OOO
Integra looked at the intelligence officer from behind her desk and gave him a nod as she took the folder from him. He was visibly agitated and frantically explained the situation to her.
"Vatican's Section XIII has made a move!" He cried. "They've dispatched agents to the location near the boarder where Alucard went!"
"How many?"
"Just two. We have rarely seen the one before and don't even have clear photos. He normally works with two other agents, far away from our concerns, so our information is cursory. But the other…" He shuddered.
She looked at the blurry photos of a blue figure that seemed to be wielding swords. Some of the photographs depicted him surrounded by puffs of smoke and her eyes widened just slightly when she realized that he apparently had a prehensile tail.
"The other?" She asked in a tone of command.
"Paladin Alexander Anderson. Their trump card."
At the mention of the name, Integra's mind was made up; there was no way an extended confrontation between Alucard and the paladin could end well and her only alternative was to go there and stop it herself – if she even could. Extracting as much information as she could from Walter, Integra bid that he continue negotiations and ordered that a helicopter and two guards be prepared for a trip to Badrick.
She needed to bring the situation to a halt as quickly as possible; and the fact that another agent was there did nothing to assuage her concern.
OOO
Pietro dashed into the second floor room where he and Wanda had been hiding from Anderson and Kurt. He was spattered with blood and Wanda gasped when he came in.
"Pietro! What happened?"
"Oh, nothing. Just some ghouls," he said, setting the naginata aside and kneeling on the floor beside her to peek through a crack in the floorboards. "They were easy enough to take care of. See? I told you we didn't have anything to worry about."
"Except Father Anderson finding us."
"Don't worry about that. Kurt's downstairs keeping his eyes on Anderson and Anderson's so hyped up right now he wouldn't notice if we ran past the building riding an elephant. He's killed once and now that Alucard's here, he's probably going to go crazy. He's already ripped a new one for that fledgling Alucard brought."
"Alucard? That vampire you were telling me about?"
"Yeah. It's going to be a show to see them come to blows. But I'll be here if he needs backup. Now, shhhh."
They peeked down and saw the two men standing on the floor beneath them. Anderson had apparently thrown up a barrier and now the two males were exchanging barbs. The floor they were kneeling on crackled very faintly with red energy, just to make sure that no stray bayonets came their way. At first all was still except for the voices and the sounds of struggling coming from the fledgling on the floor.
Then with a stab and a shot, it finally broke out.
The opening salvo ended with a quick bout of regeneration for both of them, but Alucard, believing Anderson to be dead, turned his back on the priest. The paladin retaliated with a renewed attack, not allowing the shots from the vampire's gun to faze him. Out of the corner of her eye, Wanda could see Pietro grinning fiercely with clenched teeth as Anderson pinned the vampire to the wall with a barrage of bayonets, and the sound of the boy's panting mixed with the echoes of Anderson's unhinged laughter.
By this time, Seras had pulled the bayonets out of her profusely bleeding body and ran down the hall with Alucard's severed head. Anderson tracked her with slow steps, mocking her all the while and laughing when she ran into the barrier. Pietro longed to be down there and stood to leave, but just as he did he heard a noise.
"That sounds like a helicopter…"
He dashed down, with Wanda following behind, just in time to see Sir Hellsing shoot the bayonets and break them. Staying hidden in the shadows, his countenance was filled with rage when he heard her telling Anderson to back down.
Anderson, predictably, ignored the request and rushed towards her with his blades drawn. Suddenly, however, he was pulled out of his run by a figure appearing in a 'bamf' of smoke.
"NO! Ve haf no orders to kill them!" The German accent of Father Kurt broke through as he reappeared with Anderson some distance back, holding the larger man's arms. "Get a hold of yourself!"
"'Tis nay matter," he growled viciously at her. "Ah already killed thon vampire ye sent. Cut his head clean off."
Rather than getting upset, Integra emitted a short laugh and Wanda heard Pietro's breath hitch.
"That's all?" She said. "It will take more than that. You'd better listen your partner. Get a hold of yourself and back off before he comes to kill you."
"We're not listening to orders from you, you bitch!" Pietro lost control of his temper and appeared behind her in an instant, distracting those present from the rapidly reforming pool of dead flesh and blood. "Anderson will kill him again if he has to – and I suggest you back off, you Protestant whore!"
He punctuated the last word by taking a knife out from his boot and, at a speed that Integra had not seen in any creature other than a vampire, slashed her guards and knocked them aside and then in a whirl of wind cut her clothing to ribbons.
For a long and terrifying moment Anderson, Kurt, Seras and Integra stood stunned as the strips of cloth fell to the floor. The fact that Pietro had done something utterly unthinkable made it difficult for them to digest that it had actually happened, and several moments passed before Integra assumed even a faint blush. The men on the floor tried to staunch their flow of blood and Pietro pointed and laughed.
"GHAAAAAAAAA!"
With a scream, the figure on the floor was up and rushing towards Pietro who immediately dashed upstairs, tugging Wanda along. Anderson, almost without thought engaged Alucard again while one of the men gave Integra his shirt and jacket. Alucard was in an absolute fury and Anderson in a protective rage; neither Seras nor Kurt was sure what to do until Anderson screamed at the other priest.
"GET THEM OUT OF HERE!" He yelled as loudly as he could, never taking his eyes off of Alucard.
With a bamf he was gone and Integra glared at Alucard.
"Stand down!" She commanded.
"NO! Those pigs have dishonored you for the first and last time and I will see them all DEAD before I leave here!"
He turned to fire his gun; but as he pulled the trigger no bullet came.
