"I don't understand girls at all." said Private Cooksey while shoveling a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "They always go after guys with huge muscles, but it really doesn't matter unless you know how to fight."

"'Size doesn't matter, what matters is how you use it' is all I got from what you just said." Bryce replied, earning a chuckle from the other lads.

"What I mean is, they say they want one thing, and then either do the opposite, or just make dumb decisions." Gordon attempted to clarify, but failed miserably.

"I disagree with you wholeheartedly." stated Private Jason Choi. "My wife has excellent taste in men."

"How the hell do you even get married?" inquired Private Young. "I just can't really see that ever happening."

"It helps to see women as individuals with their own free will instead of hiveminds or things to control." Jason answered. "You can't control them. You can only live in the same proximity and work as a team."

"Are you saying that being married is a lot like being part of a platoon?"

"Remarkably similar, now that you mention it. Biggest difference is I don't want to have sex with any of you."

"What I don't get is that you're a really nice guy, Jason." pointed out Carl, waving a piece of ham on the end of his fork in the other's general direction. "Most the women I tried to get with only go after assholes."

"No, I think they just avoided one." jested Private Danlaw.

"Listen, if every girl you've ever met finds you repulsive, I've got terrible news for you." Private Choi began, sounding rather serious. "If every single woman you meet finds you repulsive, it's unlikely that every single woman you meet is wrong. The most common denominator in this here equation is you, isn't it? Usually, it's that there's something in your personality that's awful and unpleasant to be around."

"What if they keep saying they just want to be friends?" asked Wallace.

"Well… Did you ever give the impression you wanted to be more than friends? You kind of have to flirt in order for people to get the hint. Women's intuition is a thing, but they aren't mindreaders."

"I still don't believe it's that simple." Gordon said, crossing his arms on the table. "I just don't know what I'm doing wrong."

"What did I just say, Gordon?" asked Choi. "What did I just say?"

"So, just to clarify here, is Jason the only one with any kind of experience with girls?" questioned Private Maddigan, turning his head back and forth so he could see if anyone confirmed his assumptions.

"I've had girlfriends." Danlaw replied.

"I've had one." answered Braumfeld.

"I've had your mum." stated Henderson with a short snicker. "And all of your sisters."

"Bullshit, you're the biggest virgin here." Bryce scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "You're even after Cooksey."

"Hey!" exclaimed Private Cooksey in protest.

"Not true. Clancy is last!" Henderson objected. "He's never been with even an imaginary one!"

"Fuck off." Private Clancy Peterson replied with an annoyed look on his face. He knew what was coming. All of them did. They felt as though there was nothing they could do, though, except grit their teeth and hope it doesn't get too bad.

"You wish." scoffed Carl with a short laugh at the end. "With the way Clancy stares at us in the showers, I'm glad he's so short!"

"Shut up, Carl." protested Danlaw. "Leave him alone." Unfortunately, for unrelated but also prejudiced reasons, his words did not matter to Henderson.

"God knows what he gets up to in the barracks when we're all asleep." Henderson continued, trying to get a rise out of Peterson. "Then there's that weird thing he went to with the other devil 'witches'. Are there even enough of people like you to have an orgy with?"

Suddenly, all the humour from the table disappeared as Carl laughed alone. Unfortunately, he would continue until he got at least a chuckle from somebody else, but doing so would hurt their comrade, as well as possibly turn the others against them. Finally hearing enough, Clancy got up from the table and took his tray with him, food still on it.

"Oh, c'mon, Clancy!" Carl called out. "It was just a joke!"

Clancy only turned his head to give Private Joseph Kidman acknowledgment, having recalled his advice. The two of them both knew what he meant by that. Then again, so did most of them. Still, Clancy no longer wished to be around Private Henderson right then, so he stormed out, throwing the rest of his unfinished food in the trash, despite wanting to eat it.

Even when he was gone, the silence lingered, suffocating the group. It was only cleared when Bryce punched Carl in the arm. "OW! The bloody hell was that for?"

"You know good and well what it was for, dickhead." Private Withers growled.

"Not my fault he can't take a fucking joke." Henderson replied. With that, a few of the others got up as well. Kidman, Danlaw, Choi, and Maddigan all left to go find Peterson, much to Carl's astonishment. "Where's everybody going?"

"To get away from your nasty ass, prick." Maddigan shot back before closing the door to the mess hall behind them. They left Henderson flabbergasted, but defensive.

