Fargason's office was far different from Sir Integra's. It was better lit, for one thing. On his desk and on various shelves were pictures of family, friends, former squad members, and various trinkets he'd picked up during his life. There was a box on one shelf holding medals he'd been awarded in his time in the military. He sat at his desk, Seras and Matt standing before him. They'd just finished giving their report. Fargason nodded and replied. "It will take some time to work up an exact plan of action. We're piecing together our intel to have the best chance of success. For now, I'd recommend you get some rest. Whatever we do, it's more than likely you two will be on the mission. That is all." Seras's hand snapped up in a salute, quickly copied by Matthew. Fargason returned it, and the two vampires turned and left the room.

Seras and Matthew walked through the hallways of the building's ground floor. The green walls were comforting, compared to the usual bare concrete and rock of his usual décor. "Well," Matt commented, "that was fun." Almost immediately after, he followed that comment up with a yawn. "Wow… I am tired…"

Seras smiled. "Go get some sleep. We'll probably need it."

Matthew nodded. "Yeah… See ya."

They were passing by the stairs to the lower levels, so Matthew simply swung around the banister and started down. He reached his room quickly, shoving against the heavy metal door and found himself looking forward to a bit of shut eye…

…Matthew ran as fast as he could, hoping that only some of the fear he felt showed in his blue-green eyes. He ran through a dark hallway, lit by the occasional overhead spotlight. He stole a glance behind him. A creature with red eyes wearing his face ran behind him, long canine teeth showing from behind its upper lip. It hissed at him, slowly gaining on him. Suddenly, a pair of guns appeared in Matthew's hands. He twisted around, now running backwards. Yelling, he fired until both guns were empty. The creature kept coming, not even phased. Matthew threw the guns at the creature and turned to run forward again, but his vision turned to white…

He found himself strapped to a table, nearly blinded by a spotlight directly overhead. A figure slowly circled the table: the vampire form of himself. Matthew struggled against his bonds. "Let me go! Let me go, you bastard!" The light became less severe. He could see his captor. The vampire merely smirked and continued circling. Matthew threw all his strength into one bond, but it wasn't enough. The vampire suddenly closed the distance, holding his head right above Matthew's.

"You're loosing, Matthew."

He grabbed Matthew's head, snapped it to the side, and sank his fangs into Matthew's neck. Matthew yelled in pain and terror…

And awoke. He sat up quickly, filled with an intense thirst. He looked over to the table on which was a bucket of ice holding a bag of blood. Every fiber of his being wanted him to leap upon it and drink it down. 'No!' he yelled in his mind. He raised up his left hand and slapped his cheek. It had no effect; the thirst was still there and gaining more control over him. He slapped himself again, two times in rapid succession. Still no effect. Matthew was left with no choice. He brought his right arm up to his mouth and bit down hard.

He yelled at the sharp pain of his teeth piercing his flesh, but he didn't release his arm. He bit down even harder. Red oozed out from around his mouth, but he didn't drink any of it. That would only justify the thirst. He focused on the pain, latched onto the pain, and used it to clear his mind of the influence of the 'vampire instinct'. Soon, his mind was his again. He stood and walked to a nearby sink, washing out his mouth and rinsing off his arm. He looked at the damage he'd wroth; a pair of holes in his arm. He waited for the wounds to close before rinsing off his arm again and drying it.

He planted his hands on the edges of the sink, looking down at the drain. He couldn't bring himself to look up. He'd just come within inches of looking his self-control. His self-control was important to him. He wasn't a control freak, but he wanted… needed… to be in control of himself at all times. Especially now that he had the vampire instincts to keep at bay. His near loss of control, therefore, frightened him tremendously. He needed to figure out just what the hell had happened. Who better to talk to? "Matthew," he said to himself, "what the hell was that? Was it what I think it was?"

After a few moments, he pushed off from the sink and started slowly pacing across the room. "Yes… I'm loosing control… The vampire instinct is taking over…"

"I fought to get my brain back under control after my parents split up, and I'm damn well not going to loose it to these damned instincts. What have I done so far…"

"I've tried locking down my thoughts, keeping focused on what I need to be thinking about. That's what kept me sane during the split… What else can I do? This is too far from the realm of my experience!"