"What?!" He muttered. He tried again and again, but to the same result. Outside the helicopter had started again and Integra and the men were making for it.
"Ah cannae stop yeh noo," Anderson muttered, his eyes focused on the gun as he came to a cold realization, "But Ah will return an' kill ev'ry 'ich oon of they."
A flurry of Bible leaves surrounded him and he was gone, leaving the seething Alucard with nothing to do but hoist a puking Seras up off the floor and make for the chopper with Integra.
OOO
Back at the Iscariot headquarters, Pietro and Wanda were forced into chairs and sat waiting while in an adjoining office Anderson 'explained' what happened to Maxwell. Pietro was pouting, upset that they'd been caught and hauled off, and Wanda, still nauseous from the multiple transports with Kurt, was fretting about Anderson's anger over the incident.
"Th' most vile, juvenile, childish, inappropriate thing Ah've ever seen!" Anderson shouted at him. "Yeh hav'na taught the boy any good sense! He's an immature bairn who should ha' been under yer guard!" He finished, bringing his hands down on the desk with a slam.
"Oh, I don't know Anderson. Nothing bad came of it, did it?" He snickered. "And I would have loved to have seen the look on that sow's face when he did it."
"Are yeh going to punish him?" Anderson
"For what? Youthful exuberance? Giving her what she deserved? I'll talk with him but that's where it ends. And this is where our conversation ends, Alex. Get back to your orphanage and I will call you again when you're needed."
Anderson stormed out of the office, glaring at the two teens that were waiting. Pietro looked away defiantly with a 'hmph' but Wanda looked at him tearfully and stood when he came out.
"Ah'm disappointed in yeh," he said sternly to her, and she broken down.
"See!" She rounded on Pietro. "I told you something like this would happen!"
"Well it was your choice to come!" He shot back as she was lead away by Father Anderson.
Maxwell appeared at the door moments later and put his hand on Pietro's should.
"Impatient much?"
"I'm sorry, it's just when I overheard about them sending Alucard…"
"Yes, yes, I understand. You really must be more careful, though. They know about your being a speedster now."
"Doesn't matter. They can't do anything about it to stop me," he muttered.
"Indeed. So tell me Pietro…"
"Yeah?"
"How far did you go?" Maxwell crouched beside him with a wicked grin on his face. Pietro grinned back.
"Panties. Figured I'd leave her with a little dignity. Cut the bra off though. And let me tell you… damn. She needs to quit hiding those sweater puppies, and maybe then she wouldn't look so much like a dude."
Maxwell laughed, then stood and grew serious for a moment.
"This conversation is off the record, you understand."
"Of course. Yeah, sure."
"But let me tell you – whatever Anderson says, I admire your spirit. Unofficially. Officially, I'm afraid I will have to discipline you just slightly."
Pietro's face fell. "Discipline me? With what?"
"Oh, I figured that organizing my office should be enough," he said with a smile.
Pietro grinned at the thought of freely getting to look over sensitive information. "You do realize I'll be done before you can eat lunch, right?"
"That isn't my fault. And Pietro, two more things. First I would like you to accompany me, as one of my personal guard, when we meet up with members of the Hellsing Organization next week."
"Yes!" Pietro jumped up and threw his arms around Maxwell. "You're the best, padre!"
Returning the hug, Maxwell smiled then set the excitable boy down.
"The other issue… Pietro, you need to think about this carefully," he said solemnly.
"What?"
"Our researchers think they might have found a way to make you faster. But it's an experimental procedure that involves tremendous risk…"
"I'll do it," Pietro abruptly interrupted, without even taking time to consider. "Just tell me when."
"That's my boy," Maxwell said, wrapping his arm around Pietro's shoulder and the boy beamed. "Now let's get you fitted for a uniform. You need to look proper if you're going to be accompanying me on official business.
OOO
"It vas a complete disaster," Kurt moaned downing another brandy as Heinkel clapped him on the back.
"Look, Pietro's antics veren't your fault, and if it vasn't for you Pietro and Vanda vould haf probably been trapped and maybe even killed. Plus you did your job and kept Anderson from beheading her two guards. You did everything you needed to."
"Then vhy don't I feel any better about it?"
"Relax. Take your time. And don't be so hard on yourself," she chiding him as she lit another cigarette. "It vill get better. Next time such an unfortunately thing vill not happen."
"If you say so…" he sighed, motioning the bartender over.
OOO
"Can you determine why the gun didn't work?" Integra demanded of Walter who had taken the Casull apart and examined every centimeter of it.
He shook his head in disbelief. "No. I can't understand it. It seems to be in perfect working order. Maybe just a fluke?"
She frowned and lit a cigar.
"Flukes don't happen," she said sharply. "See that it doesn't occur again."
"Of course, Sir."
"And find me a Kevlar tailor while you're at it."
"Indeed, Sir."
OOO
CC: The previous chapter began with a flashback scene of the Trask family, namely Bolivar (the father) and Larry. Bolivar designed the mutant hunting sentinel robots despite the fact that both his son and daughter were mutants. His son, Larry, was unaware of his mutation - namely precognition - since his father required him to wear an amulet which suppressed it. After his father's death, Larry carried on the mission of the Sentinels.
A/N: If you've noticed I've changed the title of the fic from "Glory" – now it suits the chapter titles. For those who care but haven't noticed (and even those who neither care nor notice) the chapter titles are each the titles of Judas Priest songs (with one or two ever so slightly altered). They will continue in this trend to the end of the fic and many more will get used so, in an oblique way, looking at a discography might give some hints as to what lies ahead (apart, of course, from the obvious).