Wings of the Damned

Sapphirewyren

Hellsing Organization

Wings of the Damned

Sapphirewyren

Chapter 9: When Heists Go Wrong

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing

Undisclosed Place in London

As the last of the members of the Iron Grin filed into the room, Iris thought back on the last couple of weeks. After the botched kidnapping of Her Majesty, the Hellsing Organization made it their mission to hunt down every member of the Iron Grin, even former members. Any person suspected of being a member was shadowed extensively, while every iota of their private life was turned upside down. If the suspect was an actual member, they were not arrested right away, instead, either Hellsing soldiers would pretend to be people interested in joining, or they were followed to their hidden hideouts, where meetings were held. Either way, the results were the same, a squadron of soldiers would burst into the room and everyone there were hauled away in handcuffs. Not surprisingly, the leader Iris always managed to get away, something Integra found absolutely disgusting. What kind of leader runs off as her followers were being taken away? No matter, that problem would soon be solved.

When everyone finally settled down, Iris looked around the room, there were only 16 of them left. All the Iron Grin members were either in Baskerville Penitentiary or dead. The ones at Baskerville were treated miserably by guards and inmates alike, some even being violated. And the ones that were dead, had learned the hard way that Hellsing bullets weren't just reserved for monsters with red eyes and fangs. Their bodies were sent back to their families, with a warning from the Hellsing director that they were also under investigation. This did not leave Iris as a happy camper, "We need to strike big and show that Hellsing bitch that we are not to be underestimated."

"How about we try and kidnap the Queen again? No one would think that we'd do it again" suggested a dark-skinned teen named Jack. Other members shook their heads. "No, they will probably have added more guards to her detail" sneered Iris. Wilt raised his hand, "I think that we should hit the New London Blood Bank." Every head was turned in the blonde's direction. "Well, we need to go big, right? And that place is one of the largest blood banks in the world." When there was a shortage of blood about a decade ago, the New London Blood Bank was the answer. The cylindrical building housed over 95% of all donated blood in England. It was built like a bank; the 30-story building was secured better than a bank. There were many security measures; cameras and motions sensing lasers were mounted on the walls on every floor. During the night, laser grids swept periodically across the hallway. There were vaults on all floors and the doors were made of metal that was several inches thick and glass, workers needed a special pass key to enter the vaults. There were also armed guards, that patrolled the hallways and protected the blood day and night. It was needless to say that the blood bank was impenetrable, or so they thought.

"Every couple of months, the bank shuts down its entire security force to perform diagnostic and maintenance tests" explained Wilt. "Since most of its security is computerized, they want to make sure that everything is running smoothly."

Everyone smiled, this would be easy. "Imagine Hellsing's face when we pull this off!" exclaimed Jack. Other members laughed and cheered at the thought of what would be the biggest heist. "I have a friend, who can get the blueprints, it'll take a couple of days, but he'll get them," said Wilt.

"Great," said Iris "We'll meet back here, when Wilt gets the blueprints, to prepare" Soon Iris was alone again. The Iron Grin had to get this done right, no mistakes, no failure. They were down to their last members. There haven't been any new members since Wilt joined about 4 months ago. Ever since he joined the Iron Grin had some very productive projects, well except for the attempted kidnapping of the Queen. And after that fiasco, no one else would join for fear that Hellsing would have them dumped in Baskerville, evidently her favorite place to put anyone. Speaking of Hellsing, Iris had to smirk at the thought of outsmarting her and getting revenge for Duncan. In a couple of days, with Wilt's blueprints, the Iron Grin would bite back and no one would see it coming.

Rome, Italy

Cardinal Bianchi's plan of throwing a party was much bigger than anyone anticipated. For one, it would last a week and Enrico was not happy about it. However, Bianchi was adamant, claiming that the Pope needed to meet the people and that meant traveling throughout the country, spreading blessings and goodwill. At least he got to say Mass so it wouldn't look like some heathen festival. Once the celebration got underway Enrico realized it wasn't so bad. For one there were thousands of cheering people tossing flowers and confetti wherever he went. People bought gifts, asked for blessings, and thanked him for protecting them from monsters. Of course, there were at least two Masses every day, but they did not dampen the people's mood, it was worth it to them to see their leader among the people, chatting and laughing. This made them feel connected to him, closer. And soon the people began to outright reject the pamphlets that the Silver Mask had been raining down on the citizens. They even made a big show of burning them. This pleased Enrico very much, he had gained the people's hearts and minds and no one would fault him if he chose to execute 'traitors' should they arise. While everyone was enjoying the festivities, the Silver Mask lurked in the shadows, watching all his hard work go up in smoke, literally. He watched as Enrico as gave speeches, disputing everything that had been in The Truth. And he watched as everyone ate up everything the crooked Holy Father said like freshly baked cannoli. "It looks like the written word isn't enough anymore," the vigilante said to himself. It was time to take some drastic steps.