"I didn't do anything." he said one last time before continuing to eat, only this time, he did it quietly.

The decent-sized group leaving the mess did not go unnoticed, however. It caught the attention of their commanding officer, who was obligated to go interrogate them about it. Needless to say, he was far less than thrilled about it, as he looked forward to lunch everyday since his husband stated making it for him. It wasn't anything impressive, but it was made with love, so Ciel naturally enjoyed every bit of it. The fact that he was going to be pulled away was incredibly irritating.

With a huff, he stood up and put on his gloves, followed by his hat and grabbed his riding crop as he walked out the door. He briskly walked his way down to the barracks to investigate and spared nothing in theatrics as he did so. When the door violently swung open, everyone dropped what they were doing and sprinted to their respective bedsides to stand at attention.

"What's all this, then?" Ciel demanded. "Who told you to come back to the barracks!"

"Nobody, sir!" the group answered.

"Then why did you?!" The demon could see hesitance on the groups face as they looked at one another to see who was willing to answer. A lot of them looked to Clancy, but then looked at Joseph as well. Eventually, someone had to respond.

"Tension within the group, sir." informed Solomon Danlaw. "One of us was being harassed by another recruit, so the rest of us left with him in support, sir."

"Harassed?" echoed the demon, his tone suddenly shifting. "How so? And by who?"

There was another moment of silence before Clancy worked up the nerve to answer. "I was being harassed, sir. Private Henderson was mocking me for my sexual orientation, sir."

"Is this true?" Ciel asked the others, prompting the others to nod and utter in agreement. "This is a very serious accusation. Please give me as much information as you can. All of you."

Lunch eventually let out and the rest of the group came back to the barracks. They were chatting and carrying on as they walked, but that came to a screeching halt as soon as they walked inside. There, the platoon commander stood at the end of the long walkway between the rows of beds and he looked extremely unhappy. With a surly expression, he began to bark orders.

"What are you doing?!" he demanded in a loud, booming voice. "Get to attention! Quickly! Quickly! Quickly!"

Feet shuffled as everyone got into position, now dreading what was to come. Ciel slowly walked up and down the aisle with his hands behind his back as he tried to figure out where to begin. It was his first time handling this sort of thing, so he needed to think this through.

"It has come to my attention that one of you is not being a team player." he began. "On this team, we work together and treat each other with respect. If you can't do that, then what good are you?"

He was simply going to ease into things, but then caught a glimpse of Private Henderson rolling his eyes. It would appear that Carl was not taking his actions seriously. He would in due time, starting when the demon abruptly closed the gap between them and got in his face.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, private!" Ciel roared. "Do you take me for a fool?!"

"Sir, no sir!" Private Henderson yelled.

"Then what are you rolling your eyes for?!"

"I understand the problem, sir!"

"You don't understand the problem?" echoed the Phantomhive. Scoffing he asked: "Are you fucking stupid? You don't understand the problem with disrespecting your comrades?"

Henderson opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it, censoring himself. "What's that?" demanded the demon. "Do you think I'm a poofter, Private Henderson?"

"Sir, no sir!" Carl replied.

"Can't hear you, Henderson! Speak up! Do you think that I am a poofter?!"

"Sir, no sir!" the other man shouted.

"Do you fancy me, Henderson?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"Aren't I cute, Private Henderson?"

"Yes, sir! Very cute, sir!" Carl answered, blushing as his fellow recruits laughed.

"Well, you're not, you ugly sod!"Ciel stated with a disgusted face. "Listen to me, Henderson, this is my platoon. When you insult people in my platoon, you insult me. When you give your platoon-mates shit for things they can't help and don't need to change, you insult me! Do you really think you have the nerve to insult me? Do it! Right to my face! Call me a poofter!"

Henderson didn't know what to do. It was a direct order, but he knew that there would be consequences if he fulfilled it. Panicked, he made an attempt to explain himself. "It was just a joke, sir!" he shouted, prompting the demon to look around the room.

"Right, then." Ciel replied, seeming to back off just a tad. Then, however, he addressed the room. "Who here finds Private Henderson's 'jokes' funny? Raise your hand."

Stillness. There was complete stillness in that room save for the movement of Sir Phantomhive as he looked around the room. "Nobody? Nobody finds humour in it?" he inquired further. "It has come to my attention that quite a few of you find them the opposite. That they're hurtful and alienating. Are you aware of this, Private Henderson?"

