Disclaimer: Despite my many wishes I still own nothing here but my own imaginings. The lawyers will have to be contented with that.

Chapter Fifteen:

Jane was eager to get started on her special project but common sense won out and she spent the next week organising the factory and making sure that things would run smoothly during the day while she was sleeping – since she was going to have to work the night shift for a while.

Eventually things were they way she wanted and she sent word to the mansion that she was ready for the first consultation. Sleep eluded her and so when Integra arrived with her undead entourage, Jane was at the range, trying to see if she could increase the firing rate on a mounted machine gun.

She was bent over with her face buried in the inner workings when she heard footsteps behind her, despite her strict instructions that no-one was to come onto the range just in case she had a misfire of the ammunition.

"Umm, Ma'am." came the quavery voice of private Murphy.

Rolling her eyes and gritting her teeth, she turned around to find the private with his eyes as wide as they could go and a face a white as Wensleydale cheese. Trying not to shoot him she gritted out:

"Yes private?"

"I think you have visitors." he practically whispered. "And I think they're vampires."

Looking over his shoulder she could see Sir Integra standing at the door to the range, flanked on either side by Alucard and Seras. Grateful that they were out of earshot, she hissed at Murphy:

"You're right, they're vampires and you see that tall one – if you ever counter my safety instructions again, I will feed you to him, drop by drop. Now get off my range!"

Murphy scuttled off, giving Alucard a wide berth. Jane walked over to the small party and offered her hand. Integra shook it with a smirk and asked:

"Problems?"

"Already sorted Ma'am" she answered briskly. "Now, shall we step into my office?"

She led the way to her workshop, silently hoping that no one had heard her. The door swung smoothly open on its pivot hinge and she indicated for them to enter the room. As Integra went in, she noted the thickness of the walls and the locking mechanism on the door – more suited to a vault than a door.

Showing them to the chairs that Murphy and Simmons had carted in there only that morning, she pulled up a notebook and uncapped her pen.

"Shall we start with your rules Sir Integra?" she asked.

"Rules?" came the slightly startled reply.

"Are there limits to the firepower that I'm going to create or shall I just let my imagination run wild?"

Integra mused over the question, absently noting that Jane was slightly more assertive than she had been at the mansion. She assumed correctly that it was due to her being on home ground. Without thinking, she reached into her coat for her cigar case but had no sooner brought it into view when Jane spoke sharply.

"There's no smoking here Sir Integra, especially not in this room."

"Quite." the blond woman answered, while shoving the case back in her pocket.

"In fact," Jane continued in the same tone. "Let's start with my rules."

Fixing her eyes on Alucard, she stood up and started to pace.

"Just about every single thing in this room is used in one fashion or another in the eradication of your kind. You will not touch anything here nor will you touch anything on this property without me handing it to you."

She turned her gaze onto Seras, who blushed without reason.

"You don't walk through walls do you?"

"N, no" she stammered, not expecting the question.

"Good. Then this is mainly for you." Jane turned back to Alucard. "If that door is closed and the red light outside is on, don't come in here – either through the door or the wall. It means I can't hear you coming and I'm probably working with something that will, if dropped, obliterate me and quite possibly you."

The three of them stared at her and she realised what she had said and exactly who she was speaking to. Inwardly cursing, she stared back – daring them to counter her, hoping that no-one did.

"Goo advice Miss Smith." drawled Sir Integra, rising from her seat. "Clearly you have things under control here and so don't need me to hinder the works."

"Shall I show you out?"

"No, you get started here. I'll get that little man to take me to the car – if I can find him." Integra smirked.

Jane picked up the internal phone and said curtly:

"Simmons, get Murphy to the door right sharpish."

She offered Sir Integra a salute and said:

"We won't let you down Sir."

"No," she said slowly. "I don't think you will."

She sauntered out of the room and then stopped at the door and turned back.

"By the way, I've arranged a car for Seras and Alucard to come and go as you need them. And remember, if he gets out of hand – just shoot him. Ordinary lead will slow him down."

Jane stood blinking for a moment, not quite sure if Integra meant Murphy or Alucard, and then came to the conclusion that she meant Alucard.

Taking a deep breath she turned to the two immortals waiting for her and said:

"Seras, shall we start with you?"

"Me?"

"Sir Integra asked me to remake your rifle."