Getting into the Vatican City was harder this time around since the Silver Mask had broken into the Papal Palace on a couple of occasions. However tonight that was not his goal. While everyone was out partying with the Pope, he had the stroke of good luck of hearing some half-drunk people talking about a building that had a secret sub-basement where the Vatican hid a bunch of monsters such as ghouls and chimeras. They also housed citizen vampires that had been kidnapped and at certain intervals, they were released to make it look like a vampire attack, and the Iscariot Organization would then go out and recapture them, just to start the process all over again. He also realized that the people talking were some of the scientists hired by the Vatican and in their drunken state wanted to get the atrocities they committed off their chest. The Silver Mask was headed towards the building and its dreadful secret. Surprisingly the unassuming building didn't have many guards and the ones that were there, the Silver Mask took care of easily. Once inside the vigilante headed straight for the sub-basement. When he found it, it was exactly as the scientists had said, seeing it in person was a completely different thing. The room that housed the monsters seemed to go on for mile and miles. There were hundreds of containment boxes that held ghouls and Chimera. In others, there were 'citizen vampires' who looked dazed and confused. The Silver Mask's camera caught everything from the day walkers, to notebooks filled with notes that spoke of serums used to cause the day walkers berserk behavior. He made copies of information and after some of the citizen vampires begged him, the Silver Mask decided to set them free. Of course, the fleeing day walkers caused a ruckus that alerted the Iscariot Organization to come running to the scene to try and recapture the newly freed day walkers. However, the Silver Mask helped by tossing a few smoke bombs, that blinded and confused the soldiers. With their heightened senses the day walkers escaped, while the masked man laughed at the soldiers' blunders. When the smoke cleared, all that was left were a couple of silver cards with the vigilante's moniker on it.

The next morning when Enrico found out about this latest debacle, he was not happy, "How many escaped?"

"Well, you see…" stammered Bishop Salviaggio.

"HOW MANY ESCAPED!?"

"All of them, Your Holiness."

"ALL!?"

Bishop Salviaggio nodded slowly, "However I have men out looking for them right now."

"This is bad, very bad" muttered Bianchi.

"If this Silver Mask person was down there, who knows what he saw and all the information he has," said Ricci disheartened.

"Nonsense!" scoffed Salvietti "What is he going to do? Write yet another ridiculous pamphlet? People will just think of him as a fool who wants attention. No one will believe him, certainly not after the recent festivities."

"I still want them recaptured and the next time, we use them, we kill them" demanded Enrico "We cannot take any chances."

Learning that the day walkers were free again and that the scientists with all their brains, still managed to be stupid enough not to put any GPS tracking device on them, and how the Iscariot Organization couldn't find them was beyond Enrico. Then again, the idiots were just copying the late Dr. Thorton's work anyway and the Pope would have preferred to have the 'good doctor' himself, but thanks to a certain Hellsing director, he was dead. Enrico sighed, everything was going smoothly until that damned vigilante the Silver Mask, showed up. He was sure that Integra had sent him or maybe he was hired from long before, but moreover, Enrico was sure that Hellsing was behind it and he would send the vagabond back to that whore in several small Ziploc bags. Seemingly all this power, such as disbanding the Round Table had gone to her head, how else would she have the audacity to send spies to the Vatican? How dare that woman? Enrico would make sure that she paid dearly for this. The other Cardinals had left the room allowing him to simmer, how smart of them. For all he knew, they could be working for Hellsing. Was there no one he could trust? How that woman managed to get her gloved claws into everything, he had no idea and now he felt she had him cornered and that was NOT a good thing. However, he had to deal with the Silver Mask first and foremost. He would enjoy the look of abject fear and embarrassment on Integra's face when he exposed her.