"Look, it was just a joke. I didn't mean to hurt anybody..."

"Then why did you continue to do it even though there were protests? It's not a joke if nobody laughs, Henderson and quite frankly, I'm not entirely certain that you actually believe these are 'jokes'."

"I… I dunno, I'm just..."

"What, Henderson? You're just what? Uncomfortable?" Ciel inquired, causing the man to hesitantly nod. "Let me tell you something, private. This is the team you've got. If there was suddenly a vampirism outbreak on this base, guess who you would have to rely on to have your back?"

"This platoon… sir..."

"Right. Now if you treat your platoon like trash and keep acting like a complete stain, how much of an incentive do you think they have to help you?"

Quietly, Private Henderson coughed. "None."

"I can't hear you."

"None, sir!" he said louder.

"Then why the bloody hell do you feel like it's a good idea to be intentionally hurtful to your comrades?!"

"I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" the bluenette said. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have done it! Now I want you to pick up that dust bin, go out onto the parade square, and run around this building with it until I tell you to bloody stop! Am I understood?!"

Scowling at being yelled at, Carl refused to answer the bluenette. Instead, he opted for turning away and beginning to walk out of the room. On his way out, he grabbed the handle of the empty dustbin and pulled it along. But, he wasn't in the clear. Oh, no. His attitude would cost him dearly.

"Henderson!" Ciel called out as he marched after him. His pace was fast and his demeanor was purposeful. The others in the barracks were genuinely afraid for Henderson's safety, with the way he acted. "Henderson! Stop right there!"

"You told me to run!" Carl protested, only for the demon to get right in his face again.

"You will not cop that attitude with me, Private! Do you hear me?! I'm not your bloody mother who'll take your petty little shit-fit temper tantrums! I am your commanding officer and you will not walk out on me!"

"Whatever..." With a roll of his eyes, Carl tried to continue running, only for a gloved hand to yank the bin out of his grip and toss it to the side with a loud clatter.

"You're not in charge here. I am. I am the toughest, meanest, strongest son of a bitch on this base, Private!" Ciel declared. "If you think you're more qualified than me to lead this platoon, you're going to have to prove it. Hold out your hands."

"What's that got to do wi-"

"Hold. Out. Your. Hands." the demon growled through grit teeth. Never before had any of the lads seen him so serious. It took everything Carl had not to be shaking in his boots, as much as he wanted to. As the other recruits watched on from the windows out front of the barracks, Private Henderson hesitantly did what he was told.

In a flash, the crack of the demon's riding crop rang out throughout the square. The recruits winced, but not as hard as Carl did. None of them ever thought that Ciel would use the crop. They always thought it was just for show. Now they knew. Carl knew especially well. His face contorted with pain as he screamed, wanting nothing more than to close his hands and pull them in toward himself.

"Don't pull away, Henderson!" roared the Phantomhive. "Keep them open! You're the biggest badass on the base, right? Prove it!"

It only took one more hit before Henderson couldn't take any more. Mind you, Ciel didn't hit him very hard. It was about the same as Sebastian did when Ciel was being taught by him as a child. If his scrawny, twelve-year-old self could take more than one of those, then surely a grown man could. Sadly, Ciel was wrong. He was actually surprised that Carl gave up so quickly.

"I've had worse lashings as a child." Ciel scoffed. "Not such a big man after all, are you? Right. Back against the wall in a squatting position. Arms outstretched. Now."

Sniffling, Private Henderson did as he was told, now. He had fallen to one knee on the second swat, so now he had to get up. On his way over to the wall, he checked his hands. It felt like they have been cut open, but they were only reddened. Once he was in position, he was given further instruction.

"Repeat after me: 'I will not disrespect my Platoon.'" the Phantomhive ordered.

"I will not disrespect my platoon." Henderson recited. "I will not disrespect my platoon. I will not disrespect my platoon."

"You will keep doing this until I have told you to stop. Am I understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The poor recruit's voice cracked as he answered and tears began running down his cheeks. "I will not disrespect my platoon!"

Then, with a shake of his head, he went back into the barracks in order to get the rest of the platoon ready for their regularly scheduled physical exercises. It was as back-breaking as usual for the rest of the group, but Henderson had a worse time. He had to do the same exercises on top of his punishment and wasn't allowed to leave with the others until he completed them.