Suddenly, a British-accented voice entered his mind. 'I have an idea, if you don't mind.'

Matthew stopped. A quick look at the door told him he was still alone… "Seras? What are you doing in my mind?"

Seras's voice replied. 'Well, I could tell you were feeling… pretty bad.' Matt was thankful for the understatement. He didn't need to hear someone else say how bad his mental state was. 'I wanted to help, but figured you'd rather be alone for the moment. So, I chose this way.'

"Ok… But I thought you felt reading a mind was a violation of privacy."

'Yes, but I'm not exactly reading your mind. I'm listening to what you say, then projecting my thoughts into your mind.'

Matthew walked over to the bed and sat down. "Well, that works. So, you said you had an idea?"

'Yes,' Seras replied, her tone sobering a little. 'Drink the blood.'

Matthew's tone sobered too. "You knew that I haven't been."

'Yes, not since the second time. It's been a good several days at least.'

Matt sighed and collapsed onto the bed. "If I do, it'll only justify the instinct. Give it more influence over me."

'And if you don't, it will grow stronger and all that you are trying to do will fail.'

He closed his eyes. "It's hard. It still just feels… wrong. I could only convince myself it was ok for a short time, then I just couldn't bring myself to drink it."

'I know. I still have trouble myself. But you need to drink the blood, Matthew. Things will only get worse if you don't.'

He was silent for a long moment, letting everything work through his mind. After a long moment, he finally replied. "I'll find a way. I don't know how, but I'll find a way."

'Good,' Seras said, sounding a little relieved. 'I'm heading to Sir Integra's office to listen to the mission plans. Meet me there?'

"Sure. See you in a few." He opened his eyes and could feel it as Seras left his mind. He almost wished she would do that more often. With Akira over a thousand miles away, Seras's presence was soothing. 'Though I pray I get to see Akira again, soon.' Matthew got up and walked over to the bag of blood. 'I've got to drink it… I hate it, but I must.' Blanking his mind, he grabbed the bag, bit the tip if its drain tube off, and drank it down quickly. Suppressing a shudder, he threw the bag back into the bucket, rinsed out his mouth, and headed out.

Seras was waiting for him at the door to Sir Integra's office. She locked eyes with him as he approached, and he gave a nod to show he was ok… or at least closer to it than before. Accepting the answer, she opened the door and the two entered. Fargason was already there, showing a copy of the building's plans to Sir Integra and speaking of the plan they'd crafted. "There are two main entrances to the residence. It should be easy enough to hit both at once. Full squads for each entrance armed with everything they can carry. I'd like Victoria and Jemeth to accompany each team."

Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing considered the plan. "I believe Alucard should join this mission as well. With that many vampires around, his skills may be required."

"Well, Master, I didn't know you cared." The voice seemed to come from nowhere, but soon after a man appeared hanging from the ceiling, who moments after flipped over and dropped to the floor. He was taller than Matthew, probably around six feet. He wore a red trench coat and wide brimmed hat from which black hair hung. His mouth was in a smirk, showing off his long, pointed canines. Matthew could see he wore yellow sunglasses. Mirrored at that, which made it impossible to tell what his eyes were doing. The whole ensemble was kinda… creepy… "You actually want me to have some fun. It's been far too long."

"Oh, shut up, Alucard," Integra replied, with the slightest bit of a smile. She then went back to her professional poker face. "Do you have something to add to this session or not?"

"I do." He walked up to the desk. Seras walked up behind him and Matt followed. "You should send myself, Seras Victoria, and young Jemeth. No one else."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because we'll be walking into a trap." He almost sounded like he liked the idea.

Integra leaned back in her chair. "How do you know?"

Alucard smirked. "You don't live as long as I have without being able to sense a simple trap. The three of us will be able to handle them and gather the information we'll need to know what they were planning."

For a moment, Integra remained silent, considering the plan. "Fine. Mission approved. Be ready to head out in one hour." She looked to Matthew. "Jemeth, Walter said he needed to talk with you. Head to the armory."

