Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took a little longer than intended, stuff's been happening. College, to put things simply. I've been preparing for a calculus exam and a physics exam and I haven't had as much time as I would like to work on this story.

Note: so you aren't confused later a broad North Yorkshire accent sounds a lot like the Scottish accent you hear in the movie "The Water Horse".

Please remember to review after reading, even if it's only to tell me what you don't like about this chapter. I shall take any suggestions, advice or criticism you may have for me under consideration.

Disclaimer: I hold no ownership rights over Hellsing or it's characters.

Chapter Seven-A Loved One's Plea

Awareness slowly intruded upon the utter oblivion my mind was trapped in. A bright light was shining in my eyes and someone was humming in the background. The voice was… very… familiar, but I had to be imagining things seeing as that person had been dead for ten years. I opened my eyes to find myself sitting in a wicker chair sitting on the wraparound porch of a house I knew all too well: my grandparent's home; a place I hadn't set foot in since that bloody awful incident which happened about eight years ago. I looked down to see I was wearing a pretty, floaty, strappy, pink summer dress. It was something I would never wear voluntarily (and in a colour I hated despite everyone telling me I looked good in it), especially with all the scars that covered my forearms…. scars that were nowhere to be seen. I was beyond confused as to what was going on and I tried to remember the last thing that happened to me before waking up here and found myself drawing a blank. –Well that isn't helpful. - I slowly stood and took careful stock of what was around me. It was definitely my Mother's parent's house, but something didn't quite seem right about it. Looking out into the garden, located below the porch I was standing on, I realized that I couldn't see any boundaries to it: the edges were blurred and indistinct, almost as if wrapped in a fog bank.

I was so thoroughly lost in thought as I tried to figure out what was going on that I didn't hear the hummer walk right up behind me.

"So good to see you're awake, petal." I whirled around to find myself staring at, what seemed to be, the diminutive form of my Grandmother. Unfortunately, my reaction was less than dignified; unless you define dignified as standing there with a gob smacked look on my face, complete with gaping mouth, and shaking a pointed finger in the woman's general direction. I recovered as quickly as I could, replacing my calm exterior, only to have a stupid questions come out of my mouth. "Grandma!? Aren't you supposed to be dead!?" Yeah, real smooth. My 'Grandmother' chuckled at me and replied in a rather matter-of-fact-tone.

"Why yes petal, I am." I blinked.

"Well, alright then. Erm… I…." My brain more or less stopped functioning at this point. Grandma chuckled again.

"It's alright, my dear. Let us sit ourselves down and have a nice cup of tea and some cake, shall we?" I nodded dumbly, being unable to do anything else, and sat back down in the chair I had woken up in while Grandma took the chair opposite me. I looked down at the wicker table between us and saw a tray laden with slices of what looked like my Grandma's cherry and almond cake and her favorite china tea service. Grandma poured two cups of tea and added milk and sugar before holding one of the cups out to me.

"Drink up my petal. You look like you need it." I gave her a searching look (trying to find any sign that she wasn't who she appeared to be, and finding none) before gingerly taking the cup. I surreptitiously sniffed the contents of my cup and then gave a cautious sip. Strong earl grey tea. I gave a contented sigh and took a slightly larger sip: earl grey had always been one of my favorites and nothing smelled or tasted off about it so I didn't see any harm in drinking it.

"Have a cake. I made your favorite." If it wasn't for the fact that my Grandma had really been this pushy when it came to feeding guests and family (myself in particular), her insistence on my eating and drinking would have made me more suspicious. I took a slice of cake and tried it. -Cherry and almond, just like I guessed.-

I sat there eating my cake for a couple minutes and watching the woman before me. She was just as I remembered my Grandmother to be before she died: only an inch or two over five feet with long white hair restrained in a plait down her back and bright blue eyes that just seemed to radiate peace and tranquility. Just watching those eyes caused my body to start relaxing against my will. My frazzled brain tried to make sense of what was going on; it was simply unable to comprehend how I could be sitting here in a house that I hadn't set eyes on in eight years, drinking tea with a woman who had been dead for even longer. The female in question just sat there quietly sipping her tea and looking out over the garden below us as these thoughts made their way through my head. I tried to imitate her and stay quiet until she explained in her own time, but my patience gave out and I broke the silence first.

"Grandma, not that I'm not happy to see you and all, but what is going on here? You're supposed to be dead and I'm not supposed to be here. And my arms, my arms are supposed to be covered with scars but my skin is as perfect as it was before the incident! Please, just tell me what is going on?" Grandma seemed un-phased by my outburst, almost as if she'd expected it.

