"Miss Victoria," It was Walter at her door again. If Seras hadn't expected his visit she might have growled in annoyance. Why was it that just when she'd allowed herself to become completely miserable he would show up to distract her from her angst?

"Come in Walter," she couldn't quite stop the annoyance from creeping into her tone. The door opened and Walter smiled,

"I know you've had a long day Miss Victoria," Just what the hell does that mean? "But Sir Integra wonders if you might join her for a cup of tea."

"Wonders…" Seras echoed doubtfully, Wonders. Right. Polite terminology for 'Get your about to be destroyed vampire butt in here so I can chew you out for chewing on one of my soldiers',

"Of course, if you prefer to be alone I can always make apologies, but I dare say that there is no time like the present to set things right."

Seras groaned, bringing a mixture of amusement and surprise to the old steward's eyes,

"I'll go," she answered grudgingly, "Should I bring a stake and some garlic along?"

He actually laughed at that, "May I suggest calming down a trifle Miss Victoria, while Sir Integra is… abrupt, she's hardly unfair. I think this whole situation embarrasses her more than anything. Besides, you took care of the vampire this evening, and we both know that she approves of that. Just follow me, Sir Integra has a sitting room, and while it's not exactly overused it's quite comfortable."

The two marched slowly (due more to the young vampire's reluctance than the old steward) up the stairs from the basement level to the upstairs of the mansion. When Walter revealed the sitting room, Seras was inclined to forget her gloom a moment. It was… shocking was the only adjective that Seras could conjure. Not only was the room painted a pale peach shade and decorated in pretty sage and pink shades, but the painting over the little fireplace was of flowers.

"This room belonged to my mother when I was a girl."

Seras' attention was drawn to Sir Integra, seated on a comfy looking sofa across from the fireplace. The Hellsing leader's back was ramrod straight and she contrasted sharply with the feminine décor of the room in her starched suit, but there was a flicker of warmth in her eyes and her voice was uncommonly nostalgic,

"When she died my father let me use it as sitting room."

The young vampire was unsure what to say to that so she simply nodded in reply.

"Earl Greyer Sir Integra?" Walter put in gently, "Or would something gentler suffice?"

"What was that lovely peach tea you served at breakfast the other day?" Integra asked, her gaze shifting to the steward,

"Ginger Peach, excellent choice, I'll have up in a moment."

Seras watched Walter's retreating back and wondered suddenly what he thought when he spoke to Integra. Certainly she didn't intimidate him- didn't try to as far as Seras could tell. She couldn't imagine knowing everything about the so called 'Virgin of Steel' from what size suit she wore, to what type of feminine products she used.

"Walter is my oldest friend," Sir Integra said suddenly, almost as though reading Seras' mind, although Seras knew that that sort of trick was reserved for Alucard, "More than a friend really. In many ways he's become like… an uncle I suppose. He's closer than any family member I have still living…"

As her voice trailed off Seras wondered who Integra was thinking about, her eyes had become so hard, almost unforgiving. The moment passed however,

"I'm sure you know why I wanted to speak to you."

Seras looked down, "Yes Sir Integra."

"It's my fault in some small degree."

Seras' head jerked back up, "What?"

"We aren't… friendly you and I." Integra looked vaguely embarrassed and Seras tried to imagine what she was talking about,

"I hardly expect you to befriend one of your operatives. Much less…" It was her turn to trail off then, as she tried to think of the proper way to explain herself,

"My point Officer Victoria is that you are really quite alone. I have no fantasies that the men in my employment are any more accepting of you than they are of Alucard. In many ways they're less so. Alucard doesn't walk the fine line that you travel between man and monster. They know what he is and they can understand it. You… You're a novelty to them. So very human, but with the strength and skill of a nosferatu- They fear that more than anything you know, your strength,"

There was a slight smirk on Integra's face that Seras didn't understand straight away, then after a moment of consideration she realized, that- at least in that sense of things- she and Sir Integra had something in common,

"However, trying to befriend them has proved an ill choice for you. Lt. Harper was… humiliated I believe would be the proper word, and outraged as well."

"I'm sorry Sir Integra," Seras interjected, "I don't know what came over me."

There was another smirk, this one a bit gentler than the first, a little less ironic too, "As Alucard would say, it's your youth. I believe that you were swept away by the notion of a friend, and that our unfortunate Lt. Harper was attracted to what he thought would be an exotic experience."

Seras looked away, embarrassed and aggravated, "I thought he was cute," she confided, "I would have liked him before too."

Integra smiled, "I think that he would have liked you back. In this instance you've both learned a valuable lesson. Lt. Harper has learned that just because something seems intoxicating doesn't mean he should chase after it, and you learned that things are different now."

It was as though she was hearing it for the first time. Seras felt angry tears well up behind her eyes and she busied herself staring at the pattern on the sofa,

"You won't be allowed to go on anymore missions from here on out Seras." Integra's tone was firm, but not cruel, "You're ready for your own missions, and besides that the men won't trust you any longer. You've proven more than capable at information retrieval and investigations. I think that it's time for you to learn more about yourself as you are now. Alucard will teach you some things of course, but you will learn yourself as well. In the meantime I want you to understand that problems are better discussed. Walter is always willing to listen… as am I."

Seras tried not to appear shocked at the last statement and failed utterly. However before anything else was said the door opened and Walter came in, a silver tray in hand,

"We were out of the ginger peach Sir Integra so I made some blackberry sage. It's quite nice and I thought the Police Girl might like the smell of it."

Seras sniffed the air tentatively and grinned at the odor of fresh berries and tea, "It smells lovely, thank you Walter."

"My pleasure," the 'Angel of Death' smiled, "Are things right again?"

Integra took a sip of tea, "Of course they are Walter."

"Yep," Seras agreed, taking an experimental sip of the tea.

"Oh good," Walter smiled, "Because I just received a report about some unusual activity in Westing. Shall I bring the reports up?"

"After tea," Integra answered, "They can wait until after tea."

End

A/N: Phew! Well it ended a little sappy, but after reading (albeit a very little) bit of the manga I wanted to show a slightly softer side of Integra. I can't imagine why they made her so much harsher in the anime. She's not that bad. I see her and Seras in a sort of big sister / little sister relationship. Anyhow, hope you liked it. I'll try and start another one soon! - Lindsey