He said nothing, his dark reddish brown eyes blankly taking in his surroundings, searching carefully for an escape route. Finding none, the petite male instead glared at his captor, a strange old man, wearing what looked like one of those classic butler suits, and had a piece of glass over one eye. He hadn't spoken, and hadn't moved toward him in any way, but he knew better than to assume safety. If you weren't in a room alone with the doors barricaded shut, there was no way you were safe. Even then, you probably still weren't fully protected.

Wincing at his paranoid train of thought, the dark haired dhampire shifted, wishing desperately for some sort of liquor, he wasn't very good to be around when he wasn't drunk.

The door opened, and a blond haired woman entered, a cigar hanging from her mouth. Spying the old man, her eyes brightened in surprise.

"Walter? I thought you weren't due back until tomorrow evening?" Then her gaze found him, bound securely to the chair beside the desk, hood drawn up around his head, hiding him from closer inspection. Still, he felt barren, like she could see those scars on his soul, if he had one. He didn't do much but shudder slightly, this feeling was familiar to him, he felt it always when he was sober. After several seconds, the blond calmly spoke.

"Who's this?" Came the blunt question. Finally, she turned her attention back to the man, Walter. The dhampire sagged in relief, simply glad she no longer stared at him. Walter straightened from his former position of leaning against the wall, glancing at the male in question.

"He was a thief, though I think he would be of more use to Hellsing, rather than go back to his former life, if you could call it that." At this Walter frowned, his disapproval seeping from his very being. The woman frowned as well, turning back to look at him again. Then she sighed.

"I'll handle him in the morning. Lock him in the basement or something, Alucard's on a mission with Seras, so he should be fine." she yawned and exited the room, no doubt going back to bed. Walter nodded and smoothly approached him, unbinding him from the chair, only to rebind him, this time like a caterpillar. The man threw him over his shoulder and began to walk. And walk, and walk. When the half-breed had decided the old man was lost, he was unceremoniously dropped to the floor, and judging by the way the sound of his shoes hitting the floor faded, left him there.

Squirming, the dhampire bared his fangs in frustration, before becoming still and straining his ears for noise, any noise. Just to warn him of what's to come. Nothing, there's just empty silence. That's worse than if there was noise, at least then he could brace himself, for better or worse. But this...this is just waiting, trembling on a knife-edge. Hours passed, and the slight frame had long ceased even listening closely for noise.


Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap.

The dhampire's eyes slid open sleepily, though he hadn't slept.

Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap-tap-tap!

Puzzled, he inhaled. His breath picked up, his dark eyes widened.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Clearly, what he smelled now, could smell him too. And it was coming to investigate what was in it's home.

TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!

His chest now heaved, and he held his lower lip between his fangs anxiously. The other was close enough now that a human could hear him, close enough that it was no longer unidentified. "It" was a male vampire, a powerful one. He let out a weak groan, and dropped his head to the floor, giving up on watching for him. The elder was clearly toying with the hybrid until he became bored and decided to let himself become visible.

TAP! TAP!

Suddenly, he felt a presence beside him, and tensing, opened his eyes. There, beside his head, was a boot, a large one. He slid his gaze to the place above his head, finding the twin to the boot in front of his face. Gulping, he followed the boot up one long leg, over a slender hip, followed by a broad chest to land nervously on a pair of crimson eyes, peering at him over a pair of silver rimmed sunglasses.

He whimpered, feeling suddenly small, even with his boots on he wouldn't come to this man's chest. The vampire smirked, his eyes rippling like water with sadistic amusement. At the sight, he felt a sinking sense of dread in his belly, and he choked on his own breath for a moment. Then he stiffened, holding back his reaction, letting the familiar cold calm take over his mind, taking everything in but what happened to his body. Whether the vampire left him, killed him, or decided he needed flying lessons, it was better if he couldn't feel it happening. Better to have the aftermath of things.

A large hand reached down, and as the ground wasn't nearly as close as it was before, he realized he was being brought to eye level. Well, eye level for the green giant, maybe. Though he didn't look at them, he was keenly aware of the crimson orbs doing their best to bore a whole into the side of his hooded head. He shook him then, and he blinked as his hood fell back, revealing his face to the vampire. It was then he realized, the man had a hold of the rope spanning across his chest. His back was arched painfully, almost in an upside down U. This unfortunately meant, he was looking straight at the lower part of the wall, almost the floor, as his head was lolling gently. He was completely limp.

He finally moved, aside from breathing, his reddish chocolate eyes lifting. Slowly, he raised his head up to look at the crimson stare focused on his frail frame. Amused annoyance coiled in the bloody depths and ,with a sigh, he let his head fall back again, closing his eyes. Not much point in writhing around, he realized, this vampire was only waiting to see what he would do, like an exterminator watching a particular looking bug. A smirk grew across his face, and his grip tightened, causing the ropes around his still pliant form to squeeze him. He let out a silent gasp, blood trickling out of the corners of his mouth.

The half-breed moaned weakly, he hadn't realized just how powerful this man's hand was, after all it was just a hand, it shouldn't have been able to cause much damage from just holding the rope. Clearly, he'd been wrong about that. Wheezing weakly, he stared at the wall, letting out a grunt as the vampire dropped him on the ground.

Sparks flew through his vision at the sudden pain of his head cracking against the floor and he blinked blearily. Bursting into laughter, the vampire crouched beside him, tilting his black haired head to the side.

"And who are you?" he drawled calmly. Weakly, he blinked away his remaining dizziness long enough to comprehend the question. Naturally, he answered the way he usually did, without wisdom.

"The guy on the floor, fuck hole! Who'd I look like to you!" he snarled, squirming away from him. The vampire only laughed again and casually jerked him back over to his larger frame, pushing his palm down on his collar bone.

"How 'bout a name, snippy?" he grinned, his red eyes flashing warnings at the dhampire. Once again finding himself without breath, he glared at the vampire.

"Tiger Ashiro." he murmured, closing his eyes. There was a dark chuckle, followed by the pressure on his chest lessening, then finally vanishing. Along with the vampire himself. Ashiro let out a groan and rolled onto his side, waiting for morning.