Hello there everybody! Thank you so much for the reviews. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and that warm fuzzy feeling keeps my fingers humming along on the keyboard to bring you more of this story. Don't worry if you get confused at the end of the chapter, you are supposed to be. Aside from that, please enjoy! ^-^

Chapter Ten: Who are you?

August 21….1:30 p.m. …..Vance Residence

This was so lovely. It was warm but not overly so. Lina didn't remember when her pillow had started to smell of earth, smoke and musk or feel solid but she was not going to complain. Her head nuzzled closer to her pillow and the rest of her body curled closer, a small smile crossing her lips when the blankets pulled her closer. 'Wait…blankets don't feel like arms…' Lina pulled away from her haven only to feel the arms tighten a bit and a deep chuckle from the chest she had used as a pillow. Lifting her head she was met with Vlad smiling down at her, his eyes still half drawn with sleep.

"Morning." Lina realized he wasn't wearing a shirt and that she had been nuzzling into the crook of his neck. "Did you sleep well?" Vlad's voice was rougher, deeper then usual, making Lina's blood heat up a bit and he chuckled again, enjoying the effect he had on her without even needing his powers. She gave him a nod. "Has anyone ever told you that you are adorable when you sleep?" He watched her blush deepen and let his fingers play in her hair. Lina was so shaken by the comment that she couldn't respond for a few moments.

"No, but thank you. I hope I didn't bother you, I have a bad habit of moving a lot in my sleep." Vlad shook his head while untangling himself from her and the sheets that she had wrapped around them.

"I am a deep sleeper. It takes more then you tossing and turning to wake me." Lina turned away as Vlad stood up, expecting him to put his clothes back on only to see him walk in front of her. "Suddenly having issues are we?" His voice was teasing.

"I was too tired to care last night." He leaned in closer, his muscular arms caging her against the mattress. He gave her a cat like grin.

"Then find a reason to not care now." Lina gulped a bit, her cheeks bright red and the color traveling down her neck.

"Do I have any options?" She squeaked out in a timid tone. He looked up at the ceiling with an exaggerated look of concentration on his face.

"I can put on my clothes then leave. Or I stay like this, and we can enjoy each other's company." She gave him a glare.

"How about you stay, but put a shirt on and some pants." Vlad smirked but released her from the bed.

"Agreed." Lina got out from under him, going to her drawers while he lay back on the bed, closing his eyes to draw out the last few drops of sleep he was going to get for the day. When he opened his eyes again Lina was in shorts with a purple tank top, her hair pulled into a ponytail. Slowly he sat up, his long legs stretched out before him and he easily caught his white collared shirt that Lina tossed at the back of his head. Slipping his arms in Vlad stood up and found his pants, not bothering to button the shirt up as Lina came up and did it for him.

All the guys were eating cereal, joking around with each other. They were picking on Steve since he had actually come home an hour ago, knowing that the girl he had left with was definitely not the ten Steve had thought she was last night. Steve was nursing his hang over while trying to put up with the taunting. Lina came into the kitchen, a blush and a smile on her face. They all gave her a good morning before informing her of Steve's exploit. She paid them only half attention while she raided the fridge and pulled out food and tossed in onto a plate before microwaving it.

"No breakfast, straight for the lunch foods." Seth gave her hair a playful tug.

"I am not that big a fan of breakfast, hell I am not a fan of mornings either." Lina poured a glass of water to go with her brunch. The guys continued to talk till Vlad sauntered into the room, silence falling and all four men watching as the Vlad came up behind Lina and played with her hair. Lina turned around and gave Vlad a smile and asked him if he was hungry. He said no then sat extremely close to her at the counter where the guys now stared at the two. Lina looked up and realized that she hadn't introduced Vlad. "Oh so sorry guys. This is Vlad….Vlad Vladimirescu. Vlad, these are my roommates and friends. Matt, Seth, Kyle, and Steve." She pointed to each one in turn and then started to nibble on her food. Vlad stretched out his hand to shake each of their hands, feeling their shock and disbelief at what they were seeing. All six people sat silently for an unknown amount of time, Lina eating a bit before huffing. "I didn't have sex with him if that's what you guys are thinking. He spent the night in my room after we got dragged to Director Wingates office last night. So please stop acting like we are lepers." Steve was glaring at Vlad.

"It's just a shock. You don't mention having a boyfriend then one day you waltz in with him from your room. And think we should just be okay with him in our house." Seth slapped Steve and Kyle on the back on the head. Kyle looked at Seth with a glare.