Some had a better time, however. Both Private Jason Choi and Private Wallace Young broke their previous records for push-ups, but Young tried to push himself harder in every exercise. He did five more push-ups than usual, four more squats, three more sit-ups, and one more toe-touch. His body hated him for it afterwards, but he still felt good about himself.

"I really do feel like I'm getting better." Young said. All of them were drinking tea in the NAAFI after finishing their workout. He sat reclined in a chair with his cup sitting on his knee while the others relaxed as well. There was even a piano ambiance, courtesy of Private Kidman. "I can feel myself getting faster and stronger. It's getting easier, bit by bit. I didn't think I would ever be able to workout, but here I am!"

"Same." Maddigan replied, lifting his mug. Setting it down again, he rolled up his sleeve in order to show off his bicep. "Look! I even have a muscle starting to form!"

"Are you sure that's not just a pimple?" Jested Bryce, but Timothy was in good spirits and laughed with the others.

"I dunno!" laughed Maddigan. "Could be!"

The banter carried on like this, keeping everyone in good spirits until it was time to head back to the barracks to do routine maintenance. They had to sweep and polish the floors and scrub everything for inspection the next day. Uniforms and bedsheets needed to be washed and shoes needed to be shined. None of them really understood why, as their instructor had told them it was a terrible idea out in the field, but they did it anyway.

While working, the conversation turned a bit more serious. They talked about life, what they wanted out of the experience and what they were going to do afterwards. In all honesty, most of them didn't expect that most of this camp would be scrubbing floors, but in a way, they were somewhat grateful. None of them had really done if before, and it was being here that made some of them realise just how cushy their previous lives were.

"I feel like I need to apologise to my mum." said Young. "I didn't do nothing around the house. I used to take out the trash a few times, sure, but I didn't do shit."

"Yeah..." Private Braumfeld agreed. He nodded rather gravely as he leaned on his broom, using it as a sort of crutch. "I kind of hate the person I used to be… I mean? What the hell was I even thinking? I used to go out into the woods after drinking a couple of beers with my friends and we'd hunt monsters with homemade weapons we put together in our garages. I'm glad I never found shit. I would've died for sure..."

"I think a lot of us kinda feel that..." In an unusual moment of vulnerability, Bryce added: "I think we all kind of feel that to an extent. It used to be fun prepping for the 'zombie' apocolypse, but now? This is serious work. I'm proud to be doing it, but man… It kinda stings to know how good for nothing you were, doesn't it? Not knowing how to wipe your own ass, going around, pretending to know everything, but not knowing shit all the while… I signed up thinking this would be a fun time, but… It's real..."

"Am I really willing to die for this?" Young asked to no one in particular. "I only wanted to know everything I could about the supernatural world. This was kind of a once in a life time opportunity, you know? It's really important work. We are the people who prevent the 'zombie' apocalypse from even being a possibility, after all! How many people get to be part of that? I just… I dunno… I don't know if I'm willing to… y'know..."

Several of the others murmured in agreement with him as they continued to clean. "It's the right thing to do." Danlaw stated confidently. "The world needs people like us to do this job, even if we don't get any credit for it. My only regret is that I wasn't a good son before I came in here. I don't know how I even expected to be a soldier by wasting all of my time playing videogames and not doing anything around the house. You can't even be a man by doing that. Sir Phantomhive is right. We were pigs."

"Did you want to be a soldier before this, Solomon?" asked Clancy.

"Yes. My dad was in the army until he just couldn't do it anymore. His knees gave out." Solomon answered. His usually serious visage was graced by a proud smile as he spoke of his father. "I wanted to be just like him and knew I would join the army one day and help people, too."

"Why didn't you?" questioned Gordon. "I mean, why didn't you join the army-army?"

Suddenly, Danlaw's smile fell again. "Being in a military family, I had to be apart from my dad a lot. I would always wonder why there has to be war because if there wasn't, he would get to stay home and be with me and my little brother. Usually, you get the same speech. 'We're fighting to protect ourselves and our allies.' 'We're keeping the country safe.' But are we really? Looking more into it, I tried to find that out and without fail, every war was caused by one thing: money."

