

I phased there, but it was empty. The person had been there, very recently, and the person was female. Police Girl was standing in the kitchen looking at a bunch of papers stuck to the refrigerator. They were just random snippets, like "Get more milk" or "Dunk brother in pond." There was a particularly long one that said "Ways I am going to kill T." Police Girl was staring at this one. "She must have hated that guy a lot." She said, pointed to one about halfway down that said "Tear out his entrails, wait for him to recover, then hang him upside down from his entrails from a metal rod in a thunderstorm." I laughed. "She's very imaginative, that's for sure."

"So what do we do now master?" I turned and sat down where I would have a view of the front down. I folded my arms behind my head, saying "We wait here until she comes back."

Multiple POVs:

Seras shifted in her seat, waiting. How can Master be this patient? She asked herself. They had been waiting for hours. She had already read all the notes on the fridge, even the long one about that one boy. She wondered idly if he was the vampire the girl killed. If so, she sincerely wished he had a peaceful end. She doubted that the girl would actually carry out some of her threats, thanks to a small note written in a different hand at the bottom that said "Sorry about all the above, he just pisses her off a lot."

I sniffed the air warily. They had come to the decoy house, and were probably waiting inside. It wasn't just a decoy house; I did live in there upon occasion. I trudged up the path, every nerve on a hair-trigger. I felt my nose itch as it tried to shift to a more convenient form for smelling. I sneezed. "Stupid family genes." I thought. I wrinkled it again as the acrid smell of vampires hit that delicate appendage. I sighed. I needed to be relaxed, because the Elder vampire in there could probably smell me just well as I could smell him.

I fumbled at the door and drew it open, flicking the lights on as I went. "Hello." A voice purred in my ear. I shrieked and let fear flood my system as I hit him as hard as I could with my elbow and raced for the door. I slammed it shut and ran down the path. Part 1, done. I smiled.

Alucard cocked his head, listening. A heartbeat was coming down the path. He sniffed cautiously, letting her smell wash over him. The smell of woods was on her, as well as the city smell of cars and sweat and humanity. There was another smell, metal maybe? And cats. I heard a sneeze and heard her think something faintly. Something about her family. She fumbled with the door, opening it and flicking on the lights as I phased behind her.

"Hello" I purred into her ear. She shrieked and hit me with her elbow. I noticed coolly that she had hit me in a spot that would have caused maximum pain and damage in a normal human. I hissed and fell to my knees. She bolted pasted me to the door and I smelled the fear on her. I felt mild disappointment. Perhaps she was just lucky. I stood up and phased out into her yard. I listened for her thoughts. Honestly, I just hate it when I have to do the stupid prey animal routine. Was that her? Where would I go if I was terrified and running from someone in my house? It was her. Interesting. River I suppose. He might be stupid enough to follow me and running water is a problem for him even if he is that strong.

Zara's POV:

I ran into the forest, letting adrenaline take the place of fear. I sighed. Honestly, I just hate it when I have to do the stupid prey animal routine. Where would I go if I was terrified and running from someone in my house? River I suppose. He might be stupid enough to follow me and running water is a problem for him even if he is that strong. I changed direction focusing on the need to get to the river and not letting him read my thoughts. I picked up my ears after five minutes of running. A rhythmic thudding behind me.

No breathes, no beating heats, just two sets of pounding feet. Damn it. I heard them speed up. One or both had caught sight of me. I took a deep breath, palmed a throwing star, and jumped up. I flipped and saw a woman in uniform surging towards me. I flicked the throwing star towards her, catching her in the throat with blessed sliver. She shrieked and fell back.

I hit the ground running. I heard a feral snarl close behind me and almost panicked at the thought I hadn't stopped her. I relaxed (slightly) once I realized there was only one pair of feet chasing after me. I felt the air behind me shift and ducked, trying not to lose any speed. A bullet shot past my head and buried itself in a nearby tree. That was just not fair. He's superhumanly fast and strong and has a gun. I saw the trees were getting thinner and heard rushing water. But it was wrong somehow, as if… crap. I didn't slow down as I broke out of the trees and felt my heart sink as my guess was confirmed.

I had come out in the wrong spot. The river was there alright, it was just deep in a rock-studded gorge. And there was no way in hell I was stupid enough to jump that far. I might, by astronomical odds, make it…BANG! Well, I wasn't making it now. I was slightly comforted by the fact he had hit my leg, instead of anywhere vital. That slight comfort was not very comforting at all as the pain spread upwards through my body as I stumbled to a stop by the edge of the gorge.

I heard slow clapping. I turned painfully to see that damned vampire standing there, an amused expression on his face. He was the one clapping, the gun that had shot my leg tucked under his arm. "Very well done girl. Very well done indeed." I glared at him. "Go die in a hole."

