A/N: Hm...well, thanks for the reviews. I'm sure Thess will be glad to know that you think Integra (yes I call her Integra unless she's saying her entire name cause Integral is just too darn hard to think) is in character (for now, mwahaha. hehe, hey, it's me. I follow whatever storyline I want. *weg*) Anywho. Yes I could use some help with the title. It was a spur of the moment 'this sounds like crap but I'm using it cause it's all I've got.' So if you have any ideas, feel free to share :D Btw, cutting a chapter off in the climax of a scene isn't usually my style, but if you've been following my work lately, I've been experimenting with different styles so yeah, deal.

Chapter 2

-Janus

Integra's eyes blazed an icy flame as she shot a deadly glare at the vampire standing beside Dracula. She turned her threat to Dracula, her voice hedging on irritation. 'I've had enough of this twisted game. Who sent you? Speak!'

Dracula chuckled, amused by the mortal's fire. 'As you are in my territory, I believe it is I who have the right to ask that question.'

Integra defiantly aimed her gun at Mina's heart. 'You aren't in the position to ask me anything.'

Mina looked up at Dracula, slightly nervous about the weapon but remembering its ineffectiveness against her master. She giggled and asked, 'She's not serious, is-?' Suddenly she squealed, hearing a faint rustling in the earth. She bolted from Dracula's side, running past Integra and nearly diving at Jonathan's grave. Integra's eyes cautiously followed the young vampire as she considered her dilemma. She had no moral problem destroying the vampires, the male perhaps being harder to kill; however, she was forced to admit to herself that she needed one of them alive for the time being. The night was still young, but the temperature was dropping rapidly. Slowly the stars and moon were being covered by thick clouds, and an icy wind had started to pick up. Integra needed to find shelter soon. She needed to know where she was.

'Are you prepared to back your words, young one?' Dracula's voice broke through her thoughts. She glanced quickly at Mina's crouched form grappling for the newly awoken vampire. Soon Mina had pulled Jonathan to his feet and he stood eyeing Integra from the side. Integra turned her gaze on Dracula and took a few steps back to allow herself a full view of both the master vampire and the two fledglings. She kept her eye on Dracula, but her gun was aimed at Jonathan and Mina.

'Tell me where I am, or I kill both of them,' she stated matter-of-factly.

Dracula remained unmoving. 'Do you think I care for them? Kill them. If you do not know where you are, that is your problem.'

'And they're your servants...' Integra snickered, kneeling down to retrieve her fallen sabre, never taking her eyes off Dracula. 'Vampires today - no manners.'

Dracula ignored her comments. 'Not frightened, are you?' he taunted, his voice sinister as Mina moved around to his left and Jonathan took a few steps closer.

Integra cast him a blank stare, all three of the vampires now well within her field of vision. 'Just a cautious predator getting a clear view of the hunting field.'

Dracula smirked and laughed. 'You amuse me, young one.'

I know that laugh, she thought to herself, unable to quite place the familiarity. 'Glad I can be of service,' she snapped sarcastically to mask her confusion.

In a sudden swift movement, and as one body, the three vampires charged her; Mina from her right; Jonathan from her left; and Dracula straight ahead. Integra dropped into a ready fighting stance, holding her sabre out defensively. Dracula reached her first, breaking into a cloud of mist that washed over her at the same time his body met her sabre. There was a brief lag before Jonathan reached her. As fast as she could manage, Integra thrust her sabre into Jonathan's chest, just barely missing his heart. Using the momentum he had gained, Integra flipped him over herself and into Mina's charging form, casting them both to the ground. Before the infant vampires had the time to regain their feet Integra had shot cross-shaped patterns through their hearts.

She smirked as their bodies stilled. Easy enough, Integra thought, grabbing Mina's hair and beheading her. She repeated the process with Jonathan and wiped the blade off on the leg of his pants before returning it to its proper place. Integra took a deep breath and stepped back, looking around warily for the master vampire.

The cemetery was too quiet, but Integra was not fool enough to believe that Dracula had left for good when his servants had attacked. Unfortunately for her, Dracula was standing right behind her when she stepped back and instantly locked his arm across her shoulders, pulling her into himself. For a split second they were both frozen, as time and space distorted around them and Dracula pulled Integra with him through a vortex. When she was able to move again she rammed her elbow against him with a growled order to stay away from her.

Perhaps it was Integra's resistance, perhaps it was the approaching storm, or perhaps it was their instantaneous arrival in the courtyard in the shadow of an ominous castle that prompted Dracula to release Integra with a chuckle. Whatever the reason, Integra bolted a few steps away and spun on the vampire, drawing her gun again quickly and aiming it at his heart.

