I would like to formally apologize for such a long wait (Hey! Eight days is something to sneeze at for me!). You see, there were SO many unnecessary bits I wanted to add into this chapter, and it was such a struggle because I really am not that much of an action-person, although I do love describing gore. I would also like to apologize that I've only written out about a third of the battle in this chapter, as I know you guys were waiting really long for it. Please stay tuned!

Innocent Lives and Reaching the Point of No Return

"Ooh, good boy, good boy! Who's the handsomest boy in the whole world?" Jenny cooed, rubbing Midnight's ears. "You are! Yup, you, cutie! You fiend of amour! You handsome devil you!"

The dog barked playfully and licked her cheeks. Jenny giggled as he tackled her, licking all over her face. "Oi, get offa me, you big oaf! I- pthrpfpffppffpffff! Get off! Down boy!" Midnight whimpered and stepped off her shoulders, the weight of his huge paws finally releasing the poor crushed girl. This dog was larger than any dog she had ever seen. In fact, Jenny had read up on the largest dog ever recorded and found out that, in fact, the dog-familiar that her father had (and obviously modified) stood at about fifty inches- only a foot shorter than her. Standing on all fours. She hadn't measured him standing on his feet yet, but she was sure that either he was the same height as her father or possibly even taller. Jenny often wondered what Baskerville looked like. Surely that was a terrifying beast. She imagined something like her childhood cartoon Clifford the Big Red Dog, only pitch black with sharp fangs and malicious intent.

Integra had given the consent towards having the dog (as it couldn't die, didn't shed, followed commands, didn't need to eat anything, and was the sweetest thing to everyone in the mansion), so obviously she hadn't been surprised at the sight of the humongous beast. When she came back upstairs behind her father the same day she got him, riding on his back like a pony, the mercenaries nearly fainted.

Everyone got a kick out of the giant lug, though, once they warmed up to him. Seras had always secretly been a dog person, so she would occasionally take a night run with him or sit around and pet him in her spare time. When Jenny was away, everyone at the mansion loved to play with him. Even Sir Integra would do her work in her office with his gigantic head on her lap or lying down by her side.

He didn't look like a Great Dane, which was the largest breed of dog. Instead, Midnight took on more of a wolfish appearance, with wide, pointy ears and a mouth full of even pointier teeth. His red eyes were surprisingly not disconcerting, as there was a dulled sort of state about them, as he was clearly domesticated. However, whenever he was around his master, a sort of rambunctious glimmer that entered them so that they gave him the appearance of waiting- almost begging. Jenny always knew he waited for the command to attack- that those red eyes could quickly turn to fiery red at the slightest command from her. He sort of reminded her of her father and his relationship with Sir Integra, although it was obvious that Midnight loved her very much. He slept next to her on her gigantic mattress every night (the bed could surprisingly fit him) and always was eager when she returned. She found out soon however that he was also a very controlled dog in that he was never over-eager when she came home and didn't beg for attention and instead reciprocated it when he received it. He was an odd sort of creature- the embodiment of the ideal dog and yet not at the same time, a different thing entirely.

He was very muscular. Unlike Great Danes or ponies, who were of considerable size but who stood on lanky fours, Midnight was bulky. He could very easily support his master's weight and most likely anything else. Shopping for collars that would fit about his thick neck was close to impossible, though they finally found the perfect one- a normal red leather collar (oh the irony!) with the same tag that her father had given her- the one with the symbol on it that bound the dog to her. As he was no ordinary dog, he would never run away, forever bound to his owner. Though Jenny was curious just what he would look like when she ordered him to access different levels, she was too afraid to do it. She preferred him just as he was- the calm, submissive, sweet dog she loved to pet and cuddle with. Although she could easily command him to decapitate thirty men within five seconds, she preferred him when he was calm enough to stare at a butterfly that landed on his nose and try to lick it.

"Who needs a boyfriend when I have you? Boys are icky, yes they are! Ooh, who's a butthole?" the dog barked in response. "That's right! It's Luke! Luke! He thinks he can spank my bottom, doesn't he? And what did mommy do? That's right! She sent him to the nurse!"

There had been an incident at school earlier that day, resulting in her being sent home early- the same day her father left off on the mission. It was probably for the best- Alucard probably would have killed the poor pervert.

Luke had become more and more flirtatious toward Jenny for a while since her incident during her birthday when he called her father the devil. He had been making advances toward her which she constantly had to turn down and being especially touchy around her chest area, constantly hugging her and letting his hands wander. She was always very firm with him (occasionally cussing him out or smacking him into his senses- or out of them) but that Monday, when he violated her privacy, she snapped. And that resulted in a suspension that Integra regarded as a "vacation". The heiress had been completely on board with her retaliation and had fought against the principal on Jenny's behalf. It would simply be another thing she would have to explain to her father whenever he returned.

0o0

Deep underground inside of a closed-off subway station, eleven people were bound and gagged. Three women, seven men, and one child, who was as close to his mother as could be. Those were the humans, anyways.