He put on a fake expression of hurt. "What have I done to deserve such anger?" Oh, no, you are playing this game with the wrong person. "Gee, I don't know," I said sarcastically. "Maybe, you shot me in the leg!" He grinned, showing his fangy mouth. "You hurt my fledgling." I put my hands on my hips. "You broke into my house." He chuckled. "Such a funny girl" he said, eyes roving up and down my figure. I mimicked his tone "Such a perverted vampire." He grinned even wider. I thought his head might fall off.

He cocked his head. "What, I'm just looking." I rolled my eyes. This is exactly why I bind my breasts before I go vampire hunting. "I wouldn't normally ignore that, but I don't want to fight you, so let's just call it even." I stuck out my hand. He smirked again. "What if I wanted revenge for my fledgling?" I shrugged. "Then you wouldn't have bothered talking to me until I was helpless. I know your type." He narrowed his eyes and phased so he was right in front of me. "And what if you were helpless this whole time and I was just toying with you?" he said, looming over me. I refused to be cowed and met his eyes squarely.

I grinned, imitating him, and showed him a knife balanced in my hand. "I have enough of this to make even you back down, Alucard." I put emphasis on his name and was satisfied to see his eyes widen. I felt him probe at my mind and put up my mental walls. His composure didn't slip at all, he just bowed. "I must apologize, but I didn't catch your name Miss..."

I kept my expression neutral. "I didn't drop it. Bye now." I turned and began limping my way along the river. He appeared in front of me. "It would be rude of me not to escort me to your home." I snorted. "It would also be rude of you to shoot me. Don't you have a fledgling to save, or did you forget that?" He hissed under his breath and phased off. I smiled to myself. Guess he did forget. Idiot. I limped along until I came to a shallower part of the gorge. I slipped into the water and swam upstream. What seemed like hours later, I came to the spot I had prepared for just such an eventuality, namely a cave that was invisible except from the water. I crawled in and shut my eyes, not even caring about now much my leg hurt.

Alucard's POV:

That girl was strong. I had managed to hit her leg, but all she did was slow down. She skidded to a stop by the cliff, and I could see she was calculating whether or not she would make it. I clapped slowly, watching her stiffen and slowly turn around. "Very well done girl. Very well done indeed." I said. She glared at me and spat "Go die in a hole." Ohhh, a feisty one. I looked hurt. "What have I done to deserve such anger?" She folded her arms "Gee, I don't know, maybe, you shot me in the leg!" I couldn't help but smirk from her reply. Police Girl was never this, wait… "You hurt my fledgling." She put her hands on her hips. "You broke into my house." I chuckled. "Such a funny girl." I said, letting my eyes roam over her admittedly well built figure, although she was strangely undeveloped in the chest area… wait. As she rolled her eyes I caught 'This is exactly why I bind my breasts before I go vampire hunting.' Running disgustedly through her head. She met my gaze, carefully copying my tone said "Such a perverted vampire." I grinned wider.

Well, she's not going to be unsettled that way. "I wouldn't normally ignore that, but I don't want to fight you, so let's just call it even." She said, sticking out her hand. I smiled again. How tempting it was, to bare her neck and feed. "What if I wanted revenge for my fledgling?" She shrugged, apparently unperturbed by that as well "Then you wouldn't have bothered talking to me until I was helpless. I know your type." I grinned and phased so I was towering over her. "And what if you were helpless this whole time and I was just toying with you?"

She met my eyes squarely, although she had to tilt her head up a little bit. Slowly, she grinned, imitating me and showed me something shining in her hand. It was a silver dagger, an especially blessed silver dagger. "I have enough of this to make even you back down, Alucard." She put special emphasis on my name, and that snapped me back to our conversation. I probed at her mind, trying to find her name, only to feel her put up a barrier.

I bowed. "I must apologize, but I didn't catch your name Miss..." I trailed off, waiting for her to answer. She kept her face calm and her mind shut as she replied "I didn't drop it. Bye now." She turned and began stumbling away from me down the hill. I could see I had managed to hurt her leg a lot from the way she was limping. I phased in front of her. "It would be rude of me not to escort me to your home."

She snorted and it was all I could do not to grin again. "It would also be rude of you to shoot me. Don't you have a fledgling to save, or did you forget that?" I blinked. Who… Police Girl. Blessed silver. Oops. I hissed in exasperation and phased back to her. She was lying where I had left her, although she had managed to get the throwing star out of her throat. I sighed in exasperation as picked her up and phased back to where we had left our coffins.

Zara's POV:

My first thought, upon waking, was Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwdamnitthish urtssomuch!

