So, with the posting of this chapter, Formative Years is officially what I consider novel length…at or more than 86k words. And I haven't quite completed a single year of Jezzie's life at Hellsing. Wow. Just…wow. I honestly never intended to make it this long. O.o

Not that I intend to stop any time soon, but it looks like this story is going to easily move into the six digits on words. Heh. I never thought I'd be one of *those* fanfic writers. Lol. Shows what I know. I'm just glad so many people are enjoying it. :)

Great Escape Chapter 5: Zurich

Integra knocked on the door and heard a stuffy 'come in' from the other side. Balancing the tray on her hand, she turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Jezebel lay curled on her bed, a virtual nest formed out of the pillows, blankets and sheets in the middle of the mattress. The girl sniffled and rubbed the tears from her red eyes as Integra came into the room. Integra felt a tug at her heart, seeing the child cry. Jezebel rarely cried and never over anything frivolous. The head of Hellsing suspected that had been beaten out of her at the abbey.

Nudging the door closed with a shoulder, the woman crossed the room and set the tray down on the bed. It held a grilled cheese sandwich and a small salad. Jezebel blinked at it.

"I thought I wasn't getting any dinner."

Integra sat on the edge of the bed and shrugged.

"You're enough like me that making you go without dinner will only make you hungry."

Jezebel didn't respond, not sure what to say. She glanced up once with a flash of anger and then looked back down at her blankets, picking at a loose string.

"What were you crying about?"

The answer to the question might seem obvious, but Alucard had made her think of her own childhood and she remembered that the few times she could recall crying, all of the adults around her had always made erroneous assumptions about the reason for the tears.

Jezebel almost tried to claim that she hadn't been crying, but realized that was dumb. The evidence of her tears was writ in the red lines that marked her eyes and the liquid that dripped from her nose. She sniffled and sighed.

"I'm worried about Ethan. He's missing! And…and I'm angry. No one will listen to me."

She lifted her eyes to glare at Integra. She didn't expect the woman to understand. She hadn't understood during their conversation in the office. Why would she, now?

"Have you thought about what we discussed?"

"Yes!" Jezebel snapped the word out. She didn't care if it angered Integra. They could be angry together.

"And?"

Damn the woman and her cold countenance. Where was the temper she was known for? Did she even care that Ethan was missing? Were they doing anything about it?

"And I had to know! Matheson wouldn't take me. I couldn't call you or Alu without proof something was wrong. What else was I supposed to do?! I couldn't just wait! I would have gone crazy with worry!"

To Jezebel's surprise, Integra nodded with understanding.

"I can see your dilemma," she said. Jezebel blinked, mouth opening in shock.

"You…you can?"

"Yes. Now, can you see mine? My heir, my only heir, left the safety of Hellsing grounds tonight, alone and with no one to protect her. She has already been kidnapped and almost killed once, and that was without leaving Hellsing grounds. Although she is training for self defense, it takes time to master and she is not ready to defend herself alone, yet. She could have died, but doesn't understand the danger her choices could have put her in."

Jezebel frowned and looked away, the anger draining out of her. Put that way…it was like she was to Integra what Ethan was to her. Would she have called Ethan an idiot if he'd done what she did tonight? Maybe. And yet, even that wasn't the same. Ethan could do things she couldn't.

"I…I can understand that." Jezebel went back to picking at the loose thread in her blanket. "I thought about it, later. That going before you got home from the hunt wouldn't really hurry anything up, but I didn't think about it until after I had gone. By then, it was too late."

"If you had it to do over again, what would you do?"

Jezebel bit her lip.

"I don't know. I still wouldn't want to wait. I might…I might call you without proof, even on a hunt."

Integra sighed but nodded.

"For your own safety, that would have been a better choice." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a familiar cell phone. Jezebel's eyes grew wide as she set it on the bed. "This will receive calls, but it will only dial four numbers without a pass code. Mine, Alucard's, Seras's and the main Hellsing line for Matheson. Your phone privileges with Ethan will be suspended for a month once he is back. You'll also be grounded from the Thursday outings for a month."

Jezebel sucked her breath in, eyes going wide. That was pretty stiff, but in a way, it served to drive home just how much Integra valued her life and safety. Taking a deep breath, she nodded her acceptance. She didn't like it, but she could accept it.

"What about Ethan? He's still missing."

Integra nodded at the tray on the bed.

"Eat your dinner. We're tracing the GPS chip in his phone, now. Once you're done eating, we're leaving to go after him."

"We?"

"Yes, we. Alucard, Seras, myself and you."

Eyes wide, Jezebel lunged for the tray, stuffing the food down her gullet as fast as she could chew and swallow. She didn't know why she was being allowed to accompany them, but she would show her thanks by doing everything she was told, as soon as they told her.

V^^^V

Ethan trudged after his parents, shoulders drooping. His mom exclaimed over the view of Lake Zurich, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Sure, it might be pretty, and if they were on a real vacation, he would undoubtedly love it, but they weren't and he just didn't care.

A man waited for them outside the train station, a smile on his face. The sun reflected off of the breeze-ruffled waves of the lake behind him.

