-1Part One: Behind closed doors

Chapter 10 (though 11 apparently): Secrets

Alucard

A/N: Well,I'm flying solo here, guyses, Marie is vair quiet and one of my reviewers (not naming names, *cough* rachel*cough*) was getting impatient so I've betaed it myself as good as I can, but I'm not one for details, so...deal with it! There are three more chapters and then we shall enter part two! (which will be posted in this story, I just want you to realise that part two will be set-out very much differently, the transitions aren't as smooth, which is what i want to happen anyway, it's...kind (KINDA) symbollic, but not really XD I am really sorry this has taken for ever to update for, I've been given all ym coursework to do over CHRISTMAS. Which I don't mind. I hate christmas, if I'm going to be blunt. Too many dead people. ¬_¬ All my grandparents, my dad, my "uncle" (who wasn't my uncle, but we called him uncle jim anyway - and no, my mum wasn't having an affair with him lol-) my pets. That's just way too much death the handle at one time if you ask me. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying *voice of doom* If I wake up tomorrow it'd be a miracle *clears throat* cos...illness is a big thing with us. Doesn't help that england is feckin' freezing! My toes are all cold, and...going a rather bizarre colour. I want flow-bob (my hot wattle-bottle) and more covers....and Hellsing 9. I just spent aaaaaall my wages/income in general this month on presents for my sis, mum and everyone else in my family that have been considerate enough to live until christmas at least.

Yep. Beth Hates christmas.

We have new readers/favouriters! Welcome them! Love them! TRAP THEM!!! *muahahahahhaa* I mean it though. If you want to get free review me :P Meesa hungry for reviews :P More of them. 35 is all well and good but twbl1 had ....38 by now. That's a huge hint. Is it written that sequels just dont work...oh....I didn'tget the memo...but Alucard and Molly are about to....READ ON

"…Izcarius also informs me that he now knows how to remove the final chip out of Molly's neck," came Integra's crisp and tentative voice over the phone. We still stood beneath the moonlight, basking in the moon's glory like serpents beneath the sun, Molly's fingers trailed patterns down my front with her ear pressed to my chest, listening to the silence contentedly as I ran my fingers through her hair idly.

"And has categorized the chips and their purposes and would like to talk to us about them at some point this morning-what have you been up to?" Integra asked suddenly, the unfocused conversation very unlike her.

"Gardening," I answered hesitantly.

"Well, could you come to the infirmary ASAP and bring Molly, if she's around,"

"Alright, I'll inform her of the recent events," I flipped the phone down, wondering for a brief moment why she was so….tentative and so unfocused. It was so unlike her… Unless…

No, once again wishful thinking slipped into my mind and I let out a short sigh, turning my gaze to the top of Molly's head, the moonlight catching the varied hues of red in the strands of her hair. "Come on, we're needed at the infirmary," Molly sighed her answer, letting her hands drop.

"What I would give for a moment of uninterrupted bliss," she muttered to herself, roughly snatching the basket that sat on the lawn beside her feet, the contents had diminished, small grapevines, raspberry canes and precious stones had all been planted and buried. As she made a move towards the path wending its way through the rose beds and laburnums I asked her, "And your going to leave the formula behind?" Molly paused, turning back around with her eyebrows raised.

"I doubt anyone would be brave enough to drink that. Half of it has probably solidified into a gritty texture, the other half so pulpy and textured it would be impossible to swallow it without gagging. The smell itself would be enough to repel rats and flies!" She moved the basket into the crook of her elbow and motioned for me to follow her. "So what is so important in the infirmary?"

"Faust has figured out a way to remove that little chip in the back of your neck, has found out what data the other chips store and…." I paused, knowing the next part would be a cautious subject; Molly already felt bad enough that Pip had been put through so much pain in the first place, to learn that he was now, once again, in critical condition might put her in one of her moods. And I had grown to appreciate her good and ecstatic moods and knew from experience that I shouldn't say or do anything to get her out of them if I wished for an evening of entertainment or civilized conversation.

"Is it Pip?" Molly asked intuitively, her voice returning to its usual cold tone as she began to distance herself from reality, detach herself from any reverie of human emotion or thing that may harm her.