"What was that for? I didn't say a bloody word." Seth shrugged as he started to eat his cereal.

"For good measure." Matt grabbed Kyle's wrist and shot Steve a look.

"Look, we have to get ready for work in a few hours." Matt patted Lina on the shoulder before putting his dish in the sink. "Lina next time you should at least give us a heads up, remember, you live here but it's still my home, I'll let it go this time."

"I must apologize on her behalf. It was dawn by the time we arrived. We were accosted by some rather dangerous men and it left her feeling distressed. I mean no disrespect to your home." Matt nodded, accepting the apology, the other guys following Matt out of the kitchen.

"That was as much fun as having my wisdom teeth pulled." Lina sounded less chipper, the smile from earlier gone now. Vlad brushed a stray hair from her face and gave her a smile.

"Do you want me to go?" She shook her head.

"No…I am just thinking about you and me. We've been dating for the past month, but you don't really know me, I don't really know you. Then I let you sleep in my bed last night after my ex delivered a threat upon your life" He could hear the anguish in her voice."Congratulations, that's the farthest any guy has ever gone with me." She put her head in her hands and looked like she was digging them into her forehead.

"You want to talk." Vlad took a seat a bit farther from her, so they could see each other with more ease.

"Can you start? I don't know where to begin." Vlad yawned at bit, quick to stop so his fangs wouldn't catch the light.

"We could start at the beginning. What happened between you and this annoyance?" Lina sighed, not really wanting to explain it all over again.

"I was new to college, and I joined a club so I could make some friends. Sean was the club president and seemed like a really nice guy. He helped me get the ropes of how things worked at campus and a couple off campus things too. Eventually he asked me if I wanted to date him, I said yes. The next thing I know is that he became this really possessive creep. Kept telling me that I couldn't be around other guys, including his friends. He would insult the way I dressed, complained that I wasn't doing enough for the relationship. Then after a a few months I told him I wanted to break up but he just dug his claws in deeper, he…" Vlad could sense the waves of emotion this next part held for her. Reaching out he lightly touched the back of her hand, making Lina look up into his eyes again. Taking a deep breath Lina bite her lip. "He threatened my family and friends if I didn't stay with him, and that's when he started to…"

"Lina, what did he do to you?" Vlad felt his temper flaring at the way she was reacting to her memories.

"He started to get violent. First it was just pushing me, and then he progressed to slapping me, gripping my arms enough to leave bruises. He told me that I needed to fulfill my duties as his mate and have sex with him. I kept appeasing him in other ways, like I would cook a lot for him. But after another months he didn't want to wait anymore and he grabbed me by the throat, slammed me against a wall then told me I had to either become his mate or…well you heard him." He nodded, not wanting to interrupt her. "I was so scared, but thankfully a witness called the police and it got a restraining order on him. Then I moved here. I honestly never would have thought myself to be one of those girls that would stay in an abusive relationship but I just didn't know how to get out." Vlad rubbed her back a tiny bit to reassure her.

"You seem stronger and smarter from the experience." He leaned in a brushed his lips across her forehead. He could feel Lina shift in her chair then pulled back, giving her a grin. A small grin mirrored itself on her lips.

"So you tell me something meaningful about you." He sat back in the chair, searching his mind for what to say. There were so many things he could tell her, so many things he should tell her, too many things he wanted to tell her.

"I am trying to merge back into society after a long time in a line of work that required me to be off grid. I am also planning to pursue my hobbies….." He paused, feeling the deluge of thoughts and words rushing forth to be spoken. "Perhaps you should ask me, help direct my discourse." He heard the small huff from her.

"Seems you and I have the same problem about having too much to say." He nodded in agreement, watching as Lina took a bite of chicken and rice. She chewed it, favoring her right side while her nails lightly tapped the counter, the small clinks sounding out in his ears. "Why did you quit your job?"

"I didn't quit, I simply left. The contract with my employer expired and they haven't renewed it yet." Lina took another bite, looking between him, her plate, and then the hallway behind him.

"What did you do that would use a contract? Are you a mercenary or something?" She said it in jest and he gave a small chortle as well.

"In a way yes, you could say I'm a soldier of fortune." Lina's smile gave a hint of nervousness. She was worried that he was a mafia hit man now. 'Great, from one killer to another.'

"Who did you work for?" Vlad could hear the rant going on in Lina's mind about all the possible issues dating a hit man would bring. He wanted to quickly put those thoughts to rest. Lina already knew that he knew Integra, besides, the smaller the lies, the easier it would be to keep up with them.