My second was; well, it's your own bloody fault for getting shot by a vampire. You're lucky to be still breathing. Think positive. I sat up painfully and took stock of my body. First order of business was to get the bullet out. Second, to clean myself up and get to the others. Third, avoid getting caught be Alucard. I sighed and began searching for the medical pack I had stored here. Once that was found, I gulped down some pain killers and took out the tweezers. I swallowed. This was going to hurt a lot. I stuffed some cotton balls in my mouth to muffle the screams, clicked the tweezers, and plunged them in.

I didn't scream, but I whimpered a little from pain. It had hit the muscle on my upper leg, but missed the bone. All I had to do was find the bullet and take it out, and I would be able to walk. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, kittens, catnip for my babies, happythoughts, happythoughts oh damn this HURTS! I had finally found the bullet and began pulling it out. Finally, I got the evil, nasty, vicious bullet out of my thigh. No surprise, it was blessed silver. I imagined how much pain a vampire or other cursed creature would be in right now and giggled. Tears of pain were still coming from my eyes but the bad part was over now.

Seras's POV:

Master was in a very bad mood. When he called Sir Integra to tell her what happened she yelled at him and told him to capture the girl who had thrown the blessed silver star at me. "Master" I asked him telepathically "Maybe you could smell her out by that star?" He glared at me and stalked over to the spot where he had left it. Irritably he sniffed it. He stuffed it in his pocket and stalked outside of the apartment we had rented. I had never seen him in such a bad mood before.

Zara's POV:

I had managed to get back to my apartment without mishap, and was currently telling everyone why we had to leave. Cats are very logical creatures, and might give me trouble if I didn't explain things. An audience of about twenty cats of varying ages sat assembled on the floor in front of me. As I finished Scrat, the head alley cat of this bit of the city brushed against my good knee, saying 'You're a good kit, and I wish you luck.' He left by way off the fire escape. My lip trembled. I knew I wouldn't get him to come with me, but I would miss the way he made fun of the people he met every day.

The others all pressed against me, offering in soothing murmurs in their own way. Some said they could not move across the big lake and left by the same way Scrat had. Others assembled in front of their respective carriers. I packed everyone away and headed down to the front desk. "I would like to mail these to England" I said politely. The manager gave me his thanks for staying here and assured it would all be taken care off. I smiled at him and left for the airport. I had already resigned and just had to board the plane. As I got out of the cab I felt someone watching me. I looked around as if saying farewell to Canada but saw no one.

Wait. There was a smell. Ghoul. I sighed. And casually backed into an alley. There. A ghoul was getting up from the ground. I unzipped my suitcase and took out one of my blessed silver knives. I bent down and silenced the poor creature. As I was putting my knife back I smelled something vamperic. Before I could react I found myself slammed into the wall. I hissed in pain and looked up at my attacker. Alucard.

Alucard's POV:

It was a risk, creating a ghoul so close to a public place, but the girl came through and dispatched it almost as soon as it resurrected. When she put the knife back in her bag, she stiffened. Before she could do anything I slammed her into a wall. She hissed, and I could feel the pain radiating up from where I had shot her.

"Let go of me you-" I casually covered her mouth. I sighed and began explaining things to her. "My master wants to talk to you. Since I don't trust you enough to just do what I tell you, I'm going to have to hypnotize you." I stared into her eyes, but she shook my influence off and closed them. I sighed. "Well, if you insist." I bent her head forward and hit her neck. She moaned softly and collapsed.

I grabbed her luggage and phased back to where our coffins where being loaded. I kicked Police Girl's coffin. She popped out with a hurt look. "Is that the girl master?" I tossed the girl into her lap. "Put her in the spare coffin." Police Girl tucked her into the spare coffin, settling her so that if she woke up suddenly she wouldn't hit her head.

After we had gotten through security, and the plane had gotten up in the air, I called Integra. "I got the girl." I said shortly. "Does she have a name?" Integra asked tartly. I shrugged "Probably, but she can put up enough of a mental barrier that I can't tell what it is."

Zara's POV:

Damn Alucard. Damn him to the uppermost reaches of Heaven where people frolic and sing loud enough to deafen you. I hated it when people got the drop on me. To add insult to injury, I woke up in a bloody coffin. I kicked at the lid. It loosened slightly. I scowled at it and did an open palm strike. It popped open and fell off the coffin. I sat up. Alucard was sitting in a chair across from my coffin grinning. His grin widened when he saw my scowl. I pointed at him. "You are going to regret this if it's the last thing I do." I jumped out of the coffin. "That said, what's for whatever mealtime it is?" He laughed out loud this time. "Your breakfast is on that table" he said, gesturing to a table partially hidden by his chair.

