Wow I actually managed to sit down and complete something. Surprising, considering all the muddled ideas swimming around in my head. To ease the pressure off of the daunting task that sits before me, I have decided to combine some of the endings. Here I bring you the first in a series of possible outcomes: "The obligatory PxS and AxI endings" in which the cliché of mistletoe is explored.

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With Integra's encouragements and with Pip sitting across from her, Seras slowly relaxed into a routine of stilted conversation and eggnoggy goodness. Seras couldn't truthfully remember the last time she had drank some of the holiday concoction, but she didn't recall it burning such a pleasant trail down her throat. The way it warmed her insides was almost like the euphoric effect she got after drinking blood.

With a pleased sigh she left her eyes slip shut for a moment. A few seconds later something small and hard bounced off the middle of her forehead. Her eyes snapped open, and she glanced down at the offending object: a large green pea.

She glanced around, quickly lighting on Pip as he averted his gaze and whistled a nameless tune. She quirked an eyebrow at him, picking up the pea and flicking it back at him with deadly accuracy. It pinged off of him, hitting him squarely between the eyes and landing in his glass.

He grinned at her; winking as well as someone with one eye could before he started humming a tune she recognized quite well. One that belonged to a certain ribald song he had sung a time or two in her presence.

The blonde vampire narrowed her eyes and gave him a little kick under the table. Pip gave an exaggerated wince, before moving his foot to brush against the inside of her leg.

Seras sputtered on her nog, glancing around furtively to see if anyone had noticed their little game. Deciding it was all in good fun; she slipped her foot out of her shoe and slid it up the cuff of his pants a few inches. She was more than gratified to see his eye widen, and his face gain a reddish tinge to it.

Stifling a giggle, she grabbed another pea and aimed it at him, but was quickly distracted when Pip used his other leg to sandwich her leg between his, effectively trapping her foot in his pants. She blushed madly as the pea veered off course, pinging off the back of Anderson's head which was turned to talk to the person beside him.

The priest turned around, peering around curiously before giving her obviously flustered face an odd look. Seras coughed into her napkin, yanked her foot from between Pip's legs, and slipped her shoe back on. With a slight nod to a seemingly out of it Integra, she got up and pushed her chair in, before quickly slipping off into a side hallway.

She stopped and leaned against the stone wall of the darkened corridor, covering her flaming cheeks with her hands as she finally gave into a fit of giggles.

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As the night progressed everyone seemed to become more and more relaxed with the situation. Food and drink continued to flow, followed by loosened lips and inhibitions...

Integra stifled a yawn, the day's events finally starting to catch up with her. She had been so harried the previous night; she had gotten very little sleep.

She took another sip of eggnog as she half listened to snatches of conversation from the surrounding drunken revelry. Drunken? Had they drank that much? She had expected as much from the mercenaries, but even she was fully surprised when the Iscariot members started to show the signs of being genuinely blitzed.

It wasn't as easy to tell when Maxwell had started to get drunk, as he seemed to hold his liquor rather well. The first signs had been when his posture has loosened, and the ever present ice behind his eyes had thawed a bit. In general he seemed to have eased the stick out of his butt.

For others the warning signs were much clearer, such as the slightly red faced nun lifting her glass and yelling "Kampai!" every few minutes.

As the noise seemed to blur into a dull roar, Integra propped her cheek on the palm of her hand and let her eyes slip closed...

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"Uncle Walter!" She said with her mouth still full, before blushing and finishing the bite. "I was hoping you would come today."

"Of course, someone had to help your father pick out a nice tree," he said with a wide smile.

Integra slipped into the kitchen, looking both ways before covertly snatching a gingerbread man off of the cooling rack. With a smile she sat down at the table, nibbling at her pilfered prize happily.

"Integra, are you spoiling your dinner again?" Integra jumped, nearly choking on the man-shaped confection.

"Is daddy back as well?" she asked, instantly hopping to her feet.

"He's helping set up the tree right now," he answered.

Integra stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth before tearing out of the kitchen and into the great hall.

"Daddy!" she cried as she spotted the man, who was supervising the placement of the tree.

"Tegra! There's my girl," he laughed, dropping to one knee to receive her tackling hug.

"I missed you daddy," she said, giving him and extra hard squeeze before pulling away.

"I mean, welcome home father. How was Germany?" the girl asked, straightening herself and curtsying just as her etiquette teacher had taught her.

