Disclaimer: Volo amet me Hellsing, ego non pecuniam hanc scribble. (So there!)

Chapter 9

By the time Jane took a seat in Integra's office, it was already dusk. Distant rumbles and erratic flashes promised that another downpour would soon be in the offing.

Integra studied the woman in front of her, taking in a physical impression to go alongside what she already knew. There was nothing outwardly remarkable about Miss Jane Smith – an athletic looking woman standing at 5'4, with dark auburn hair that was currently pinned into a serviceable bun. Hazel eyes met icy blue, and then she noticed several small scars on Jane's right forehead and cheek, close to the hairline.

* She's lucky she didn't lose the eye. * she thought, correctly surmising that the scars were from the incident that ended Jane's military career.

She had already made her decision regarding Jane, and now wanted to see if it was going to be the right one. She sat forward, leaning her elbows on the desk, and rested her chin on her interlaced fingers.

"You've caused me a great deal of aggravation Miss Smith." she said gravely.

Jane lifted her chin almost imperceptibly and said nothing.

"Walter tells me that you were under the impression that I was going to have you executed. Why is that?"

"Because I tried and tried to do the right thing but no one wanted to listen. So I didn't know who I could trust, and when I was arrested, I realised that I may be in a great deal of trouble."

"Well you're not."

"I'm not?"

"No. In fact you are to be commended, for exposing a potentially volatile threat to the organization."

"All I wanted was to serve." said Jane earnestly. "Loyalty is the only thing that I have to give."

"I doubt that. Your contributions to the armament have not got unnoticed nor unappreciated."

"Thank you Sir, Ma'am….um"

She trailed off into an embarrassed silence and turned the same colour as her hair.

Integra chuckled, shook her head and leaned back.

"Relax Jane. No one is going to shoot you. In fact, I was looking forward to hearing some of your ideas regarding the joshua pistol."

With that, Jane sagged slightly in her seat, relief showing all over her face, which was quickly replaced by suspicion.

"Really?" she asked warily. "Speaking frankly?"

"Go ahead,"said Integra with a wave of her hand. "Dazzle me."

"Alright." she began, all traces of self consciousness gone. Her hands also began to gesture as she spoke, betraying her enthusiasm.

"Like I explained in my letter, the grips are being crushed and this is leading to a structural breakdown on the actual receiver or frame if you will. So far we've been lucky in the fact that there hasn't been an incident but, it is really only a matter of time. If we could..."

She trailed off and looked down at her hands and then at the desk.

"Its a pity we don't have the gun here, but if you had a pen and paper, I could draw it and explain better"

Before Integra could answer, a pool of shadows bloomed on her table and the pistol in question materialised. Jane stared for a moment, raised an eyebrow and said:

"Handy thing that."

She pointed at the gun. "May I?'

Integra gestured and proceeded to prep a cigar while she watched Jane take the pistol apart in short order, talking all the while. She was listening, but was also taken aback slightly by the woman's apparent joy of handling the weapon, and unperturbed reaction to its arrival.

"So here are those stress fractures I was talking about, and shit, these are the thicker grips too! Anyway, my real concern is the receiver here, where we then add the trigger mechanism and barrel, it really needs to be re-machined from something like titanium, maybe with a tungsten core. Its going to add to the weight though, and then we'll need to change the balance. um..."

She looked up at Integra and trailed off as she noticed a slightly glazed look.

"Sorry." she grimaced. "I get a little carried away when it comes to this."

"I can see that." smirked Integra. "So the bottom line?"

"Bottom line is that the best I can suggest for the joshua model is a complete rebuild with better materials. But honestly? A whole new gun altogether, completely custom built from the ground up."

"And how long would it take, were I to commission such a weapon?"

"If its the only thing that he works on, then about two months from design to delivery, but that is barring any major problems once it goes into production."

"He?"

"Joshua, your head weapon specialist."

"Ah, about that."

Jane's heart clenched in her chest and she could feel the blood drain from her face."