"Yes. He's been put back into a coma…and Faust now sees it as adamant that he use a ventilator; the odds are not in his favour, I'm afraid, Molly." I rested my hand at the small of her back as we came to the French doors, leading her into the kitchen where she hastily removed her muddy boots by the door on a floor-mat, shoved the basket in the cupboard and piled the used saucepans and jars in the sink before returning to my side at the doorway to the corridor. "I knew it was an awful idea from the start, but no, stubbornness and hopefulness prevailed and I went against my instinct to put Pip, Seras and everyone else through an emotional hell. And for it I should be ripped apart by demons and the like until they may forgive me,"

"Don't be so melodramatic," I chastised as we crossed the foyer, Molly's bare feet creating not a sound on the black and white floor tiles or thin red carpet in the next corridor leading to the infirmary. "I'm certain that Seras would thank you for the time you gave her and Pip, they've had all evening to…compensate for what they have ignored for so long," And it seems they aren't the only ones.

Molly snorted in an unladylike fashion and shoved the infirmary door open brutally, quickly forcing herself to become calm and stoic as she entered the sterile room. I rested my hand on her shoulder as Seras appeared at our side, her eyes wide and mournful, "Molly…I…" Molly's shoulder angled subconsciously towards the door in a sort of flinching motion that seemed to signal her readiness for an earful or a beating, but neither came.

Seras threw her arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder, stooping slightly to embrace her fully and bury her face ashamedly. Master would hate me for showing all this stupid emotion, but I don't care! Pip could die! And what have we done? Fucked around! We could have done…something more important! Why didn't we talk more, or go out more or….No, don't be stupid, he's not dead- there's still hope! I presumed Molly would somehow shake Seras off with a businesslike tone and a callous shrug, but instead she hugged her back, soothing her as best she could for someone so unused to emotion and comfort.

"I am sure the dirty Frenchman will be up and about in no time, this is just a moment of regression. He is strong, and he will fight it, you should not worry yourself so, Seras." She whispered back, prising her away and rubbing her arms with a comforting smile and eyes that seemed, strangely enough, damp with hidden tears.

Integra stood up from the doctors' desk and joined our small group, her mind forcing itself to calm down and suppress thoughts that she seemed to want to hide from me, failing in parts. How? I don't understand! It's not meant to be like this! Is it a warning? What is going to happen in the next few months or years? What is coming? Don't be such a fool, it's not like everyone will be hideously maimed, we've dealt with more than just a couple of science experiments gone wrong, we've dealt with thousands! "Molly- Izcarius and Peter would like to get that chip removed as quickly as possible," Integra prompted, Molly nodded obeying Integra's hidden order to leave us.

"Where did you and Molly disappear to, Servant?"

"As I've already answered, we were gardening. Anyone would think we were slaughtering innocents the way you're reacting." Integra's face relaxed purposefully, her shoulders relaxing ever-so slightly to profess her enforcement of calm upon herself.

"I'm sorry, I'm in one of my moods- I'm out of cigars." I frowned, specifically remembering that she hated it whenever I turned my attention to her mood and the coincidental lack of cigars, it seemed to show her addiction and dependence on them, and if anything Integra had done nothing but strived for independence. But I didn't query her.

"Apparently there are spines along the needle in her neck," Integra suddenly said, sudden changes of subject also not characteristic of her, "but Faust has figured out that an acid will erode them easily enough but leave Molly completely in tact-" Molly roared from the bed nearest the computer, her voice a sharply demonic banshee cry as Peter jumped onto the bed and pinned her arms down- failing miserably.

Molly's reaction to the treatment Faust thought necessary was one swift movement- a kick to his crotch. Faust dropped the glass tube of acid and curled up beneath the bed as Molly sat up panting, her face distorted into the demonic mask, the lower end of her face had lengthened and protruded, growing out with her nose to make a very subtle snout and her skin seemed to have paled. Peter sat up on the bed next door rotating his jaw with a half-closed eye, bloody nose and lip.

"Molly, can't you just behave?" He asked exasperatedly.