"Thanks" I said shortly. I walked over to it, compensating for the plane's movement, and my poor leg. My eyes widened. This was not funny. It was set like I was dining with the Queen of England herself, the extra bits of silverware almost out numbering the food. I sighed and assumed what I and my brother called the 'fancy idiot position'. I picked my way through that meal, using every piece correctly, and putting it back. Alucard watched me do it, a sardonic expression on his face. I glared at him. "I suppose you must have been pretending to be as poor as all that, if you could have such nice table manners." He drawled. "Dennis taught me." I grumbled.

He raised an eyebrow. "Who's that?" I hastily made sure all my mental defenses were up before replying "A friend. A dead friend." I turned away from him, letting some of the grief trickle through me. He hummed and asked another question. "Since you're going to be stuck with me for a while, what's your name?" I snapped. It was all just too much. "I'll tell you when I'm a rotting corpse!" I snarled at him, forgetting just what I was talking to. I found myself pinned to the wall again, with Alucard looking down on me. "That can be arranged" he said, bending down to sniff at my neck. I struggled against him, feeling white-hot rage streak through me.

He stopped sniffing me and backed up. "But maybe later. My master wants to see you in something more presentable." He gestured towards another door. I stalked towards it, hands clenched into fists. I slammed the door shut and turned to see some dresses laid against the counter of a bathroom. There was a red one, a dark blue one, a silver one, and a green one. I wasn't a fashion queen so I couldn't tell what style they were, or what they were made of.

I ended up picking the dark blue one, because it was the one that covered the most and fit the best. My breasts were starting to hurt after so much time bound flat, but I was going to dive into a shark tank before unbinding them in front of that creep. Plus I didn't have a bra, because the bindings were so tight. So that was a double no. I was a B-ish to C-ish, so no surprise that they hurt, really. I slid the dress over my head, secretly pleased with the fact it had slit sides. No way was anyone going to catch me in this sort of thing on a normal day, but I knew how to run in a dress.

I stalked over to Alucard and put my hands on my hips. He was sitting down, so he had to look up at me. He looked me over slowly, taking his time with my legs, hips, and chest. I glared at him. Oh, if looks could kill, vampire or no he would be 3 thousand feet under. "Where's my bag?" I asked through clenched teeth. He pointed lazily towards the coffin I was kidnapped in and I strode over. I grabbed a book blindly form my carry on and sat down, facing away from him as I read.

Alucard's POV:

After an hour I glanced over to see her in that same position, and grinned to myself. She was harder to get to than most people, but obviously did not like being given that once-over look of appreciation. She reacted differently than most people would too. While most people would turn red and look away, she… well, she did turn slightly red, but he could tell it was from anger. I was beginning to understand why she bound her breasts like that, if she hated that look so much. The overhead beeped "We will be landing shortly, please fasten your seat belts." I looked over to the girl, who was showing no sign of hearing the order.

I sighed. Apparently she was going to be stubborn. I walked over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Eek!" she screeched, jumping away from me. She put a hand over her chest, breathing hard. "Say something next time! I almost had a heart attack." That certainly explained why her blood was rushing so hard. I scowled at her. "We're landing, so you need to get back in the coffin. Didn't you hear?" She blushed slightly.

"I fell asleep." She remembered what had transpired earlier and glared at me. She walked over to the place where her lid had fallen and yanked it back over to her coffin. She lay down, twitching the lid into place. I sighed and went over to straighten it out. I heard grumbling from inside and grinned. This girl, she was going to be fun.

Zara's POV:

I wasn't normally a prayerful type, but this was an exception. After I got unloaded from the plane, and a particularly painful jolt, I uttered one simple prayer with the fervency of a fanatic. "God, if you ever feel the need for some random striking down, hit Alucard good and hard in the stomach. He deserves it, really." Another jolt and the lid of my coffin flew off. I sat up, looking around blindly for the culprit. He wasn't hard to find, especially when he was standing at the foot of my coffin.

Alucard grinned at me, showing off his fangs. "Have a nice ride?" I scowled. "I had a nice ride like you have a nice tan. Was that you driving? Or a suicidal monkey?" He tilted his head "What makes you think there's a difference?" I stretched before answering. "The monkey foams at the mouth and smells better." Alucard laughed and gestured behind him. "But my house is so much better than a monkey's." I craned my neck.

So that's the Hellsings' Headquarters .It was big, and it was a manor. My knowledge of human architecture stopped there. I know cats' dens, and I know birds' nests. I don't know people houses. Dennis taught me how to socialize, but I still had a ways to go before… normalcy. I know Alucard was saying something but I was too busy staring. "Oi!" he said, waving a hand in front of my face. "Something wrong girl?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, it's just…" I mumbled, trailing off and whispering "...Such an imposing rock pile." Alucard stared at me with raised eyebrows. He had probably lived here for generations, and saw nothing odd about such a huge house. I sighed. Time to face the consequences of staying behind. I squared my shoulders. I got this.