Pip was unusually upset with me. When we arrived back at the manor, I was promptly informed by one of the Wild Geese that the captain was sulking in the shooting range. I groaned and ignored Alucard's chuckle as I made my way toward the shooting range.

"Was your human not aware that you were coming with us?" the vampire questioned as he followed me.

"Oh, he was aware all right," I responded. "He just wasn't aware that he wasn't coming as well. And I already told you, he's not mine," I added in annoyance. "Stop calling him that. It's creepy." Alucard merely chuckled. I glared at him and continued walking.

Unfortunately, my feet had other plans. The world moved in slow motion as I tripped over myself. My hands stretched out to catch my own fall and I landed with a thud. I groaned as I stood and looked myself over. My hands were scraped and had started to bleed.

"Thanks so much for the help," I told Alucard sarcastically while I inspected my hands. It was just a scrape, I had had worse, and I could bandage it up after I saw Pip. I hadn't realized that the vampire never responded until I was pushed against the wall for the second time that day. This time however, Alucard had my hands in his viselike grip and his eyes were glowing crimson. "Hey, knock it off!" I struggled futilely against the vampire. "Let me go!"

But Alucard wasn't listening. He bent his head toward my hands and I watched in horror as his tongue flicked out. I fought the shudder that ran through my body when his tongue made contact with my hand. The feeling was somehow painful and pleasurable at the same time. His red eyes widened as the taste of my blood registered. Before I could react, he released my hand and grabbed the back of my neck instead, pulling me to him in a rough kiss.

At first, I was still with shock. Before I knew what I was doing however, my body had begun to react. One hand reached up to his neck and pulled him closer of its own accord while the other tangled itself in his hair and tugged gently, emitting a moan from the vampire. I pressed my mouth against his and felt his tongue against my lips, pleading for entry.

I felt his chuckle vibrate through my body when I refused him. Alucard bit my lip gently, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to evoke a gasp from me. The sly vampire took his opening and deepened the kiss. I tasted the metallic tang of my own blood on Alucard's lips. His hand moved from my neck into my hair while his free hand snaked around my waist and pressed me impossibly closer.

His mouth moved down to my neck and sucked lightly. I moaned, evoking another chuckle from the vampire. He pressed a light kiss to my lips and suddenly, I felt his fangs at my throat. I was not afraid. Just before he bit into me, however, the vampire paused. I froze, my breathing heavy. Suddenly, he shoved me away from him. My back hit the wall and I stared at him in shock. What the hell was that?

"You taste like her." Alucard had his back to me and his voice was a whisper. "You look like her. You even act like her!" I flinched as the vampire snarled and turned to me once more, his expression angry. His face softened when he realized he had frightened me. His voice lowered once more as he continued, "And yet you are not her."

"I'm not who?" I whispered in return. My blue eyes stared into his red ones as I tried to search for some kind of answer. What are you thinking? I wondered, knowing full well he could hear my thoughts.

Alucard stepped away from me, his hard mask in place once more. "No one," he told me harshly. "What happened a moment ago... I lost control of myself. It won't happen again. I'm sorry." He looked down the hallway, his posture stiff.

"I'm not," I told him boldly. The vampire looked at me abruptly, his red eyes wide with shock. "I find I quite enjoyed that. Please Alucard," I added. "Feel free to lose control of yourself more often." I flashed the stunned vampire a mischievous smile before turning on my heel and walking down the hallway. I heard Alucard chuckle behind me in disbelief and I felt my smile secretly change into a grin of victory.

To say that Pip had been sulking was an understatement to say the least. He was pacing around the firing range, shooting targets at random and muttering to himself in French. I watched him from the doorframe for a while before calling out to the captain.

"I take it this isn't about Seras turning you down?" I teased lightly.

Pip turned at the sound of my voice and his expression grew angry. "What were you thinking?!" he yelled, effectively ruining my mood. "Our first job and you decide to go off without me?! And you leave a note telling me so instead of waking me up yourself, no less!"

I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest. "I didn't wake you up because I knew you would argue with me," I told him. "You were sweaty and had a fever all night. I nearly told Walter to take you to a hospital twice! You were in no condition to go anywhere! I shouldn't even have let you fall asleep. You could have gone into a coma and then what would we do?"

