Once again, thanking my reviewers – prongsthedestroyer, thegr8sephiroth88, Thess, crossfire and Takino Tomo-chan.

I do not own Hellsing or Danny Boy. I am not making any money from this, ergo, if you try to sue, I will rip out your throat.

Sir Integra stood at her window, her form silhouetted by the bright morning sun outside. Then, abruptly, she turned, walking up to her desk phone, pressing a few quick buttons.

"Walter?"

"Good Morning Sir. Your breakfast will be ready in a moment."

"Delay that. Please send a runner out to see why there are people gathering outside our gates. And what happened to the gate guard?"

"Sir, after the unfortunate incident with the Japanese schoolgirls, we thought it prudent to post guards closer to the mansion. On this side of the gates."

"What Japanese schoolgirls?"

"You did not read my report?" there was a hint of surprise in Walter's voice. "I brought it up to your office almost a month ago."

"At the risk of sounding repetitive, what report?"

"Oh dear."

"Alucard…"

"Why, Master, must you always assume it is my fault?"

"Sir Integra, for once, Lord Alucard had nothing to do with it. You were at Thames House for the usual briefing. The…young ladies…thought all guards in London were in the employ of the Crown and that it would be amusing to play the 'Tower Guard' game. Of course, after the Valentine Brothers incident, any physical contact, or threat, to the gate guard immediately puts the entire C-Platoon on red alert. The ladies found themselves facing thirty armed soldiers in less than a minute – the standard drill."

"And?"

"Nothing major – some embarrassment, and I believe a couple of the girls took pictures. That was all."

"Did you find the report?"

"Ahem. Yes. It has been returned to its proper file."

"Walter. Where was the report?"

"Misplaced, Sir," returned Walter smoothly.

Sir Integra raised her eyebrow. "I will choose not to follow up on that. Please ensure that it doesn't happen again."

"Of course, Sir."

"And the people outside? Though I see the crowd has thinned out."

"Mostly the curious, and a few reporters that got left out of the loop - the usual."

Integra sighed. "So it begins. Nevertheless, we have a mission."

"Excellent," hissed Alucard. "I haven't killed anything lately. This should be fun."

"Our definitions of fun differ, Alucard."

"Do they really, Master?" "I know you."

"Do you really, Servant?"

"A bar called McVeigh's in Essex was being watched by MI-5 for possible IRA activity. It turned out to be a vampire den. Six vampires have been spotted – they may all be fledglings. The report does not mention any ghouls."

"Who knew suburban filth liked Irish drinking songs. Can you sing, Master? We could use Danny Boy as bait next time."

"I have a better idea. I'm thinking of creating a 'diversions' squadron. Can you dance, Alucard? Tell me, how does the Twenty Year Jig sound? Or would you prefer a reel?"

"Our mission, as always, is Search And Destroy."

"Our mission, Lady Integra? Will you be accompanying the boys?"

"Yes, Walter."

"Differing definitions of fun indeed, Master."

"Wake the policegirl. I want you ready by 21:15."

"If that is all, Sir?"

"Yes, thank you, Walter."

"I am curious, Angel of Death. Where was the report?"

"Well, young Jones from C took a fancy to one of the girls, Lord Alucard. Apparently she told him he looked 'cute'. Must be something to do with the machine guns. Nevertheless, he borrowed to report to clarify the spelling of her last name – the email address she jotted down on his hand got smudged."

Alucard's baying laugh rang out in the corridor. "This is rich. Of course, you're not telling Master any of this."

"Indeed."

"Ah, the games you humans play. Japanese schoolgirls!" Chuckling, Alucard phased out of view.

As the gates to the Hellsing estate swung open, a sudden wave of sound washed over the string of APCs and the Rolls Royce sandwiched between them.

"I thought the crowds were gone!"

"They were probably lying in wait, Sir," said Michael, Integra's usual driver.

"Damn. I should have checked the security cameras before starting."

"You can't think of everything, Master."

"After all, you are only mortal."

"Why have you made a habit of riding in the car with me Alucard? I thought you preferred to hunt by yourself."

"Things are much more interesting with you around, Master."

"Sir? Unit A-2, requesting orders," spoke a voice through Integra's com unit.

"Move out, sergeant. We have a mission."

"Sir."

The convoy started to move again. As the APCs emerged from the gates, the crowd of people outside began to scream. Hoots and whistles greeted the emergence of the Rolls.

"I feel like we are in the middle of a rock concert," muttered Integra. Her eyes were narrowed in irritation.

"When did you ever attend a rock concert, Master?"

"One does not need to be incarcerated for twenty years in a dungeon, Alucard, to know that it would be an unpleasant experience." Integra's threat hung in the air between them.

Suddenly, a pair of breasts were mashed against the passenger seat window of the car, their naked flesh flattening obscenely against the tinted glass. The driver blushed hotly, and despite herself, Integra stared.

"What does that say?" There was something written across the woman's overlarge chest.

"Um…" Michael squinted, trying to make out the inscription while Alucard doubled over in silent, wheezing laughter. "Marry Me Alucard…oh motherf…" the driver stopped himself just in time.

"Get us out of here! Now!" screamed Sir Integra in rage. Speaking into her com mike, she commanded, "And I don't care how many of them you have to run over to do it."

"Sir."

"Not a word, Alucard. Not a word."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Master. Not yet."

"Shut up!"

"Groupies. Bloody groupies. We were delayed by half-naked vampire fans while the bloody Essex police department decided to act on their own…"

"That will be enough, Officer Ceres. Your profanity will not aid the mission in any way."

"Yes, Sir. But did you see the fat man with the beer helmet and the 'I heart vampires' written over his stomach?"

"We were spared that particular torture."

"I smell blood, Master."

"Damn!" Sir Integra managed to ignore her own injunction against profanity. "A-2, move in. A-3, take up your positions around the perimeter. Officer Ceres, you're leading. Alucard! Go!"

"Finally, Master!" With a disconcerting smile of pure glee, Alucard disappeared. The soldiers dispersed, Ceres jogging ahead with an assault rifle under one arm. The Harkonnen had been deemed too destructive for the confined space.

With a flick of a switch, Integra reactivated the all-com system linked to her headphones. "Officer Ceres, what do you see?"

"The pub's been trashed, Sir. A couple of bodies, but I don't see any vampires."

"Sergeant Valdez, check out the second floor. Ceres, make a complete sweep of the kitchen and backrooms. Ensure that those bodies are not about to turn into ghouls."

"Targets have been confirmed. Releasing Control Art Restrictions to Level Three. Situation C. Keeping power restrictions unlocked till the targets have been silenced."

"How many, Alucard."

"Four. One master, three fledglings."

"There are at least three fledgling freaks unaccounted for. Keep searching, teams."

Suddenly, a new voice spoke over the system. "Sir Integra, we have just received a report that civilian vehicles are moving towards your combat zone. Some of these same vehicles were parked outside the Estate upon your exit."

Integra snarled wordlessly. "The police seem to be useless! Keep those people away from here!"

"We'll do our best, Sir. But it may be too late." At the same instant, Integra heard gunshots. Echoed over the com, the gunshots were followed by a gurgling scream.

"Soldier down, soldier down. A-2, fan out!" Sergeant Valdez's voice sounded hoarse.

"Hold your positions," snapped Integra. "I'm coming in." Performing a quick check of her gun, Integra raced into the building. Just as she disappeared inside the gloom of the seedy Irish pub, two, three, four cars screeched onto the scene.

"Alucard, what's your status?"

"I'm playing, Master. Go nag someone else for a while."

"This is no time for games, Alucard! We've got civilians coming onto the scene."

"They seem to like vampires so very much…let them see the bloodlust in action! The screams, the splatter of liquefied flesh against the floor – so very titillating, wouldn't you agree?"

"Finish your job."