"Molly behaves for no-one," I chuckled, wrapping my hand around the back of her neck warningly, though amazingly enough, she seemed to relax and her mask fell to show that human face I'd grown to appreciate. "But you'll behave for me, won't you." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She would obey me, she had obeyed for months, only really ignoring my word when she was incredibly irked or incredibly insane with bloodlust. Molly looked up at me, her pupils dilated and turned to slits, her heartbeat picked up in the human heartbeat that elicited her excitement and her breath caught in her throat. "Good," I looked down at the crumpled form at my feet, "I don't suppose you have more of that acid, Faust?" An arm waved vaguely over at the desk and then slumped with the remainder of the body. I have a feeling you enjoyed kicking him in the crotch.

I would be lying if I said I took very little pleasure out of it. But, then again, you know me so well, I just enjoy ruining men too much, it's a weakness of mine; a sexist sadism if you will. Peter held the phial out to me, so I could hold Molly but undo the stopper. I pulled out the dropper and regarded Molly's profile again, she seemed to have braced herself, her upper lip had all but disappeared and her lower lip was at the first stages of being impaled by her own fangs.

Peter moved her hair out of the way and cut short, deep lines around the chip and was just able to get the scalpel underneath one side of the head. I pushed Molly's head down and dropped drop after drop of the acid onto her skin, she whimpered, jerking away from me as my shadows circled her waist and brought her closer to me and quietened her.

The chip began to hiss, the light flickering red and orange madly as I continued to drop more droplets both on it and around it. I glanced at Molly's profile, black blood trickled down her chin from her impaled lower lip and a glance to her eyes showed me that the pain had turned her eyes into demonic slits, the pink surrounding the pupil and vaguely blue haze circling that seemed more vibrant and striking.

The lights within the chip halted their insane flashing and Peter worked the scalpel underneath the head, gently prising it out from between her spinal discs and dropping it with a flourish into a silver bowl set behind Molly. Blood started to flow from the wound, Molly seemed to sway, the sudden slowing of the buzzing of her mind indicating the stress her body had been put under for those short minutes. I moved her hair over her shoulder and ran my tongue over the wound, moving the bowl away and sitting behind her I wrapped my arms around her middle and supported her weight as she fought to regain complete lucidity.

I nipped her flesh, the swift injection of vampiric enzymes stimulating healing in the wound. Molly steadied and the buzzing picked up its usual rhythm. "Well, how queer," she muttered to herself, sitting up and turning around; she blinked at seeing me so close, to others it would look indifferent, but the sudden dilation of her pupils told another story.

Her gaze jumped from one eye to the next, then to my lips, which she seemed to have made herself acquainted with, and back to my eyes, repeating the process a couple dozens times before clearing her throat and turning her head supposedly apathetically towards Peter. "Are you not going to inform me what, exactly ,those things were in my neck?" Peter turned around from the desk, where Izcarius seemed to be industriously typing away, with Integra sat in a chair facing us with a cold look in her eye that told me she was not impressed- with what, I had an inkling.

"Well, Izcarius talked to Stanza-"

"I am sorry, who?" Molly asked. She had never met the great Stanza, a ….How old would Stanza be? ….nineteen year-old Oxford student who had a penchant for all Literature (be it French, English, Jewish, the works of Plato and in some sort of enigmatic language) and, though Stanza didn't care for it, was Hellsing's own little technology whiz. In fact, last time we had had any contact with Stanza, Stanza had refused to help Integra update the Hellsing security and filing systems and had had to be bought off with a book I had carried around with me for some time: the first bound copy of Wallachian history. This seemed to sway Stanza enough to get on with the work, albeit begrudgingly.

"Stanza's been working with us for about, I don't know, eight years?" Peter turned to Integra. She shook her head.

