Just out of curiosity, but has anyone figured out what the little crossover might be yet? Well, it gets revealed NEXT chapter

Sorry for some of you who want the old Annabel back, but there's a method to my madness. ;) heh heh

CAUTION: Some naughtiness in the Egypt scene

Chapter 9 A Leak of Sand and Suspicion

March 26 2009

Seras hunkered behind a garbage bin in an ally behind a third-rate strip joint. She dressed as a bum to blend in with the shoddy environment and to survey individuals who stepped out the back door to the strip club. It was her third night staking out the place and she yawned at the dullness of it all. She snapped her jaw quickly hoping no one saw her fangs. Sir Integra ordered her to look for any suspicious characters; that is to say any occult worthy suspicious characters. Half the people who walked by her held shady objectives. Alcohol, trash, and illegal substances wafted at her sensitive nose constantly.

A few weeks ago Sir Integra started finding a pattern in the country's missing persons files, unsolved murders, and obscure reports in slum areas from both her men and law enforcement. Most of the victims were of the lower levels of society: prostitutes, homeless, petty thieves, and junkies. Generally anyone who would not be missed, or their deaths would attribute to something related to their unhealthy lifestyle instead of what Integra was looking for. Nearly all those that had autopsies had signs of sexual intercourse with no physical anti-mortem damage to their bodies that would contribute to their deaths. The few that didn't had sever bruising around the neck and chin in an odd pattern that did not promote strangling one to death. It looked as if the perpetrator forced open the victims' mouths for some reason. The regal blond nearly overlooked those cases when it occurred to her that the nun that was attacked back in Rome bore the same bruising pattern. It seemed she was one of the lucky ones. There were other victims from more respectable social circles though those were few and far between. The one defining connection of all these deaths were the lack of color in the irises of their eyes. From blue, brown, or green, they all changed to a varying shade of gray as if the life in these people literally drained away with the life in their eyes.

A few more sightings of those cloaked individuals placed them hanging around the poorer parts of London, Birmingham, Leeds, Southampton, and Cardiff.

Who ever these beings were, and Integra concluded there were a great number reeking havoc in this part of the world, it could not be a coincidence that this secretive group was bumping off members of the vampiric undead while some other group picked off the drudges of the working class. They had to be the same creeps, but why?

That was why Seras Victoria was dressed like a bum junkie squating near a smelly wall in a back ally. Some of the other Hellsing officers staked out in similar other locations hoping to intercept one of these suspicious beings. Her backup parked half a block away casing the place out front.

Seras flinched when one of those big cockroaches skittered over her foot. She quickly smooshed it with her other foot. "Slimy devils." Seras muttered in disgust.

"What's that Officer Seras?" Her ear piece chimed with officer Winston's voice.

"Nothing important." The draculina answered into her shirt. For once she wished there was some good ol' "shoot the freaks to dust" action that her master often enjoyed. She hadn't downed anything with fangs for over a week and she was becoming antsy.

At least spending time with her roguish captain eased that killer drive. She smirked fondly of the last several days. He whispered the dirtiest things in her ear last night when she returned from casing this place. She swore the red would never go down in her face, and she suspected the perverted things he spoke of were of a milder nature. In a million years she never expected to be turned on by such vulgar whispers and yet she was by Pip Bernadotte's. It was his sexy French voice that did her in. He could speak entirely in his native tongue without a lick of understanding and she'd love every word. She had started to play with Pip's reddish brown braid, brushing the tip around her face while his lips so near her ear caressed hot breath over the small appendage and inspired impure thoughts in her mind when Master appeared before them with a fierce scowl and ceased the Frenchman's seductive poetry.

Seras huffed at that interruption. Just because Master wasn't getting any affection from an indifferent Annabel did not mean he had to intrude in her interactions with her love interest.

A sting in her senses cut short her musing. The same kind of sting she felt in Spain. Eyes conspicuously looked over at the back door where the feeling came from. "Heads up, guys." She softly alerted her back up then watched as a man and a woman exited out the back of the club in heated lip lock. The woman in an blond emo bob wore a cherry red skimpy cocktail dress with one spaghetti strap loose down her shoulder. The brunette male in grey slacks and blue button shirt braced the woman along the wall as he pressed an average looking body against her, grabbed her hips, and pivoted his hips up and down on her.

'Bloody hell, that's vulgar! Right out in public!' She covered her disgust with her mouth. Seras was sure it was the male that was her target and sure enough proved it when his eyes blackened unnaturally when he lifted up the girl's dress to her belly button. Hazed over lust painted over the woman's face and her limbs lost their energetic clinging as the man's mouth never left hers. It was Seras's queue to interrupt. She stood up and yelled. "Hey, get a room! It's not your bloody playground mister!" The man paused finally taking his mouth off the blond floozy. She looked so dazed she didn't notice the difference.