"Director Wingates." Coughing, Lina managed to swallow the food in her mouth and looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Excuse me….You worked for Director Wingates; the woman that runs the monster hunting organization that I am currently being watched by. The woman that thinks I'm an idiot and that I am a pain up her blue blood ass. That woman was your former boss." Lina seemed to get agitated as she spoke, leaning closer to him with a twitching muscle above her eye.

"Yes…that woman was my employer." Lina looked away from him and finished her food in silence, getting up and washing the dishes, not saying a word or even so much as looking at him. Vlad was a bit confused as to the sudden change in Lina's demeanor. Her shoulders were squared, her back straight and movements methodical as she washed her dish. He followed her to the sink. "Lina, why are you suddenly upset?" Still no response, she just dried the dish and put it away. "Are you upset about the fact I worked for Director Wingates?" She turned on the ball of her foot and stood on her toes, an angry glint in her eyes hiding the hurt as she tried to look intimidating.

"Yes! How do I know that you aren't dating me because you've been assigned to watch me?! This calls our whole relationship into question!" Vlad reached out to touch her only to pull his hand back when she slapped them away.

"I haven't worked for Director Wingates in over a year Lina. And believe me, you and I dating is the absolute last thing Integra wants. She would prefer that I be incinerated to a pile of ash then scattered in the most degrading places one could possibly image. Besides, if I was working for her why would she have sent so many troops to find you? She wouldn't have wasted the manpower if she had assigned me to protect you because she knows I am the best there is. Integra did bring me your case file and asked me to look it over, see what insight I had to give where I told her she was hunting werewolves. That was the extent of my involvement with your case till last night." Vlad could hear his own voice growing agitated at the glare she kept giving him. Silently they stared each other down, her eyes searching his and his boring into hers to make her see that he wasn't lying. Her hazel eyes looked green as he stared into them, keeping control over his own to prevent them from turning red.

"So you already knew that I was having problems with werewolves, that I would be under surveillance 24/7 by your ex-boss's troops, and then decided that you wanted to try and meet me anyway." Vlad nodded, not sure what to expect from her. In the month he had dated her Vlad had quickly learned that she was much too chaotic a mind to follow, and even her reactions where sporadic. That was why he had not lost interest in her; he had to keep guessing when it came to her. Letting out a long, drawn out breath Lina closed her eyes, dropping back onto her heels and her shoulders relaxing. He felt the sudden change in her energy again. "Why?" Her eyes were chocolate brown again as she eyed him with curiosity. Vlad shrugged his shoulders and leaned his hip against the counter.

"I felt drawn to you." Her eyes seemed to flash with mirth but it was so quick Vlad wasn't sure it had been there. A smile crossed her lips and she hugged him. Awkwardly he returned the hug, seeing her give him a goofy grin from half way down his chest. "Would I be correct in assuming that you are no longer displeased with me?"

"Maybe."

Hellsing Headquarters…

The air in the room was stale, despite the fact that Integra had opened the windows. The heavy drapes had been pulled back and the windows opened, the room flooded with natural light. Integra had pulled her hair into a ponytail and had cleared her schedule of social engagements for the week so she could devote her full attentions to the search for Abraham's journals. She had spent half the morning just checking over the loose sheets of paper that were left around the room. It was eerie, and half the morning Integra had expected to see Abraham stroll into the room and begin where he had left off. She had taken the time to glance over the hand scribbled notes, marveling at the attention to even the most insignificant details. Had she not been in pursuit of the journals she would have taken the time to thoroughly study each word. A knock on the door startled Integra.

"Lunch is ready Sir Integra." It was one of the other staff. Walter was currently using one of his sick days to avoid her. A wise move on his part since her temper was still smoldering after yesterday's debacle. Walking over to the heavy oak doors she opened them took the tray then closed the door again. She ate the sandwich in silence while reading the titles of the books crammed along the walls.

"This is going to be a long process."

