A/N: I received a few private messages from my English as a second language readers, politely letting me know that while Pip's accent being written out wasn't impossible for them to understand, there were times when they had to stop mid-sentence for a few seconds to reason from the rest of the sentence what a word was. I want this fic to be easily accessible to everyone and not have immersion broken, so like I did with Xander's lisp, I'm going to scale back Pip's accent. Now that he's joined the team, he's going to have plenty of dialogue, and I don't want to make that hard on readers. Pip's going to have little outbursts of French swears or context obvious exclamations, but I'm going to write other words out properly, instead of using "ze" for "the", or dropping "h" at the beginning of so many words. And when he and Mercedes have conversations in French, I was already planning to type them out in English, with a notation in context that they're speaking French, so all the English readers can understand what's being said without needing to scroll down for paragraphs worth of translations at the end of the chapter.

Thank you to those readers for reaching out to me, I don't mind accommodating those sorts of requests, and if something like that pops up again, please feel free to contact me.

Chapter 48

History Comes Full Circle

Walter returned from the hunt he had been on as Seras was delivering a meal to Pip, and at Alucard's orders he joined the three sitting inside the white painted gazebo in the backyard. Whatever Pip had to say, apparently Master Alucard wanted all the vampires to hear the conversation so they all had the full story of what sort of complications the French nobles might pose.

Once Walter was present, Alucard's patience for secrets had been stretched about as far as it could be, and he asked the mercenary sitting on the bench across from him, "Exactly how do you know the phrase you uttered a variation of?"

Pip finished swallowing a bite of fried eggs, plate balanced on his lap. He looked up at the vampire and said calmly, "I know it because it's one of many things I was taught by my family when I was finally deemed a man who could help uphold certain family traditions." A wry smirk pulled at his lips as he continued. "When I was initiated, I thought it was all a bunch of superstitious nonsense, but mon grandpère told me to put up with the legitimate family members' nonsense because the Wild Geese had a strange story of our own passed down from leader to leader, so an open mind tempered with skepticism was prudent."

"Initiated?" Seras asked, not understanding just what was going on. "Initiated into what? Is your family in some cult?"

"No," Alucard said, gaze remaining trained on the mercenary, who was sneaking another bite to eat. "Not a cult. An Order. The Order of the Dragon. Which supposedly died out 500 years ago."

Seras blinked rapidly and glanced between the two. "The Order of the Dragon?! Wasn't that..."

"The chivalric order Draculea and his family belonged to before he went and turned vampire," Pip said. His green eye turned its gaze from his girlfriend back to the aforementioned vampire. "And you are not wrong, Alucard. Technically, thanks to what happened with you and The Order's reputation as a result, it did come to an end. It was reconstituted by the remaining members with a different name, and their aims have changed since you were a member. Now it's The Knights of Saint George. And instead of signaling their membership to other members with the Ouroboros, we use the more 'innocent' symbol of a Griffin curled in on itself." The mercenary pointed to the patch on his black beret, which also appeared on his usual hat.

"I see..." Alucard said through gritted teeth, hellfire gaze flickering brighter with his fury.

"Um..." Seras said tentatively, still glancing between the two in confusion. "M-Master... I don't want to make you angrier with the asking, but I'm going to guess there was more to the original Order than publically related, and that whatever this new incarnation is, it is influenced by that?"

Alucard gave a single, grudging nod. "Yes, there was."

"May I ask what it was really about?"

Alucard almost looked like he was about to refuse to answer, jaw clenching tightly. After a few seconds of silence, he said, anger poisoning every word, "The official reason for the Order's existence wasn't a lie. It was a strategic collection of monarchs and nobles who were allied to keep foreign influences out of our countries, to uphold God's laws and protect our individual reigns. What wasn't publicly known was something I haven't shared with even you. Which was that there was more to our royal and noble bloodlines than we allowed others to know. Each of the families had a demonic ancestor of some kind, and we were all descendants with that cursed blood running through our veins."

Seras's jaw dropped, staring at her master in shock. She collected herself quickly though, asking in confusion, "So... So you've never been..."

