All was well, even though the duo did feel a tad awkward behaving as they usually did around the Hellsing woman. Elizabeth, however, didn't mind in the slightest. Admittedly, it was still a bit odd to her, but over the course of the evening, she slowly began to become desensitized to the demons' more domestic behaviours. The group got along well, and Elizabeth went out to eat dinner with them before the entire household escorted her to the Hellsing estate.

Elizabeth was a tad nervous about returning to the manor, however. She didn't know how to interact with her granddaughter, nor was she fully aware of any more recent additions to protocol within the organization. Thank goodness, she bypassed the base and simply entered via the residence itself, saving herself the embarrassment of having to navigate the hustle and bustle of the modernized headquarters. Even with an escort, it was hard not to be overwhelmed by both the scenery and the people.

"Sir Integra says that she wants to see you before she turns in for the night." Said Charlotte, who led the angel through the halls. "I'm not sure about what, though. She didn't say."

"That's alright." The angel replied while following. She uttered a long sigh as she fretted over what to do. It was almost unbelievable that she felt intimidated by her own granddaughter. Then again, they had never met until that morning. Integra was born decades after Elizabeth had died, so they didn't quite feel like "family".

"Don't worry about it too much." Stated the vampire. "Despite her first impression, Sir Integra is actually very understanding and considerate."

Somehow, that sounded odd coming from Charlotte, but the angel figured it was because she knew the woman liked other women. That was something Elizabeth was going to have to get over. Thus, she internally corrected herself and went onward, eventually arriving at the door of Integra's office.

There, she found Sir Hellsing, smoking a cigar while seated behind her desk. Her arms were crossed, and she had a very cross expression on her face. It actually made the angel's back stiffen a bit as she braced for whatever was to come next.

"You were gone an awfully long time." Integra finally said. An audible sigh of relief escaped Elizabeth, much to her granddaughter's confusion. That's what she was upset about. The angle had thought it was something far worse.

"My apologies." Elizabeth finally answered. "Ciel meant to call you, but all of us lost track of time."

"I suppose it doesn't matter…" the other woman stated, sighing herself. "You still followed my instructions, so there's not much I can do. Just be sure to check in every so often."

"Yes, ma'am…" the angel murmured. It felt so awkward being so formal around the other woman, but it felt disrespectful not to. Integra finally stood up from her seat.

"I don't expect you to adjust so easily." The head of the family pointed out. "I don't even expect you to take up residency here. You may do as you wish."

"I do want to stay, but everything is so foreign. The only thing that is even vaguely familiar is the basic set-up of the house." Spoke the older. She fiddled with her ring finger for a moment, pondering as to whether or not she wanted to continue.

"Uhm… I'd even like to get to know you a little, if it's not too out of place…" she added. The room went dead silent as neither of them quite knew what to say. The younger Hellsing simply stood with her back to the other, pretending to look out the window as she formulated a response. Truthfully, she wasn't at all sure how she felt about that. She didn't know Elizabeth, and Elizabeth didn't know her. Still, there was surely something they had in common as women of the holy order of protestant knights.

"I'm not sure how one would do that." Integra admitted. "I haven't had a blood-relative since I was twelve. I don't know how to act around 'family'. I suppose I'm in the same boat as Ciel, in that aspect."

Even though she couldn't see it, the angel smiled brightly at the statement. If the woman was truly anything like Ciel, that meant something along the lines of: "I would be willing to try it". Her main concern now was figuring out how exactly to bond with her granddaughter.

"By the way…" Integra began, rummaging behind her desk. Elizabeth took a few steps forward and tried to peek at what the other Hellsing was doing, only to have something thrown at her. Without even thinking about it, her hand shot out in front of her, and her fingers wrapped around the object, catching it. Elizabeth's eyes widened at what she had been given.

"While searching the scene of the 'Ceberus' headquarters, this was recovered." Integra stated, indicating toward the sword that was now in Elizabeth's hands. "That's an Angelic blade is it not? I would assume that it's yours…"

"It is!" the angel answered. "Thank you! I was worried that I wouldn't get it back!"

"That's good to hear. If it wasn't yours, I would have been concerned." Integra said, sitting back down. The other woman nodded and did the same, taking a seat on one of the sofas in the room.

"I wouldn't blame you." She said. "Obviously, I'm not the only supernatural being that Cerberus had under their command. While they allowed Miss August to keep her antifreak halberd, they took my weapon and gave me a substitute because I'm an angel. Their influence was gradually growing weaker over time because of this, it would seem, but I was still very much influenced. They're very careful…"

"Do you remember anything about your time there?"

"Not really. I can't even remember if their leader was a man or a woman! They were a freak, however. Otherwise, disarming me would have served no purpose." Elizabeth replied, tightening her grip on the scabbard of her sword as it rested in her lap. "I just remember that they had quite a few supernatural beings under their command. There were all kinds, running all ends of the spectrum of good an evil. Some of them were 'awake', however. I still can't remember much about them, though…"

"Do you at least have some sort of idea as to what they could want?" questioned Integra, leaning forward as she rested her elbows on the desk in front of her. "They seem to have great interest in Ciel."

"They do, but I'm not sure why." The other woman stated. "That trap they set for him… If they were careful enough to take away my sword, they certainly must know that a bomb can't kill a demon."

"So you're saying that their intention wasn't to kill him?"

"Yes, but that doesn't explain it's purpose. Was it to merely incapacitate him? Or, could have been a distraction for something else…"

Elizabeth looked to her granddaughter, her facial features perking up a bit from her serious tone. The woman was looking to the laptop that sat on her desk, punching in a few keys before jotting something down on a piece of paper. While Elizabeth wasn't sure what the device was, she felt that now was not the time to ask. Instead, she simply waited for Sir Integra to give her notice again.

"Here." The human woman said, holding out the piece of paper. Elizabeth took it and glanced it over. "I want you to go talk to Lieutenant Suyin Chu. She's the head of the intelligence department. We need any and all information and reports of recent supernatural incidents that could possibly relate to what we have just discussed. Meanwhile, I will call Ciel and have him informed. It would appear that we may need his help after all…"

"Alright then." Elizabeth answered, folding the paper that gave her instructions on where to find the lieutenant and placing it in one of the pockets of her borrowed uniform. "I'll be happy to help."

"'Help'?" echoed Integra. "No, you're a vital player. You aren't going to be 'helping', you're going to be working."

"Understood!" the angel excitedly said. It had been ages since she had been able to do H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. work, and now she was going to have a chance to be a part of her beloved organization again!


A/N: I needed to pull Cerberus back into this... Also I wanted to just play around with these two a bit. Sue me.

I've been skimping out on A/Ns, huh? I didn't think you'd be too terribly brokenhearted. I just didn't much feel like it...

Eh... Anyway... Questions?

" why are you taking so long to update?" by guest

What're you talkin' 'bout? I've been updating like crazy! I could go back to updating only once a week, howzzat?

"Nee hate senpai, do u read yaoi manga? What is your favorite.?" by KARAYUAN

Not really. I mean, I watched the Junjou Romantica anime, but didn't really read the manga after that. I'm sorry. I'm just not that into it. Sex scenes are really kinda boring... Shounen and Shoujo-ai, however, I can really get behind. Shoujo-Ai in particular, though. My favourites are "Asagao to Kase-san", "Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep", and "Under One Roof". They're all really, really cute.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!