"I would have thought that you'd be pleased to be rid of those marks, Petal. They weren't exactly too pleasant to look at." –God, she's just as I remembered, right down to that strong North Yorkshire Accent. Hell this woman even uses my old nickname. No one else ever called me 'petal' but her. It must be her, but then why am I here? - I gave a mental shake and returned to my questions.

"That's not the point. And you're trying to avoid the questions." She sighed and put down her tea.

"Do you remember what happened before you woke up here? What you were doing, what you did?"

"No I don…" I paused as the memories came back in a rush. "Oh…… oh, I see."

"Yes, 'oh'."

"I called upon the darkness." Her face became grave.

"That's right you did. And I want to know just what were you thinking? You didn't even take the proper precautions required before performing any form of magic." She didn't seem angry, just disappointed which hurt far more coming from her.

"I didn't have a choice Grandma, not if I wanted to save my unit." I tried desperately to defend my actions. Her face softened and a small smile crept onto it.

"Yes my dear, I know and you saved them."

"I couldn't save Rebecca, though." Tears began pricking my eyes as I thought of this and Grandma was by my side in an instant.

"Hush now. It is alright. She isn't in pain anymore and there is no way in this world that she could blame you: she loves you. From what I have seen, you were as a sister to her. How could she blame you?" It didn't make it any easier but it felt so good to be in her arms again. I couldn't believe how much I'd missed her.

"That isn't all Grandma. My men must think I'm a monster now. How could they not after seeing what I did? Even I would see me as a monster if I were in their shoes." Her arms tightened around me and I buried my face in her shoulder. "How can I face them? How can they ever trust me again?" Grandma stayed silent for a moment before replying

"You know Petal, you don't have to go back. Not if you don't want to." This caught my attention.

"What do mean Grandma? I'm not dead am I? Is that why I'm here with you?"

"Oh no, no, no. You're just in bit of a coma. It's only to be expected after a backlash of that magnitude". She paused again and her tone became a bit cautious. "But just because you're just in a coma doesn't mean you have to wake up. You could stay here, wi' me." I drew back, out of her arms slightly and hoped she didn't mean what I though she meant.

"Wait, are you suggesting that I just stay here and forget about everything. What about my responsibilities? I can't just abandon ADAH. They're going to need all the help they can get to put things to rights after this disaster in New Orleans. I can't leave them all now. I…"

"Hush. You said it yourself: they probably see you as a monster now. Let us not forget the odds of them trusting you as they once did. How will you be able to help them, be of any use to them, if they won't trust you? Besides, you've done your part. You saved them all. You have earned a reprieve." She gathered me closer. "You were never meant to be a soldier anyway: you have a healer's heart, Petal. Being a soldier is against your nature. Let others hunt and kill and destroy; just you stay here with me." Sensing my hesitation she hastily continued. "If you stay you can see Rebecca again." –Rebecca…- She lifted her hand and started smoothing my hair back from my face. It was so soothing and familiar a gesture that I found myself putting my head back on her shoulder. "You are safe here. No one will fear you; no one will hate you. No one can hurt you, or Rebecca, while you are here." As my Grandmother kept speaking I found myself becoming increasing swayed by her words. I found myself wanting everything she promised, and all I had to do to get it all was… stay… here.

"I... want to stay Grandma, but I can't just abandon…"

"Stop it. If you stay here you can forget all about it. You can forget all the pain and sorrow. You can forget what brought you to ADAH; you can forget that Judas Priest. You can be free of your nightmares. Just relax and stay here with me. You're safe wi' me."

"But…."

"It is alright. You have done your part and have earned your peace. Let other's deal with the Master. They will be fine." –Wait! Master!?- I jerked back out of her arms.

"Wait, what Master!? The master vampire behind the attack? But Orthos should have devoured him….. unless he wasn't there. He sent his minions to attack the base while he stayed back and watched from a safe distance." Realizing her mistake, Grandma began to panic.

"Hush. Others can and will deal with him better than you can. You shouldn't worry yourself about him: your ADAH will finish him and they don't need you to do it."

"That isn't the point. I cannot sit here and 'relax' while that bastard is out there. He may have failed in New Orleans but that won't stop him from trying this again. If he isn't stopped more innocent lives will be lost, both as he and his minions takes them directly and the ones who will be killed when there is no one left to protect them from the other monsters. I cannot just sit back and let that happen."

"There will be nothing but pain for you there if you go back."

"That doesn't matter." She grabbed my arms and shook them in front of my face.