"Just fine dearest. I brought you something," he said before rising to retrieve one of several broad, flat boxes. Integra shifted from foot to foot, trying not to give into the temptation to bounce with childish glee.

"Oh what is it?" she asked as he leaned back down to present her with the box. While he held it she hastily pulled the lid off, revealing rows of sparkling Christmas ornaments.

"Ooh they're so pretty!" she gasped, instantly reaching out to grab one. Her mouth forming a little "O" she held it up to the light, where it glimmered like some delicate spun sugar confection.

"Would you like to hang the first one?" he asked his mouth quirking as he watched her fascination.

"Oh! Can I?" the big blue-eyed girl asked, even as she was skipping towards the tree.

"Where do you want to hang it?" he asked her as she stared up at the tall tree, which seemed even more so from her tiny stature.

"Up high! Way high!" she said, laughing as he scooped her up, holding her out so she could hang the first ornament front and center.

"Oh it's so pretty," she said, straightening her glasses.

"Just a few more days. Merry Christmas Tegra."

"Merry Christmas daddy."

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With a muted thump, Integra's face slipped from the seat of her hand, her forehead colliding squarely with the table.

"Oof," with a groan she quickly sat back up, looking around blearily and hoping no one had noticed her momentary lapse in dignity.

"A little far in our cups are we Miss Hellsing?" Maxwell drawled, leaning forward to give her that famed smirk. Integra smirked right back, wondering where the Police girl, who had been between them, had slipped off to.

"Not that far Enrico," she said his first name slowly, relishing the way his eyebrow twitched before she stood up.

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Seras ending #1: PxS

Pip cleared his throat, and straightened the bottom of his shirt before standing. He glanced around to make sure he hadn't drawn any undue attention to himself. The Iscariot members seemed to be occupied quite nicely, and Integra appeared to have dozed off right at the table. That was quite uncharacteristic of her, but he had put an awful lot of rum in the eggnog.

He pulled his shirt down again before nearly limping away from the table. He'd be damned if 'footsie' wasn't one of his weaknesses. As he walked past, on impulse he gently poked Integra on the back of her head before quickly slinking after Seras. He smiled as he heard a small 'thump' followed by a muffled 'oof' a scant few seconds later.

When he found Seras, she was desperately trying to stifle a fit of giggles behind her hands.

"Is something funny Police girl?" he asked with a chuckle of his own.

"Oh Pip," she said through a burble of laughter. "This has been such a crazy night."

His lips quivered before he laughed in agreement. Little did she know how he had contributed to the festivities. Speaking of which... The mercenary Captain leaned against the spot of wall to her right, quickly glancing around for another one of his 'surprises' that he had put nearly everywhere imaginable. With an inward curse he realized that this darkened corridor which housed mainly food stores and supplies had been one of the few places he hadn't expected to end up tonight. Damn, looked like he had wasted his money after all, unless...

"So, can I walk you back to your room?" he asked casual like. The very first piece of mistletoe he had hung was right outside her doorway.

"I suppose so," she said with a little sigh. She really didn't want the night to end, even if it had been quite the harrowing experience. For a few moments she didn't move, just soaking up the warmth of the man next to her.

"Shall we then?" he asked with a grin, again holding out his arm for her. She giggled before taking it, experiencing a profound case of déjà vu.

They walked in comfortable silence, and to Seras they seemed to reach her door all too fast.

"So then," he trailed off, pinning her with an intense look before seeming to get distracted by something. He glanced around, his eyes resting on the little bundle of mistletoe directly above their heads. "My, what have we here? A bit of holiday cheer. I wonder how this could have gotten there." he said in mock bewilderment.

Seras giggled and leaned forward to press a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. He gave her a lopsided grin, and leaned in to claim a better one. She smiled and pressed her finger to the tip of his nose, halting him just a scant inch from her face.

"That reminds me," he murmured, pulling back from her. "What time is it?"

"Hmm, well past midnight." It took a moment for her eyes to focus.

"Well then," he chuckled lowly, pulling a slender wrapped box out of his jacket pocket, "Merry Christmas."

Her eyes got wide as she took the box from him and enthusiastically ripped off the bright paper, Christmas always made her so giddy. She opened the long narrow velvet box with a muted snap, revealing its contents: a pair of shiny gold dog tags. She made a little 'oooh' sound as she lifted them up for closer inspection. They were engraved with her name and other personal details, but what really did it for her was the fact that one of them proclaimed her an 'Honorary member of the Wild Geese'. Her eyes prickled with tears as she put them on. They were beautiful no doubt, but it was the other gift this symbolized that took her breath away; he was giving her the one thing she craved most: acceptance.

