"His name is Shalrik," Alucard said.

It was a short while after Seras and Matthew's return to Hellsing. They'd dropped off their weapons and flashcard, then were summoned by Alucard to the courtyard. He was finally filling them in on what was going on around there. Alucard continued, "He and I have fought many times over the eons. His appearance now suggests he feels able to beat me; that he has developed some new style of fighting." Once again, Alucard smirked. "So have I. That is why I did not join you in the mission earlier tonight, and why I will not be joining you until the battle with Shalrik. He will tempt me with his fledglings, try to get me to show my new skills."

"So the assassin from yesterday was probably sent by him," Matthew noted.

Alucard nodded. "Yes. He, like me, considers few to be equals in battle. He did not think either of you to be a threat or to be worth his respect." He smirked again. "He thought wrong. I'm not sure what made that one fledgling of his stronger than the rest, but I am certain he was one of Shalrik's higher commanders. Silencing him shows you to be dangerous. I would suggest that neither of you leave the facility unless on a mission. The streets will not be safe for you. Shalrik will not send such a small force to deal with you next time." He looked directly at Matthew. Matthew could hear Alucard's thoughts again. 'Remember what I told you.' He then looked to Seras, probably telling her something telepathically. Then, with a smirk, he vanished.

With a sigh, Matthew looked at Seras. "What now, oh fearless leader?"

Seras snapped out of a blank stare. "What?"

Matthew chuckled. The night was getting to her. So, he tried to he helpful. "Nevermind. Go get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Seeming distant, she replied. "Yes. Good night." She started for the door. Matthew watched after her for a moment, then started for a different door.

The walk back to his room was typical. The dim, quiet, stone halls gave little distraction for his mind. It went back to the same old topics, all the different questions he couldn't answer. He was getting tired of them. Not tired angry, tired exhausted. It was almost easier to be on a mission and in combat, because then his mind was focused. He didn't try to answer himself that time. Matthew was damn near ready to throw in the towel.

He slipped into his room and stared at his trusty computer for a while. He didn't need to sleep quite yet, and surfing around aimlessly might help him. He dropped into the chair, and moment later saw the e-mail from his father. He pulled it up.

Hello son,

First, you're not some evil demonic creature. You aren't feeding off the living and you're only killing those who do. I understand how what you've had to do makes you feel, but you need to calm down and concentrate on your new job.

I trust that whatever you are doing is what needs to be done. But if you need my approval, you have it.

This will be a short e-mail. I need to get to bed. We're on an assessment this week, and we start very early in the morning.

Your mother sends her greetings and wishes you well.

Love,

Dad

Matthew sighed. He would reply to his father later, and thank him for saying exactly what he needed to hear. Scanning further, he saw an e-mail from Akira. Bracing himself, he pulled it up.

Hola Imzadi,

I'm sorry. I didn't think that the idea of you turning me would bother you that much. I won't mention it again.

Who is this friend of yours? I'd like to know who's keep you sane with me not around. (I'll try not to be jealous. JK!)

Things here have been as usual. Things in that RPG are getting… weird. I'll tell you more when enough have happened to really explain it.

Not much more to say, I'm afraid. Except one thing… well, two things. First, I've been listening to 1000 Words a lot, and thinking of you. Second… It's strange, but there are times when I can almost hear you in my head. If you're trying to send me thoughts, keep working on it. Something is getting through.

Gotta run. I love you, Imzadi!

Akira

"Imzadi" was a word from Star Trek. I meant "beloved". He'd forgotten which one of them had used the word first, but they kept using it. Matthew wasn't sure if he'd actually tried to send thoughts to Akira, but now he would. He thought of her. 'I love you, Imzadi.' He didn't know if she would hear it or not, but it was worth a shot.

He wrote up a couple of replies. The first was to his father. He thanked him for the reassurance, again said he was doing all right, and wished him luck in his work. The second was to Akira. He did not bring up the subject of him turning her again. He did say, once again, that he missed her and hoped to see her again. He did write about 'his friend'. He wrote:

Her name is Seras Victoria. She's a member of the organization as well, and joined due to similar circumstances as me. Seras is pretty much the only person who can understand what I've gone through, and she's been a really big help. No need to be jealous, though. I'm still yours, and you're still mine.

Matthew figured that would be the best way to put it. Saying that Seras was his master would hardly help things. After sending the messages, he walked over to the bed and dropped onto it. He fell into a dreamless sleep.

Matthew awoke the next day and left his room. He wasn't entirely certain what the day's plan was, but he knew he wanted to be out of his room. It was very daylight outside, and a glance at his watch told Matthew it was around noon. 'Noon? Wow… I certainly slept in today…' Of course, reading and writing e-mails had taken a while. He was passing by a cafeteria, so he peered in. 'Ooo. They're serving corn with lunch…' Matthew had always loved corn, and hadn't had any in the longest time. His mouth started to water, but this time he had a strong desire for corn. He smiled. 'This I'll allow.' He entered the cafeteria.