"I have never been entirely human, even before becoming a vampire," Alucard confirmed with a great deal of fury at having to discuss this yet again. That was information that should have died and stayed dead. "My demonic ancestry opened the door for me to transform myself into the first vampire."

Pip nodded passively, having wolfed down a slice of bread and more eggs while the two were talking. "Which, according to what I know, went against the rules of the Order. They were only supposed to use what little demonic powers they had to keep back invaders and help protect one another's reigns, but they were not supposed to try inflaming that blood because God wanted them to remain mostly human and be able to join Him in heaven when they died."

"Which was what they told themselves to excuse them for being too weak to actually do as needed," Alucard said sharply, demonic shadows starting to form around him. "They were a bunch of cowards who played at power, kept ties to make marriage arrangements to try keeping the bloodlines from dying out, but never willing to embrace what set us apart and turn the battles definitively in our favor."

Pip held up his hands and said, "I am only saying what I was told. Don't kill the messenger, Alucard."

Alucard looked off to the side, and as he mastered his temper, the demonic shadows started to subside.

Walter pulled out a pack of his clove mini cigars and asked stoically, "Well then. Given the Order's past, the telling change of name and symbolism, and that you have no such demonic powers but are initiated, I would hazard a guess that their renewed purpose is to keep their bloodline from producing further creations like vampires? To be like Saint George and 'slay' the 'dragons'?"

Pip nodded solemnly and decided he wanted to light up another cigarette as well. Once it was lit and he had a few drags, he said, "Oui. What Draculea did made the Order decide that it was too dangerous to try using their bloodline to enforce God's law in the world. The founding members of The Knights of Saint George began developing ways to screen their children at birth, to determine if they had inherited too much of their ancestral demonic blood. As soon as a new baby is born, the men in the family take them from their mothers, supposedly to clean them up and check them over before bringing them back for their first nursing. If the baby fails even one of those tests, has so much as one reaction to holy symbols or incantations recited, they are smothered to death and their mother is told there was labor complications."

"So the Order is now practicing a different sort of eugenics and infanticide?!" Seras asked in horror.

Pip gave a grim nod. "For a few centuries, oui. Eventually, they were successful in selectively wiping out strong carriers of the demon blood. Occasionally, as someone gets older, they might show a hint of powers, but as long as they were trying to keep it suppressed they were allowed to live because the families did need to keep enough members alive to continue their rule in future generations. Marriages were arranged for the opposite reason of the Dragon Order, so that such members who had only hints of the blood surfacing in later years were married to those without signs of the bloodlines to try smothering it out in the next generation. As far as I know, it's been nearly three hundred years since the last baby was born who had a negative reaction to a birth test. It eventually became just another standard ritual to perform that no one expects anything exciting to happen and shows how faithful they are to the Church, like a baptism or First Communion. But those in the Order still carry the ritual out, and they train their sons to know why they do it and to have formidable weapon skills so that if somehow an ancient demon shows up, or the legends of vampiric offspring of Draculea are real and surface, they can still be exterminated by The Knights."

"It was no coincidence you put forth an application to Sir Integra's employ, was it?" Alucard asked rhetorically.

Pip shook his head, and couldn't make himself look in Seras's direction; his innocent minded girlfriend was now staring at him incredulously because she began to realize the implications. "Non. I'm of the lowest ranking of the Order, I have to take orders from mon cousin, Pierre. And what I know from what little he's informed me is this- The Knights of Saint George had been having enough issues trying to deal with vampires in this county and the rest of Europe. I don't know when the alliance happened between The Knights and Iscariot, but I know there's some sort of arrangements made between the two factions for mutual benefit and out of devotion to the Catholic Church. But then there was a new "Hellsing" knight anointed in England, not long after a certain penny dreadful gets published about a "Van Helsing" hunting down Dracula himself. From what they learned from rumors circulating among English Protestant nobles, there was some truth to the fictional story and that deed had earned Abraham his British Knighthood. So The Knights of Saint George saw the Hellsings as unwitting allies who were fighting the good fight against the forces of evil and left it alone.