New London Blood Bank- 11:30

This was an operation that COULDN'T fail. Iris and the Iron Grin spent days pouring over the blueprints that Wilt had miraculously obtained from his friend. And while some members had questioned how exactly someone could attain the blueprints from a highly secure medical facility, Iris didn't care. All she cared about was getting this one job right after weeks of failure and members being detained by the Hellsing Organization. Since the maintenance check would be in effect, the only resistance the Iron Grin would encounter would be a few armed guards. They had agreed on a rooftop entrance, that way they could ambush the guards from behind after getting the blood, they would make their way out the front doors and get away in vans waiting for them. If only plans were that uncomplicated. The minute the group was on the 30th floor, the alarms screamed and steel security gates slammed down in front of the entrances, trapping the intruders. Armed soldiers then made their way to the trespassers, wrested their weapons away from them, forced them to kneel with their hands behind their heads, and handcuffed them. "Shit!" cursed Iris loudly, "I thought that the security was supposed to be turned off!" Wilt could only respond with an expression mixed with fear and sheepishness. Iris knew what she was going to do when the soldiers started to escort them out of the building, she would try and make a run for it. Sure, she would be leaving the others behind, but she could always recruit new members. But the guards just kept their weapons trained on the intruders. The only sound that could be heard was the occasionally dinging sound as the elevator passed each floor. Wait why was the elevator moving? Who was coming? The Iron Grin members looked in horror as the person that stepped off the elevator was the last person they wanted to see: the commander of the Hellsing Organization, followed by a tall man in crimson. Integra couldn't help but smile at the scene before her; the last of the Iron Grin couldn't have been in a more perfect position: kneeling in front of her. The elusive leader that was always steps ahead of authorities was right where Integra wanted her.

"I had hoped you would be a little smarter than this" Integra said smoothly.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Iris.

"I'm just here to congratulate everyone on a performance well done."

Confused, Iris asked, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Who do you think provided you with the proposals for this little 'operation'?

Iris turned to Wilt who, instead of being handcuffed like the rest of the Iron Grin members, was now leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"You bastard! You betrayed us!" screamed Iris.

"I had always worked for Hellsing. I never really agreed with the things you did, well except for things you did on certain nights. Anything to get the job done, toots."

While some of the Hellsing soldiers chuckled, Iris turned red as the blood she had hoped to steal. "So the heist for this bank was….a part of Hellsing's plan too?"

Wilt nodded his head. Iris lunged at Wilt, despite being handcuffed was restrained by two soldiers, "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! YOU NEVER CARED ABOUT DUNCAN, RICHIE OR THE OTHERS!"

"Why should he? They were a bunch of filthy traitors like yourself" said Integra icily.

"Shut up, you bitch! They were…."

"What? Martyrs? They were not heroes who gave their lives to some great cause, little girl. They were filthy dogs and I put them down exactly as such, so you should stop barking like one or you will receive the same treatment as your little band of misfits."

Iris scowled rebelliously at the director, nevertheless, she did not say anything else. How could everything go so wrong? Was this the end of the Iron Grin? She had to escape. Iris looked towards the elevator Integra had used and saw that even though the doors were closed it was still on the same floor and there was no security gate blocking it. Great now she needed a distraction. Iris saw that some of the soldiers had smoke grenades, including the soldier standing closest to her. If she could grab it, even if she had to use her teeth, she could deploy it and get to the elevator. But what Integra said next changed Iris' plans to escape, "If you try to run, I promise you, you will not make it." Then turning her glare to the rest of the members, "You clowns will be taken to Baskerville Penitentiary until the day of your execution."

"What!?" exclaimed one member "We didn't kill anyone!"

"Treason against the Crown is punishable by death. When you buffoons colluded together to kidnap Her Majesty whether you physically took part in it or not is still treason! I suggest you mentally prepare yourself for the horrors of that place." The tone of voice in which Integra said this grated on Iris' nerves. The bitch sounded like she was enjoying the looks of dismay on the Iron Grin member's faces as she told them that they would be spending the rest of their lives in Baskerville. That facility itself was a death sentence as prison deaths and riots happened daily. Even visitors were dissuaded from going, for fear that they could be harmed in one of the unexpected riots. Iris charged at the Hellsing Commander like a linebacker charges a quarterback, but Integra saw that coming. She took a step back and grabbed Iris by the back of her shirt and winded the Irishwoman with a hard knee to the gut. "Your want for revenge is causing you to make poor choices" sighed Integra. The commander then ordered the soldiers to the intruders away when one of the soldiers went to grab Iris, Integra said, "She stays here."

"Why? So, you can torture me or something?" retorted Iris.

Integra rolled her eyes, was all Irish people this stupid, or was this broad bred specifically for stupidity? She grabbed Iris by the front of her shirt and pulled her close, and growled, "You have just entered the lion's den and you're not going to leave alive." Iris was then shoved towards the tall man in, who had been deathly quiet the entire time. "Alucard, do leave something behind so that she is identifiable, other than that enjoy your meal." Meal? Iris looked at Integra and then way up at the vampire, who was now wearing a fanged grin that stretched across his face. "You can't….no…." pleaded Iris. Alucard grabbed the woman by the shoulders, leaning in close he inhaled deeply, "It is such a rare treat, that my master allows me to feast on fresh blood. A rare treat indeed. One that I will enjoy immensely." The vampire then bit into her jugular and drank deeply. Iris' screams were heard to the first floor. The last thing the Iron Grin leader saw was Integra light up a cigar with a most bored expression on her face.