As today had suddenly become a day of experimentation, Matthew just grabbed a spoon and a bowl of corn, happy to see there was a decent amount of butter on it. He looked around the room, seeing a number of people scattered around the tables. A few looked up at him curiously, but most were too engrossed in their own conversations to notice. Two people looked at each other, then back to him and waved him over. He didn't recognize them immediately, but up to that point he hadn't really interacted with a lot of people. He walked over, getting a better look at the pair. A man and a woman. They both, of course, wore Hellsing uniforms.

Before he could speak, the woman said, "Have a seat, Jemeth."

His mouth had been open to say hello, but it snapped shut as she started speaking. He simply sat down. "Thanks."

Before he could attempt introductions, the woman reached across the table to him. "Martha Walters." Matthew took her hand and shook.

The man was next. "William Tyril."

Matthew shook his hand as well. "Pleasure to meet you both." He smiled, grabbing the pepper shaker. "Seems I've become quite infamous around here." He started applying a generous coating of pepper to the corn.

"Punishment for your success, I'm afraid," Martha said. "Though we're a little surprised to see you around here."

Matthew smiled again, putting down the pepper and stirring the corn. "Today's a day for an experiment. See what I can get away with." Getting a good scoop of corn in the spoon, he tossed it down and started chewing. The vampire senses had messed with his taste buds as well, making them more sensitive. Suffice it to say, this was now the best corn he'd ever tasted. He swallowed. "And 'Real Food' gets added to the list."

"Excellent," Martha said with a smile. She looked to William. "And now my friend here has something he'd like to say."

Matthew looked over, and William suddenly looked very self-conscious. "Well, I was hoping to give you my thanks personally. You saved me when my MP5 jammed. I figured a nod wasn't quite enough for the long run."

The memory flashed into Matthew's mind. His second mission, when he used an M60 as a baseball bat, and a couple ghoul heads as balls. He extended his hand to William again, who took and shook it. "Any time, my friend. Any time."

About a half hour later he met Seras in front of Sir Integra's office. Seemed they'd finished analyzing the data. Matthew had a slight twinge of regret at memories of the last mission. He wasn't too happy with the result; barely any information gathered. 'Well, they must have found something worthwhile if they're calling us in.' He banished the traitorous thoughts and smiled at Seras.

Seras greeted him, then looked at him strangely when he smiled. "What's that?"

Matthew stopped. She was looking straight at his teeth. He rubbed his fingers across them, and found a piece of stuck corn. "Oh…" He quickly removed the piece and swallowed it. "They were serving corn in the cafeteria today, and I just couldn't help myself. I got some."

Seras looked a little concerned. "Are you all right?"

Matthew nodded. "Yeah. That was a good half hour ago. Seems I can still handle corn with butter and a whole lot of pepper." He smiled. "Almost makes me want to get my hands on some garlic, see if that part of popular culture is wrong too."

With a shrug, Seras replied, "I really wouldn't know. Just be careful, ok? If what Alucard told us is true, we'll need everyone we can get for the coming battle."

He smiled and grasped her arm for a moment. Letting his arm drop to his side, he said, "Of course. Shall we?" He gestured to the door. The two entered to find the usual crowd around Sir Integra's desk: Fargason, Johnson, and of course Integra herself. Strangely enough, Alucard stood beside Integra rather than choosing to hide in the shadows until he decided to show himself. His smirk did not seem so strong. Considering the circumstances, it made complete sense, and Matt did little more than note it in his mind.

Fargason spoke. "Victoria, Jemeth, you might have been unimpressed with what data you gathered last mission, but your worries are for not. The information you brought back was very useful. We have confirmed that a vampire named Shalrik is attempting to form an army here in England. The vampires in the residence were considering joining his army." He set a map on to the table. "We are still attempting to decrypt some of the information. Something on an experimental chemical Shalrik may be using. That bit of information is irrelevant right now, as there is a far more pressing matter." He pointed to a place on the map. "We have information suggesting that Shalrik's forces have been gathering people here, probably to be turned into ghouls for his army. Defensive strength is unknown, so I'm suggesting a full strike team." He looked at Matthew. "There's no side room full of ghouls, though, so you don't get to do a repeat of the last hostage mission."

Matthew replied with a finger snap. "Rats."

Fargason brought up a building plan. "There are two main entrances. Johnson, you'll divide your forces into two groups. Victoria and Jemeth will each accompany one team. Attack the room where the hostages are being held from two directions." He turned to Integra. "That would be my suggestion for a course of action, Sir Integra."

