All the computer cables were sitting where they needed to be. The only connection waiting to be made up connected the cable modem to the wall. He still had the access codes, and the computer itself had suffered no damage since his arrival. He just had to plug in the computer… But why couldn't he get his hand to do it?

It was nerves. He knew more than enough time had passed, and he'd probably have at least a couple messages waiting for them. He was even pretty sure what they would say. But still… he was nervous. He tried to put it aside, and forces his hand to make up the connection.

Slipping into the chair, he spent a couple minutes in system configurations coaxing his computer to accept data through the cable modem again. Once again he debated upgrading from Windows ME… and once again he decided against it. Hey, if nothing else he could gloat about having the only working copy of the OS on the planet.

A reset or two later, the computer read a signal. He pulled up Outlook and checked his e-mail. The junk box grew to staggering proportions, while a precious few came to his in-box. Of those few, two stood out. One was from his father, the other from his girlfriend Akira. He debated on which one to open first. He first thought of opening the one that made him less nervous… but that was thrown out the window quickly. They BOTH made him nervous. His dad's had come in first. He read that one.

Hello son,

It is good to know you're alive. I'd been getting worried. I'd heard no word from you and no one knew where you were. (I would say it's good to know you're all right, but from what you wrote in your last e-mail, things seem hardly "all right".)

I've passed word to the others, though I downplayed exactly what happened. I'm sure that no one there wants knowledge of that organization passed far. I'll leave it to you to pass along. Your mother doesn't have internet access at the moment, but she sends her concern and love. Your sister as well.

And of course you'll be welcomed home. No matter what, you will always be my son and I will love you. Never question that.

Write back if you can. I'll await your reply.

Love,

Dad

Matt paused a moment, letting the words sink in. 'You'll be welcomed home…' That's what he needed to hear the most. If this crazy nightmare he'd found himself in ever ended, he'd want to go home fast. He hit 'reply' and started typing.

Hi Dad,

Finally got permission to use e-mail on a regular basis. Good thing, too. I've really needed to talk to you about recent events.

First off, I'm still ok. At least, physically. The missions I've been sent on weren't easy, but I somehow managed to escape harm.

Mentally, on the other hand, all is not well. For one thing, I've undergone some pretty major changes these last few weeks. I managed to borrow a digital camera a while back and snapped a picture of myself. The only noticeable change is my now red eyes. I'll send it along, just in case you're curious.

The most important thing I had to talk to you about pertains to the missions I've had to do. I'll cut to the point: I've had to kill. Though to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger, "They were all bad." Vampires and ghouls. (What you become if a vampire sucks all your blood out.) Still, to do my job has required me to forget most of the gun safety training you've given me… and I didn't even think a single thought against it until after the fact… And I just realized… I never did regret what I had to do after the most recent mission… Though in that case I was holding back ghouls so another team could rescue a whole flock of hostages.

I need to hear from you that its all right, that I haven't become some evil demonic creature, either in what I've become or in what I've had to do.

I've gotta stop writing… This is getting far too depressing…

Write back soon, ok?

Love,

Matt

He took a moment to reread the message. He already knew what his father's reply would be, but he still needed to hear it from him. Attaching the picture he'd taken, he sent the message off. Next came Akira's message.

Hola, mi amor,

Just heard from your dad… It's unbelievable what's happened to you.

I've been thinking about you a lot, and missing you greatly. Please tell me you're ok and that you're coming home soon. I need to see you, to feel you holding me in your arms.

Who knows, maybe you'll turn me? Then we could spend eternity together.

I'll keep this short and wait for your reply.

Love,

Tu Novia

Short and sweet with some Spanish thrown in, exactly what he would expect from Akira. However, he had no choice but to sigh. He knew Akira well, and had feared she would suggest him turning her into a vampire. He started wondering what he was going to write to her… He hit 'reply' and slowly started typing.

Hey Akira,

First, I need to apologize. I'm not coming home, at least not yet. They'll never let me go so long as our mission is not complete. Maybe even after that.

Though I wish I could come home, hold you in my arms again. It's lonely here. I've only got one friend. (More later.)

You need to drop the idea of me turning you. I know that eternal life, extra strength, and whatnot might seem like great pros, but they don't counter the cons. I don't know if I can actually still eat or not. It may be that blood is the only thing I can intake. Believe me, drinking blood is not fun. I don't think I can go outside in the daylight. (No one has told me one way or the other.) So, unless some miracle happens, no more sunsets for me. Akira, you just don't know… just can't know how bad it is. All of a sudden, I'm a demonic creature of the night (according to popular belief) and my job is to kill other demonic creatures of the night.

To make things worse, I can no longer tough anything made of silver or mercury, so I can't wear the ring you gave me anymore. That or the necklace I made for me. I'd wear the key, since its stainless steel, but with the missions I do I'm afraid I'd loose it.

