"Mission Completed, my master," Alucard crooned into the receiver. He heard the heiress growl and a moment later, the slamming noise of the phone hitting the base rang in his ear. She's still angry from being woken so early, he mused with a laugh. Even as a woman, she still appeared to hang onto juvenile tendencies like wanting to sleep in on the weekends.

He turned, pocketing his cellular and sparing a glance at the full moon hanging low on the horizon. "Come along, Police Girl. The dawn will break soon enough," he called out. When no shrill, high-spirited answer accosted his ears, he turned back to look for his fledgling.

She was standing, her pistol already holstered and her arms crossed as she looked past a metal gate. He followed her eyes to see a dilapidated building surrounded by an overgrown lawn within the stone and wrought-iron fencing. The roof had fallen in and the windows were boarded up, casting a dark, bone-chilling glow on the entire scene.

She was staring at the building beyond the gate, her head tilted slightly and her mouth set in a sad little frown as she hugged herself. Her eyes were distant, her mind leagues away. He walked over, but she didn't even acknowledge him. He put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped slightly, craning her head back to see him looming over her. A lesser soldier, male or female, would have screamed or jumped back in alarm. But she just blinked at him, brushing his hand off her shoulder indifferently.

"I'll be on in a minute, Master," she assured him. "I won't miss the vans." He didn't answer, instead looking back at the unkempt scene on the other side of the gate. He wondered what it might mean to her, that it would hold her interest so keenly.

"Are you contemplating jumping the fence and exploring, Police Girl?" he teased. "Do you want to search for ghosts in that building?" She smiled at him good-naturedly, not falling for his tormenting tonight. She motioned to the house, stepping forward and wrapping her slender fingers around one of the gate's many wrought-iron spikes.

"That's Greenwood Orphanage," she explained. "Or, it was. I lived there for a few years, and most of my schooling was at the adjoining institution." She rested her head against the spikes and stared at the overgrown walkway. "They sent me away for bullying, but I was just speaking up for the other children, the ones that didn't have anyone to look after them. I wasn't a bully." There was bitterness in her tone, as if she were still trying to convince the instructors even after all these years.

"Is that so?" he murmured, surprised. So even as a child, his little fledgling had that slightly vexing bit of goodness in her. Her righteous fury was burning up their mental bond. "Do you hate them?" he asked, intrigued. Something about her not only amused him, but made him genuinely interested. He couldn't remember the last time he was so invested in anything, much less another living soul.

"No. Once I grew up, I sort of understood that they were doing what they thought was right. None of the other kids liked me, so it was my word against all of theirs. I never stood a chance." She leaned back, but didn't let go of the bars. "No, that's not true. There were kids who were nice to me, even ones who I dared called friends. But they weren't my true friends."

"Really." It wasn't a question that he intended to ask, but it came out just the same; slightly sarcastic, but even he could detect the undercurrent of curiosity in his tone. Seras shook her head, her lips tight.

"True friends would have stood up for me. They were afraid of what the other kids might do if they spoke up. So they let me get into trouble, and eventually I was sent away." She turned away from the ruined orphanage, her brow wrinkled. "But I never could bring myself to hate them. No matter how hard I tried." She sounded defeated now. He found that he didn't like that, the way her voice dropped in hopelessness. He'd rather have her hyper, enthusiastic outlook on life.

"So if I stood against the world, and everyone accused me, you would stand up for me." She looked up at him, bewildered.

"Master, we're not friends," she proclaimed bluntly. She immediately clapped both hands over her mouth, a gasp escaping through her fingers. "I'm sorry! That sounded so rude; I didn't mean that we're enemies, I mean… I only meant that…." She trailed off, her cheeks burning bright red. It was an astounding feat, considering she hadn't been drinking blood regularly at all.

He couldn't help but laugh at her, even if it did sound cruel. She wilted under the roaring peals she'd brought up from his depths, looking sheepishly at her boots while her cheeks continued to flush darkly. His guffawing startled a few soldiers of the cleanup crew, who looked over at them with puzzled expressions before continuing to clean up the mess and bullet casings the battle had left behind.

"No, Police Girl. We're not friends," he agreed as he quieted down, putting a heavy hand on her head and ruffling the hair. It was soft and thick and he found himself pulling his fingers through the strands before realizing what he was doing. His hand retreated and he held them behind his back, looking down at her over the rims of his amber sunglasses.

"Do you dare to put a name to what we are?" He was eager to find out what she would say, if only for another opportunity to mock her. It was quickly becoming one of his favorite pastimes; she was even more entertaining to pester than the Ice Queen herself. Seras stared up at him, the gears turning in her mind as she thought about it. Then her eyes lit with a mischievous gleam and she smiled sweetly.

"Unless my master has an opinion on it, I'll say that we're undefinable. After all, we vampires are singular in our own right, aren't we?" she cooed, using his own words against him. He scowled at her open, blatant taunting as she flounced away to the relative safety of the men in the vans, waiting to return to headquarters.

The little minx, he growled in his mind. Only she would dare mock him the same way he did her. He bent his head, casting his face into shadow to hide the grin threatening to form. Of course, only she would be able to get away with it. How remarkable… how fascinating. He cycled through a dozen punishments in his mind, finally discarding the thought. After all, it was only a bit of light teasing.

Even he could tolerate that.