"Five and a half." She answered, stubbing out the remains of her cigar in a glass ash-tray, pulling out the silver cigar-box Molly had given to her as a present she cut off the end of a new cigar, she returned the familiar shape to her lips and looked at the screen with slight interest. "Well, Stanza is a nice girl; I'm sure you'd like her, she's a lesbian."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Molly snapped. "One- I am heterosexual, merci beaucoup, Monsieur Connard. Two- Why do complete tas du merdes, like you males think sexuality dictates a person's life?If she is a lesbian that is her own business and is not relevant to this conversation and finally, three- Tu m'emmerdes, completez bite, le temps prochaine tu dis un peu si stupid et limitee je mutilerai votre couilles!"I chuckled, knowing full well her threat was also a promise; she seemed to look pointedly at Faust, her upper lip curled into a sneer as she stood up and accompanied the men and Integra at the computer. I joined them, scanning the screen for any information, but Faust exited the program and span around in his chair.

"The chips were advanced technology- even Stanza got excited when she saw them. She found that they were, like freak-chips, transmitters, but also seemed to save information and receive information. For instance, the first chip at your lower spine was simply a dart, it injected the same serum as before directly onto your spinal chord. This caused severe spasms and paralysis; several other chips were also darts, but there were three, the rather dastardly thing at the nape of your neck included, that received and transmitted information-"

"What?" Molly and Integra chimed, their anger collided and was tangible in the air beneath my nose, both of them seemed to be baying for blood.

"Your emotions, muscle functions, hormone levels, potency of your blood-everything- seemed to be recorded on these fine things-"

"This is just too awful!" Molly cried, throwing her hands up into the air and swearing profusely in both English, French and…some other language that seemed harsh and abrupt on her tongue.

"Let me finish!" Izcarius bellowed uncharacteristically, immediately shrinking back into his usual nervousness. He cleared his throat, "But, thankfully, the information was only saved to be sent, apparently the chips need to be full with information before said information can be received successfully on the receiving end."

"But, surely the chip at the nape of my neck would have sent information by now." Faust shrugged.

"It's half empty, which either means it's already sent or it's ready to be sent some time in the future." Faust and Peter shared a knowing look. "Actually, the information we have found is very…useful. We were able to get a reliable estimate on your RoR…among other things." Molly glared at them.

"And all that matters is how fast I can regenerate and how powerful I am, right? Nauseating males." She muttered. I wondered, briefly, why she seemed to have gotten so defensive and agitated, perhaps the pain had made her grouchy? Though I doubted it, Molly had quite a fortitude to any type of pain, no matter where it was.

"Molly," I sighed, "Can you put aside your sexist comments for a moment and actually listen to what the doctors have to say, or do I have to persuade you some other way?" Molly glared at me, but fell silent; Peter continued.

"Surely, you're at least a little interested to know what we found out?"

"No. If anything, I would like to first ask if you know and second that you kindly delete the files and leave me be; my body is my own. I know it well enough to know what it can and cannot do." Peter frowned.

"We haven't read them yet, Izzy's just printing them off." I instinctively moved between Molly and the printer and snatched the printout from the machine, holding Molly in place with one hand wrapped around her neck as I scanned the paper. Most of it was Greek to me, a line-graph at the top labelled "hCG" showed a line curving steeply up and then descending and ascending a couple of times before reaching a low and jumping and down in small bursts crazily. The centre chart labelled RoR showed dates and times wherein her RoR count had gone up and down, varying between 35-37 since the moment it had been imbedded in her body.

"If you see the RoR count, we can time it to what she was doing, it seems that when put in pain or stress your RoR count rockets. We can even calculate form this that your RoR count has only recently increased to this amount, this is probably due to your new demonic awareness, but still…it's interesting." Peter smiled past me at Molly, who still glared coldly at the two doctors and me.

"Actually, what were you doing about ten minutes ago, Molly?" Faust asked nervously.

"Gardening, why?"

"Well, your regeneration rate went up to 38.89 from the steady 36.21 it had been for a good nine hours before, were you in pain?" His voice wavered and his eyes lit up with excitement at finding some kind of secret out about Molly.

"No….I was gardening…"

"Well, that doesn't fit my theory and doesn't make any sense," I smirked knowingly, gardening had been the last thing on your mind, Molly. Molly glanced up at with a cold look in her eyes, she looked away in disbelief.