Aki, I'm not going to tell you to go find someone else to be with. Just know that I may never be allowed to come home, and that this may be the closest we will ever get for the rest of our lives. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong… One of these days I might be let go, so long as I check in. I'll be there holding you as soon as I can get there.

A request, and a serious one at that: never, ever mention the idea of me turning you again. I wouldn't wish this on someone I hated, let alone someone I love. I still don't know the extent to which the 'vampire instinct' will affect me, so I don't know what I'll do if pushed over the edge of my control.

Write back, ok? Let me know you're still ok.

Love,

Matt

This time he didn't check the message. He just sent it. Some parts of it were, admittedly, blunt, and he didn't want to be tempted to change it. Pulling himself to his feet, he took a couple steps over and flopped onto the bed. He knew what his mind was about to do to him, and it was always better to be horizontal when that happened.

Wait… Matthew sat up and looked at the door. 'Me plus depressed equals… Wait for it…' There was a knock at the door. "Come in," he called as he fell back to lie down. As expected, Seras entered. Without a word, she walked into the room and sat in her usual chair, then looked at him. "You want to know what's wrong," he stated. Seras nodded. "I'd rather not talk about it quite yet, if that's ok." He looked over, a slightly scrutinizing look in his eyes. "Why don't you just look into my head and find out yourself?"

Seras finally spoke. "I feel that's an invasion of privacy. Alucard might be fine with it, but I'm not. I'll pay attention to how you're feeling, but that's all."

Matthew smiled some. "Thanks, Seras. You know, you do so much for me, and I do so little for you. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Seras smiled back. "Yes, I believe there is. I need to do some investigation on some leads we've been getting. Mind tagging along? I could use the company."

Matthew sat up on the bed and placed his feet on the floor. "And I could use the fresh air. Certainly. When are we heading out? Tonight?"

Seras shook her head. "No, I was thinking more like now."

Matthew looked confused. "Now?"

She nodded. "Yes, now. Why?"

Matthew paused a moment, checking his watch then looking back at Seras. "Umm… It's noon."

Seras's head tilted slightly to the left. "Yes, so?"

"It's day."

Now she lifted an eyebrow. "And what's that got to do with anything?"

He was starting to look a little sheepish, as if he knew he were talking himself between a rock and a hard place. "Umm… We're vampires. I thought daylight and vampires didn't mix."

Seras chuckled at that. "And wherever did you get an idea like that?"

Now he sounded sheepish too. "Popular culture…"

And now Seras smiled big. "And when has popular culture ever been right?"

"Well… they got the whole silver thing right…" His face relaxed a bit. He stood up from the bed. "So this means we could watch a sunset if we wanted, right?"

"Yes, why?"

Matthew stood still for a moment, then looked toward the ceiling shaking his finger upwards. In a mock accusing tone, he said, "You got lucky this time."

Seras gave him a look suggesting he'd just grown another head. "Huh?"

He looked back at his and let his face go back to normal. "Uhh… I'll tell you later. Let's go. Well, after I grab a different jacket. Can't exactly wear one with the Hellsing logo on it, right?" Seras nodded, and Matthew tossed his denim/fabric jacket onto the bed. He went to the closet and grabbed his black leather jacket given to him by his uncle the previous year. He put it on over his green t-shirt and turned to Seras. "How's this?"

She nodded. "Looks good. It'll work well. Do you have any sunglasses?"

\Matthew opened his mouth to say he did, but then stopped. After a moment, he spoke again. "Well… not anymore. What I had was designed more for use over normal glasses, and I can't really wear those anymore."

Seras sighed. "All right. Meet me in the equipment room in ten minutes. I need to get changed into something less conspicuous." Matthew nodded, and the two left the room.

Ten minutes later, Seras joined Matthew in the equipment room. She'd changed to a white sweatshirt with a red fabric jacket and black jeans with a red beret on her head. A pair of red-lensed sunglasses hung from the sweatshirt, completing the outfit. Except for the red eyes, she looked like a normal person. "Well, then. Let's find you some sunglasses, yes?" She quickly looked through Hellsing's supplies of sunglasses, finding a pair that had large enough lenses to cover his eyes but were small enough to look like he wasn't hiding anything. "Now that looks good. Check it out." Matthew looked into a nearby mirror. The dark sunglasses really did match the rest of his outfit.

He turned to Seras, lifting the sunglasses up over his eyes. "Thanks. And might I say that you look good too."

She smiled. "Thanks. We should get going."

"All righty then." Matthew smiled. "Well, if nothing else, this little excursion will allow me to exercise my British accent," he said, testing out said accent.

Seras chuckled. "Well, you probably won't fool many locals, but with some work it would be pretty good." She gestured for the door. "Shall we?"