"Well I'm obviously better, aren't I?" he roared. "You should trust me to know when I can and cannot work!"

"I am your medic, Pip," I retorted. "It's my job to decide whether or not you're fit for action, not yours. And you know what?" I added angrily. "Maybe I should tell Sir Integra that you'll be out for another month, at least."

Pip's eyes widened at my threat. "You wouldn't dare," he growled, his French accent thick.

"Try me," I responded, my blue eyes hard like ice.

Pip glared at me, but I wasn't backing down. Finally, he broke his stare. "Vous têtu, folle, gosse gâté! Je vais vous remettre pour cela!" he growled at me.

"Je voudrais vous voir essayer, vous obstiné, frustrant, belliciste," I retorted easily.

"Imbécile!"

"Lui carrer dans l'oignon!"

Surprisingly, it was Alucard who interrupted the fight."Maintenant, maintenant, nous allons arrêter de se battre et essayer d'obtenir le long, allons-nous?" he said smoothly. We both turned to stare at the vampire in wide-eyed shock. "That's better." Alucard grinned at our stunned faces. "Now then, it seems my master has gotten the information she needs on Millennium, which means she, Walter, and the police girl will be here in about an hour. You two should get ready for when they arrive."

His words shook me from my stunned trance. I turned to Pip to inspect his bandages, my inner doctor now awakened. "Your childish behavior has opened up your stitches, again," I told him with a scolding look. "I'm going to change and get a Band-Aid for my hands. Meet me downstairs in half an hour."

Pip nodded and I moved to leave, but he grabbed my hand. He inspected my wounds carefully. "How did this happen?" he asked with concern.

"I fell," I told him. "It was on the way here, no big deal. I've had worse." As I watched him, I realized why he seemed upset. "The mission went well," I added. "We hit a slight snag, but nobody was injured. Alucard got to have all the fun anyway."

The captain nodded but his expression was thoughtful. "Make sure you take care of this," he told me firmly. I nodded and he released my hand. "Oh, and Cara?" he called after me as I walked away. I turned and raised an eyebrow at my captain. "Are you gonna be okay tonight?"

Alucard stiffened beside me and I flushed. "Yeah," I answered easily. "I've still got some sleeping pills I can take." Pip nodded and said nothing else. With that, I turned and walked quickly to my room. I was intensely aware of Alucard's presence beside me as I walked, but I didn't acknowledge it.

"What did he mean by that?" the vampire growled. I jumped a little but shook my head and quickened my pace. "Cara!" Alucard yanked me to a halt by arm and tilted up my chin so I was forced to look at him. "What did Bernadotte mean?" His expression was furious, but more than that, it was almost...jealous.

"I have nightmares," I admitted with a sigh. Alucard's crimson eyes widened in surprise. "Usually Pip spends the night with me and that helps, but thanks to your orders on me having my own room, I'm kind of on my own."

Alucard nodded and released me. We started walking in silence again, but it wasn't long before the vampire spoke. "If you are on your own, why was the captain only concerned about tonight? What about last night?"

I turned bright red at the question. Crap. "Well, um, you see..." I trailed off nervously. My stammering only made the vampire more suspicious of course, and he narrowed his blood red eyes at me. "Pip came to see me last night so I could stitch up his head and we kind of sort of... spent the night together." I blurted out the last part. For some reason, I was afraid of his reaction.

I waited silently for Alucard's reaction as I walked, but nothing came. With a start, I realized that the vampire was no longer walking beside me but had stopped and was now standing frozen, his face hidden behind his hair.

"Alucard?" I asked tentatively. "Are you all right?"

He chuckled, a feral, terrifying snarl that sent terror ripping through me. I had never been afraid of much, not even of him, not truly afraid. But in this moment, as I watched the dark-haired vampire before me, I was frozen with fear.

