Well I don't own Hellsing… DUR! I'm just a random fool who loves the blessed thing.

Anyway be warned… this is quite random, frightful (hahaha, NOT frightening!), and spontaneous. Quite the combination.

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Explosions of coloured light illuminated the Hellsing Mansion, making it appear to anybody travelling by air to be the scene of a great firework display. Different shades of gold danced around the night sky surrounding the house, sometimes although small, glowing vigorously like the baubles on a Christmas tree. To view the illuminations from a distance was enthralling, to see the way the different lights decorated the walls of the dimly lit mansion. But to witness the lights up close whilst pressing her body against one of these walls, Integra Hellsing had no grasp of the fascination and fantasy of what she saw before her.

Her teeth grinded against the stub of a cigarillo whilst her hands, trembling ever so slightly, felt blindly for the back entrance into the mansion. She was very much alone now, and appeared to be powerless without any sort of weapon. Nevertheless, she was seemingly unaffected by the damage her body was under; the cuts on her arms and legs irrelevant to dwell on compared to her purpose. Her mind was clearly focused on what was to be done, and her mind persisted in reminding her of her purpose in running Hellsing until she felt the cold steel of the doorknob underneath her hand.

She opened the door with a swift movement of her wrist and let her arms fall to her sides when she saw the two figures in front of her. Kneeling on the floor, her face streaked in bloody tears, was Seras Victoria. Her clothes were torn and stained black with the weight of blood. Integra wrinkled her nose at the overpowering scent of blood and sweat that seemed to rise from the young Draculina. Her eyes moved to the lying corpse in the vampire's lap, eyes concealed by his matted hair, but unmistakably the captain, Pip Bernadette, now nothing more than another pointless human sacrifice.

Integra's eyes returned to Seras who was whimpering like a small child. The vampire's disturbed blood red eyes were on Integra, anxious and scared. Although it was unnecessary for her to breathe, Seras's chest rose and fell as she became increasingly hysterical and choked back further tears. It was a pitiful sight.

Integra cleared her throat before asking, "Are you the only one left?" Her eyes fell to the floor as Seras continued to sob, struggling to construct a simple sentence. "I…I!" she started, and then moved one of her arms from round Pip to wipe the blood from round her eyes.

"S-sir… In…Integra," she started again.

"Well?" she asked calmly, not raising her eyes to meet Seras's.

"I am already dead."

There was a long pause. "Yes, you are," Integra said, fishing in her pocket for her lighter. With hands still trembling she brought it to her lips, and struggled to light it, noticing how short of lighter fluid she was. Shit, she thought, allowing herself only to focus on the small difficulty she was experiencing, rather than the much larger problem at hand.

"That means…" Seras started. She didn't allow herself to finish, as she watched Integra smash the lighter onto the floor in front of her, and then stand on the discarded item with her heel.

"Yes, I know what that means," she said, shuffling her foot back and forth, listening to the crunching beneath her feet that her movements made. She closed her eyes and ears against all other sounds, pleasuring in her own personal act of destruction. She was brought abruptly back to reality by a panic-stricken scream.

"Sir- Integra! You need to hide, they are coming!"

"Hellsing is my organisation, I hide from nobody."

"But…!"

Her voice rose aggressively, "I need to protect my organisation."

"But you are the organisation!" Seras's words escaped her before she could think them through. A silence seemed to fall over the room and Integra's eyes snapped open. "I mean… err…" Seras half-expected Integra to cut her off, but she could see that her master was considering the words she had just uttered and so she continued, "What… what else is there… to protect?"

An unreadable look passed over Integra's face and her teeth dug deep through her cigarillo into her bottom lip as she considered this. Her hands clenched by her side, she found herself powerless to move, regardless of Seras's screams. "Integra! Integra!"

The sound of gunfire increased in volume and Integra jerked to attention. "I must fight."