"With Iscariot solidifying operations in Europe, The Knights began centralizing operations in the Americas to try getting the vampire problem here under control, keeping ties to Iscariot and apparently forming alliances with some other independent vampire hunting groups that kick around this country. Then, some decades later, new rumors start to creep up. The Hellsings, these trusted monster hunters who were supposedly subduing England's vampire problems, might have a pet vampire of their own... As I am sure you can imagine, The Knights didn't like that, but there was a massive World War raging and they needed to concentrate resources towards helping stop the Nazis. And the rumors ceased after the war, with no definitive proof the Hellsings were toying with things they shouldn't be. So The Knights decided to keep watch and not try pushing the matter in a country they have little influence in, hoping it was just a rumor spawned by the chaos of such a brutal war."

"Then I broke free of Hellsing control, slaughtered Sir Integra's men, and my continued existence became undeniable in the right circles," Alucard concluded with seething anger, shadows creeping back in around him and flashes of canine fangs appearing in the writhing mass. "And Sir Integra was in desperate need of reinforcements after I annihilated her forces. The initial safer avenues of recruiting only provided a trickle of lackluster soldiers who were too few to properly rebuild the organization, especially with as quickly as even lesser vampires or groups of ghouls were killing them off. Which eventually forced Sir Integra to search for non English and non Protestant forces with proven records of solid training. So your cousin ordered you to put forth The Wild Geese so the Catholic factions could get a quiet foothold in England, gain inside information on just what happened with the Hellsings and myself, and, I'd wager, feed them information about missions you've been sent on and information you've learned firsthand about my kind or the artificial freaks that are popping up."

Pip glanced from the vampire to his demonic familiars starting to manifest and back again, and gave a wary nod. 'Oui. When I took the job, I honestly expected it to be more superstitious bullshit, that there was nothing there, but Pierre ordered me to do it, so I did. Then I quickly learned my lesson that even if it seemed like superstition, such deeply ingrained family myths and practices had gotten a start from something real. So I did my job to my family and acted as a double agent, reporting back what I learned. Pierre didn't seem pleased with the news you were very much alive, but he ordered me to keep The Wild Geese in Hellsing services because Integra seemed to learn the hard way what The Knights did so long ago, so it was beneficial to let her finance The Geese's operations in my family's stead and have my men now primarily exterminating the undead.

"But then it got back to mon cousin that I was in a relationship with ma chere. My family and I had a falling out over it because I refused to end the relationship and cut my ties to Hellsing Organization by assassinating Sir Integra for her family's transgressions and coming home. We haven't spoken in seven years, until I got the call a week ago from Pierre, demanding me to come home and fulfill my obligations to the family because things were getting out of control and they needed all available professionals stateside. Oncle Francis, Mercedes grandpère, was the Holy Commander of The Knights. There's apparently been a full shitstorm brewing because he allowed her to get involved with an Elder without intervention. The family knows she's a seer, but that's a benign power and they were willing to let it slide after it got mostly suppressed when we were children. Whatever else she's developed for powers, and whatever powers Xander has- either they didn't know about it, or Pierre didn't feel need to tell me."

As the mercenary spoke, the demonic shadows around the Vampire King had begun to ebb away again. Alucard was still glaring at him for the deceptions, in a way that made Pip extremely worried for his own immediate survival, but he kept explaining and hoped the vampire would accept that they were on the same side of this conflict. "Oncle Francis apparently told the others that, with Mercedes' personality, it wouldn't last between her and the Elder; and when things inevitably went sour, they'd find out and extricate her, and then gain reliable Intel from her on the inner working of the Elders. The family was willing to tolerate the breach because of that potential gain in information. Recent events, however, and Oncle Francis working with Liam to try retrieving her, have called his motives into question. Mon cousin, André, has taken control of The Knights and Mercedes' grandparents are remaining under the protection of the Elders to avoid execution for betraying the family.