Hellsing Dungeons…

Seras lay in her coffin, unable to sleep. She wished she had told Lina the truth about Alucard a while ago, back when she had first found out. Now Lina was dating Alucard without any real protection from him. She was not about to trust her master, after all look what had happened to her. Seras knew now that Alucard could very easily have avoided having to shoot her to kill the vampire. He had done it simply to amuse himself. Now she was stuck as an undead with no respect from anyone, forced to be treated like a dog. There was a bitter taste in the back of her mouth at the thought. What did she do to deserve this life? Was god just some cruel bastard that thought it would be funny to torture her while making her watch others live perfectly happy lives. Her parents had been slaughtered, her mother's corpse raped while she hid and had to listen and then she had been shoved off into the orphanage. The police force had been the closest thing she had to a family and all of them had been killed by the vampire. Then there was this whole fiasco that she was in now. With a groan the coffin was opened, Seras getting up and pacing slowly around her room. Bare feet beet against the cold cement floor, the room pitch black except for the small electric lamp in the far corner on top of the desk. Her eyes were glowing a bit. The longer Seras paced the more she felt bitterness growing in her chest. Seras passed by the mirror in her room and looked up at herself, noticing that her reflection was fading, leaving her looking like a misty form of herself. With a gasp she drew back, sighing in relief as her reflection grew more solid. With a shiver Seras shook off the negative thoughts in her mind and focused on getting a good day's sleep.

August 27…10:00 p.m. …Vance Residence

Lina was sitting at the kitchen counter with a book open and music playing from her laptop next to her. The pages were marked up in different colors of highlighter and there was a typed page of notes on her computer screen. Wearing a purple tank top and black gym shorts Lina was getting ready to call it a night with studying and relax. The microwave went off with an electronic ping, signaling that dinner was ready. The boys had already left for the night, leaving Lina alone in the three story house on a Wednesday night after six hours of classes. Seras was no longer on the case so that left Lina isolated in the home, depending on the troops stationed around the neighborhood to keep her safe. Not that Lina was all that worried; she had slowly been improving her protection against Sean and his lackeys. All the lights were on downstairs and in the hallways of the other two stories, giving her just a bit more comfort. Her left index, thumb and middle finger reached up to caress over the pendent of her necklace as one does a worry stone. Getting up Lina collected her microwaved pizza and the small bowl of mac & cheese, sitting down to eat while changing to a playlist of soft songs. The first song was Enigma's Gregorian chant. While nibbling on her meal Lina heard a creak from somewhere in the house, the noise setting her on high alert. The hairs on the back of her neck were on end and goose bumps were appearing on her arms, the house feeling different in that split second. From comfortably empty to dauntingly vacant.

'Calm down Lina. You're just hearing house noises, nothing to panic about.' She was trying to convince herself. There was another, barely indiscernible creek from the floorboards, this one closer to her. 'I'm going to DIE! Panic! Panic!' She closed her eyes and tensed up in her chair, her left hand going to her necklace and grasping the pendent tightly as she started to say her prayers. As Lina started to shut down mentally another voice spoke up in her mind.

'Oh for the love of fuck! Move over! I am not going to let you get us all killed!' Lina sat up straight in her chair, her hand gone from her neck and with unusual speed she had a large knife from the kitchen and her eyes were in a hard glare. The color of her eyes went from their soft brown to a cold, pale green. Armed with the deadly knife she moved to the wall and carefully moved along it. Her bare feet made little sound as she moved, walking on the balls of her feet. Searching the first floor she found nothing, copying the search she moved through all three floors, a sigh of relief as she found nothing but yet a sense of agitation as her energy was not burned off. Stomping back into the kitchen she closed her book, shoving it away in her backpack and then sitting down and eating the rest of her meal, her foot tapping against the island counter. She sat there, the knife still gripped in her hand loosely, spinning the handle in the palm of her hand, watching as the blade reflected the light as it was turned.

"Damn it. What a fucking disappointment." Her voice sounded more seductive, more mature then a nineteen year olds voice should have. "I can't stand this… I'm absolutely bored out of my mind. Where is Vlad when I want him. At least I could have some fun with that man. Maybe go for a ride on his bike… or I could just ride him. Either way my thighs would be sore in the morning." There was a perverse chuckle from deep in her throat.

"But then again I don't think that would be a good idea I am nowhere near ready for sex." The knife stopped spinning, the blade reflecting Lina's face as she spoke, her voice back to its normal pitch. "Besides, I want to be married first. I want my husband to know that he is my one and only. That he's not getting sloppy seconds." The reflection rolled its eyes as her voice changed to the matured one.

"I was just joking Lina. It's your life; I'm not going to interfere…too much. Just make sure you are open to our opinions and knowledge. No sense on making the same mistakes more than once. We are all here to help you to not fuck up…badly." Lina raised an eyebrow at her reflection.

"So who do I blame for Sean?" There was a pause and a shrug of her shoulders.

"That was just poor judgment all around."

"At least we are in this together." A smile and a nod were the answer Lina received.

End Chapter! Hope you enjoyed that. Thanks for reading this far and I hope I left you wanting more. And don't worry, all explanations come to those that leave reviews and are patient. ^-^