"If that is all, gentlemen, and if I am no longer needed, I am returning to my room- where I will delight in a book, or something remotely intelligible, rather than these, quite frankly, hurtful comments relating to how powerful I am and therefore how much I am liked by you,"

"Molly, we didn't mean to cause offen-"

"Of course you didn't! Men never mean to cause offence! But, by God, you do anyway!" Molly massaged her temples, glancing over to Pip's bed. "Just as a supposedly good thing can cause so many wrongs, you do not mean it…" She let her hands drop and continued to gaze at the bed. Seras had left for the night, finding it too emotionally exhausting to stay with him any longer.

We watched as she stepped towards the bed and looked at his face, her eyes searching for any glimmerings of humanity, but, the coma had taken over- he was no longer human. A corpse does not ever look like the person it once was, there is no life in it, no smile, no scowl, no emotion; it is a cold and empty husk. Why do I equate a corpse with Pip, you ask. Because he was dead. His heart still pumped and his mind still thought- or at least Molly reacted to him as if he still thought- but the heart and mind were taken over by the disease. The soul was gone and a soul is what makes a human.

Molly took a lifeless hand in hers, watched the pale, sallow skinned thing beneath the mess of wires and tubes with lamenting though loyal eyes. "Molly, there is still something I need to talk to you about, sooner rather than later, I'm afraid, now would be go-" Molly jumped back from the bed as two pale hands ripped at tubes and wires and two red eyes glowed.

"You bitch!" The corpse roared, rearing up as if possessed. Molly threw herself back as the corpse threw itself at her, "Youbitchyoubitchyoubitch- and YOU!" The corpse was thrown back across the room as Molly roared at it, lengthy, curved fangs flashing brutally as she took her ground. I pulled out my gun and shot at the creature, the maddened mask of the creature's face was twisted in a leer as it dodged my bullets just as easily as the ill-fated Luke Valentine I had once had the pleasure of disposing of.

I caught the thing easily after a few feigned attempts, the thing still fought against me, even as my grip crushed his arm, but the insidious being just threw itself at Faust, his arm was wrenched from its socket but still he laughed and caught the doctor as he tried to get up to his apartment through the small door. Integra pulled out her own gun and shot at the thing as it leered into the doctor's face, his head dripping with sweat as he let out whimpering cries like a girl.

Molly and I jumped onto the things back and dragged him away, "YOU. YOU YOU! DON'T YOU DARE TRY-TRY DON'T YOU, YOU WILL! YOU BASTARD! HE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO! DON'T YOU DARE!" At this point the remainder of the captain arched towards Molly and tried to sink its teeth into her arm. Molly gripped onto his jaw, her talons sinking into his cheeks and she took the jaw in her hand and began to pull and squeeze it in her grasp. "YOUBITCHYOUBITCYOUBITCH! Bitch! It's your fault, you and yours! You heinous swollen cun-" Molly ripped the jaw out and flung it across the room angrily as the thing shrieked and bled and cussed beneath a fountain of blood.

"Ne faissez pas cette! Ne les blessez pas! Ne l'ecoutez pas! Votre avidité les tuera tout. Pouvoir-vous habite avec les sangs sur vos main? Ne pas le faire! Ecoutez a moi! Ne pas le faire!" I found it strange that the thing could even speak, let alone speak fluent French. Molly recoiled immediately, her demonic façade slipping for her human form to return.

"For God's sake, just shoot him!" The thing in my hands began to convulse her words, gagging and shrieking, scratching and clawing manically. Blood spattered my face, the polluted rubbish too potent even for me to stomach it, it had that vaguely clinical feel and smell to it, I could taste it, taste the bitterness, the poison of it.

The thing turned to dust before I could pull the trigger, the dust cloud suddenly splashing on the ground where Pip had once been. I dusted my hands off and glanced over to Molly, she had gone.

"Where's she gone now? I need to talk to her about her blood results," Peter seemed completely unfazed by what had happened, having served his first year with Hellsing on the field with the men, but Faust was a gibbering wreck; he slowly crawled over to his usual chair and pulled himself up into its embrace and typed shakily, desperately trying to hide his weakness. "Don't worry about her, Peter, I'm sure you can do that some other day; right now I think it best we leave her be, knowing Molly she probably feels responsible for the Captain, am I right, Alucard?" I nodded.