"Even though Pierre ordered me to bring The Wild Geese stateside to help The Knights, I have the feeling he knew it was a long shot to expect me to follow the order after our falling out and with you and ma chere being the ones to have mes petits cousins in custody. He was drawing a line in the sand and I have no doubts that I am added to the list of family members to be executed for refusing to redeem myself to the cause. And from what little I have seen of mes petits cousins already, I am certain now that any chance there might have been of attempting to plead with André and Pierre to stand down and allow them to live has flown out the window. I don't know how they're so strong in powers, how they managed to pass the birth tests, but The Knights won't allow it to stand. Especially not if even a drop of your blood went into her veins. If The Knights get their hands on Mercedes and Xander, they'll kill them to cleanse the bloodline."

A pregnant silence fell over the gazebo as the Vampire King considered the noble bastard's words and debated what his response would be, and the other three waited to discover that answer.

Eventually, Alucard's arms crossed in front of him and he asked without sign of emotion, "What was the legend passed down by The Wild Geese Captains that your grandfather told you? You had a particularly negative reaction upon learning Mercedes was involved with Liam at one point, and I'm aware the Geese were not always under French leadership. What I don't know, however, is how that change came about, even if I now have a reasonable guess."

Pip scratched the back of his neck with a sigh, then said, "According to mon grandpere, The Wild Geese started some 400 years ago as an offshoot of The Knights of Saint George. It was a brotherhood of noble and royal bastards, giving them a way to serve the cause and do the dirty work their betters didn't want to, or could not, be involved in. While The Knights wear griffins to signify their membership, us bastards were given the name to signify our lesser but related status and freedom of movement. The Order elected leaders of The Wild Geese were given the more respected pseudonym of being The Hawk."

Walter and Seras exchanged a glance, confirming the other understood where this was likely leading. Alucard remained stony faced and silent.

Pip pulled out another cigarette, and continued talking as he lit it and smoked. "As legend goes, sometime in the first decade of the 1700s, The Wild Geese were led by an extremely aggressive Hawk, a bastard born of old Irish royal blood and exceedingly talented in martial combat, who had yet to lose a battle he signed his men up for or The Knights sent him off to. And supposedly, there was a report handed to him of a legitimate nest of vampires in France that needed to be rooted out. The Hawk gathered up The Wild Geese for a monster hunt, the first major one of his career, and they went flying in to strike fast and hard. But the reports about the vampires understated just how powerful they were, how many there were, and all but two Geese were slaughtered. Those two managed to escape and reported back to The Knights their failure and just how fucked it had gone. The Knights passed that information to Iscariot, whose ranks hadn't just taken such a severe hit and it would be safer to try their luck. The remaining two Wild Geese held a grudge for being sent into such a slaughter with faulty information and split from The Knights, recruiting those outside the families and doing whatever odd work they could find for about a hundred years. Eventually, they started having too much trouble keeping paid.

"So, rather than disband, mon grandpère's grandpère's grandpère seduced one of the daughters of a member of The Knights, putting a bastard in her belly, and then made an offer to her father. Make him an honorary member of The Knights of the lowest rank and keep The Wild Geese funded, as well as get an agreement from the other Knights that once a generation they'd spare a pretty noble daughter the eldest bastard chooses to beget his own little bastard sons; and in return, his new line of distinguished bastards would keep The Wild Geese's allegiances secured to The Knights, once more give noble bastards a place to call home and not be a public blight on their family's reputations, and resuming doing the dirty work they once did for The Knights. The Knight in question discussed the matter with other members of the Order, and The Knights agreed to the terms. My family has been in control of The Geese since. With noble bastards not being as common as they once were because of birth control, nor as frowned upon in some countries, we're allowed to recruit elsewhere if candidates seem a good fit and we need to bolster our numbers.

"And in the entire time we have been in charge of the Wild Geese, missions my ancestors had been asked to do by The Knights have been mundane- assassinate this upstart shaking up the political order too much, put down this civil unrest, or start one over there. When they don't have a job for us, they let us pick and choose from other employers so long as it doesn't threaten The Knights' interests. It was not until I received my orders to join Hellsing, and saw some intelligence Sir Integra had on the Elders, that I put it all together. Even if The Knights are willing to use The Wild Geese for mundane missions, apparently they've not been willing to trust us bastards with the 'real mission'. Not until things got bad enough that they had no choice and there was a useful place to assign us."

