Hello everyone. I'm going to keep this short.

Thanks to azuresilver, theVanity212, Annoyed Valeria and Nitrogen920 for all their good stuff and stuff. Thanks, you guys.


On limits

Eliz sadistic? Hardly. She laughed at the idea. Sure the drill wasn't exactly saintly but it did have a purpose-and a legitimate one at that.

"Open fire!" she called out and watched as 50 of her soldiers shoot at the figure of a single man. She watched in awe an adjusted her bulky shooting headphones.

/

She remembered feeling uncomfortable. There was a cool breath in her face that smelled a bit like iron. She also sensed something hovering above her. A cold hand reached out and moved some hair away from her face. Eliz froze in fear. But as suddenly as she felt it, it was gone. Eliz was still taking up residence on the couch in the drawing room on the first floor. She heard the curtains being drawn. Light flooded into the room and the person stifled a groan. It sounded masculine. He moved to sit on the couch across from her. There he stayed unmoving.

Eliz knew it wasn't Walter, he usually knocked before coming in. She also knew it wasn't Integra with a man voice- she left for the Convention of Twelve meeting earlier. Eliz couldn't go herself because they had to send one representative of Hellsing. In this case, the girls agreed that Integra's steel demeanor seemed more appropriate. Back to the task at hand though, it couldn't be Marie because, again, the grunt sounded distinctly masculine. She considered feigning sleep to buy her more time. She had to gauge whether the person was a threat or not. Still, he wasn't hurting her. Yet. But even more worrying was the fact she didn't know how she could protect herself if the man was a threat.

She peaked through her lids. Alucard? He sat with his legs crossed, hand resting on his knees, staring at her. She opened her eyes more, shocked.

"Good morning, master," he greeted, showing his fangs.

"Good morning," Eliz said sitting up and rubbing her head. She moved her blanket to the side, "you're up early." Only a handful of times Eliz had seen him up before the sun set, and even then it was just around dusk. No one ever saw him walking around in the day time. She looked at him again. He was sitting in direct sunlight, yet he wasn't bursting into flames or turning to white ash. Odd.

"It's Sunday." Oh. So that's why he was so eager to see her. "Where is my mission? London proper? Somewhere in Kent? Ireland maybe?"

"You don't have a mission today," she said simply. She got up from the couch and walked barefoot towards the door.

In an instant his good mood turned sour. His hands clenched into each other and a scowl started to spread on his once content face. "Surely Walter has told you the nature of my job?" he asked following her.

"That you hunt unholy abominations in the name of Hellsing? Yes, he has," Eliz said heading to the dining room. She remembered speaking to Walter about Alucard, back when he was still an obscure figure to her. He was still obscure even now, but a little less so. Eliz had taken up a hobby in studying vampires because of him. She read as much as she could about them. Still, she felt it wasn't enough. She needed to know more about him and his kind if she was to take her job seriously. And she was going to take it seriously. Walter told her to always put up a brave front when near him. Alucard revered audacity more than just about any other trait. So she did, even though he could probably hear her voice quiver and her rapid heartbeat.

"Why? What is the problem?" he asked now sitting across from her at the table. A maid placed an array of breakfast foods in front of the young girl. She looked at Alucard frightened and quickly left with a bow when her job was over.

"The problem," Eliz said, "is that I don't know anything." He looked at her puzzled but didn't speak. She smoothed the butter over her pancakes and took a bite. "What I mean to say is that I barely know anything about you. You're tasked with hunting other abominations and protecting my sister and me from any harm- and even though I don't know what you're capable of, I'm supposed to just put my life in your hands? That sounds plain stupid."

"Your ancestors lived," he said slyly.

"Yes, but you were also asleep for 20 years."

"I am more than capable of protecting you," he snarled. Eliz could feel a strong darkness coming from him.

"Where's the proof?" she asked, slamming her hands down on the table and standing now. If he was going to be aggressive with her, then she would do the same.

Alucard took a deep breath. He wished his master was a little more competent. If she was to learn anything, watching him fight on a mission- in an actual battle made the most sense. "So you propose...?" he trailed off.

"We're going to play together today," she said taking her seat again.

He scowled. "I'm not a baby-sitter."

"Ouch," Eliz said raising her eyebrows. "Watch your tongue with me."

"Forgive me, master," he said through clamped teeth. Eliz watched with her fox smile as he sat seething. Alucard pictured flipping the table over, plates of human food flying. He would lunge at her and drain her of all her blood. He would then mount her lifeless body on a spike and watch as it slid down, slowly being impaled. But perhaps he should make her suffer first. There was a sharp pain on his hands that started to creep through his entire body. He looked down at his gloves. The gloves prevented him from doing any harm to his master. Even thinking of harm was enough to induce the old spell his master's ancestors had put on them.