"I should check on her and make sure she isn't hanging herself as we speak," I answered exasperatedly, taking it upon myself to seek her out and look after her like some kind of baby-sitter. Perhaps she expected that from me now my affections for her had been acted upon, if she did believe that, she was sorely mistaken.

I found her easily enough, hidden away in the lower library, somewhere that I had never realised she had even known about; no-one had been down there for over a year, dust was thick on all the surfaces and the contents of the shelves had, for the most part, been moved to the upper library. But, judging from the array of blankets, candles, bowls of fruit, piles of books and Cds, Molly had been secretly hiding down here for quite some time. The library itself was only a few doors down from my own chambers, its entrance was separate to mine so my chambers were not disturbed by unwanted heartbeats and lines of thought, but it still seemed strange to me that I had not noticed her heartbeat or thoughts. I realised why as I entered the room.

Tall bookcases stood in a row to either side of me, the main aisle from the door leading to a large fireplace, the circle of belongings and a couple of disembowelled armchairs. I noticed that the two final bookcases to either side of me had strange markings written down their sides, a half of an apple was nailed to each, candles stood at the bottom of the cases, the flames flickering morbidly as I neared. I gazed at the circle of belongings, noticing all of them had been placed within a white chalk circle, more alien markings were dotted around the perimeter; dark, scentless smears of black blood accompanied the markings and, in the centre of the circle sat a large bowl, the content of which gave off a strange scent.

It was a strange mixture of death, sugar, cinnamon and innocence, it clung desperately to the air like a child to its mother and I didn't know how to respond to it, whether to turn my head or breathe it in.

Either way, I didn't get far; I was halted at the bookcases by a strong sense of foreboding, of darkness and misery. The blankets stirred and a pale face appeared amongst the dark linen, a sad, half-smile tilting one side of her lips. "Congratulations, fine hunter, you are the first to have found my haven, perhaps now you will scold me for stealing such a splendid room?" She didn't give me time to answer, her face disappeared again and the blankets settled. "Have you come to scorn me for my escape also? Or will you whisper comforting things to me, I wonder. Or perhaps you will wonder why I became so….hysterical- so unlike me." I pushed through the sense of foreboding and stood over the form curled up in the layers of cloth, frowning in annoyance.

"How have I not heard you in here when you are so close to my room?"

"Blindness is an ailment not usually suffered by vampires, Red. Look around you, Jesus Christ!" She mumbled bitterly.

"This is quite a turn of mood, even for you, Molly. You've gone from ecstatic to bitter and cold in under half an hour, I'm impressed, usually only madmen can do that,"

"Who says I am not afflicted by insanity also? I was insane enough, after all, to practically force my blood upon Pip- my own friend--"

"If you carry on with this self-pitying crap I'll blow your brains out, Blue," I snarled, roughly pulling the quilts and linen away from her and throwing it across the room, Molly sat up, cross-legged, in a thin blue nightdress and immediately she was met with a wave of self consciousness and annoyance. She stood up and glared up into my face.

"I will do what I please, Red, you are not my Master- I will not accept to be dominated by some egotistic male scum! I will pity myself as much as I like! I will regret my decisions for as long as I like and I will most certainly curl up in quilts in whatever room I like without someone like you coming in and interrupting my thoughts--"

"If that's what you call it," I grinned evilly. Molly looked at me in disbelief, usually the crude implications were created by her.

"You're a complete bastard," she snarled, her eyes flashing a brilliant blue and red and her teeth lengthening, the strange vampiric canines above her gently curving serpentine fangs glistened lethally with the promise of an enraged bite.

"Is it just self-pity that this room is reserved for, or are there other ideas thought here too?" Molly began to move away from me but I caught her arms and held her in place, locking her in my gaze.

