As The Plot Turns

AN: Hey guys and gals. Sorry this fic has been on hold for so long. Hopefully you all haven't completely lost interest. And future updates shouldn't take too long. I'm planning on updating about once every other week from now on.

PS. Oh and just in case anyone's wondering about the review replies at the end of my chapters. I only use those to reply to the people who leave 'anonymous' reviews. To save space, I reply to the rest of my reviewers using the sights internal messaging system.


Once Integra was freed, Michael took his lock pick and began working on the cell door. The lady knight used this time to arm herself as best as possible.

In the corner was a chained skeleton, a prisoner from long ago who hadn't had the good fortune of having a lock pick sowed into his flesh... or a fellow prisoner so fortunate. Integra moved over to this skeleton, and discovered that it was not quite as old as she'd thought. There were little notches on the bone, which told her that the flesh had been stripped from it by feasting rodents, rather than decomposing naturally. And that... that was good. It meant that the bones would be fresher, stronger.

Reaching down the lady knight latched onto one of the skeleton's ribs, the largest one she could see. And with a great jerk she ripped it free of the rest of the skeleton, leaving a broken, jagged edge on one end. Next she grabbed hold of the skull, a large, bulbous thing; and, without so much as an apology, she tore it free of the spinal column that was it's perch.

Integra slipped her left hand into the skull's cranial cavity, her small fingers curving inward and then clenching together into a fist, as she held the jagged rib firmly in her right. Then, she took a brief moment to reflect on her armaments. They were a little brittle, and she could feel some trace, squishy remains of what had once been the skeleton's brain upon her finger tips. But they were the best she could do under the circumstances.

There was a slight clicking sound accompanied by a quick, expectant inhalation from Michael as the lock on their cell finally bended to his will and the door cracked open. Integra was by the sniper's side in an instant. "What the," he began as he noticed her makeshift weapons.

"Better than bare fists," she interjected, cutting him off.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I suppose... but I still think it would be best for us to hit a proper armory on our way out."

"Well then," the lady knight replied, an obvious annoyance in her tone, "what are you waiting for? Lead the way."

"Me? With just my bare fists?" he asked, a certain coy, playful tone to his voice. However, one look at the lady knight's narrowed eyes told him that she was hardly in the mood for games. He gulped, and released a nervous chuckle. "Right, age before beauty... follow me."

Integra had to give her 'partner' credit. Despite only being a 'freelancer' he seemed to know his way around... wherever they were being kept – he promised they were nearly to an armory now and they had yet to meet up with any opposition. But then, he always had had a knack for Intel and sneaking around dark corners.

Personally, Integra preferred a straight up fight, a game of chess with every piece visible. Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing was a commander, not an agent. She found games of hide and seek, as the two were currently taking part in, trying on her nerves and half wished that the enemy would just show itself so she could fight in a way more familiar to her.

Of course there's an old saying – "When the gods want to punish us, they answer our prayers." And someone must have wanted to punish Integra very badly, for as the two turned the next corner they ran a foul three large guards on patrol.

"Oh, bugger," Michael commented, eyes wide, as he jumped to the side and narrowly dodged a crossbow bolt.

As the sniper dodged, the lady knight charged. She bellowed out a roar of a battle cry as she charged the largest guard and drove her skeletal rib in between two of his, puncturing one of his lungs.

The other two guards quickly redirected their attention away from the rogue and towards the battle crazed warrior already upon them, but Integra quickly trilled her body, adding both speed and power to her outstretched left arm, and cracked the skull within her fist against that of another guard's, shattering one and badly fracturing the other.

Once Integra's spin was complete she found herself staring at the tip of a loaded crossbow bolt, not more than three inches from her nose. The last remaining guard's lip curled as he squeezed the trigger, but at the last second his steadying arm was grabbed and roughly jerked, knocking the bolt off target. The man was quickly spun around and an open palm was driven into his Adam's apple.

The last guard slumped the the floor, gasping for breath, and Integra used the opportunity to draw back her foot and kick him as hard as she could in the head, possibly knocking him out... but more likely ending his life.

"Why, Michael, so nice of you to join us," the lady knight sardonically commented to the sniper.