"Rifle?" she laughed, "It's more like a cannon."

"No dear, it's not even close, but when I'm done with it, it will be. Come over here."

Standing up, Seras allowed herself to be drawn to one corner of the room where a large shape was covered by tarpaulin. She watched as Jane pulled it off and revealed a large twin barreled gun that looked like it was supposed to to mounted to a vehicle.

"That's far to big to hold." she said.

"Of course it is right now, it's usually mounted on one of Hellsing's Westland Lynx helicopters. I bullied Major Ferguson into giving me one."

Jane said this so matter-of-factly that Seras couldn't for a moment comprehend that Jane had bullied Major Ferguson. No one bullied him, he bullied everyone else, except her master. And Sir Integra. And she realised that Jane was speaking again but she had missed it.

"Sorry, I missed that." she confessed sheepishly.

"I said I'll take a measurement of your hands and use it to design a trigger mechanism for manual use and then I'll take it from there and soon you'll have a real cannon. Incidentally, how much can you carry while running?"

Before Seras could answer, Alucard had unfolded himself from his seat and said loudly:

"As much as she needs to."

Assuming that he was bored and feeling left out, Jane turned to him and smiled.

"Good, then I won't hold back on the ammunition capacity."

She made her way over to a workbench and quickly mixed up a batch of dental latex and poured it into two containers.

"Seras, take your gloves off and put your hands into these please. It'll be easier for me to work with a cast of your hands and then you wont have to keep coming here for measurements."

Seras did as requested and pressed her hands into the containers.

"Eeew." she groaned. "That's disgusting."

Alucard sniggered until Jane said:

"Keep laughing, it's your turn next."

"I'm afraid that wont be possible." he said bluntly.

"Afraid of a little goo?"

"My gloves don't come off."

He held them out to her and Jane could see the symbols on them and remembered that Joshua had told her about the seals and how he was enslaved to the Hellsing family. Slightly embarrassed that she had made a mistake, she sighed and said:

"That means we'll have to take lots of physical measurements."

"What's the matter – scared of holding my hand?" he smirked.

Jane gave him the finger and turned to check if the latex around Seras' hands had set. She prayed that her face didn't look as red as it felt. With a hard tug and a pop, the draculina's hands were loose and she stood rubbing them clean as Jane busied herself mixing plaster and pouring it into the casts.

After a few general measurements, she scribbled in her book for a moment and then rummaged in her draw and brought out a set of verniers.

"Your turn." she nodded at Alucard.

He had been slouching in on the workbench, but straightened up when she spoke to him. Turning to Seras, he said:

"It's going to take a while for those castings to set. You take the car back to the mansion and I'll follow when we're done here."

"But Master," she began and stopped when he bared his fangs at her. "Of course."

Mumbling a quick good-night to Jane, she left the room, leaving her master and the gunsmith to their verbal sparring. Both of them watched her leave and then Jane indicated a tall stool on one side of the bench. Alucard sat and extended both hands, never letting his eyes leave Jane's face.

She took the larger of the verniers and busied herself with taking measurements of his hands, turning them this way and that as she needed. She pretended that she couldn't feel the coolness of his skin through his gloves, she pretended that she couldn't feel his eyes on her.

She had been working for a good hour, peering at the tiny numbers and taking them down in her book so when he spoke, she pretended that she didn't jump.

"I can eat him if you like."

Meeting his eyes, she stared uncomprehending for a second and then realised that he must have heard her threatening Murphy. Rolling her eyes, she answered without thinking:

"You wouldn't want to, he'd probably give you indigestion."

A rich chuckle answered her remark and she put down her tools and rubbed her forehead.

"I'm sorry. There's no filter and it's been a long night."

"Shall I take my leave then?"

She looked at her watch and realised that more time had gone by than she had thought. She nodded.

"I think so. I've got a good start on this so I can work for a few days and then I'll most likely have some scale drawings for you to look at."

"Then I shall bid you good morning." he said, inclining his head.

"Good morning."

Jane watched as he walked straight through the wall and faded from sight, doing exactly the thing that she had told him not to do.

* Although it was going out and not coming in.* she thought.

She quickly tidied away her tools and pushed the door closed. A quick rummage in a draw produced a blanket and soon she was fast asleep on the sofa, her note book resting on her chest.