The others merely blinked at him, not quite following. "Conquering land gives more money for the people at the top. Doesn't matter if it's for farming, for taxation, or oil. It's all money in the end." he continued sadly. "Just a bunch of rich old men sending poor young men out to collect with bullets. HELLSING doesn't seem to be that way, though. This is out battleground. We're protecting our people directly from a threat that could destroy us, otherwise. That's why I signed up."

Silence soon followed. Nobody could top that, surely. The thought that anyone could was laughable, and that's exactly what Gordon Cooksey did. He laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Solomon with a mean expression.

"No, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at me." Private Cooksey replied. "You have this really great reason to be here, and I signed up just because I was a loser in my everyday life! Man, I'm trash!"

"You're not a loser." said Bryce. "Well, kind of.

"Nah, I totally am." Gordon stated with a wave of my hand. "I did the typical stuff: Too lazy to help out my mum around the house, too lazy to get a job, too stupid to get a job that would actually make money… you name it. I was a geek, too, and I kind of always blamed how shitty I was on that, but being here kind of makes me stop and wonder if I was just shitty because I was shit?" Chuckling, he swept a pile of dirt into the dustpan that Clancy was holding.

"I only joined because I thought I'd be this insane badass that would get a lot of girls when the 'zombie' apocalypse came, or something." he continued. "Now I'm just lucky to be a slightly mediocre soldier."

"You're not more mediocre than the rest of us." Clancy nervously laughed. "I just wanted to be a little bit more macho, I guess. I always got picked on for being a bit… y'know..." He paused and limply waved his hand, bending it at his wrist. "I thought this supernatural business was interesting anyway, so I thought 'hey! This is just what I need!' Think I got any cred, yet?"

"Plenty." laughed Maddigan. "I'm kinda in the same boat, only not 'cause of… y'know..." Timothy paused to mime the same motion that the other did, relieved that Clancy laughed. "I'm just really short and skinny. I wanna be big and buff, y'know? Kinda like Sir Phantomhive, but only with both eyes and less baggage. That guy's seen some shit."

"We'll probably all see some shit before we die, too." Kidman jested. "I just thought it would be really cool. Like, fun like all those 'missions' we went on for Belmont, right? I kinda like this better, though. I feel like you guys actually have my back and we have a better idea of how to, y'know… Not fucking die."

"Guess it's Jason's turn, now." Maddigan said, catching the older man's attention. Jason took a moment from polishing his boots in order to look up.

"Huh?" he asked, not quite sure how to answer.

"Well, we gave all our reasons for being here." Timothy elaborated. "What about yours?"

"Oh..." Jason replied, looking back down at his boot and beginning to polish. "I wasn't into this stuff like you guys. Solomon would probably hate my reason."

"What's that?" asked Private Danlaw.

"Money." Private Choi stated. "Plain and simple. I'm here for the paycheck. I'm not here for the greater good or to make myself a better man. I just need money and lots of it."

"What for?" asked Gordon. "You gonna buy a mansion?"

"No, I'm gonna live here with my wife and daughter." Jason said rather plainly. "I was laid off from my job and it turned out that my boss was a bigger dickhead than I could have thought, so I was also blacklisted in my field. It was either get an even lower paying job outside of it, or this."

"Why didn't you just take the lower paying job?" asked Bryce with a baffled look on his face. "Just save a little more money than you used to."

"Can't. It doesn't keep. Everytime we save some-" Choi paused to snap his fingers. "Poof! Gone. I'm not mad or upset about it, though. Emily- my daughter- she was born with a couple of problems and needs a couple of surgeries and some specialised equipment. Some of it is perfectly fine and she doesn't need help with at all, but some of it, like her heart? It's scary… HELLSING was willing to pay for all of it and then some. How could I say no to that? She and my wife already live in an apartment near the home base, now and Emily's already seeing their doctors."

"What if you… y'know… die?" questioned Wallace. "Won't she need you?"

"Nope. HELLSING will take care of them, even when I'm gone." Jason said. He seemed rather nonchalant about it, but his eyes glazed over as he fell further and further into thought. He even accidentally polished his fingers. "They'll be okay."

The group continued cleaning into the night until it was time for bed. Nighttime was the worst, out of any of it, in some of their minds. It was quiet and until they fell asleep, their minds had to occupy themselves with something, so oftentimes, their thoughts turned to anxiety. They wondered how their families were doing and if they were safe. They wondered if they were cut out to be soldiers. Sometimes they would talk amoungst themselves in the darkness until they were shushed in order to ease their worries, but only time would tell them for certain.