"What about Joshua?"

"I'm having him transferred to general troops."

"B..but why?"

"He could have intervened with Mr Wiggins, instead he chose to do nothing. I can't have someone with no fortitude in charge of arming my forces."

"I see." she said in a small voice.

"Actually, you don't." snapped Integra. "Like I said before, you've caused me a great deal of aggravation."

Anger kindled in Jane, but before she could open her mouth (And make a spectacular display of foot in mouth) Integra continued.

"We're going to have to merge the two design departments together, both guns and ammunition research and development. And guess who I'm putting in charge?"

Jane shook her head, apprehension written all over her.

"Yes, you." came the answer she both wanted to hear and was dreading.

"For your sins." added Integra ominously, although the smile she wore belied the sting of the tone.

"Thank you Sir. I wont let you down Sir." Jane was practically sitting at attention now.

"You'd better not."

She was about to add something else when the storm arrived with a resounding crash that made both women jump slightly. Heavy rain on the roof filled the room with a drumming noise.

"Well. You wont be leaving tonight then." said Integra firmly, turning to the phone on her desk. "I'll call for some tea and then you can tell me what your plans are for Alucard's next toy."

She spoke into the internal phone, not realizing that Jane hadn't heard what she had said. The drumming of the rain on the roof, coupled with a dying battery was loud enough to obscure voices, and so Jane had caught the words: won't be leaving, tea and toy on her bosses lips, but not much else. It left her feeling very confused.

Thankfully by the time Walter arrived with a tray, it had subsided to a gentle sizzle that if she concentrated, she could hear past.

"Tea, Sir Integra."

"Thank you Walter."

"I've also taken the liberty of moving Miss Smith to one of the guest quarters here on the second floor."

"The cell was fine." blurted Jane.

"Nonsense. You aren't a prisoner here, not any more."

Jane watched silently as Walter poured and served, a question nagging at the forefront of her mind. She had to know, she just had to. She accepted a steaming cup, had a sip and then asked calmly.

"What has happened to Mr Wiggins?"

For a brief moment, Integra toyed with the idea of telling some lie, and then decided against it. Jane deserved the truth, even if it made her feel bad. After all, she had blown the whistle on him.

"He refused to co-operate and threatened to expose this organization. I am going to have him sanctioned."

Jane sipped at the cup again and said nothing.

"You don't approve?" challenged Integra.

"Actually, whatever happens to him is his own fault." said Jane coldly, resting her cup on the saucer. "I'm sorry that it came to this but it's not my fault and its not yours. Actions have consequences, and if my actions caused him to act so badly that he needs sanctioning then I have to live with that, which I can do.

She took a sip of tea of and added: "After all, here we're all killers of one kind or another."

Integra stared at her as she continued to sip tea as if she had remarked on nothing more consequential than the weather. Then she smiled inwardly, realising that Jane had a backbone of steel.

They were going to get along just fine.

She was putting her cup back on the tray when she looked over Jane's head and saw two glowing eyes peering out from the painting on the wall. Shaking her head minutely, she restarted the conversation.

"So tell me whats involved in the process of custom building a gun. Will we need to buy more machinery for the factory?"

"No," Jane shook her head. "We have all the machinery we need. I draw up the design, feed it to the C&C and then once the parts are machined, I'll assemble it by hand. Testing and quality control comes after that"

"You make it sound simple, but then say it takes two months?"

"The parts manufacture isn't too a long process, Hellsing's machine shop boys are legendary. But its the design process itself that takes time. You have to decide things like range, caliber, left or right hand...there's a pack of things to figure out. And then of course hand assembly."

"And I assume you will need to meet with the agent?" drawled Integra, wondering how that meeting was going to go. Alucard could be quite demanding.

"Of course, several times probably. But the initial meeting would properly go a bit smoother if you get me a list of his thoughts on it first, you know, what he feels that he needs."

"I need something bigger."

Jane sat bolt upright as voice like liquid dark resonated through the room.