Alucard did not wait for Integra to look at him. "I would agree. If Shalrik is making such bold moves, he's got something up his sleeve. We should keep his supply of forces at a minimum."

Integra considered this. "You will be staying here, I take it."

Alucard nodded. "Yes, and my reasons for doing so are unchanged."

Johnson spoke up. "I think letting our troops out to stretch their legs would be good for them."

Matthew was next. "Seras and I are more than ready for escort duty." Seras nodded her agreement.

Now it was Sir Integra's turn. She nodded. "Approved. Depart for the scene whenever you are ready. May God and her Majesty be with you. Amen."

"Amen," Fargason replied.

Johnson and Fargason broke off to brief the human troops while Seras and Matthew gathered their weapons and waited at the transport. Matthew stopped himself from staring at Seras and Harkonnen. The damn thing was longer than she was! "You ready?" Matthew asked.

"Yes," she replied. "You?"

Matthew nodded. "This one'll be a lot harder than the last rescue mission we pulled. Lots of people in proximity to who knows how many vampires and ghouls. Let's hope Fargason's people have been keeping in practice. Can't afford to have anyone miss."

Seras looked over at him. "Don't forget us. We can't miss either."

"Well… Yeah… I kinda thought that went without saying." The troops started moving for the transports. "Whoop. Time to go." He hopped into the transport and picked a seat. Seras sat next to him. He looked at her. 'Good luck to us all, huh?' he thought.

'You can say that again,' Seras thought back.

The ride was silent from then on. They rode to the outskirts of London, three transports full of troops. They stopped about a kilometer from the target. Matthew looked through the darkness towards the building, his vampire enhanced vision letting him see as if through binoculars. He couldn't tell what the building was, but he could see the front entrance. There was no activity, but that meant nothing. There hadn't been any obvious activity around any other target thus far.

Johnson started dividing the troops. He would lead the group heading in the front door, and chose Seras to accompany. Matthew would escort the team heading in the back door. Matthew gave a smile and nod to Seras, then joined his team in running to the back entrance. He put on a good head of steam and managed to reach the front of the group by the time they all got to the back door. As they formed up, Matthew cycled his brownings, then lowered their hammers and slid them back into their holsters. The team two leader, a man named Harison, looked at Matthew. "You take point."

"Yes, sir," Matthew replied. He grabbed Valkyrie and stuffed a slug round into it. 'Probably won't use any shot rounds this time. Too inaccurate for this mission.' He opened the door, which was strangely and disconcertingly unlocked, and started in. The others followed steadily behind. He approached the door to where the civilians were being held, he held up his right fist. The group stopped. Matthew's enhanced hearing told him that Seras was nearly in position. 'We go on three, right?'

'Yes,' her thought came back.

In unison, as Matthew counted down with his fingers for the troops to see, the two thought, 'one… two… three!' As they hit three, Matthew slammed his foot into the door. It flew open. He could see the far door to the same, Seras charging in and to the side to find a good firing position. Matthew charged in and fired his cannon. The hostages had all hit the deck as soon as the doors had been smashed open, so the only standing targets were the ghouls. Matthew sidestepped, not worrying about how many ghouls he'd taken out. The troops entered behind him, firing as they came. Ghouls dropped right and left. Matthew fired his second round as Seras fired her third. Their bullets crossed within inches of each other, taking out lines of ghouls.

Suddenly, there was a loud inhuman yell from the side of the room. "What the bloody hell?!" came the startled cry from one of the Hellsing troops. Matthew looked over. That yell had come from a ghoul. It was actively looking around the room, yelling unintelligible sounds, and pointing in different directions. Other ghouls seemed to be following this one's commands.

"Doesn't matter! Kill it!" Harison brought up his MP5 and opened fire. Several others opened fire as well. It took a lot of firepower to bring it down. 'Damn, some of the ghouls have been enhanced too…' He loaded his next slug round into the Valkyrie and took aim at another enhanced ghoul. This time, it dropped with one hit. He looked around for any more of these enhanced ghouls, but found none.

But the battle was about to get a lot more dangerous. Several shrieks announced the arrival of several vampires into the room. Seras caught one with a high explosive round at close range. Even a vampire couldn't stand up to one of those. Matthew dropped Valkyrie and pulled his brownings. After what happened last mission, he'd asked Walter for anti-vampire bullets only. They would work on anything he'd face, as opposed to lead ammo. He fired a volley of four rounds at a second vampire, and caught him with all of them. Hellsing's human troops were, wisely, finding cover and sticking with taking out ghouls. Most of the hostages had cleared out by then, or had at least moved near the troops' positions.