A lanky brunette woman with deadened eyes was fiddling with a knife on the far side of the room. She sighed and glanced at her companions, who were also sitting in various places underground. "When did you say he was coming?"

A short man in a black beanie and tanned skin was the one who answered her. "I don't know. I'm getting pretty tired of waiting, though. So much for the No-Life King; what if he decided not to show up?"

"We have hostages- of course he's going to show up," replied the brunette. "He's probably just taking his sweet time. He's the oldest vampire, after all- what does he care that a few people die?"

The man groaned and leaned his head back, shutting his eyes. "I really hate Veronica. From what I've heard about this guy and all the foes he's had to conquer, we don't stand a chance. This was a suicide mission from the start. And why did she make Tony kill those people, anyways?"

The woman rolled her eyes and waved her knife at him. "Master wants to make a scene. How else are we supposed to capture his attention?"

"I know," he replied, taking a drag of his cigarette. He blew out a steady stream of smoke and watched it evaporate beneath the flickering fluorescent lights of the station. "I just… out of all the situations of death I dreamed up while I was alive, I never thought that it would be: 'having a witch take away your free will and order you to die at the hands of an insane vampire'. He's supposed to get something from our blood?"

She nodded grimly, pausing in fiddling with her weapon. "That's how she rolls: she uses pawns. We can't go against her orders; not now, not ever." Turning to look at the child first and letting her eyes rove over the group of people, she frowned. "I used to feel so much remorse when I was first turned," she muttered, looking away. "But for some reason, I'm all right with killing now. Do you think when we die we'll go to Hell for this, Thomas?"

"I know we will, Christine," he said as he continued polishing his gun. Suddenly, his eyes dilated as he looked towards the stairs leading down to the station. "He's here."

0o0

"May I ask you something?" said Jenny as she hesitantly lowered herself to sit in front of her father. It was the weekend before her birthday, during the time she was forced into a schedule to speak with him.

He raised an eyebrow and took off his glasses, leaning forward intently. "You've never asked if you could ask a question before," he remarked. "It seems this is going to be an interesting conversation. Go ahead."

She twiddled her thumbs and squirmed in her spot, feeling the intensity of his gaze on her. It was one of the things that set him apart from anyone else that she had met: when he looked at someone, he looked at someone. As in, he examined them down to every last molecule- every strand of hair on the head. He was someone who observed closely before opening his mouth, always so smart about his actions and words that when he examined anything, he broke it down to the very last detail. It was very disconcerting. "Well… It's just… you're… old."

Alucard's lip twitched upwards in amusement. "So I am."

"No, I mean, you're really, really, really old."

He blinked owlishly. "You wanted to ask me something in correlation to my age, then?"

Jenny nodded vigorously. "I don't mean to be rude, but… you were a bad person in your past."

His lips thinned as his amusement died down. His eyes glinted soberly. "I am a bad person now. What is it you wanted to speak with me about? Spit it out already, it's not like anything you say could hurt me."

She flinched. "Howdoyoulivewithyourself?" she asked in one breath. Jenny kept her eyes fixated on her crossed feet, not daring to look up.

Alucard rubbed his chin thoughtfully and spoke slowly. "How do I live with myself?" insert cringe here on poor Jenny's behalf. "Well, I accept what I am and move on. Doing all those terrible things, impaling so many people, slaughtering millions… knowing that I am a monster in every fiber of my being: I simply don't dwell on it." There was a slight saltiness to the air now, and a worry began to gnaw at him as he saw his daughter sob quietly.

Immediately, he got out of his chair and was by her side. Alucard hesitated briefly before placing a hand on her shoulder. "What on Earth has gotten into you?"

Jenny held her breath to try and stop crying, but she found herself incapable. Carefully monitoring her voice, she spoke slowly. "I… had another really bad dream last night, which was really just another memory. I still feel awful about leaving the orphanage and leaving my friends behind. I feel like such a tremendous coward because I didn't try to do anything else- when things got hard, I just up and left. And now I'm supposed to just… not dwell on it?"

His eyes softened. He had only seen her cry one time before. "Look at me," he said, lifting her chin and wiping away a few of her tears. "You should not be blaming yourself just because you didn't know how to help someone. Sometimes, there are people that either can't be saved or just won't be saved. There are some things you can't change no matter how badly you might fight for it. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. And you were meant to leave; I was meant to find you thousands of miles away and centuries after we'd last met. I've come to find that there are reasons behind certain occurrences: coincidences are usually very rare. Some things are… inescapable."

0o0

"Oh, it is a tragedy," Alucard said as the shadows warped around the room and solidified into his form. His mouth twitched upwards into an amused smile. "Two goody-goody little fledglings ensnared by a witch's trap. Really, I pity you."

Thomas flinched as he cocked his gun. "No-Life King. I knew you'd be peachy."

The King's smirk broadened as he looked hungrily at the defiant vampire. "Why bother fighting now if you know you're going to die?"

Christine stood up and drew out six knives, which she placed as blades on her hands. "I can answer that. You see, the reason we became vampires in the first place was because we reject death. Why on Earth would we stretch our necks and wait for our heads to be chopped off?"