"Don't be too upset," she said. "There'll be a reward at the end of all this for putting up with me. But before we begin, I need to get dressed and a doctor is coming by on a house call to check on the progress of my arm. I'll call you when I'm ready."

/

"Lieutenant Barker! It's a pleasure, please come in," Eliz said with a curtsey at the front door in her foyer.

Barker laughed deeply, "no need for the formalities little miss. What have I told you before?" He pat her on the head, "Jiggy's fine."

"Well a little politeness never hurt anyone. You've brought your men?"

Jiggy folded his hands behind his head and leaned back. "That I have. They're in dire need of practice- the darn rookies. I can't thank you enough." He was quite handsome in a rugged way, probably in his mid-30's- maybe even 40's, who really knew? His body was lean and muscular, only improved by the fact he worked out often. He had tussled brown hair and green eyes, with scuff hanging around his chin and cheeks. Eliz noticed a new scar that cut through his right eyebrow but thought it looked nice one him. Perhaps his best feature though was his Australian accent. She shook hands with him and found his were rough and held small cuts.

"It's no problem," she said. Then she turned and called out, "Alucard? Come here."

From the floor a few paces to her right, a black shadow appeared, from which emerged her vampire. He avoided her since earlier and dreaded the moment he would have to play with her, but he couldn't disobey her. "Master," he said with a bow.

Jiggy was shocked to say the least after seeing a man rise from the ground. He tried to hide it, preferring to seem laid back and sentinel in front of his girl. Jiggy had been to the Hellsing manner a few times before. He met Eliz on a night he was discussing strategy with Arthur. A five year old Eliz entered the office because she couldn't sleep. When she saw Jiggy, she instantly fell in love thinking he was a knight (even though her crush only lasted a week). She told him he was the coolest soldier she knew. He knew he was probably the only soldier she knew at the time. Still his heart melted for the girl and she came to be like a kid sister to him. From then on, each time he visited the manor she'd make it a point to see him. In turn he'd tell her how to prank Arthur.

"First let me introduce you two. Alucard, this is Lieutenant Jig Barker. He's a member of the English Army, but in a division that reports to Hellsing. He's worked with my father in years past, an old face to the family, really. He's a trained killer, specializing in assassination-stealth missions. He can, with the proper equipment, make a deadly shot over a mile away." Alucard stood unimpressed. Jiggy crossed his hands over his chest. "And Jiggy, this is Alucard. He serves the Hellsing house. He's also a 500 year old vampire." Alucard cocked a grin at Jiggy.

"Goodness Arthur, what else did you have under your sleeve... " Jiggy said rubbing his chin stubble. "Little miss, may I?"

"Go ahead," she said and watched as Jiggy approached Alucard. He circled the vampire slowly taking in the sight. Compared to Jiggy, Alucard was a lot thinner, taller and stood with straighter posture. He was also a lot paler, but compared to anyone he would be that way.

"I've never seen one of you so close before. You're usually dead within half a mile's range," Jiggy mumbled. "Ah, but, there's something different about you." Jiggy backed off and whistled. "Little miss, what's that something I'm thinking of?"

Eliz put her hand up to her chin in thought. "I believe he's stronger than any vampire you've seen to date."

"I don't want to scare you miss but I've seen a lot in my day..."

"May I see your gun?" Eliz asked. Jiggy handed it to her carefully, clearly uncomfortable about giving a 12 year old a gun. "Would you normally kill vampires with this?"

"Well yeah, but," Jiggy didn't get the chance to end his sentence because right then and there Eliz pulled the trigger, aiming straight at Alucard's chest. The vampire didn't slump down to the ground, his knees didn't even buckle. Instead, he merely stood as he had before. Blood that had seeped from the wound reversed itself into his body once more. Alucard put his hand over the wound and the bullet slowly pushed its way out.

Jiggy was at a loss to say the least. First, there was the fact that Eliz so casually shot a gun. He knew he'd probably have to admit it soon but she wasn't the same little girl he met all those years ago, that was sure. Secondly, that vampire should have exploded in a mess of guts and blood. Hellsing's pristine foyer shouldn't be a beautiful white; it should be soaked in red. And, now that he thought about it, the vampire was standing in direct sunlight without a problem. He should at least been weak from it.