"Am I all right?" he echoed, his voice mocking. Finally, he looked up at me. His crimson eyes were glowing once more, this time with fury instead of bloodlust. "You want to know if I'm all right, little kitten?" I nodded and immediately regretted it. Suddenly, Alucard flew at me. I squealed as he wrapped his arms around my waist. "Unless you want to crash into the wall, I suggest you hold on tightly," he growled in my ear.

I squeezed my shut and wrapped my arms around his neck. Burying my face in chest, I held on to the vampire for dear life. I felt a rush of cold pass through me and suddenly we had stopped moving. I opened my eyes to see that we were back in Alucard's room. Immediately, I released him, but Alucard had other plans.

He tightened his grip around my waist and bent down to kiss me roughly. I started to protest, but I quickly responded to the kiss. When we broke apart, Alucard tilted up my chin so I could look at him. "You are mine," he growled, his eyes blazing with furious jealousy. "And while I shall have to teach that captain of yours not to touch what's mine," he added with an amused smirk. "First, I shall teach you what it is to belong to a vampire, and what happens when he is forced to share."

I stiffened. His words affected me in ways I wasn't ready to admit. But the foremost thing in my mind was his threat to the captain. 'I shall have to teach that captain of yours not to touch what's mine.' My eyes widened as Alucard's hands moved up to the hem of my shirt. Does he think that Pip and I...?

I shoved Alucard away. Perhaps if he had been expecting it, the attempt would have been futile. But his surprised expression and exposed fangs showed that he was otherwise occupied. "What exactly do you think happened between me and Pip last night?" I demanded.

Alucard's face darkened instantly. "You two spent the night together, did you not?" he growled. "As I said, he will regret laying a finger on you when I'm done with him." The vampire moved towards me again, but I raised my hands defensively.

"I think you misunderstood me," I told him quickly. "Pip needed me to wrap his head again, but after that all we did was talk until we fell asleep. Nothing happened." Alucard stopped his advance and stared at me in amazement.

"Nothing... happened?" I nodded. "You two just slept." Alucard looked stunned. He was silent for a long time.

"I already told you," I said. "Pip and I are just friends. I don't think of him like that." I sighed in frustration. "Wait, so was that the only reason you were making out with me? Because you were jealous of Pip?"

Alucard grinned mischievously. "I thought you enjoyed it when I lost control. What does the reason matter?" He stepped toward me once more but I backed away, this time out of anger more than fear.

"Because I'm not a toy, Alucard," I told him. "You can't just play with me or throw me away at your whim, especially if that whim is caused by jealousy over my best friend!" My voice had risen to a yell and Alucard's expression was stunned. By the time I had finished my rant, I was breathing heavily.

Alucard looked away. "Forgive me," he said softly. "It was not my intention to upset you. I have not felt emotions like these for a very long time, it's strange for me."

I immediately softened. "I'm not angry with you," I told him softly. Alucard looked back up at me, his red eyes hopeful. "But I refuse to be toyed with."

Alucard nodded. "It won't happen again. May I walk you back to your room?" he offered. I smiled and nodded at the vampire.

"Sure," I grinned. "Let's go."

"So..." I said as we reached my door. "What exactly is this? Us, I mean. Are we..." I hesitated unsure of how to continue. "Together?"

Alucard glanced down at me, his expression unreadable. I held my breath as I waited for his reaction. "My earlier quickness to lose my temper has cost me the right to deny my feelings any longer," he told me. "I have only known you for a few hours and yet I am inexplicably drawn to you." The vampire sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I don't expect you to feel the same way, but do not expect me to just wait in the wings if you reject me. I am very territorial and, as you can see, very jealous."

"I wasn't planning on rejecting you," I told him. Alucard's expression told me that he hadn't been expecting that response. "I just met you, I know, but maybe we could try this out."

Alucard collected himself and nodded. "Very well," he agreed. "We shall 'try this out' as you say. I will be by to take you once the master has arrived." I nodded and said goodbye to the vampire who was now my boyfriend as I watched him disappear into the shadows.

Pip: You headstrong, foolish, spoiled brat! I will get you back for this!

Cara: I'd like to see you try, you stubborn, frustrating, warmonger.

Pip: Damn fool!

Cara: Shove it up your ass!

Alucard: Now, now, let's stop fighting and try to get along, shall we?