A third vampire attacked Matthew from behind, sending him sprawling to the floor. The vampire turned him over and prepared to strike, and was suddenly flying across the room as Seras hit it with a depleted uranium round. It took Matt a moment to recover, but once to his feet he looked over to her. His reply was almost automatic, "Thank you, Master." Seras started at him, her eyes conveying her dislike of that name. "Sorry, Seras. It slipped out."

He had no time to figure out where that came from; he'd spotted a fourth vampire. He fired his brownings, sending six silver bullets at the creature. The vampire dodged all but two. One hit its left shoulder, the other hit it in the chest. It did not fall. 'Shit! Another enhanced vamp!' The vampire drew a long sword with a silver tip, and impaled Matthew.

The blade pierced Matthew's right flank, hitting nothing vital. But the silver plating at its tip burned as it passed through. With a yelp of pain, Matthew withdrew a step and angrily aimed and fired his right browning until its magazine was empty. Apparently, the vampire hadn't expected such a fast retaliation, and was hit by all the bullets. It dropped in a pile of ash. Having a moment to examine himself, he saw that the silver tip had gone all the way through, making it extremely difficult to pull the blade out of him. So, he reached back, grabbed the blade below the silver plating, and broke the tip off. With a grunt, he yanked the blade out of his gut and tossed it aside. Reloading his browning, he looked for another target.

"Help!" Matthew turned to the cry. It was Johnson. Johnson had blood streaming down his right leg and had been disarmed. A vampire was descending on him. Matthew sprinted, firing at the vampire, hoping it would break off its attack. However, Matthew was intercepted before he could get to Johnson. A figure suddenly appeared before him. Matthew collided with the towering form and was sent sprawling to the floor. He got to his feet quickly. He could still see Johnson, but the vampire attacking him wasn't trying to turn him, it was dragging him away. He looked at the person before him. It was another vampire, but this one had a far greater sense of presence than any other he'd faced.

This vampire had bright red eyes and dark red hair. He was very muscular, and a good six and a half feet tall. He wore a long black cape with deep red clothes underneath. He gave Matthew a cold smile; the type a predator gives before attacking its prey. Matthew's eyes dilated. This vampire had four fangs, the two usual long canines, and a pair pointing upward just inside of each. 'Shalrik…' He knew what he had to do. He had to save Johnson. Matthew brought up both brownings and prepared to fire…

…but he never got the chance. As he started to pull the triggers, Shalrik attacked with blinding speed. Seemingly out of nowhere, a fist collided with the side of Matthew's head, sending him staggering sideways. Matthew tried to aim again, but another fist met the other side of his head, sending him reeling the other way. Matthew could barely stand, and a fist came right at his face…

Matt awoke feeling like a semi-truck had just hit him. He'd been told that there were no pain receptors in one's brain, but at the moment he didn't believe it. His vision cleared, and Seras knelt above him. "Matthew, are you all right?"

He groaned. "Did anyone get the license plate number on that fist…?" With help from Seras, Matthew got up to a sitting position. "I'll manage. Where is Johnson?"

Seras paused, then shook her head. "He was taken. There was nothing we could do."

Matthew punched the floor. "God damnit!" He sighed. He'd tried to save Johnson… but failed miserably. "Integra's gonna kill me," he muttered. There was no room for weakness in her organization. How could his failure be seen any other way?

He knew Seras wanted to make a joke to lighten the mood. He could almost hear it: 'She's a little late for that'. Thankfully, Seras refrained. "You did all you could. She'll see that."

"Maybe." He looked around the room. "Did everyone else make it?"

"Mostly. We lost six, including Johnson. Two hostages didn't make it, but the rest are safe."

Matthew sighed again. "Anything else we can do to screw up tonight?"

"Probably not. Stay here. You took a bunch of hits from Shalrik. I'll see if we can head back to base."

"Ok." Seras got up and started for Fargason, who was surveying the damage. Matthew settled back, trying to grasp the sheer scope of his failure, the same thoughts rushing through his mind. Seras's words had been calming, but until he heard it from Integra herself, he assumed she would be furious at him. 'I'm a vampire. I'm supposed to be an expert at this sort of thing, especially after so many battles. Well, if not an expert than certainly experienced enough to protect my commander. Integra will probably have me killed. She can't have weaklings in her organization.'

From the back of his mind, a voice spoke up. 'Matthew! Shut up! You damn well did all you could. I thought we agreed to trust Seras's judgment. If she says you did all you could, who are you to argue? Worry about Integra later. For now, worry about getting yourself healed.'

With a mental sigh, Matthew replied to himself, 'Fine, I'll try.'

Seras returned helped Matthew to his feet. A rather unsteady walk later, they entered a transport and again she told him he did all he could.