"Look what happened to you the last time the wrong person found out that you was a witch. Look!" My scars were back and there was nothing to hide them. Thick paths of scar tissue wrapped around my arms from the red-hot chains that were used to bind them together. You could almost see the marks left behind by each individual link of the chain; you could certainly trace the pattern in which the chains were wrapped around my arms, when I held them side by side. "They think you to be a monster! I would be surprised if someone doesn't try to do you in while you're in a coma! If you go back to them you will be feared, you will be hated and you will be lucky if all they do is put a bullet in your brain! Think about what you are doing." I stood and pulled my arms out of her grasp. My uniform now covered me in place of that horrific sundress (which must have been my Grandmother's choice).

"That doesn't matter. I am a soldier of ADAH. I may have had a healer's heart at one point, but after everything I have seen and done I cannot be anything else but a soldier now. Even if I forget, and I cannot forget, this will not change. I have to go back, even if it costs me my life." Grandma had tears in her eyes now, and they were breaking my heart.

"There is more here at stake than your life, child. You have already called upon the dark once: if you go back you won't be able to do anything else but call upon it again. In the end you will be devoured and you will become a true monster. You will lose your very soul. Do you understand!? If you leave now chances are that you won't ever be able to come back here to me. You'll never see Rebecca again. You'll be dragged to the underworld. You'll go to Hell!" I could understand her terror now but it could not change what I had to do; I wouldn't be able to live with myself (figuratively speaking) if I did anything else.

I gave my Grandmother one last hug and a kiss. Her arms wrapped around me so tightly that I didn't think I would be able to break free.

"Goodbye Grandma. I will always love you. If you ever see Rebecca, tell her that I love like a sister and I always will and I……I'm sorry." I pulled back and kissed her on the cheek before pulling myself from the comfort of her warm arms, leaving me cold. The tears were pouring down her face now and she was shaking badly. A single tear ran down my own face and then I turned and walked to the door. With my hand on the door handle I looked back over my shoulder one last time. I then opened the door and walked through.

-- -- --

My eyes were filled with a blindingly bright light causing me to blink several times.
"Keaira. Keaira! Can you hear me?" I turned my head in the direction of the obnoxiously loud voice which was ringing in my ears. The first thing I saw, once my eyes were free of the blinding light, was Captain Ackard. His face was drawn and grey and his eyes were worried. –What is he doing here? Where is here for that matter?-

"Captain? What's going on?" Ugh! My voice sounded like I'd been down with the flu for a month and my throat felt sandpaper rough and desert dry; it made me cringe to hear myself speak. The Captain on the other hand seemed to be more than a little relieved at hearing my voice.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you awake, Keaira. You've been in a coma for two weeks. The docs didn't think you were gonna wake up at all." I blinked. It certainly didn't feel like I'd been unconscious for two weeks: for one thing I was tired to the bone. I took my eyes off Ackard as I started to take stock of how I felt: sensitive to light and sound, pounding headache, stiff body and utter exhaustion. Seeming to guess what I was doing Ackard asked me how I felt.

"Kinda hung over, actually. You sure I didn't just get drunk last night? By the way, where are we?" Ackard chuckled.

"No Keaira, you didn't get drunk and we're in a private room in the infirmary back at H.Q. Do you remember anything about what happened before you passed out?" I thought for a moment, or as best I could with my pounding head, trying to sort out my jumbled memories.

"I remember New Orleans, the vampires and then I remember seeing your very late self sauntering onto the battlefield I'd just cleaned up." There was something else as well, some niggling thought that something else happened to me after I passed out but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. It seemed as if there was a void in my memory banks where something important should have been. I mentally shrugged my shoulders and dismissed it thinking that I shouldn't be able to remember anything after the chaos of Orthos seeing as I was unconscious.

Ackard took on and expression of mock hurt.

"I wasn't late. You were early, and so were those ghouls and vampires." He gave a little sniff and stuck out his bottom lip for a moment before letting the façade fall away. "Good to know that you haven't lost your sense of humor." He added with a small smile which held for a moment then faded; a slightly grim look took over his face.

"What's wrong?" He looked away. "Captain Jason?" He shook his head and turned back to me a smaller, sadder smile on his face than before.

"Don't worry about it Keaira. It's nothing you need to worry about at the moment. Just get some rest-you look like you need it." He stood up and clapped me on the shoulder. "I'll go let the saw bones know you're awake and come back to check on you later. Take my advice Shaw and get some sleep before the Docs come to start poking and messing with you." He turned and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

I sighed and let my head fall back down to the pillow. I knew what was wrong. I just didn't want to think about it, not that my desire to avoid the subject could stop my mind going down that path. –Rebecca is dead, and my secret is out. Fuck. - A couple of tears leaked from my eyes as I closed them and let myself go to the sweet oblivion of a dreamless sleep.

Thank you for reading. As always please review. Tell me what you like, tell me what you hate, let me know your suggestions. I'll be eagerly awaiting anything you want to tell me.