'Now what am I going to get for dad?'

Matt strode through one of London's malls. He hadn't caught its name on the way in, but it was close to his temporary dorm room so it really didn't matter. He was finishing up a study abroad program in England which would cover many of the classes he needed for his major. Doing this would let him relax later on. His work would earn him something like twelve or fifteen credit hours.

Still, it was almost over. The day after next he would be returning home. Having planned to pick up things for family and friends, but having delayed due to school, he went out that night with a good amount of money and a few ideas. 'Delayed fun stuff for school? Wow… I must need a vacation…' Luckily, he had found things for most of the people on his list.

His dad would be the hardest to shop for. Rarely did Matt get any idea on what he wanted. 'Well… Look for anything pertaining to ducks. Mallard Drakes if we can find them.' Across the hall was a store that showed some promise, so he started over.

He was interrupted by a scream. Snapping his head to look over his left shoulder, he saw a crowd of people running in his direction. He bounded to the wall, getting out of the way of the human stampede. '…the hell?' He couldn't see beyond the crowd to see what they were running from, but his curiosity would not be denied. Moving against the wall, he walked 'upstream' until the crowd had run past. He stepped out into the hall to see what was going on.

It was a standoff. About fifty feet up the hallway on the left side stood a group of police. Well… they looked more like soldiers than police, the exception being the young woman at the fore of the group who wore a police-style uniform. 'If you ignore the miniskirt.' Though he had to admit, she was quite pretty. On the right side of the hall stood a lone man. The man was yelling stuff about how they would never defeat him, how his master had given him powers greater than they could ever imagine. The woman seemed to be trying to draw on inner strength, saying the man would never leave this place.

Suddenly, the man opened fire. 'Shit!' Matthew thought as he ducked into the nearest shop. On the one hand, he wished he had a weapon to assist in the battle. On the other, he knew he should probably just stay out of this one. But he was still curious, and someone had to watch what happened. He moved along the wall to a window. Something broke down the far door, and a trio of what he could only think of as zombies broke into the room.

He saw the woman by the shop's door. She was taking aim with a pistol at one of the zombies. But the man was aiming at her. Without hesitation, Matt grabbed her and pulled her inside, the bullet meant to kill her striking the metal doorframe and spurting some silver colored liquid.

The woman looked back at him. "Thank you," she said in British accented English, "but you'd better get out of here." Matthew noted she had the strangest red eyes. He nodded to her, and she quickly ran back into the battle.

His instructions clear, he peered into the hall to make sure the man was fully occupied before he started running down the hall. Suddenly, something struck his right leg, back of the thigh, and sent him spinning to the floor. Pain blossomed, enlisting a yell and several curses. His eyes moved across the battle, but as they met the man's gaze everything seemed to freeze in place. He heard a deep voice booming in his mind as a tunnel of gray formed in his vision. "I would have let you leave, human, if you'd stayed out of this fight. But you saved that weakling vampire from her fate, and so you too must be silenced." At the end of the gray tunnel, he could see a blurry image of the man raising his pistol. There was a flash of light as his gun moved slightly from recoil, and then he fell apart in ash. Something tore into Matthew's chest, and he felt a new pain as it punctured a lung and nicked his heart. He tried to yell, but his voice had left him.

Somehow, Matthew managed to pull in a breath with his damaged remaining lung, and his injured heart kept going for a while longer. His eyes started to clear, and he could see the woman above him. In the corners of her features, he could see the fear and uncertainty of what she was going to do now. "Young man," she said, "I can't thank you enough for what you've done tonight, especially with what it has cost. I know you don't want to die tonight. You don't have to. You could come with me instead. It must be your choice."

He got another look at her… Those red eyes… and pointed fangs for canines… But how could it be? Vampires weren't real! He needed time to think. Time to determine the consequences of his choices. But time was the one thing he didn't have. The more basic of thoughts came up. The will to survive, the desire to protect his family, his friends, Akira. 'If there was one here, there's gotta be more of them…' He pooled his strength up and managed to speak. "Yes…"

She nodded solemnly. "Just remember that this was your choice, and that I'll be here to help you, ok?" All he could do was slowly nod. The young woman smiled lightly, as if reliving a memory. "This is where you're supposed to close your eyes." Matthew slowly shook his head. Whatever happened next, he wanted to see. The young woman gently moved Matthew's head to the side and bent down towards his neck…

Matt ended his mild groan as the pain in his neck subsided. The young woman got back up, her lips a shade redder than before. She pressed a fingernail into the bottom side of her arm and quickly sliced into her flesh. The small cut oozed red. "Now, you must drink this." Matthew didn't have the energy to argue. She lowered her arm to his mouth…

After a minute, she moved her arm away. "Just give it some time. You'll feel better in a moment." And he did. Gradually, he gained enough energy to pick up his head and survey the damage. He had a gaping hole in his chest, but it was strangely closing itself. Another hole further down in his leg was also sealing. He watched them curiously for a while, his mind still trying to grasp what was happening, but as it closed the young woman spoke again. "Can you stand?"

He looked up at her and weakly replied, "Yeah, I think so."

"Can you walk?"

He gave a very slight smile and a single chuckle, remembering something of his own past. "How far?"

The young woman helped Matthew to his feet, then wrapped her left arm around his waist to help support him as his leg finished healing. For stability, he set his arm on her shoulders. Slowly at first, but gradually faster as he gained energy as his body healed itself, the two started for the door. On the way, Matthew looked at a storefront window, the one he'd hidden in earlier. The lighting had caused a mirror effect. His wounds healed, only holes in his clothing gave signs to the damage. There were a pair of wounds in his neck, which still felt some residual pain. But the big change was his eyes. His formerly hazel eyes were now red. 'I don't know if I'll ever get used to those…'

Several soldiers looked at him as they passed. Part of him wanted to slink away and hide, but Seras looked at him with a look that said, 'It'll be ok,' and he calmed down. They passed through the glass doors to the dark entryway beyond. The parking lot was lit, the remaining vehicles sitting where they should. A helicopter sat in a clear section a distance away, its rotors stopped. And closer were a pair of boxy transport trucks, possibly armored personnel carriers.

In the center of the entryway stood a woman with very light colored hair dressed in a dark green business-like suit. He couldn't see any other details. For lack of a better description, he designated the new woman 'leader' in his mind. Leader spoke. "First Alucard and now you. You'd better not make a habit of this." After a pause in which she looked at Matt, she spoke again to the young woman. "I'll see that someone takes care of him."

"No," the young woman carefully replied. "I'd like him brought into the Hellsing organization. He chose to join of his own free will." To back up her story, he slowly but strongly nodded.

Leader looked him over, then replied. "Fine. Train him well." Leader turned and started walking toward a man in a uniform like the soldiers inside.

"Come on," the young woman said to Matthew. "You know, all things considered, this has been a perfect night." Matthew looked at her as if she were insane, but she smiled. Confused, Matthew simply walked on. As the two approached an awaiting vehicle, a strange beeping sound filled the air…