As the explanation concluded, Alucard shocked the others present by bursting into laughter. His distinctive brand of sadistic, near manic laughter. And as he laughed, for nearly half a minute, his outer appearance shifted noticeably, hair elongating down his back and facial hair appearing.

When the Vampire King finally managed to subdue the laughter that had he had been struggling to contain during the last half of Pip's explanation, he said with sardonic amusement apparent, Romanian accent slipping into his voice, "So that's what the whelp's posturing was really about! A little royal bastard lost his 'honored' position in the family when Alannah turned him, likely by force, and he's since been constructing his own little pseudo kingdom here in The States to spite his mortal and vampiric ancestors and prove to himself that he's better than us! And I'd wager anything he's been courting Mercedes and the Marquis and Marquise as part of his pathetic inferiority complex. Oh, I am going to enjoy teaching that little punk a lesson when I get my fangs in him!" More chuckles slipped out because Alucard finally had a clear layout of the puzzle he had been trying to piece together and couldn't contain his mix of entertainment and aggravation in regards to this sorry situation he had found himself in.

Pip kept a wary gaze on the sometimes mentally unbalanced Vampire King, who was still appearing uncomfortably close to his oldest self, if not shifting to his old attire. He asked tentatively, "So... Does this mean you are going to allow me to stay and help keep mes petites cousins safe from The Knights?"

Alucard gave a nod and said bluntly, "I know you're too fond of Seras to betray her, and I believe you'd be willing to spill your family's blood to protect your cousin. You can remain with us."

Pip let out a sigh of relief.

Alucard took a moment to shift back to his modern form, the old had slipped out without his meaning for it to, and then continued speaking. "Well then, it seems our list of enemies is ever growing. Iscariot, Elders, these so called Knights of Saint George, whichever independent American allies they have, plus whatever fortune seekers might come forth for Liam's reward money. What joy. I haven't had this promising of a war in ages. Captain Bernadotte, I'm sure Sir Integra wasn't pleased with your departure. How much of this have you explained to her?"

Pip grimaced and said, "Only as much as I needed to. I said nothing of The Knights or family secrets, only that we sometimes do dirty work for the families. I told her that they were likely unaware of just how dangerous matters were, so as someone aware of vampires' existences, I needed to come immediately to mediate if possible. Given the retaliation strikes happening against Hellsing and your properties, the rest of The Geese are currently under orders to stay at Hellsing Mansion, provide support if it comes under attack, and wait for my orders before doing anything else. They are not allowed to leave the property without my command to avoid potential ambushes by whoever is attacking the properties, unless there's an attack on Hellsing Mansion that's bad enough for my Lieutenant to decide that retreat is the best option. Then they will evacuate to whichever safehouse is closest and still standing, and let me know where they are when I call."

"You do realize, especially with events unfolding as they are, Sir Integra will eventually find out about your double dealings and she's going to terminate The Wild Geese's employment?"

Pip shrugged to that. "Mais oui. But I can only head off just so many problems at once."

"What if I offered you a new source of funding?"

Pip raised an eyebrow and an interested smirk formed. "Are you going to outbid Sir Integra's current payment for our services?"

"Naturally."

The mercenary grinned. Giving a wink at Seras, who was staring at the both of them with bafflement to how quickly that deal was struck, Captain Bernadotte held out his hand to the Vampire King. "Your Majesty, The Wild Geese are at your command."

Alucard gave a sanguine grin and briefly shook his hand. "Good. We may very well need the backup, without constantly having to request it through The Round Table. For now, though, you can allow Sir Integra to have their protection and continue collecting what she pays you in addition to what I'll have Walter start wiring to you. So long as she's not trying to issue orders that may be problematic to my aims, which I will expect you to inform me of if it happens, there's no need to stir up a fight with her right now and lose a useful ally."