"Certainly," Matt replied in the accent. In his normal voice, he continued, "We gonna walk, or drive?"

"We'll drive. We can borrow a car from the Hellsing motorpool. Let's go."

Seras led the way to the garage, checking out a plain, unmarked sedan for their use. As they drove down the streets of London, Matt's face was nearly plastered to the window. He found himself unable to keep a huge grin from his face. Seras managed a quick look over his way, then looked back to the road. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

He turned to look at her. "You have ended my crisis of faith. I thank you, Seras."

"All right… Well, we're getting close to where the reports originated from. Shall we walk?"

"Sure." Seras brought the car into a parking lot and to a stop. The two exited, locking the doors behind them. "So," he said, back in the accent, "shall we head that way?" He pointed in a direction.

"That should work." After a couple minutes of walking, Seras said they were at a pretty good steak-out point. She pointed to a coffee house nearby, and the two headed in. Seras found a table near the window and started for it. Matthew followed for a moment, but stopped in his tracks as his eyes scanned over the menu. Seras stopped and looked back at him. "What is it, Matthew?"

In his surprise and glee, Matthew dropped the accent. "They have chai here."

"Chai?" she asked.

"Yes, chai. It's a tea drink my sister introduced me to a few years ago. They have it here. And not only is it chai, they can make hot spiced chai with milk." He started for the counter. "And I so need one right now, and I have money."

"Uh, Matthew? I don't know if we can drink it…"

"Well I'm gonna try it. Hang on." He made his order, and brought the hot drink back to the table where Seras sat. While he waited for the chai to cool down a bit, he looked back to Seras. "Have you tried to drink anything since being turned?" He kept his voice down a bit to keep their conversation private.

"Well, once. Though I was a little preoccupied at the time. I don't remember if I even drank any of it."

"What did you order?"

She looked down a bit, embarrassed. "Tomato juice."

Matt paused, a smile starting to form at the corners of his mouth. "How long had you been…?"

Now it was her turn to sound sheepish. "Maybe two weeks… Probably one."

Matt lightly chuckled. Back in the accent, he said, "Well, dear, that was a bloody stupid drink to order, wasn't it?"

Seras chuckled, all be it nervously. "My reaction exactly…"

Matt sighed, smiling. "Well, I'm going to try this, because I know I love it. Here goes." He brought the cup to his lips and took a small sip. It was still hot, but not enough to burn his tongue. He paused, relishing the flavor of the chai and remembering all the times he'd had it. He then took a larger sip, pausing again to enjoy the flavor. He set down the cup and smiled at Seras. "Mmmm."

"Good?"

He nodded. "Very. Want to try some?"

"Are you sure we can handle it?"

"Well," he said, "I haven't turned green yet, so I think we'll be ok. Try it." He smiled, took another gulp, and slid the cup over to Seras. Tentatively, she took the cup and raised it to her lips. She took a sip, smiled as she tasted the liquid, then took a larger gulp and passed it back to him.

"It's delicious. I can see why you like it."

"Want me to get you one?" He took the cup and raised it for another sip.

She raised her palm. "No, thank you. That was enough for me for now."

"Ok." He started to take another sip when he abruptly froze in place. His pupils dilated as his mind detected a source of danger nearby. He looked up at Seras. She'd felt it too. "Vampire," he muttered. Seras nodded. Matthew got up. Not wanting to waste any of the precious chai, he tossed the last gulp into his mouth, tossed the cup into a nearby trashcan, and followed Seras out of the building.

The man they had sensed continued down the sidewalk, oblivious that he was being followed. Still, Matt came up with an idea to help disguise them. He looked over at Seras. In his now improved British accent, he started talking, speaking of his various hobbies: writing, piano playing, etc. Seras caught on quickly, speaking to him in an American accent. She asked him about his hobbies, like how long he'd played piano, then responded with hobbies of her own, or at least those she'd enjoyed before being turned. If the vampire looked at them, he'd probably just see two new friends just talking about themselves. Not only would it, hopefully, work as disguise, but it was interesting learning about his master.

Eventually, the vampire they were tracking ducked into a house. Seras and Matthew passed it by, tracking the vampire until they were sure he was staying there. Back in his normal voice he spoke to Seras, "Yep, he's staying there. Looks like he's got friends. Can't tell how many."

She dropped her American accent. "I sense at least four in there, but possibly more. I'll check in." She grabbed a radio from under her jacket. "Victoria to base. Lock in on my location. Target vampire entered a private residence. Address is as follows." She read off the address to headquarters. "Get an observation team down here. There are at least four vampires and possibly more."

Fargason's voice came back over the radio. "Excellent work, Victoria. Return to base."

"Yes, sir. We're on our way." She stuffed the radio back into her jacket. "Come on. Let's see what plan they work up." Turning down a side street, Seras started leading the way back to the car.