He bowed his head. "Yes, Sir Integra." Matthew started out of Sir Integra's office. Alucard remained behind. Seras watched after him for a moment, then followed Matthew from the room. As they walked downstairs to the armory, Matthew was a little surprised how much the upcoming mission had cleared his head. Either he was changing more than he realized, or he was more capable of combat than he'd thought he was. Walter stood waiting for them.

"Ah, Mr. Jemeth. Ms. Victoria. I trust you are ready for the night's mission."

Matthew nodded. "We are. Sir Integra said you needed to see me?"

"Yes." Walter grabbed a box and set it on the table. "Your new backup pistols." He opened the case. Inside laid two Browning High-Power semi-automatic pistols. Along with them were a holster belt and eight magazines. "You'll note some extra equipment on the belt towards the back." Matt looked at the belt, noting a pair of odd looking rails. "Those rails connect to the slides of your brownings, allowing you to cycle them in unison easily. Just snap them in the push downward." Matt tested snapping one Browning into a rail and pulling it back out. He nodded his approval. "I've made a couple slight changes from your request. First, there seems to be a shortage of seventeen round magazines, at least on the market. Therefore, I was forced to use your alternate request of thirteen round magazines. Also, due to the mission, your loadout had been altered. All eight magazines carry anti-vampire ammunition, and your Valkyrie's shot ammunition has been replaced with pure silver shot. Unfortunately, the new shot is rather experimental. I'm not sure how well it will work against vampires. Do tell me after this mission, will you? The slugs are the same as before; there was not enough time to replace them with silver."

"That's fine, Walter. All this is great, really. Besides, seventeen rounds in a magazine might be too much. I'd probably just spray my fire and not hit anything." He put on the belt and loaded six magazines into it. The last two he loaded into the brownings, which he then slid into their holsters. He grabbed Valkyrie, noting a nylon strap added to its shoulder stock. "Ah, new strap. I like." He slung the cannon from his left shoulder, and smiled at Walter. "Excellent, Walter. This is the best equipment I could ask for."

Walter chuckled. "Ah, but just wait until you see my next creation."

Matthew barked out a laugh. "I look forward to it, Walter." He turned to Seras. "Well, let's get ready to move, shall we?"

She nodded. If she'd noted the swing in his mood, she wasn't saying it. She already had her cannon and a back-up pistol strapped on. They started for the assembly area, making the trip in silence. Alucard was there waiting for them. Seras spoke first. "Matthew, this is Alucard. Alucard, you already know Matthew." Alucard simply nodded.

Matthew extended a hand. "Good to meet you." Alucard did not take Matthew's hand, simply smirking at him. After a moment of waiting Matthew withdrew the hand and stuffed it in his jacket pocket.

Finally, Alucard spoke. "The Police Girl seems to think highly of you. It will be interesting to see how well you fight. If you show the same stiff spine you showed when my master called you worthless, maybe I won't have to pull you out of a firefight too often?"

Matthew raised an eyebrow. 'How'd he know?' he thought. 'Secret as this organization is, word seems to travel pretty fast through it.'

Alucard spoke, as if replying to his thoughts. "I was watching from the shadows. I was curious if you would stand your ground or topple before my master."

'Great… He must be telepathic too…' Matt's mind replied. Alucard gave what must have been his trademark smirk. "Well, that explains where Seras got it from. So, what's our plan?"

"Our primary target is the master vampire in the building's main library. He is mine. There are two studies flanking it where his fledglings are conducting research in support of his. They will be for you two." He smirked again. "Don't take too long. I'll finish them off for you."

"I think we can handle it, Alucard," Seras replied. "Let's get moving so we can get this over with."

"I will meet you there." Alucard vanished.

Matthew suppressed a shudder. "Does he do that a lot?"

"What? Smirk or vanish into thin air?"

He thought a moment. "Umm… Both."

"Yes, a lot." She looked toward the spot where he had stood, her voice becoming a little distant. "He's not human, you know."

"If I didn't before, I do now." He gestured to a waiting transport. "Let's go."