Title: Family Matters

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: X-over

Series: Impure Souls

Rating: PG-13, just to be safe

Summary: Xander has hidden family. Xander discovers them. Xander's life gets turned upside down in a way that will hopefully help everyone evolve a bit.

Timeframe: After Graduation, but before the College crap starts.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

"Okay, so /why/ is my cousin in the Tower of London again?" Xander asked, bewildered.

"That's kind of what has what's left of us in a snit." Seras replied with a sigh. They had returned to Xander's motel room and after looking it over, Seras all but dragged him to her proper hotel room with his clothes and weapons in tow.

"I can imagine." Xander commented over his cup of coffee. He had been listening to Seras' recounting of events in his family for several hours now. In fact, they had been speaking so long the sun had long since risen in the east. "Still, I thought the Tower was just a tourist attraction now." he commented uneasily.

"That's what Walter refers to as a 'polite fiction' I'm afraid. The Tower is still en vogue as the place to imprison nobles that can't be tried publicly due to the nature of the offenses." Seras responded.

"Harsh." was Xander's succinct conclusion.

"Very." Seras agreed.

"So, now what?" Xander asked after an awkward pause.

"Hmm?" Seras inquired at his question as she sipped her properly brewed British tea. If she had been with Master, of even Walter, she would be drinking her daily ration of medical blood, but she didn't want to offend her guest.

"Well, I can understand just why you couldn't tell me stuff like this over the phone. The genealogical charts were a nice touch to confirm my bloodline by the way; but, now that I know, where do we go from here?" he asked.

"Well, that depends on you. I am supposed to do my best to convince you to come to England for a time to meet your family. I won't lie about that." Seras explained.

"And if I refuse?" Xander inquired coolly, his mannerisms suddenly reminiscent of Sir Integra's.

"Well, then, according to Master Alucard I'm supposed to protect you here and pester you until you agree." she admitted guiltily. As she spoke her hands trembled a bit, a sure sign she was hungry. Seras had skipped her blood packs the day before, as well as what would have been her meal the previous evening. She could almost hear her Master scolding her for her negligence in the back of her mind as a result.

It was to her total mortification that Xander noticed her distress, though. "Are you alright, Seras?" he asked.

"Oh I'm fine." she replied too brightly and too quickly. At his look, she hung her head and replied, "I'm kind of well...hungry. It wasn't as bad to react to when I was first turned, because I pretty much refused to eat at all. But, now, I'm used to drinking medical blood, so I can feel the weakness more. You know, because I've built up some power since my last fast." she finally admitted.

"Wait. You mean you're starving yourself. Why would you do that?" Xander asked, bewildered.

Seras looked down shamefaced, her voice a harsh whisper. "Because it's not right," she answered. "It's different when Master or Walter, or Sir Integra make me drink. And I know I need to do it, but...it's still not right. Not human."

Xander understood then. She was fighting her nature and clinging to her humanity. It probably didn't help that she didn't really know him. He imagined she was just as embarrassed as she was ashamed of her nature. "You don't need to hold back. It's not like you're going out and draining some poor sap. I won't think less of you if you actually eat." he said, his voice as comforting as he could make it.

Seras Victoria gave Xander a ghost of a smile as she returned, "Thank you."

"Not of the big. I mean, hey, we're practically family. Right?" he responded jokingly.

"I guess so." Seras replied, although her tone was a bit unsure. Although I certainly wouldn't find family quite this attractive. she added mentally as she got out a packet of blood from the mini fridge in her room and poured it into a bowl. As she began to eat, she noticed Xander watching her with fascination. She was relieved to see no signs of fear or revulsion in his countenance, but his stare still distracted her. "Wot?" she asked over a spoonful of red life.

"I'm sorry." Xander said with a small blush. "It's just that...the only vampires I ever saw drink a bagged lunch, well, they drank out of a glass or mug. I never pictured any vampire being civilized enough to use a bowl. It looks like you're eating tomato soup or something. It's not really something to be self conscious about when you do it."

Seras smiled gratefully as she replied, "I think I'm rare eating this way, but thank you. I know Master prefers a wine glass, or drinking it like those Capri-Sun fruit juice packs you see in the stores. This way is just easier for me, I guess."

"Well, it suits you. And let me just say, I'll never be able to look at a cherry Capri-Sun again." Xander said with a mock shudder.

His reward for his little quip was the bell like tinkle of Seras' laugh. A sound that filled him with a warm feeling.

From Integra's cell in the Tower of London, Alucard smiled a strangely warm smile as he broke his observation of his fledgling and great-great grandson through his psychic link to Seras. "I give them a week at most before he agrees to come here, Master. They are already getting along better than expected." he reported to Integra, who was seated at the small table she was provided, smoking a cigarillo.

"That is hardly a surprise considering what we know of Alex's personality. Although I am a bit astounded that you think it may be at least a week, yet." she replied in her customary deadpan.

"Well, I imagine they'll track down and exterminate the source of the ghouls they encountered last night, California time." Alucard replied with a wide smirk.

Integra glared sharply at the vampire after he spoke. "They encountered ghouls?" she growled.