Eliz gave the gun back to Jiggy. "He's the real deal, Jiggy. Alucard's capable of instant regeneration and slaughtering several men within a second." Eliz remembered her uncle and his men. She remembered all those bullets enter the vampire's body but he got up like it was nothing. She clasped her hands behind her back and wondered if her agenda for the day was in some way immoral. "Jiggy, this is the vampire I want your men to practice on today."

Jiggy scratched the back of his head, "but why? I mean you're the boss and I'll do it but doesn't it seem a little cruel or something?"

Eliz stared directly into Alucard's eyes with new resolve. "No. The way I see it, if he dies today, it just means he wasn't fit to guard the Hellsings."

"I see." Jiggy looked back to Alucard, "you're in for a rough day, mate."

Alucard smiled widely, ready to laugh. Playing with his master would be fun after all. At least more fun than he'd had in the past week anyways. He stared back at Eliz with the same intensity. His red eyes shone, "if my master wishes to test me, then I will effortlessly exceed her every expectation."

/

So back to the beginning: "Open fire!" and 50 soldiers shooting at the figure of a single man.

Her challenge to the soldiers? Just try to hit Alucard. Eliz already knew bullets, no matter how abundant, wouldn't harm him. So maybe his weakness lay in speed? After a while she held her hand up to signal a cease fire. The soldiers stopped and the smoke cleared. She didn't know whether to frown or smile. There wasn't a mark on her vampire. No, even with 50 soldiers and bullets flying at him at less than half a second, Alucard wasn't getting hit. Eliz recalled her earlier tests. Each one getting more and more twisted.

She already knew that sunlight wouldn't make him burst into flames, so she tried garlic. Eliz took out a wreath of the stuff and brought it next to her vampire. No reaction. She placed the wreath around his neck so that it was touching his skin. Just a scrunched nose. She made him eat a clove. Bad breath but no reaction. She read that vampires hated garlic because it was powerful antiseptic. So vampires, being dirty and hellish creatures, would naturally explode from the inside out if they ate any. But no, not this vampire.

She brought out a cross. No reaction. She made the cross touch his skin. She heard a 'humph' but otherwise no reaction. She brought in a priest who read a few pages of various holy books to him. Just a yawn. She splashed him with holy water. Not even a blink. She learned through her studies that vampires were unholy, so naturally any holy item would repel or even kill them. But no, not this vampire.

She drowned him in a tank of holy water. He stared at her through the glass, arms folded.

She lit him on fire. He stood laughing.

She had him beheaded with an axe that was soaked in holy water, blessed by high priests and made from pure silver. His head rolled out with a smirk. She did it again and told him to regenerate within 30 seconds. He did it in 18.

She supposed he really was indestructible. His cockiness didn't help, though.

"There was a time in my life when any one of these methods to kill me would have succeeded but years of Hellsing experiments and rituals have morphed me into a monster worse than any other."

Whatever.

"Fine then," she said fed up and walked over to Alucard, empty bullet shells surrounded him. "Protect me," she said to him, then she turned to the soldiers called out, "fire!"

No one fired. Shooting at a vampire was one thing but shooting at a little girl? Absurd and just plain dumb.

"Shoot at me or I'll go to the Queen about this!" she demanded.

Shit. The queen was the highest authority. But wouldn't they have a valid argument?

"I won't say it again," she said sternly. Next to her Alucard laughed.

Jiggy sighed, and scratched the back of his head. "Take aim boys." His men looked at him shocked. "Just do it." You could hear the pain in his voice. This was a hard decision. "You saw that thing. It dodged every bullet. How will it be different this time? And besides... this sort of thing might happen out on a mission. His job is to protect her- better to see what'll happen here rather than in battle and overrun with ghouls."

So with heavy hearts his men took aim. At his word they began to shoot. Eliz found herself in that place. The place she'd been twice and now three times- surrounded by darkness and, she shuddered, the eyes. She guessed it was Alucard's mind or something. She could hear muffled gun shots coming from outside the space. Then they stopped. Jiggy must have given the command for them to cease fire. The darkness dissipated and she saw Jiggy smiling.

She looked over Alucard. He was a mess of shadows, but slowly he gained his form again. She didn't want him to die because there would go her MVP but at the same time she was frustrated that he had no weakness- and she had been extensive in her search. "Well, now that we've seen your defenses, we need to test your offense."

/

"I know you're a vampire, you've got super senses and all, but don't you need a scope for that?" Jiggy asked.

Alucard laughed. "Wind, humidity and friction will cause error. But don't worry human, I'll adjust for it."