Integra raced up the stairway to the second floor, her footsteps whispering against the wooden steps. A corridor…two doors. The right one, locked. The left leads to an empty room. Another room halfway down the dim corridor. Sounds of gunfire. Integra raced towards the fight when a figure burst through the locked room to her right, smashing the heavy door into splinters. Integra whirled, getting off two shots in the time it took the vampire to move with inhuman speed down the stairs.

Integra sprinted down towards the ground floor just as another vampire ran out through the kitchen, seeping maggots from a bullet hole in its arm. Another burst of gunfire. A neat hole through its head. But the first had already disappeared from her line of sight, towards the exit. Screams.

"There is a vampire heading out through the door. Snipers!"

"Sir, there's too many people! Some civilians are down. I can't get a clean shot!"

"Damn. Keep it within sights. Control?"

"Sir?"

"I want that vampire tracked. And get those damn people off my crime scene!"

Seething, Integra made her way through the kitchen, gun raised, warily scanning the space around her. Fryers. Counters. Tile. Cold storage. Cold storage? She pushed down the handle of the large metal door with one hand. Beyond lay a small, cold corridor, rivulets of water gleaming frozenly on the stone walls. Cautiously, she approached the end of the hallway. There, against the threshold, lay Ceres Victoria, seemingly unconscious. What could incapacitate a vampire? Three other vampires, apparently, as Integra found the man-shaped heaps of ash in the room beyond. She shivered, as the temperature of the cold storage room began to register on her body.

"Unit A-2 reporting. We got two of the bastards. Bloody fast buggers, too, not like your usual freaks."

"Good work, Valdez. Finish sweeping the second floor. I don't think we'll find any more here." At the sound of Integra's voice, Ceres stirred, whimpering softly. "Officer Ceres?"

"Sir?" Victoria opened her blood-red eyes to the sight of her master's master bending over her, concern flashing on Integra's face for a moment before it was replaced by the usual stern mask.

"What happened?"

"I got three, but there were two more. One knocked me against the wall…I think I passed out!" The last was said in a tone of amazement.

"Two?" asked Integra. "I shot one. I didn't see another down here, only the one I followed from upstairs. Are you sure there were two?"

"Yes, sir! One was a woman. She was the one who…"

"A foreigner," hissed Alucard, appearing on the shadows behind Integra.

"What took you so long?"

"The one downstairs refused to give up. If skill or ability is scarce, as it is nowadays, one can still sup on courage."

"While you were 'supping', two freaks got away."

"Two, policegirl? I'm rather disappointed."

"Master…" Ceres looked downcast.

"Keep your disciplinary issues for later, Alucard. In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead will be banished into eternal Damnation! You know what to do."

"Always, my Master." Alucard faded from view. "Keeping power restrictions unlocked till the targets have been silenced."

"Come on, Officer Ceres."

"Yes, Sir."

Integra and Ceres walked out into the main part of the pub, to be met by the soldiers descending from the second floor.

"All clear, Sir."

"What's the condition outside, Control?"

"Three civilians dead, Sir. One was a reporter, but the vampire did not drink from them – they were just in the way of its escape. The others have been dispersed by the police and A-3 sub-platoon."

"Cast aside like rag dolls," said Integra tiredly. "All right. Send in the cleanup crew."

"It's on its way. But we lost track of the freak, Sir."

"Alucard will be dealing with the situation. Stand down."

"Sir."

"The woman-freak was strong, Sir Integra."

"Not as strong as you should be, Ceres Victoria. The mission, the lives of civilians and the lives of your fellow soldiers depend on your eating habits. It's a lesson that should not have had to be repeated more than once, but you don't seem to learn."

"I'll try better, Sir," whispered Victoria, stung.

"Indeed."

The bells of a faraway church tower chimed thrice, as Integra sat at her desk. Outwardly a picture of calm patience, her eyes burned in the dim light with cold calculation, an anticipation of the expected words.

"Limited Release Completed."

Finally, Sir Integra Hellsing butted out her cigar, and headed to bed.

"Acknowledged. Come home."