"I do not know," Molly sighed breaking away from my gaze and looking at my boots forlornly, "I simply have this awful feeling- here," she took my hand and rested it to the left of where her heart was meant to be, I felt the slight pulse beneath her cool flesh, "I feel something, it hurts, and yet there is no pain there. I opened the door to the infirmary and I was hit by Pip's thoughts and a lack of thought from Faust- as I always get from that disgusting brute- but…there was something else in the stead of the emptiness as well, a maliciousness. And from the creature, that thing, it seemed to know something too, to know something evil was lurking in that scoundrel's head- I wish I could hear his thoughts! But I cannot! I could not hear mother's once the connection was severed, perhaps I cannot hear someone who is tainted by demon, perhaps a sullied mind is too broken for me to hear? But, either way, I have this feeling, this half-tangible pain. Before, I was wary of him, now….I have this feeling that if I say or do something wrong, he will hurt me-"

"Stupid creature," I interrupted, sighing, moving my hand from her heart and running my fingers across her collarbone, along the scar at her throat and then at the scars on her cheek, "Whose daughter are you?"

"Agaliarept, but I do not see how thi-"

"And what is Faust?"

"Human. But how-"

"Let me finish, Blue- how could a demoness as righteous and cruel as you be outdone by a meagre human, no, a weasel?" Molly chuckled, smiling one of her half smiles.

"Perhaps he'll offer me a nice goblet of holy water and will then shoot me,"

"I don't see how that would kill you."

"The holy water would slow my regeneration, if ingested, I would be left as dust for, perhaps, twenty or so second longer than usual and in that time he could quite easily collect my remains and imprison me in a crystal object." Molly chuckled half-heartedly. "Red?"

"Yes?"

"I am….I am…"

"Spit it out, creature,"

"I am….content with this arrangement," her gaze fell to the floor once more.

"Good, I quite like it also. But, there is the problem that Peter and Faust wish to talk to you about your results,"

"I do not feel like confronting two males this evening, nor tomorrow or the next- I shall just have to avoid them for a while." I chuckled, resting my hand at her neck, caressing her flesh with my thumb. She stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around my waist, her ear immediately resting over my heart. "You won't hear anything, Molly,"

"I know. But it is not a beat I'm listening for, it's something else altogether."

"I doubt a lifeless heart could produce any noise,"

"Who said I was listening to your heart?"

A/N: Sorry it took an age. This chapter was so hard to write because I'm doing sooo many essays at the moment and my mind has been taken up by the disgusting issues of reality. Those who are American would not have heard of the case of Baby P over here, but..it's just brought me down so hard and because of it half a dozen other cases have come to light about basically the same thing. Social services here are crap. I'll give you a basic summary fo what happened. His mother, her boyfriend and their lodger basically beat and tortured him for a year. They took him to the hospital and everything and they were never really followed up by social services, and when they were they would cover his face in chocolate to hide the scarring, bruising and stitches around his mouth where they forced bottles into his mouth, to make it look like he was having fun. Baby P died aged 2? He had numerous broken ribs, a broken spine, numerous bruising and a tooth in his stomach. I was so distressed by this I had to leave the bloody room whenever it came on TV. Other cases are just as awful but that one sticks in my head the most, I don't know why and I don't want it in my head anymore.

Other things have brought me down too. Like the bankruptcy of Woolworth's (which is a fecking institution that's been with England since the 20s?) And Roseby's….god, recession sucks a-hole! AND! You've all heard about the shop assistant who got trampled by shoppers who were there for a holiday sale…that is just despicable, apparently they wouldn't even move aside to let paramedics through….he dies for their greed, basically. GAH! I'm in such a righteous "Some people don't deserve to live" mood this evening. I've tried meditating, even brought out those little Chinese balls that you spin in your hand and make little bell-noises with, but no, I'm just so…anyway.

THANK YOU EVERYONE! We have a new reviewer who should be joining us soon, Arathi. Is reading volume one as we speak and hopefully he/she will be joining us vair shortly. :D Thank you to Archsage, K.Y Hime, MissBunny, Fleeting Glance and hey! Nightfeathers and Fang! I haven't heard anything from you guyses in aaaaages- give me a bell, eh? It makes my day :D

Anyway, night! (exhausted. College tomorrow too*yawn*)