Alucard laughed. "Why indeed? I prefer impaling to decapitating heads anyways." He turned to the crowd of civilians and looked directly at the little boy who lay staring at him. "You might want to shut your eyes."

Just as he said this, the two vampires both moved in on their target. The man with his gun was the first to move, zipping in and out around the piles of cement around the station to shoot him wherever possible.

The man shot Alucard roughly fifteen times in his shoulders, making him incapable of movement. That was the precise moment that the woman moved in with her knives, who made quick work of quickly cutting off his limbs, especially dissevering his head from his body. As it dropped to the floor with a sickening grin on its face, both paused.

"That was it?" the brunette asked, swiping the air with her blades to get some of his blood off. "That was what we were told we'd die for? He didn't even fight back! All that tough talk: and he ends up just dying within five seconds?"

The man circled around the bloody body. "I… guess we cut them loose now and tell Veronica?" he asked, gesturing towards the hostages.

But before either of them could move a muscle, a deep and ominous laugh echoed through the tunnel. The head, which had previously been dismembered, melted into a pool of shadows on the floor, which began to creep back into the body. Christine and Thomas both whipped around with horrified expressions at the newly reanimated corpse. The laughing only got louder as Alucard's body slowly rose to its full height, glowing red eyes piercing into the younger vampires' skulls. "Is it just me," he growled mockingly, "Or is the competition nowadays rather incompetent?"

0o0

Jenny was sitting around on the television, looking around on the cartoon network when the station flipped over.

"We interrupt this broadcast to give you breaking news. The F11 Subway station located near the outskirts of Yorkshire has collapsed. The ground has concaved, causing a small tremor throughout the town. We would like to caution anyone around the area to avoid driving on the roads during this period for the next three weeks while we reconstruct the road-" there was a terrifying pause on the announcer's part. "We're getting word that there are civilians coming out of the wreckage! We now go live to station four!"

Jenny gasped as she bolted upright from her position of leaning against Midnight. The dog whined as it watched the television with her as the screen flipped over towards a huge crater around a busy street outlined with yellow police tape. Her heart accelerated its pace rapidly She saw a crimson blur suddenly slam its way out of one of the cracks followed by two black and brown blurs as well.

"Oh dear God," she gasped, reeling back in shock as she saw very liberal amounts of blood dripping from the very familiar red figure. "SIR INTEGRAAAAAAAAA!"

0o0

Silver bladed knives slammed into his back. Damn, did they hurt no matter how high his pain tolerance was: even after centuries of having his body ripped apart molecule by molecule, silver anything was a pain in his ass… where the male vampire had had the audacity to shoot him. Vampires were good shots- too good of shots.

He shot Alucard there on purpose.

Sir Integra had told him something before he left for his mission: "If it is possible, do not release your seals."

Vampires ran on stamina. Alucard's familiars had protected him during the invasion of London, and they returned to him after he defeated Schrödinger's form within the three year battle within himself. The cat-boy was dead, and his conflicting nature was no longer within Alucard. It had taken three years to take down the very difficult familiar and ensure that he had complete control of his souls. It would take the two vampires nearly thirty to get rid of all of them.

Now, there was the possibility that he could defeat them both in his average form. However, these weren't only normal vampires: he had come to realize soon into the fight that they possessed skills beyond that. The girl and her knives were special because no matter how fast he moved in his form, she always found some way to evade him. The boy was special because no silver bullets would land on him, which meant he would have to be killed the old fashioned way.

Integra's orders conflicted one another. She had also said: "Do not take too long." If he dragged out his mission enough to defeat the pair in his weaker form, it would take all night. And he wanted to be back home by the time the sun rose.

A smirk grew on his face with the knowledge that although he was playing into what the enemy wanted, he was also simultaneously freeing himself. If he released himself down to level one, how much freedom would that give him? His eyes glimmered with excitement.

Time to find out.

Hopefully there was still a little humor in this one? I really tried, but this chapter isn't exactly humor-based. Anyways, please keep reviewing because right about now I need some inspiration- maybe give me a few creative ideas? I might add it in. I'm thinking that I'll be adding in a chapter focusing on the witch's organization and why they're targeting Hellsing, kind of like how they did with Millennium. Also- I hope the tidbit about Midnight didn't bore you too much. I felt I should add more details about him and keep him as less of an enigma; you know, a little something besides "It was a big, black, furry, shadow dog".

*Weeps* I want a dog so very badly right now. It's so sad that I can't really support one at the time! If I ever get one, I want a big ol' loverboy just like Midnight. A big, furry, sweet guard dog. I also find the premise that Jenny rides him like a horse was just too entertaining to pass up.

Review, my lovelies. I would appreciate some kind words! Thank you all for writing reviews already, they really help to motivate me! All of you have been very supportive and honest, and I just love checking out my story and hearing your thoughts! :)

Oh! If you got this alert a day after I added this chapter, I apologize- I had to go back and alter a few confusing sentences and clean up a little grammar.