Pip gave a gamely salute to that and lit yet another cigarette. "That's more than agreeable for moi."

Seras sputtered for a few seconds and then exclaimed, "Just like that?! You're going double agent on Sir Integra and enlisting to fight your own family just like that?!"

Pip shrugged nonchalantly. "Pourquoi pas? I'm a mercenary, ma chere. We're expendable assets in these situations. I've already been a double agent reporting on Integra once, which she won't be forgiving on if she finds out, even if I stopped years ago. Ma famille has already gotten as much use out of us as they're going to get, and the only one I truly give a fuck about is in that house behind us. And I've only stayed in Sir Integra's employ this long because it's a steady paycheck for my men to send home to their families or party on, and allows me to share my work hours with you so frequently. If your Master wants to pay me to have more time with ma chere, and help protect mes petits cousins in the process, there is no losing angle for me. Unless he tries to order me to harm you or mes petits cousins for some reason, in which case he already knows I'd shove a grenade down his throat and deal with him biting my hand off at the wrist."

Alucard gave a nod to the assessment, another chuckle rumbling out. "It seems that even without a written contract, we both understand the terms perfectly."

"A couple of war hardened mercenaries like us, I would expect so," Pip agreed. "No need to make it messy with fine print."

"Indeed not," the Vampire King said. He glanced to the lightening eastern sky and said, "Walter?"

"Yes, Master Alucard?" Walter asked passively, not the least surprised by the swiftly changing allegiances in these circumstances.

"Dawn will be arriving soon enough, and Captain Bernadotte has admittedly had an exhausting journey to join us. As the beds are at full occupancy, see to it that one of the couches in the den is made comfortable for Pip to get some rest. When Xander wakes up in about forty-five minutes, Pip will need the distance from the noises that will ensue."

"Of course, Master Alucard. I will do my best to keep the boy out of that wing of the house, and ask Valarie to do the same."

Pip waved a hand at that. "Eh, let the boy be. I will have a proper meeting with him when he wakes to satisfy his curiosity of a new person, then go crash. Once my head hits the pillow, I doubt a bit of child play will wake me."

Walter gave a nod. "As you say, Captain Bernadotte." Walter's hellfire gaze turned to his master and he asked, "Do you have any other orders for me this morning, or shall I get the bedding out of storage and then start breakfast for the child?"

"That's all for this morning, Walter," Alucard confirmed. "In light of certain revelations this morning, I need to have a long talk with Mercedes when she wakes to inform her of the current situation and the details of our plans to leave the country."

Walter gave a bow of his head and said with a hint of dry humor, "Good luck with that conversation, Master." His master's chuckles echoed behind him as he made his way back inside.

Alucard turned hellfire gaze towards Pip, who had set his empty plate on the floor of the gazebo and was now lounging back against the rail. "I may need you to have some words with your cousin to help convince her to follow different parts of the plan for her evacuation from the country."

Pip raised an eyebrow. "And which parts would that be?"

"First of all, that our means of transportation across the ocean are unavoidable. She's apparently harboring a phobia of water after the incident she had when you two were ice skating, and I've seen her have an extreme reaction to an unknown fear that caught her off guard. I don't think she's going to be pleased with needing to face her fear of water for such a long period of time."

"Merde," Pip said with a frown forming. "She still hasn't managed to conquer that fear yet?"

Alucard shook his head.

Pip sighed. "I can talk to her about it. We might want to find someplace to swipe some sedatives from to get her on the boat without making a scene, though. And perhaps be prepared for some excessive alcohol bills to keep her sedate while off land."

"Walter has already obtained some sedatives in small quantities from some hospitals and pharmacies while out hunting, in case it proves necessary."

Pip nodded to that. "Bon. Anything else?"

"You're aware your cousin is a seer." Pip nodded in confirmation to something he had already made clear earlier. "You know she can't speak lies?"

Pip gave another nod. "Oui. I used to try covering for her when we'd get into antics while visiting with family, but sometimes she couldn't help but blurt out I was lying."