"No! You… aaaaaargh!" Seras let a bloodcurling scream escape her throat as glass cascaded from the window above her, digging into her flesh, and blood exploded from Integra's right shoulder. She stumbled backwards in shock more than physical pain and gripped her injured arm with her free arm. Her eyes were now wide and full of panic. The cigarillo joined the lighter on the floor, another cascaded object and Integra whimpered in pain.

"GO! GO NOW!" Seras yelled, her voice rising in terror. Integra stood dazed for a second, powerless to respond, before she found use of her feet, and began to sidestep towards the door which would take her through to the main body of the house. Her heart began to beat rapidly as she heard the door she had previously entered through bang open. She picked up pace not allowing herself to ever look back. I'm counting on you, Seras. Do your duty.

Integra found herself isolated in darkness in the main hall that she entered into. Her eyes followed the line of high windows completely round the room, noting the occasional light that sprung from them outside, highlighting the broken glass. She felt a chill come over her and her eyes fell once again on her wound, which was beginning to cause her a great deal of pain. She used her free hand to cover the rapidly spreading black stain on her shoulder and began to drag herself unsteadily across the room. She brought herself to focus on her feet, enabling that she didn't fall. She had to keep going, had to reach the third floor, and maintain some kind of control over her empire.

But you're the only one left. What is there to do?

A sharp pain ran through her arm and she hissed in pain. It was bearable, she had been able to face worse danger than this…

She could keep going. Seras would be able to protect her while she began to repair the damage that Millennium had enforced upon her empire. And yet…

Their figures, multiplying all the time. Her own men becoming ghouls, enemies against Hellsing, or else facing the same fate Pip had faced.

What is there to do?

"Where are you," she asked, suddenly having little faith in her protector. Who was she kidding, Seras couldn't solely protect her. There needed to be a defence and an offence. She couldn't keep running forever. Where was he?

"Where are you?" she yelled more agressively and suddenly felt a rush of dizziness. She momentarily lost her balance and her back smashed into the wall, sending another sharp pain through her arm. She clutched it desperately with her spare arm and began to breath in and out deeply. But she was aware of her eyes falling out of focus and the rush of tiredness that came over her… she was succumbing to unconsciousness, but she couldn't; she was strong.

You're only human.

She forced herself to move onwards, desperately attempting to ignore her injury and focusing on the movement of her feet through blurred vision. She found it difficult to think straight, only allowing her feet beneath her and a subconsciously knowledge of where she was heading be her guide. But her feet took her away from the staircase now…

…It was down a dark tunnel now that she began to descend. Now no longer able to follow her feet in the darkness, her uninjured arm acted as a support by tracing the wall to the side of her with her fingertips. She could feel it now as much as she wanted to resist, that feeling of heaviness; her body felt weak, her mind clouded and unfocused. In the moments of darkness when her eyelids closed over the damaged world she allowed herself to think back to her youth. Her father before her, when he had been weak, and looking to her for strength. He will come…

"Integra…" Her mind struggled to recall word for word the conversation they had had prior to his death. Frustrated with herself, she tried to focus her mind to remember. Tears were now unconsciously falling down her cheeks, and she bruised her body against the hard wall as she viciously pressed on towards the ajar door that lay ahead.

One of her feet didn't give her enough support and she stumbled onto the floor, a stripe of blood from her shoulder painting the stone wall. Fiercely, she clawed the wall, trying to drag her back to her feet, trying to ignore the unbearable fatigue her body was under. "Not… yet!" she cried, forcing herself vigorously back onto her feet.

But it was unbearable. With the last surge of energy she had she threw herself forwards, saw the dark opening in front of her, and watched her body descend, down, down…

She wasn't sure how much time passed. She allowed herself to take in the impenetrable silence around her as she regained consciousness. As her eyes began to open she felt the steady beating of her heart, and the warmth which now surrounded her. Her hand traced gently over soft material against her torso until she felt the warmth of unfamiliar flesh on her shoulder. Her lips curled into a smile.

"You have fulfilled your duty."