"Okay, so maybe my first instinct wasn't to charge at the better equipped and numerically superior enemies, but I did keep that last guard from turning your head into a pin cushion," he defended.

"And if I hadn't charged and thrown them off balance, they would've killed us both."

"Well then... I guess we make a pretty good team," he returned, a subtle grin upon his face.

Integra just huffed and changed the subject. "How much further to that armory?"

"It's at the end of this hallway."

"Good, If I were a betting woman, I'd give even odds that someone else overheard this little... 'altercation', and I think we may need those weapons before much longer."

The armory was fairly large and stocked with a mixture of conventional weapons and those unlike anything Integra had seen before. Across from racks of automatic rifles strange, slightly curved staffs rested almost ominously against a wall covered in arcane symbols the lady knight could not identify. Suits of modern Kevlar stood side by side with ancient metal armor, some of which glowed with a strange inner light or felt suspiciously cool to the touch. In the corner crates of explosives, normal ammo and luminescent gems were scattered without any seeming rime or reason. To say that the unfamiliar sight conjured up uneasy feelings in the pit of Integra's stomach would've been an understatement.

Still, if necessity was the mother of invention, then desperation was the father of determination. Integra was desperate for weapons she could use to fight her way out of the castle like prison, and she was determined to make the best of what the Good Lord had presented to her.

She scanned the wall of armor stands until one exceptional set caught her attention. It was a mixture of black and gold with red trimmings and felt as though it was made out of some bizarre material, akin to both steel and bone, but what struck the lady knight most of all was that when she attempted to run her fingers down the front of the breast plate some invisible force held them a half inch away from the material. Obviously the suit had some protective ward, some enchantment designed to safe guard its wearer.

Removing the breast plate from the stand, Integra attempted to put it on, and found the task a simple one. Apparently whatever force held outside objects at bay did not extend inside the armor. The lady knight smiled smugly at her find and suited up, covering her torn, Gucci, business suit with the otherworldly armor.

Then she took a few seconds to test out her mobility. The suit was heavy but not terribly restrictive, and she figured she could manage it. Unfortunately, the armor lacked a helm, so she was forced to claim a mismatched helmet with a T-shaped opening from one of the other suits.

Moving to the racks of weapons Integra found a long sword that seemed to be made out of the same material as her armor. The handle was slightly warm to the touch; and as she examined the blade, she noticed small flame like patterns dancing across it. The lady knight claimed the sword as her own.

She then turned to find that Michael too had geared up. He was wearing a light Kevlar suit, and a Dragunov sniper rifle rested across his shoulder. "Well what do you think of our chances now?"

"Better than they were."

"What do you say we improve them a little more?" the sniper asked with a roguish wink as he patted a nearby crate labeled "CAUTION! C4".

Both of them smiled. "I'll find the detonators," Integra replied, "while you open that crate." Setting off that much C4... in a place already loaded with ammunition and explosives – they could very well cave in that entire side of the castle, a fitting diversion that would distract everyone long enough to cover their escape. Maybe that sniper wasn't completely useless after all?


Alucard, Baskerville, Seras and Fluffy were all still standing amongst the rubble that had once made up the walls of Hellsing manor. Seras had called an ambulance for Walter... and the other human survivor, and they'd already been taken to the nearest hospital. But Seras didn't feel any better. Sure, the two human survivors were going to be okay – and that was certainly a good thing in her book – but now that she had done all she could for them she had nothing to divert her mind from the fact that no one, not even her master, knew where his master was... or even how to find out. They were cut off, no leadership, no Intel, no direction.

It was then that the room (or perhaps it's better to say what was left of the room) they were standing in filled with a strange smoke. Seras and the animal vampires coughed; her master, however, who long ago abandoned living instincts such as breathing (save for when verbal communication necessitated it), just stood where he was, silent as a statue, but with an expectant look upon his face.

The smoke cleared quickly, aided by the room's recent increase in 'cross ventilation', but in its wake it left an odd looking man. He was short, but not enough to be labeled a midget or dwarf, standing about Seras's height. Colorful, almost regal looking robes clothed his body, and a somewhat funny looking beard covered the lower regions of his face. In one hand he held a long staff, the top of which may have been decorated with an eye – Seras's would've had to have gotten closer to know for sure, something she had absolutely no intention of doing if she could avoid it. But the most bizarre thing about the man was not his strange staff or clothing, but rather his eyes, which were yellow and very much resembled those of a cat.