Alucard gave a nod and said seriously, "Well, given that we'll need to be adopting multiple aliases to keep people from tracking us because you humans can't change your features entirely, she's going to have to agree to certain concessions to be able to not betray those details. We have an understanding with one another, but our alliance has had some snags along the way. She may be initially resistant to do so."

"Ahhh," Pip drawled out. "And if she is, you want me to help explain the necessity so we're not drawing attention?"

Alucard gave a nod.

Pip groaned and pulled yet another cigarette from the pack, and noted this one was already nearly empty. At this rate, he'd be out of the packs he had brought by tomorrow and need to go hunt down a carton somewhere. He heaved another sigh, lit his cigarette, and then looked back up at the vampire. "Can you swear to me that you're not going to be taking advantage of those arrangements?"

"I'll be treating her as I always do, unless she makes the first move to indicate she'd like me to do otherwise. Then I make no promises, save that I won't take interactions further than she's explicitly willing to allow. Demanding anything else of me would be unreasonable, and robbing her of her autonomy."

Pip glared at the vampire, as this particular aspect of their plans was somewhere at top of the short list of things he didn't like about the situation, even if he could grudgingly admit the necessity. And that evasive reassurance from the Vampire King did little to assuage his concerns, especially with the knowledge he now had of his baby cousin having a thing for vampires and vamp blood being in her veins, no matter how small. "I'm only going to say this once, Alucard. I don't care who you are, and how futile it might be, and that you are now paying me. If ma petite cousine tells me that you tried to pressure her in some way, I will toss your undead ass overboard into the ocean, or detonate my entire backpack of explosives while you're sleeping in your coffin."

"I wouldn't ever lower myself to taking a woman by force of some kind," Alucard assured him smoothly.

That answer came far too smoothly for Pip's liking. Still, the arrangements had already been made through Sir Integra before he had been informed what they were, and his first concern was getting his cousins to a much safer location. And despite his reservations on the matter, Seras was giving him an expectant look. His devastatingly beautiful girlfriend had an expressive face, and her current expression was conveying she thought he should not make waves and things would be fine.

Pip flicked the growing ash off the end of his cigarette a bit more sharply than was necessary, then said, "I will do my best to speak with ma petite cousine, but I also make no promises if she's against the idea entirely."

Alucard gave a nod. "Thank you, Captain Bernadotte. That was all. I'll leave you to catching up with Seras and your rest."

Pip warily watched the Vampire King shadow back into the house, then turned his gaze back to Seras, who was taking up a seat on his lap and leaned over to kiss his cheek with a cheery smile present. He said wryly, "Why do I feel like I just sold out ma petite cousine? Just to please ma chere no less?"

Seras laughed off the statement and pressed those soft lips he adored so much to his for another kiss, which he returned with little hesitation to be found. When they pulled apart so he could catch his breath, the Draculina said, "Of course not, silly. You're just helping make sure Miss Mercedes gets out of this mess alive. And, believe it or not, so is Master. He seems to respect her a great deal and I know he's not going to take advantage."

The mercenary rolled his remaining eye and said sarcastically, "Mais oui. And I'm as honorable as the summer day is long."

Seras laughed again and said in continuing good humor, "You're one of the most honorable men there is, in your own way. So clearly, you've got nothing to worry about by your own logic."

Pip gave another groan, that broke off into a strained laugh and he shook his head. "Mon dieu. I am glad you are ma chere. There's nothing you can't seem to turn around on me and make seem bearable, even if I think you're potentially being too optimistic for either of our good."

A bright blush flared on Seras's cheeks at the sincerely meant sentiment. It baffled him in the best of ways that someone of her undead nature could have such an adorably human reaction to his teasing. Before she could recover from her embarassment, and perhaps spring up and leave his lap bereft of her cute butt, he wrapped his arms around her and stole a much longer kiss.

The little Draculina had him wrapped around her pretty little finger; he well knew it, and he couldn't care less in these circumstances. He would gladly betray those uptight sons of whores in his family and Sir Integra a thousand time over, and commit sedition and war crimes against every country there was, if it allowed him to eek out every possible minute he could have with his beloved Seras.