'Where did you bring me?' she demanded, her finger tightening on the trigger of her weapon.

Dracula gazed firmly into her crystalline eyes and taunted, 'Your weapons cannot hurt me, but, by all means, go ahead and try.'

'Don't tempt me,' Integra snapped back.

Dracula to a step forward, an arrogant smirk playing across his lips. 'Do it.'

Almost before he spoke Integra had fired the gun, but the silver bullet hit only mist. She glared at the vampire rematerializing out of vapor. It was clear to her that she was quite overpowered, and even more lost than she had been in the cemetery. She hated that.

'Where the hell am I?' she asked again, fuming inside but keeping her voice steady, if only edged with malice and murder.

'Transylvania, young one,' he replied, casually clasping his hands behind his back.

Integra blinked, not even considering the possibility of potential truth to his response. 'That country was dissolved, but nice try.'

Grating even more on her nerves, the smirk on Dracula's lips never faltered. 'I must have been absent during that time,' he retorted satirically.

'Stop playing games with me, vampire,' Integra said through clenched teeth, furious beyond words. 'Why did you bring me here?'

'You amuse me, young one, and I'm bored,' Dracula answered simply.

'I'm not a toy,' Integra commented, looking around for a way out of the courtyard. 'Find someone else to play with.' This sod is so dead once I contact Alucard.

Noticing where her eyes were glancing, Dracula grinned. 'You are welcome to stay and be warm, or you can brave the snow and wolves through the mountains to the village.'

Integra shot him a tightlipped, very annoyed smile and shot back, 'I think I'll take my chances with the mountains.'

'It's at least a full day's walk, and there's a blizzard coming,' he pointed out, glancing up at the menacing clouds. Running his eyes unnecessarily over her clothing, Dracula stepped out of Integra's path. 'But, as I said, you are welcome to try.'

Integra hesitated, loathing the idea of staying in a vampire's lair, yet knowing she still had no clue where the village was, or indeed where she was. The odds were not in her favour either way, but even less so braving a blizzard with no winter gear and no food.

'If you or any of your servants lay a fang on me...' Integra threatened, fumbling for words in her frustration, 'you'll know the meaning of pain.'

Dracula laughed, visibly enjoying infuriating the woman. 'Terrified, I assure you,' he mocked. 'Try not to provoke me, and I give you my word that I will not harm you. The others, I cannot be responsible for them.'

Integra considered throwing back her own threat but could find nothing suitable. At last she settled for spitting, 'Good idea.'

Still wearing his grating smirk, Dracula opened the heavy wooden door effortlessly and made way for Integra to pass.

'What's your name, vampire?' she asked when she was inside the main foyer. She crossed her arms, eyeing her surroundings as if she had recently come into possession of the castle and was disgusted by what she saw.

'You already guessed it, young one,' Dracula replied as the door swung shut on it's own.

Integra ignored his answer. 'I'll just refer to you as 'vampire' then,' she said, still surveying the building. She casually strode towards a chair and sat down, facing the tall vampire and working out a strategy in her head.

'You may not wish to stay so exposed in this house,' Dracula warned, raising his eyebrow. His words were honest, but his tone dripped with mischief and contention. 'There are dark secrets best left to themselves. Perhaps more comfortable quarters?'

Integra pulled out a box of little cigars and a lighter from a pocket in her suit coat. She lit one and leaned back into the chair, meeting Dracula's non-verbal challenge with her own. 'I'm fine here.'

'I leave you at your own risk then, young one,' he grinned slightly, enough to send shivers down any mortal's spine. Integra was unfazed. Not waiting for another scintillating response from her, Dracula vanished, and Integra was left alone in the foyer.

Drawing a long puff out of her cigar she sighed. This is going to be a long night.

A/N: Thess wants me to point out that this is slightly AU by Hellsing standards. I disagree but she's the Hellsing expert on this end, so yeah. No digs on the storyline at least. What else? Oh, she's commented a few times on that she's blending manga and anime characterizations, mainly in Integra and her interactions with other characters in the coming chapters. (I think that's where she got the AU claim.) And something about being set before Rip Van Winkle's attack or something. ask her, lol.

btw, sorry it took so long to update. we ended up going back and completely rewriting an entire (very large) chunk of the beginning of the plot, so yeah. :D hope you enjoyed. Next update shouldn't take nearly so long. (but you never know, *weg*)