Today, the Convention of Twelve was meeting at Sir Hellsing's estate since the parliament building was still under repairs. Pipes leaked, and scorchmarks dirtied up the hallways. The smell of ash and burnt god-knows-what polluted the air, and no one but the construction crew and contractors were allowed in or out. Now, instead, the smell of a different type of smoke filled the air as the meeting began. Sir Integra put out her cigar and spoke.
"I assume you all are knowledgeable as to why we are here, then, gentlemen?" she asked, sighing. "In H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G.'s latest exploit, the mission of eliminating the demonic terrorist group known as 'Cerberus' was successful in the fact that the targets were successfully terminated. However, it was on a different scale, a failure, in regards to the damage done to the national monument involved, as well as the bystanders involved. The amount of damage is worth millions, both due to the amount of repairs needed, and due to the media cover-up required to keep the general public ignorant. H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. is doing its best to undo the damage, but I understand that several of you have concerns."
"That's right. I hope you don't intend to allow your pet demons to walk away unpunished for their indiscretion." Answered Sir Kirkland, furrowing his thick eyebrows and folding his hands on the table in front of him. "Their job is to take care of things quickly, quietly, and without being noticed! Otherwise, what good are they? You might as well have sent humans!"
"Don't be ridiculous." Scolded Sir Rupert Midford. His mustache hugged the top of his lip as he frowned deeply at the other man. "Humans would have been killed in an instant if they went up against those monsters!"
"That's true." Agreed Sir Greendown. "We all saw the footage that was taken by H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G.'s PR department. No group of men could have gone up against even one member of Cerberus. We were lucky to have gotten away with the damage that we took."
"Perhaps, but are you forgetting the fact that they lost a national monument?!" interrogated Kirkland. "Do you really think people who saw are just going to forget? According to the reports, they were after Phantomhive and his concubine. Why should people have to suffer for that they did?"
"And what did they do, exactly?" asked Midford. "Exist? You're going to antagonize someone for existing?"
"Monsters shouldn't exist. You only think they should because you share the same blood!"
"How dare y—!"
"That is enough." Integra interrupted, startling all parties involved. Her voice was fierce, and her expression was unamused. Her attention was geared toward Sir Kirkland, causing him to slouch in his seat.
"Mister Kirkland is right. Monsters shouldn't exist, which is why the H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. organization was founded." She began, folding her hands on the desk before facing the others. "We exist to keep the general populace safe from creatures that want to devour them. Both Phantomhive and Macken fulfil this role well, but given that no living being lacks imperfection, they are perfectly capable of making mistakes. While that doesn't fix the loss, it explains how this could have happened. Phantomhive and Macken are on our side. They have proven it time and time again. Sir Midford's defense of them isn't unwarranted. If he is traitorous due to his bloodline, then so am I."
Sir Kirkland looked away after that. He looked down at his hands without a word, knowing that he had crossed a serious line. He had forgotten that Sir Hellsing, too, was related by blood to the Phantomhives, as well as to the Midfords. By the same virtue, she was directly related to an angel, rendering his argument completely invalid.
"So, what do you want to do?" asked Sir Walsh, with a cough. The elderly man put down his cigarette, the medals that adorned his military uniform clanking together as he leaned forward. "True, I think there should be some accountability, but at the same time, missions go awry. It is inevitable that some will be successful in some aspects, and failures in others. Some may fail altogether. The humans of H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. as well as a few supernatural agents focused their efforts on getting the bystanders to safety and searching for bombs while those two kept the real monsters away. The division of labour wasn't the problem. It was the execution. That said, more lives could have been lost. You're priorities aren't in the right place if you've got your knickers over a clock, when the death toll could have been catastrophic had they been allowed to continue as they were."
"I agree with Sir Walsh whole-heartedly." Chimed in Sir Greendown, pushing his glasses back up on his nose. "I think we all can. The finances for the repairs, and the amount of damaged control required will be difficult, but I trust that H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. can work something out with the Council's support."