"Oh Pip," she whispered, pulling him in for a hug that was tighter than most humans would have been comfortable with. She felt so silly; all she had gotten him was a stupid sweater. Making up her mind and acting before she could change it, she drew him in for a deep passion filled kiss. Pip froze in surprise for a moment, before placing his hand on the back of her head and kissing her deeper. Even if her lips were slightly chill, the air around them seemed to crackle with heat.

A few moments later she pulled away, face flushed and breathing fast. "Would you, like to come in?" she asked in a small shy voice, placing her hand on the door knob behind her.

"I think I'd like that," he whispered happily.

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Integra ending #1: The AxI ending

With a relieved sigh she slipped into her study, pleased to see a fire was already burning cheerily in the hearth. Gratefully she lowered herself in the old leather chair, savoring the blessed silence that was only interrupted by the muted pops of the burning logs nearby.

"Rather dull, wasn't it?" Alucard asked, slipping from the bookcase to her left.

"Too noisy for my taste," Integra murmured without opening her eyes. She heard the creaking of the matching chair next to her as he sat down. For a few moments they just sat in companionable silence.

"I was surprised there wasn't even a hint of violence tonight," he said on a sigh.

"And disappointed no doubt," she said evenly.

"Naturally. What is a Christmas without a little bloodshed," the ancient vampire said with a chuckle.

"Indeed," the corner of her mouth twitched slightly at the improbability of it all.

"It's after midnight and everything has gone well. Does that mean I get my present?" he said with a fangy smile.

One of Integra's eyes popped open as she remembered the earlier teasing comment she had made.

"Aside from blood and destruction, what do you want this year?" she asked, looking over at his firelight framed silhouette. What did one get the vampire that had everything?

"Ah, I've always considered the custom of gift giving at Yule time a peculiar thing. Why celebrate the birth of your supposed savior with the exchanging of material goods?" he mused aloud.

Integra sighed; this was actually something she had always wondered herself. Christmas had lost most of its meaning for her when she no longer had much of a family to spend it with.

"Does that mean you don't want anything?" she asked her eyes slipping back closed.

Several moments passed before she heard the rustling of cloth and the crinkling of old leather.

"Not all customs are terrible I find," Alucard murmured with a hint of amusement in his voice. Integra opened her eyes again, slowly focusing on the little bundle of dried plant matter he was twirling between his fingers. It had a little red ribbon, and he seemed to be studying it with a pensive expression on his face.

"Where on earth did you get that?" she grumbled, not at all sure she liked where this was going.

"The manor seemed to be veritably infested with the stuff," he chuckled, continuing to flip it over in his fingers. "As I understand it, it is tradition for two people who find themselves underneath this to share a kiss."

"I suppose so. But nothing says we must always strictly adhere to tradition," she said pursing her lips, watching the way the firelight flicking behind him shrouded his face in dancing shadows.

"Would you begrudge your humble servant a bit of holiday cheer?" he purred, slinking closer.

Integra sighed. She was pretty tired, and more than a little drunk, and most of all she didn't feel like debating right now.

"I suppose not," her lips quirked as she watched his approach.

He bent down on one knee, his tall form still looming slightly over her sitting one, and raised the mistletoe above their heads. Her eyes slid shut as he leaned in, pressing his lips chastely against hers. His lips slowly worked against hers, melting away her revolve with hundreds of years of experience.

Instinctively she found her hands slipping into his hair, as his cool tongue swept through her mouth. It was not an unpleasant sensation, somewhat like kissing someone who had recently eaten an ice-cream. He nipped at her bottom lip, careful not to break the skin as his gloved hand snaked over her chest. Integra fought the urge to pull him closer, and slowly broke the kiss.

"I don't believe the tradition includes groping," she said in a slightly husky voice that sounded strange to her. It took a moment for her eyes to focus on his grinning face.

"True. But as you said Master, we need not always adhere strictly to tradition," he whispered, he making no move to pull away, her making no move to push him.

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Phew. I liked that set up SO much; I might just go back and revisit it with a few other characters ending up together. I couldn't seem to help putting in the very tiny hints for other pairings, so I think it could be easily adapted. See if you guys can guess which pairings I'd do with this setting. Pairings next up on the list: Wouldn't you like to know (I'm thinking AxS and maybe ExI) Merry Christmas!