"Indeed. About a dozen, as she was convincing our wayward relative that she meant no harm. It's not real concern, Master. The Police Girl is more than capable of taking out anything short of an elder among the ranks of the true nosferatu. I would wager she could have handled Incognito if she learned to let go more in battle, in fact. She really is shaping up to be one of my better creations." Alucard responded his smirk ever widening.

"I have utmost faith in Officer Victoria, Alucard. That doesn't make it any less worrisome that ghouls were sighted in an area where they would serve no purpose, save to attack Alexander and Seras." Integra spat coolly.

"That much is obvious. But still it's nothing they won't be able to handle together." Alucard replied airily.

Changing the subject a bit, Integra inquired, "Have you tracked him down, yet?"

The No Life king let out a small sigh of frustration as he responded, "Not as of yet, Master. Adrian has always had a knack for eluding me when he wished to avoid detection. With my seal limits set at their current levels, I find the task even more frustrating."

"You don't actually expect me to release your seals a bit to help the search do you?" Integra asked with an arched brow.

"I was hoping for a full release, actually, but I do know better." the vampire replied with a chuckle. After a pause, he added, "It does not help that he has no desire to see me shackled as I am. For all we fought, he still thinks the method of my servitude to be...perverse. After all, his only quarrel with me was with how I treated mankind. On some level, I think the boy still expects me to be the most powerful thing in his world, even if I must commit unspeakable evil to do so."

"It's not uncommon for a child to revere their father in some way, not matter the circumstances." Integra responded, as she remembered her own father.

"I think Alex would disagree. Although, he's had poor examples of paternal figures." Alucard countered.

"Indeed." Integra agreed.

"Do you want me to contact some independent factors to support the Police Girl and Alexander?" Alucard eventually asked.

Integra mulled the suggestion over a bit before she replied, "Not right now. As you said, both are quite capable. But have Walter compile a list of emergency aid in the are should Seras call for it."

"As you command, my Master." Alucard returned with a courtly bow.

Integra narrowed her eyes at the gesture. It was far too mockingly congenial. He was about to start bothering her again.

"Now that those matters are tended, allow me to say you look parched, Master. Perhaps you'd like a drink?" he asked, offering his right forearm to her in a clear indication he was offering to turn her again.

"Not tonight, vampire. I'm in no mood for your taunts and games. If you have nothing useful to say, then return to the manor and report to Walter." she spat, her voice like ice.

The grin never left Alucard's face as he faded from sight. "Very well. For /now/, Master." his voice echoed even though he was no longer visible, his maniacal laughter echoing throughout the Tower.

"So, what do you think was up with those ghouls last night?" Xander asked after Seras had finished eating.

"Well, we can both agree they were after one or both of us. Beyond that, all I can think to do is try to track down their maker and handle him." Seras called back from where she was brushing her teeth in the bathroom, as Xander stayed in the main part of her suite at the small table she was provided for the room.

"I have to agree with you there." Xander said grimly, as he watched her rinse and spit before rejoining him back at the table. "So, as an agent for a major vampire hunting militia, do you have any procedure or insight I should know about?" her asked curiously.

Seras thought his question over for a few moments before she replied, "Just two things. The first is the Hellsing Organization's mission statement. Search and Destroy. The other is our traditional prayer and motto. In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen."

Xander's smile was disturbingly reminiscent of cross between her Master's and Sir Integra's in Seras' opinion, as he replied, "After Sunnydale, that's a demon hunting philosophy I can really get behind."

"Glad you like it." she replied with a small smile.

An uneasy silence settled over them then as they thought over all they had learned about each other over their conversations. Finally, Xander stood and said, "Well, I imagine you need to get some rest since it's like almost noon." He took three steps toward the door before he paused and said, "Um, Seras? Where am I going to sleep? Because you kind of made me take all my stuff and leave my crummy room."

"You can stay here with me," the vampiress returned automatically, before braking into a blush as she added, "I mean since I made you leave and all. You can sleep with me..NO!...in the room, I mean. Well, I'd understand if you didn't want to be near me with me being a vampire an' all, but that is...you can take the bed, and I'll take the couch. So long as it's dark it doesn't matter where I rest."

"I don't want to kick you out of your bed, Seras. I'll take the couch." Xander replied gallantly.

"Nono. I all but forced you to stay here. It's only right you take the bed." she responded.

There was a look that would brook no argument as Xander said, "Seras, you're taking the bed. I'm taking the couch."

She didn't know if it was her attraction to him, the fact he resembled her master, the utter resolve in his face, or a combination of all of them; but, whatever the reason she found herself replying, "Okay."

Xander nodded resolutely to himself, even as his mind screamed at him for being stupid. You moron! You just agreed to sleep in the same room as some uber hot vampiress and ordered her around like your king of the castle or something? Are you mental? What if she gets ticked and attacks you, or starts crying, or you walk in on her in the shower or something... Xander's mental scolding paused to revel in the mental image that conjured for a second, before picking up again. Baseball, baseball...2x24, 3x39, focus, Xander! Okay, so maybe it isn't a totally bad thing...oh just shoot me now. You're hopeless, Harris! he spat in his head.

Needless to say, he got very little rest that afternoon.

END PART 4