"Despite this, the fact remains that damage has been done." Spoke another member, a woman by the name of Dame Cooper. "Part of the mission was to protect Big Ben, and that part was floundered. I think it is reasonable for some sort of disciplinary action to be taken, like with ordinary agents."
"That's true. I can understand that." Said Integra. "I'm sure they will understand as well. The problem is, what is a suitable punishment for a pair of demons?"
There was the question of the hour. How exactly does one punish a pair of wealthy demons? Put them on temporary suspension? That wouldn't do. It would just be a break for them, and what if they were needed? They couldn't cut off their spending, because their wealth was privately owned. They couldn't place them under house arrest, either. It would conflict with their other respective duties and obligations, which are important to the "Humanization Project".
"You could increase testing." One of the councilmen finally suggested. "That would provide them with some annoyance."
"Didn't H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. also acquire a new subject during the ordeal?" asked another. "What was his name?"
"Several samples were acquired, but the one live subject has been coded 'Specimen AS-001' by the research department. His name is Preston Omid, son of Arman and Rashmi Omid, owner of SOMA Electronics." Integra made aware. "Previously, he was one of the bystanders from the Black Annis incident. He was the only one injured. Until now, he has been in the care of H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. partly as an experiment, and partly for treatment for his infection of black annis."
"We could have them watch over him as punishment." Suggested Cooper.
"No. He is still far too fragile." The Hellsing replied. "His emotional state is currently in shambles. He is recovering from the shock of his loss of humanity. The phenomenon is common amoung unwilling vampires as well."
"So we can't use him as a ploy, then?"
"No. In fact, we need to contact his family, who is now aware of the supernatural, of his current status."
"So you're saying is, Big Ben is in shambles, you're harboring a criminal, the general public is close to being made aware of the prescence of monsters, and the one's who botched the operations will be getting off scot-free without any repricusions?!" demanded Sir Kirkland.
"What's the point?" piped up Sir Penwood. A nervous man, he didn't much care for speaking up when it came to this sort of discussion, but he felt as though he must. When the others turned their attention toward him, he faltered for a moment, fidgeting with his hands.
"W-well, what I mean is, why should we focus on punishing agent Macken and Sir Phantomhive, when there's so much to be done?" he sheepishly clarified. "We're focusing so much on those two, that we haven't been able to touch everything else, yet…"
"I agree with Penwood." Said Greendown.
"Seconded." Nodded Midford.
"Sounds about right." Grinned Walsh.
"Well then…" began the Hellsing woman, pushing her glasses up. It was going to be another meeting discussing the same things that they have discussed time and time again, only this time, the demonic duo had managed to sidetrack the conference without being anywhere near the building it was held in.
"…Shall we continue?"
A/N: Still trying to figure out exactly what I'm going to do next... It's coming slowly...
Maybe check up on everybody? That sounds nice...
Dunno how I'm gonna do it, but I probably should...
I feel weird about taking the attention away from the duo, though. Is that cool with you guys? I dunno...
Questions?
"Wait, if Preston isn't a human anymore, but he's not a full Annie. What does he qualify as now?" by Jman15008
Is he human or is he dancer?
(No clue. He's a special sub-species now, it looks like.)
"Did Ciel ever learn how to drive...?" by TragedyinBlack
lol nope
He's working on the motorbike tho
"I never read the H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. manga, but I thought Seras' arm wasn't like that all the time?" by ArtemisPhantomhive
Haha... That's actually a bit of a spoiler... Her arm does this weird shape-shifty thing toward the end of the series, and it's made of this mysteirious black energy. Sometimes, it isn't an arm at all. She shifts it into the shape of one, tho.
Also, the title of the series is just "Hellsing". Not an acronym.
"Hate sempai, I has a question for you and a question for Preston. Hate sempai, how long do you think DLTP will end up being? I feel the need to emotionally prepare myself if it is due to end soon..." by LaylaHeartfilia
I don't plan on ending it anytime soon. There's still so much to be done!
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