"Good day, Demons," the man spoke in a jovial tone laced with an accent that reminded Seras of the Judas Priest's. "Wondering where your master is, I take it. Well, I may be able to help you with that."

"Oh, really?" Alucard replied coyly before lunging at the intruder. "What have you..."

The vampire's question hung unfinished as the odd man struck the floor with his staff and disappeared from view. He then reappeared a split second later, standing besides Seras, one arm wrapped around her shoulder and a blood pack in his other hand. "Tut-tut, Vlad-ie, I'm not your enemy. Believe it or not I'm here to help you."

"Get your arm off of her," the vampire growled as he turned to where the strange man had reappeared.

The man's lip curled slightly, but he complied with the vampire's 'request'. "Sure thing, Vladie – don't want you flying off the handle again... or maybe I do? Hmmm. No, I think not – not yet anyway."

"Who... who are you," Seras asked turning to the likely deranged interloper who'd had his arm around her neck a moment earlier.

"Now, now," he replied in a chiding manner. "That would be telling... Besides, I do so hate to repeat myself, and we don't have all the players together yet, do we?" He paused for a moment, and Seras wondered if he was actually expecting an answer to the question. But then, just as she started to open her mouth, he continued, "No, I don't think we do. So, to that end, I'll tell you that the one you seek is in Istanbul. Do with that information as you desire." The man then raised his empty hand and waved at the vampires. "Bye now." And with that he disappeared in another puff of smoke.


Keith finished gassing up his T-bird and got back inside. He then did a double take at what he saw. "Where," he asked, brow furled, "did you get that?"

Alison finished sucking the blood from the plastic pouch in her hands and then turned to look at the one who'd released her from the Order's grasp. "While you were inside, paying for the gas, a funny, little man appeared in your seat. He gave me the blood pack and told me that we needed to head back to Istanbul. Said we'd find allies there."

Keith just sat there for a moment, puzzled expression plastered across his face. "A funny looking man just appeared in here while I was out paying, gave you a blood pack and told you that we needed to head back towards the people trying to capture you?"

The 'girl' nodded.

"And you believe him?"

She shrugged. "He was able to teleport in and out of here in the blink of an eye. I suspect if he'd been trying to recapture me, I wouldn't have still been here when you got back."

"Yeah... but, who was he?"

She shrugged again. "How am I suppose to know? All I can remember is what's happened to me in the last four days. The only people I know are those who were at that Order base, and I can assure you I never saw him there. Maybe he's Santa Clause, come to give us an early Christmas present. Maybe he's the Devil in disguise. But he did give us a tip on where to go; so, unless you've got a better idea, he's the best lead we have for the moment."

Keith sighed. Alison was right. It wasn't much of a lead, but it was the best they had. And it made sense to follow it – cautiously – until something better came along. He pulled back onto the road and began heading back in the direction he'd come from. "Okay, but I've got a bad feeling about this," the ex-marine grumbled, half under his breath.


To Kriske: Yes, Michael did deserve that punch, but still if he hadn't done what he'd done... Well, anyway, I hope you're still enjoying this.

To Nobdy: Yes, I've finally updated. Sorry about the long wait, especially since (at one time) this was your favorite fic on this site. I'm afraid I just got busy with other fics and had hit a writers block with this one. Hopefully I'm through that now though. Well, thanks for the review. :) I'm glad you've been enjoying this and hope you continue to.

To Lara: Hehe, sorry about the long wait. :( But I finally managed to bring this back from hiatus, and I know that you were able to enjoy some of my other fics during the interim. So... no hard feelings, right? :P Anyway, thanks for the review. :) I'm glad you like my writing style and enjoy the struggles each of the characters are going through.

To Kenneth: You mean I got your first review? Cool! :) Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the first eleven chapters and hope you haven't completely lost interest in this (what with the long wait). Sorry about that. It's just that this fic has been on hiatus and is only now coming back. Well, I hope you enjoyed chapter twelve as much as the first eleven.

Well, everyone, hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought. Thanks.

Have a good day, and God bless.

Metropolis Kid.