"Uncle Henri!" Ethan's mom rushed toward the man, arms open wide and a smile plastered on her face. Ethan had only met his great uncle a couple of times, but he would recognize that narrow face, hooked nose and hooded brow anywhere. As a child, more than one imaginary villain in his games had worn the man's face, but Uncle Henri had never been anything but kind to him.

"George! Abigail! So good to see you! And little Ethan. Well, not so little anymore, eh?" Uncle Henri smiled down at his grand nephew and Ethan did his best to summon a tremulous smile in return. He just didn't have much enthusiasm to put into it. "Well, let us get you home, safe and sound, then you can tell your Uncle Henri all about it, yes?"

"That sounds wonderful, Uncle Henri."

A taxi waited for them on the street outside the station, its driver giving the meter a pointed look. They piled their suitcases into the trunk and had to carry a couple of bags on their laps. Ethan ended up wedged in the middle of the back seat between his mom and dad with Uncle Henri in the front passenger seat.

Zurich rolled by them as the driver made his way through the narrow streets of the city. The buildings seemed to be a curious mix of ancient and modern, clean and grungy. People crowded the sidewalks and rails for the trolley system took up a good half of the streets.

Ethan slumped in his seat, wondering what Jezebel was doing. Had she figured out what had happened? Were they looking for him yet? Maybe he should stop trying to figure out how to escape and just wait for Hellsing to come get him. Surely they'd show up soon, right?

"I have someone I want you to meet when we get home," said Uncle Henri over his shoulder. "I've told him what little you were able to give me over the phone and I think he may be able to help."

"Really?"

Why did his mom have to sound so hopeful? None of this was necessary, but he'd finally given up on trying to convince her.

The taxi carried them around the Southern shore of Lake Zurich, down pockmarked streets and cobbled avenues. Ethan wondered how Hellsing would find him. Should he try to call Jezebel's phone at some point? Sure, he'd be in awful trouble if he got caught, but it would be worth it. Who was this person that Uncle Henri said could help them?

They pulled up in front of a large, white house with a sprawling yard and trees lining the back fences. A low wooden fence separated the front yard from the sidewalk that lined the street.

Uncle Henri paid for the taxi while Ethan and his parents collected their luggage from the trunk. The breeze rolling off the lake smelled fishy and cold, if cold could be said to have a smell. Ethan wrinkled his nose, not sure he liked it.

"Ethan, get your suitcase."

He sighed and turned to retrieve the item. His mom gave him a sour look at his dejected attitude but he refused to put a good face on things. He didn't want to be here and he wasn't about to pretend otherwise.

Uncle Henri led the way through a small gate in the fence and up the path to the sprawling front porch. After their tiny house on the outskirts of London, this villa looked amazing.

"I hope you don't mind, but I had my friend wait for us here while I went to pick you up." Uncle Henri pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the front door. "He is most anxious to meet you."

Ethan frowned as the door swung open. Something didn't feel right. What, exactly, had his mom told Uncle Henri? Who would be so very interested in them?

"Mom, are you sure this is okay? I don't think…"

His words trailed off as the front door swung open. Not one man, but three waited for them inside, clothed in black from the neck down, a white rectangle at their throats. Each of them wore a cross on a long chain around their necks. Ethan stopped dead at the sight of them.

"Father Michel, I didn't realize you had invited more guests."

Uncle Henri sounded genuinely surprised. Maybe he didn't realize who these men were or why they might be interested in Ethan and his family. Ethan's brain kicked into high gear. They had to get away from here! But neither of his parents would listen to him.

Be logical. Think! Of the three of them, Ethan knew he was the only one that knew anything about Hellsing that the Vatican might be interested in. He hated to leave his parents behind, but he had to keep himself out of the hands of these very men.

The man on the left rose to his feet, a smile stretching his lips. He had blond hair that hung in tendrils in the front and a nasty scar that ran in a line over his right eye. How the injury had missed the eye itself was anyone's guess.

"You must be Ethan," he said, directing that creepy smile at the boy. "My name is Father Makube and I've heard so much about you."

"I just bet you have," Ethan snarled as he dropped his suitcase and the duffel bag he was carrying. "I'm sorry, Mom!" With no more warning than that, he grabbed for the strap of her purse, sliding it off her arm before she could react. He knew there was cash in there, but more importantly, it held their passports. All of their passports. With it, he could get away and maybe the Vatican priests wouldn't be able to take his parents out of Switzerland for a while.

Tucking the purse under his arm, Ethan turned and sprinted for the street. Where he had felt like he couldn't use his preternatural speed before, he knew that this situation warranted it. He couldn't allow himself to fall into the Vatican's hands. Hopefully, Sir Integra would understand.

"Ethan!" His mom's shocked and outraged voice made him wince as he cleared the fence in the front and took off down the street.

"Stop him! Don't let him get away!" Father Makube's order sent the other two priests chasing after him, but they didn't have a prayer of catching him. With Alucard's blood coursing through him, he quickly outdistanced the Vatican priests and lost himself in the streets of Zurich.

A/N: See? Integra isn't a total harridan. *wink*