Selene Hellsing did not often stop to consider her actions with any great wonderment of whether or not she had played directly into someone's grand plans. But, as was often the case in her dealings with Vladimir Dracula, she now had to consider the possibility that it was exactly case in this particular instance. His leaving the grounds of the Organisation had been altogether far too, well, easy, if she was pressed to describe it honestly to anyone. To add to that, there was also the knowledge she had that she knew that Vlad was more than aware that she wouldn't lay a finger on either the children or Robin Branagh; they were the innocent parties in this particular matters and she was not prone to causing injury to innocent parties.
The problem lay in the fact that she had been out played, and he knew had done it, and managed to pull it off for the few months that his brothers and friend had been safely living under their roof – Selene saw no point in holding the false view that the protection was for Vladimir himself, she'd read his file after all. Nonetheless, it irritated her on a truly deep level; that knowledge that he had managed to keep the fact of his being Grand High Vampire out of their information and data banks for however long it had been with what appeared to be only the minimum of effort from him. They were meant to be one of the best Hunting Organisations in the world, and certainly the best operating within the boundaries of the United Kingdom. How could she hope to continue to claim such a thing when clearly that wasn't true, not if they had played host to the Grand High Vampire himself and been completely unaware of the fact?
They had been unaware, that was the point of it all that irritated Selene the most. Vlad had been 'helpful' on missions, which in reality meant that he had been an irritating thorn in her bloody side for months, and yet she had still found him oddly compelling to be around. She supposed it was just part of being a vampire, but she was a trained Slayer, dammit, she wasn't meant to fall for such simple thralls such as believe me or trust me ones that vampires put out almost instinctively. She had found him charming, and even – dare she say it – attractive at some points.
She had cut her hand on the knife they had picked up from the crime scene. Luckily it was not one to be used in a blood ritual, otherwise there would have been far greater problems to consider but as it stood her only problem was to deal with the sharp, stinging pain in her hand, and to stop the blood flow. Oh, and also to clean up the cut, and bind it before it had a chance to get infected – always a danger around Slayers weapons. She hissed, her uninjured hand pressing down firmly on the injured one, trying to minimize the blood flow.
"A Slayer who can't pick up a knife without cutting herself?" the irritatingly jovial tones of Vlad's voice reached Selene's ears and she inwardly cursed. The last thing she needed right now was a visit from her neighbourhood annoyance. "Tut, tut, Selene," he said, moving forward and picking up the knife himself to examine it with a bored looking expression. "People might begin to question your competence," he warned, pointing the handle of the knife at her. "It's fake silver, at any rate."
"I had rather worked that out," Selene spoke through gritted teeth. This simple cut was really stinging a lot more than it ought, or was it that she was feeling it more as she was trying so hard to not be irritated? " Unless you have any other rather more helpful insights, I suggest that you sit the knife back down again." It wasn't that Selene was nervous about Vlad holding the knife, but was did find herself to be very aware of just how casually he was tossing it from hand to hand, and how much experience and practice such a casual nature required.
"Better get that seen to quickly," Vlad nodded in the direction of her injured hand, as if she didn't know what it was he was speaking of. "Infection can set in fast in a cut like that," he added unnecessarily Selene fought the urge to roll her eyes. Vlad smirked. Well, that did it. She held out her injured hand in his direction, and he took a step back. "...What are you doing?"
"Vampire saliva is one of the cleanest substances known," Selene said matter of factly, "being that it contains no germs." Vlad looked annoyed, getting a lesson on something he already knew. "If I want to protect from infection," she said in a reasonable tone of voice, "then I should get a vampire to lick it clean. Wouldn't you think?" The hand stayed out between them. After a beat, Vlad took the hand, turning it round so the injury was facing towards him. His eyes flickered up to meet Selene's gaze as he lowered his head down, tongue sticking out as he gently licked up the blood that was there. Selene shivered, and it had nothing to d with how cool tongue was. He never broke eye contact.
"Slayer's blood," he murmured, "such a sweet treat."
"Ma'am!"
"What is it?" Selene looked up, broken out of her thinking by the arrival of Watson and Jones. Both looked concerned. "What is it?" she repeated, sitting straight in her seat and looking at them, making sure she was totally aware of everything that was going on.
"Report from the Guild, ma'am," Jones said. "Vlad's killed a slayer."
Somehow, she wasn't surprised.