Early Morning- Hellsing Manor

Enrico's voice, the first thing in the morning, was something that Integra did not want to hear. But somehow because he was Pope and Leader of Italy, Philip had thought that he was important enough to talk to her. Integra made a mental note to remind Philip, that only she knew who was important enough to talk to her. There were not enough liquor and cigars in the world to deal with this sorry Italian pissant.

"What do you want, Enrico? And makes it fast, I don't have an eternity nor the patience to deal with your nonsense."

"Is that any way to greet a man such as myself?"

"Five minutes. That's all you get and I'm being generous, by four minutes."

For once Enrico used his brain and realized that Integra was not in a good mood. "I believe that you have sent over another pathetic spy, this time a filthy vigilante, Miss Hellsing."

Integra's eye twitched at the use of the title 'Miss' she hadn't been called that since she was a teen before she was knighted. He did it on purpose because he knew how much she hated it. "I do not know what you are talking about."

"Do not sully my ears with your disgusting lies, Miss! I know you sent him. This moron calls himself the Silver Mask, a name almost as stupid as Hellsing."

"Perhaps you shouldn't spend so much time partying, Your Holiness. Someone must have slipped something into your drink, and it's messing with your thinking!"

Integra hung up the phone and smashed it to pieces on her desk, she then tossed its broken remains, missing the butler by mere inches. The director turned a blazing glare towards Philip and snarled, "Get Sam and Johansen in here. NOW!" A couple of minutes later Johansen and Sam walked into the office. Johansen made no statement about the shattered phone, Sam however gave a long whistle and said, "Damn, what did the phone do to piss you off, Sir?" Integra ignored the question, "I just have a lovely chat with Maxwell and he accused me of sending some vigilante who goes by the name the Silver Mask. Apparently, the man's gone even more insane. All that idiotic partying has made his head softer. However, I believe there is some validity to this person's existence. Johansen, I want to scour the internet for ANY sign of this person. I want any information, no matter how minuscule." Johansen saluted "Yes sir! I'll get right on it." When Johansen left, Sam asked her, "You want me to give you a massage?"

"You're going to Italy, if that bastard wants to accuse me sending people into his third-rate country, it would be unfair to make a liar out of him, seeing he has so many other faults already. You are to find the person behind the mask."

"Sir you know that's the same as looking for a needle in a haystack?"

"Then you'd better get started. And there's one more thing I need you to do when you're there." Integra went over to the gun locker and took a small branding iron with the Hellsing coat of arms on it and tossed it to the assassin "Remind that dickless, ponytail wearing pile of shit that I AM THE WRONG BITCH TO MESS WITH!"

An hour later Sam had packed her bags for the trip. She was not happy about this assignment for the reason was that her sleep routine would be all messed up. Even though now she did not need to be in the same bed as Integra, she still needed to be in the same building. She sighed and just as she was having fewer nightmares. Sam went into Integra's bedroom closet and took one of the commander's blazers, a navy blue one, and left a note. Besides, it was not like her boss was going to miss it, she had about a million others. Seras helped put Sam's bags in the trunk of the car, even though Sam didn't need the help. "Do you have to go?"

"Unfortunately, I do. You know I can't say no to Baby Cakes."

"Can I come with you?"

"Sorry Kitten, no can do. Besides I need you to keep an eye on the boss lady."

Seras sighed and nodded, "Ok Sam, I will."

Sam waved to Integra, who was standing a bit off, "I'll be back in your bed before you know it, Baby Cakes." Integra made no response. Sam winked at Seras, "That smoldering glare is going to be in my dreams tonight." She then gave Seras a quick kiss on the lips, which surprised the draculina, got into the car, and was on her way to the airport. "If that's the way she says goodbye to everyone, I'm going to have to bring her everywhere, just so she doesn't kiss me" sighed Integra.

"I didn't know she was going to kiss me," said a flustered Seras before running inside the manor. Integra smiled it would be nice to have the whole bed to herself, she then took the note out of her pocket.

Hey Baby Cakes, I'm borrowing one of your blazers.

I know you won't mind

Love Sam

Chapter End

Author's Notes: This was one of the most difficult and most fun chapters to write. Difficult because that botched heist was written one way, then I was stuck, then I rewrite that part in the library and while waiting to get my flu shot. Next chapter Sam is in Italy. What will she find? Will Hellsing find out about the Silver Mask? What will happen if they do? Iris' death was inspired by an episode by the Hellsing anime, (Not Hellsing Ultimate) I thought that was pretty amazing.