As promised, a little more Kurt, Yumiko and company along with a bit more about Wanda and Pietro.

OOO

Kurt had, of course, learned Italian while he was living in the orphanage; and English was a matter of course since it was so necessary to communicate with those Hellsings and their ilk, not to mention tourist who were always crowding the streets of Rome. However, he always had - and suspected that he always would - feel most comfortable conversing in German.

Which was what made Heinkel such a blessing.

Whenever he was stressed out, she seemed to sense it and would always ask how he was in German. It made it so much easier for him, he reflected, to be able to vent his concerns in his mother tongue. Not that she was the perfect listener; her violent devotion and enjoyment of bloodshed greatly exceeded his. He would rather get the job done in any way possible, including diplomatic means, whereas she and Yumiko seemed to thrill in going out of their way to cause extra havoc. She didn't always understand his reluctance; he didn't always relish the fight in the way that she did.

Nevertheless, Yumie observed one day, they got on quite well for having such different dispositions.

She supposed that it was due to the language.

OOO

Frank Castle had his single bag packed; he did not intend the trip to be a long one, just long enough to complete his business and have done with it. Fr. Murdock was accompanying him out to the launch pad merely as a matter of course and not one of necessity. Though he'd be loathe to admit it, Castle rather enjoyed the company.

"So I see you're sending the 'bad accent brigade' down to South America," he muttered. "Are you sure they can handle the problem? Are you sure they'll be enough?"

"I'll be waiting in the wings, as will a few others if they should be insufficient," Matthew replied, adjusting his collar. "However, I have the greatest confidence in them. After all," he said, his lips quirking into a smile, "they have at least a case each of fresh packs of playings cards and Zippos. Besides, don't you have your own issues to be worried about?"

"She'll accept it, one way or another."

"Castle... you'd better not force anything."

"Trust me, chief - I won't have to."

"See that you remember that."

"Any other news before I go?"

Murdock shrugged.

"Stephen had bad news - not that we weren't expecting it. The page is blank now, so there will be no using the Montesi, which means we'll have to deal with everything the old fashioned way: personal take-downs as opposed to the convenience of the formula. Given how well it's worked in the past, though, I would have been reluctant to rely on it regardless."

"And what about the government? Have you been in contact with them? Alex said that there were several high level infiltrators."

"I have been - though perhaps I shouldn't have. They allegedly have their best agents on the job; but they were unusually interested in somebody, possibly one of ours, when I was giving them background information."

"What?" Castle paused at the door to the aircraft. "Who were they interested in?"

"I can't say for sure, though I'm sure it bodes no good. All I know is that our contact with the government was flipping through the background file on Hellsing and the European Iscariot when he said 'that's where he went,' as though he were surprised and angry."

"And he wouldn't say who 'he' was?"

"He shrugged it off, but his heart rate spoke something else. He was definitely interested in somebody in that file; the trouble is, even though it's a comparatively thin folder, it covers quite a span of time and amount of participants."

Frank nodded.

"I'm with you," he growled after a moment. "I don't like the sound of that at all. But there's nothing we can do about it for now; we're not in charge of them and our influence doesn't extend that far."

"I'm afraid not; anyway, you'd best get going. If I hear more, I'll let you know."

"Later, then."

Castle climbed into the plane and departed as Murdock made his way back to the building; things were afoot and the situation was accelerating faster than he'd ever imagined.

OOO

Pietro's heart began beating at a rate so accelerated that Maxwell could barely distinguish one beat from the next; it was all a blur of thumping when he laid his hand on the boy's chest. Then, the child's eyes snapped open without warning and he sat up so quickly Maxwell couldn't see it happen.

"What do you want?" Pietro demanded.

"What?" Maxwell asked, confused.

"What do you want?" He grinned from ear to ear. "Anything. Anything in the world and I can get it for you and be back before you know it; I can feel it! Pizza from Chicago? Done. Seafood from California? Can do. Chocolate from Switzerland? Alcohol from Russia? Tea from China? Name it and I can fetch it!"

Maxwell paused; it was not, perhaps, the best use of the boy's talents; and given that he had just been nearly comatose and feverish, putting him through his paces so soon seemed a bit foolhardy. However, Pietro was insistent. And really, what could a test run hurt?

"Very well." He took a pen and tablet off of a nearby table and wrote an address down. "Here. A bread shop in Paris. I love their French bread so if you could..."