"Just don't hit her," Jiggy said in a strained voice. He'd been through a lot today.

"Even if I wanted her dead..." Alucard shook his head, throwing away those thoughts. "The restraints her ancestors placed on me prevent me from doing so."

That only slightly made Jiggy feel better. The two stood 5 miles away from the target that stood next to Eliz. Behind them, the troops lay in the grass, looking through binoculars. It was their turn to see how deadly accurate guns could be if handled properly. Alucard took aim and casually shot.

Eliz felt a strong wind next to her and looked over to see the giant target was hit dead center. Further, Alucard managed to get the bullet in exactly the same place as his other shot. So while she expected two points of impact, only one appeared. There was another blast of wind next to her. Hang on, she only authorized one shot.

"Miss?" Jiggy's voice came through the radio in her headphones. "He was turned around when he took that shot." So cocky.

She stood in front of the target this time. Her heart pounded quickly and her knees grew shaky. "Tell him to shoot again. I missed that last one."

There was a moment of brief pause. Eliz swallowed her saliva but found it clumping in her throat. Jiggy's voice came back on. "Miss, he's asking for you to get out of the way. He says you're standing dead center of the target." Phew.

/

The day was over and Alucard had successfully passed all of his tests. Jiggy and his soldiers were sent back home. The rookies had some serious things to think over about their duty to Hellsing- Jiggy, too. But back at Hellsing manor, Eliz found herself in her pajamas personally delivering Alucard's dinner.

he sublevels were damp, cold and she even wondered if they had mold from the weird smell coming from them. Aside from that, they were also downright eerie and the passage she was going through was no exception. She held a blood bag in her right arm far away from her. The package was cold and it kept flopping around in her hand. Gross.

"Alucard?" she asked with one knock on his door. It was big and heavy and had the same inscriptions that his gloves had drawn on it. The door opened slowly, she could see it was thick and solid- too heavy for her to have opened on her own. She peaked into the room. There were a few lit candles, but other than that no light source. She could see Alucard sitting in the middle of the room on a chair with a table and a glass next to him. His head rested on one hand and his eyes were closed. He wasn't sleeping. Thinking, maybe? She approached him until she was within arm's reach. "I've brought your meal for tonight."

He smiled without showing his teeth and opened his eyes to look at her. "You've delivered my dinner? To what do I owe this pleasure to?" he asked not sounding pleased in the least.

"I just wanted to apologize," she said. "If I offended you this morning by saying that you were inadequate, I'm sorry." And she was. She had acted like a psychopath today. Not only that but he rose to the challenge, meeting her tests with success each time. Here she was slandering him, saying her wasn't good enough, so of course it would offend him. Now she understood his aggressive behavior at breakfast. He was nearly 500 years old, so naturally he had more control over himself and his powers than most vampires in England nowadays-maybe in the world. "I'm really sorry. Anyways, here," she said handing him the bag. Then she turned to leave and walked quickly the door.

He took the package and smelled the scent of the blood through the plastic barrier. A slow smirk emerged on his face. "Master?" he called. She stopped and turned around again, half-way to the door. She felt her cheeks getting hot. "Perhaps my nose deceives me. Is this your blood?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Is there a problem?"

"Hmm," he said inhaling the scent through the bag again. A personal visit, an apology, and her own blood as an offering of peace- never had he had a master quite like this one. "No. Just curiosity."

"I told you there'd be compensation for playing my stupid games." She felt like she was beating a dead horse. She wondered if the blood was a good idea. She wanted to give him a present but what do you give someone like him? Anyways, didn't he like the pure, virgin blood of his master? Eliz looked up and saw Alucard smiling at her. She huffed and turned to leave but just before she crossed through the door he called to her.

"Let's play again sometime, master."


Okay first, if anything was unclear please tell me. Even though the chapter was fun to write, it was also kind of difficult. So if there's any hard to read parts let me know, I'LL HAPPILY MAKE CORRECTIONS. I also realize now that later on, I'm going to have to edit through everything. It'll be the same story just rewritten a little... better.

But yeah, I like this chapter a lot. It really shows what a crooked kid Eliz is, even though she may seem nice to people. And yay Alucard. OH AND JIGGY. His first name comes from Jiggy Pepper (anime: Letter Bee) HE'S JUST SO F-ing SHINING. and his last name "Barker" comes from the fact I always think of military guys as barking out orders.

See you guys next week IN SCHOOL (wait no, im not going to school or anything Eliz is. Maybe- I'm not sure what I want to do first. But I do have kind of a plot in my head, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT).