The mood around Hellsing was grim the next day. Seras walked through the corridors of the dungeons, trying to ignore the feelings she sensed in the human troops above as she answered Alucard's summon. She had no clue what he wanted, but finding out was a better use of time than wondering about Matthew again.

Several squads of troops had been stationed around the grounds in case he came back. They were all loading silver bullets, though she knew they didn't want to use them. Didn't want to… but would if they needed to. She approached the door to Alucard's chamber. Once it had been covered by the marks of a binding spell, but since he had been released by Integra those marks had been cleared off. She banged her fist against the door a couple times, waiting for Alucard to reply. Rather than a voice, the opening of the door told her she could enter. She did, and closed the heavy metal door behind her.

Alucard's room was more spartan than Matthew's had been. There was a chair in the center; a sort of stone armchair that seemed to fit with one who laired rather than lived. Alucard was there, eyes closed. Hit trademark hat and sunglasses were absent. As she stepped into the room, his red eyes fixed on her. "Good," he said. "Now we can start your training."

Seras was confused for a moment. "What do you mean 'start my training'? I thought that happened after you turned me."

Alucard shook his head. "No," he replied. "You think you've learned to use your abilities, but you were simply playing your 'Police Girl' role under a different set of rules. Normally my fledglings learned on their own, but there is no more time to wait for you to wake up to what you've become."

Seras set her jaw, but kept her mouth shut. She thought she'd done a find job 'waking up'. How dare he suggest she'd done anything less than her best at adapting to what had happened to her? "Fine," she finally said. "If that's what it will take to get Matthew back, then let's get started."

"Excellent." Alucard stood and walked over to her. "I believe we should start with stealth. It's relatively easy, and something I have been doing for you these past three years." Before Seras could scoff at him, he pressed on. "It can also be one of your most important abilities. You learn to recognize what signals you emit, from light bouncing off your skin to the electrical signal of your brain. Once you know what is being emitted, you can learn to block it."

"Now," Alucard continued, "'learning' how to use one's abilies isn't learning per say. Your abilities are already there. What you need to do is recognize how much of your demon's power to release for what you want to do. The trick is let out enough to do the job, but not so much that you're overwhelmed before you can handle it."

'Like what happened to Matthew…,' Seras thought. She had to admit, she had no idea what 'signals' she was broadcasting. But she had an idea, which actually came thanks to Matthew. She formed a shield in her mind, projecting it to surround her. Then, rather than conform the shield to the signals one by one, she simply started altering it to limit what she could find right off the bat. At first she felt silly. It didn't feel like she was actually doing anything. But after a moment… she felt that odd power return. Her first instinct was to move to suppress it.

"No," Alucard said. "Remember, we're trying to use some of that power. You will have to relax your walls. Relax your fear."

She nodded and, reluctantly, lowered her guard. A small amount of the dark energy flowed into her, and suddenly she could actually feel the shield around her. She could sense, somewhat, what was broadcast from her. The shield adjusted… almost on its own.

Alucard gave his smirk. "A good start. You're not invisible, even to humans, yet, but they would have to be looking for you to see you. Go ahead and relax."

She dropped the shield, and felt the dark energy flow back into its corner of her mind. 'Almost like it knows I'm done, and it's waiting to be called on…'

"A master at stealth," Alucard continued, "can even hide their reflection from a mirror."

One of Seras's eyebrows lifted. "I thought that was false. A popular myth."

He smirked again. "You'd be surprised how many of those popular myths have some small basis in reality. Shall we move on?"

///

The door to Sir Integra's office opened. The room was dark; typical for this time of day at this point of the year. Integra brought a cigar to her lips as the figure entered the room and shut the door. The dull glow of the cigar did little to add to the room's illumination. Sir Integra blew out the puff of smoke and held the cigar away from her mouth. "What have you found, Walter?" She gestured to the chair before her desk, asking her friend and confidant to sit.

Walter, the kind butler looking retainer of the Hellsing Organization, took the offer. "While my contacts have been unable to locate Mr. Jemeth, they and I agree he will most likely leave the country, if he hasn't already. I believe he will go to the United States. He knows the territory better, and can better blend with the populace if needed. Although, in the end, his intentions are known only to him."

Integra nodded. "It would be best if we contacted the DPSD and informed them of the situation. I was hoping we could contain this, but that no longer seems to be the case."

"What of Ms. Victoria?" he asked. "Are we not listening to her assessment?"

It was a moment before Sir Integra answered. "Alucard believes she may be right, but it is too soon to tell." That had been the significance of the 'slow' part of his slow nod. "If we can give her her chance to capture him, we will. If we can't…" She trailed off. Both knew what the alternative was. "For now, post our troops in as many airports as possible. If we can't stop him, we'll at least know where he goes."

"I have already taken care of that," Walter replied.

Integra allowed herself a small smile. After having worked together for that long, it was good that he could anticipate her orders. "Thank you, Walter."

///

It had taken a day of planning, research, and database scans, but the DPSD, now at high alert, had found someone they figured could help them if the shit hit the fan… which it probably would soon. Outside an unassuming household in rural Florida, a black SUV rolled up and parked. Every phone call they'd made suggested this person as someone who could get 'inside' Jemeth and possibly stop him. But first, they had to get her to agree. Two men in suits approached the front door and hit the chime. Luckily, it was early winter break. She would be home, and everyone else would be at work.

A young woman, Akira Nasori, opened the door. "Yes? Is there something I can do for you?"

"Miss," the dark-skinned man on the right said, "my name is Roland Mitchell. This," he gestured to the white man beside him, "is Jacob Daniels. May we come in and speak with you? It is an urgent matter."

"You're looking for me?" she questioned. Normally people ask for who they're looking for.

"Yes, miss. You are Akira Nasori, correct?"

"Yes, I am…" She paused, confused but curious. "Come inside." Akira stepped back and allowed the two men to enter, shutting the door after them. She gestured to the couch, and sat in an armchair facing them. "So, what is it you need to talk to me about?"

"Matthew Jemeth." Roland started to explain what Hellsing had told them about what had happened to Jemeth and how it was likely he would be coming back to the States. He had little choice but to tell her about the DPSD as well, but she seemed to understand it was a sensitive subject and asked little about it. "What we're asking of you," he said, coming to the point of the discussion, "is you help. If we locate Jemeth, we're going to move in. Now, we remember what he did for us a few months back, and we'd rather capture him if at all possible. But as he stands now, I doubt he'd listen to us. He might listen to you and stand down."

Roland leaned forward on the couch a bit and continued. "We want you to be there when we face him. Now, you'll have escort; a couple of my best men will be with you at all times. And if things go sour, their orders are to get you out. With you there there's a chance there won't be a fight, but I have to warn you it will be dangerous."

He left the final question unsaid. Akira was silent for a time, leaning back in her chair to think it over. She already knew her family would disapprove. Yes, they all liked Matthew. Even after finding out what had happened to him they accepted him as one of their own. But they wouldn't want Akira to risk her life for him.

But she knew she would. She would because she knew he would if their roles were reversed. Akira looked back up at Roland. "Give me time for my folks to get home. I need to let them know what I'm doing. After that, yes, I'll go with you."

///

Meanwhile, in the London City Airport, Hellsing troops in civilian clothes kept close vigilance over all those passing through. But passing under their very noses was Matthew Jemeth. He had slowly made his way to the airport, and had finally located a jet heading for the United States. He'd wind up in Tampa, which worked fine for him. His already decent abilities with stealth had been greatly enhanced over the last day. None even noticed him as he made his way across the terminal.

But what was his plan? The last couple months of observing Hellsing had told him remaining there would not give him any avenue to gaining real power. There was a chance he could find allies in the United States. But only time would tell.

Matthew walked to one of the boarding gates, following a couple down into the aircraft. He found a place to stand in the back, waiting for the passengers to board and the aircraft to be pulled away from the terminal. There was an open seat on the aisle. Just his luck. He would be able to rest his feet for a while on the trip.

The first step in his ascension was complete. With his power growing every day, soon no one would be able to stop him.