Pietro grabbed the paper and was back with the loaf in a little over three minutes.

"Now ask for something hard," he said with a grin, exalting in the success of the experiment. "Just think, Father - this is just the first day, the first injection! I can train, we can do more! So much more!" He grabbed Enrico and shook him, breathless with excitement.

Maxwell's response was to smile and clap his hands.

"Bravo, Pietro. Bravo. Did I not tell you that devotion would be rewarded?"

OOO

Wanda flopped down on her bed and put headphones over her ears, trying to drown out her thoughts. As she leaned her head against the pillow, the music picked up when she pressed play, and her thoughts drifted back to her recent training and the circumstances that were developing around all of them.

I've been changed, yes really changed.

She was getting better with her powers, she could tell. And yet the only thrill she got from using them was when Father Anderson praised her; he looked at her sadly when they trained but even with that burden he could glory in her successes. And when he was happy, then, she reflected, so was she.

She didn't want to die; she didn't want to go to Hell - she didn't want that for any of them, not even for Maxwell! But she would risk it because if she didn't, as Pietro said, she couldn't be there. She wouldn't be with him when he needed her and that would be worse than anything.

Her finger slid the volume wheel up just slightly.

I wouldn't want to know. He scares me so. I wan...

Her stomach lurched and she smashed down the 'skip' button; the player clicked forward to the next song and the pleading voice of Murray Head came through, explaining his intentions and praying not to be damned.

But maybe that was unavoidable, she reflected, something that happens when you blindly try to save the people you care for.

OOO

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the desk attendant knew that they didn't have reservations; but the eyes of the brunette - were they glowing? It seemed as if they were glowing - invited him to trust their words. He gave them the key and they nodded then went upstairs; the other was drawing near.

As it turned out, the attendant's mind was going to get quite a working over that day.

OOO

Yumie's day had been full of unexpecteds: she hadn't expected Frank Castle to show up again, least of all unannounced. She hadn't expected him to ask to go to lunch with her, and her alone, out of all the Iscariots. Perhaps she had expected - or was it Yumiko who had? - that she would feel the way she did when he was dining with her. But that didn't mean it wasn't surprising - a rare moment in which she couldn't tell whose feelings were whose, or what, for certain, it was that she even felt.

Least expected of all, however, was the kiss she found herself being drawn into. As unexpected as it was, however, she found that it wasn't unwelcome; or at least it wasn't for one of them. Their kiss was awkward at first, but became much less so after he removed the glasses to bring her closer to his face and release the one that he really wanted to find. Iscariots played fast and loose with rules anyway; and it was, after all, only a kiss. Yumiko grinned; Yumie could confess later.

And as they came together, his tongue slid into her mouth and seemed to strangely elongate; there was a feeling of being filled that quickly passed and when they drew apart Yumiko knew much more had happened than a simple lip-lock.

"What did you..."

"You will be safe," he told her solemnly. "In your hour of greatest need, you will have all the protection I can offer. Take care of our child; though I've no doubt you will. You are quite suitable."

She did not fully understand; but Yumiko could sense a kindred spirit and nodded in trust. Frank replaced the glasses on her nose and Yumie emerged when he did, blushing furiously.

"I must go now," he said. "We've much to do on our side of the pond. But remember what I said to you; and don't be afraid to embrace him when he manifests."

Confused and a bit frightened at what Yumiko had gotten them into, Yumie ran back to her quarters and sat on the bed, debating whether or not she ought to tell Heinkel.

When Heinkel returned, it was with Kurt; both had clearly had a few beers and were going into the kitchen for tea. Yumie saw them and decided not to bother; perhaps there were things they were all better off being in the dark about.

OOO

CC: For those unfamiliar with Pietro's back story, the child that the Millennium members are remembering is his father, Magneto, who was canonically in a concentration camp when he was younger. This event contributed greatly to Magneto's distrust and dislike of humanity. The image of the twisted fence comes from the X-Men movie series and the raid by Captain America from Evolution.

CC2: The 'Montesi' mentioned in this chapter is the Montesi formula, a spell in a book called the Darkhold that in the Marvel universe is designed to rid the world of vampires (including Dracula). It does, but as usual, a loophole is eventually found and vampires return to Marvel's earth. The spell was later wiped from the Darkhold.

And for those of you astute enough to recognize the lyrics ever-so-briefly used in this chapter, yes, they do offer a fairly blatant hint.