The male looked at Seras thoughtfully and sized her up and down. "You're cute." His accent spoke of the far east, Arabic possibly. He dropped the dazed woman to the ground and suavely walked toward Seras. Without the woman blocking her view the draculina spied a pendant hanging around the man's neck. She believed it was in the shape of what she thought was called an ankh. Seras suppressed a gulp in his approach. "I know what you are little festering leach. So inferior to my kind in many ways. You can't even appreciate an act of pleasure."

Seras pulled out her revolver full of blessed silver bullets and put one in his head. The male flinched slightly as the bullet passed through his cranium and exited the other side. It left not a mark nor drop of blood and he smirked crudely, moving ever closer. Seras backed up into the garbage bin forgetting it was there. The male being surged suddenly to grab her armed wrist and pulled out a serrated knife. He had a crushing grip on her wrist and his knife poised to stab her in the gut. Seras did the first thing to pop in her head. With vampire reflexes she grabbed at the Ankh pulling his upper body toward her and kneed him as hard as she could in the groin.

A harsh groan and putrid sulfur like breath evaded her senses. Strange shadows marred into his face and made ready to plunge the dagger into her when several shots fired into the ally. "Seras!" Officer Winston called out.

The male being grew surprised and really looked at the vampire he was ready to kill. Seras stared back puzzled at her attacker's apparent recognition of her name. A moment later he dissolved before her eyes turning into sand and whirled away in its self propelling wind into the sky.

"Did we hit him?" The soldier who called out her name jotted to a stop before Seras.

A second soldier nicknamed Mikey came to her side a second later. "Are you okay, officer Seras?"

Her eyes went to her hand where the Ankh lay still clasped in her palm. "No you didn't hit him. He did that himself like my master does with bats. I'm okay." The draculina walked over to the blond woman. She tapped at her face. In an instant the woman's brown eyes cleared and with a startle glared at Seras and the two men in uniform. "Are you okay miss?" She asked offering her hand. The woman took it. Once standing on her two feet she shrieked at the current arrangement of her dress. She yanked it back down into place and fixed her strap. "Do you know the man you were with?"

"What man? I came alone, and how I get outside? I know I haven't touched a drop yet." The woman spoke defensively then tasted the alcohol taint in her mouth. "I'm…sure I…didn't drink."

"Do you know the date ma'am?" The soldier Mikey asked.

"Course I do its Thursday the twenty-sixth. I don't know how I got back here but I'm going back in. I've done nothing wrong." She stuck her chin in the air and marched back into the club.

"Well the girl seems all right with only a slight lapse in memory. Wished we coulda snagged that bastard." Assessed Winston.

Seras looked back at the pendant. "Yeah, well at least we have something to show Sir Integra." She lifted up the pendant for the others to see.

000000000000

"An ankh."

"Yes Sir Integra, With writing that looks Egyptian. I'll have to check to translate what it means." Walter said beside the regal blond. Alucard, Seras, the two soldiers, and Pip also occupied the office.

"Bless the Lady of Slaughter it reads." Translated the elder median.

"Ah, you've learned to read hieroglyphs?" Walter questioned.

A great smirk graced his face. "In a way."

"So," Integra wiped her glasses with a small cloth, "who is this Lady of Slaughter?"

Alucard tilted his head thoughtfully. "Sekhmet, A warrior goddess with a lion's head. It is said she created the desert with her breath and had an insatiable thirst for vengeance for her enemies. She was also considered to a lesser degree a bringer of disease and a goddess of pleasure. Formidable among the Egyptian lists of deities, but a work of fiction none the less."

"Alucard do you have any idea what kind of creatures we are dealing with?" Asked the regal blond.

"Master, the one I encountered thinks vampires are inferior." Seras mentioned.

"With you Police Girl as an example, of course he would."

Seras screwed her face in a puckered frown. 'You're mean Master' her thoughts told him. He ignored it obviously. Pip laid a hand on her shoulder for support.

"I have never directly encountered one before. Blessed silver has no effect, they don't bleed, they can change into sand, they like copulating their prey, they produce memory loss in the humans that survive, and they can somehow drain the life out of them. There is nothing in Egyptian mythology that correlates to this creature, Master."

"Zhey must be zee ones behind Annabel's attack. Maybe zhey succeeded in draining her, killed her, zhen she resurrected without any memories." Postulated the Frenchman.

Alucard's jaw clenched and hands tightened into fists at the revelation that one of those creatures might have TOUCHED her.

"No Captian," Integra corrected. "She did not resurrect for she still had her clothes on her. She would have been found nude had that been the case."

"Oh." Both the soldiers, Pip, and Seras nudged away from the elder median as his presence spiked in seething anger.

"Master," He barely kept himself under control, "Did anyone…Touch. Her?" He asked hissing through his fangs.

Integra took a deep breath hoping he won't do something destructive. "I don't know, Alucard." He phased out of the room in a flash. Integra placed a hand over her eyes. 'Please don't destroy my home.' She prayed.

0000000

Alucard phased into the kitchen mere feet from Annabel while she was whisking a bowl of eggs. She was just getting the hang of beating the yoke to pulp when the elder vampire grabbed her around the waist, flipped her around, dropped to his knees, and pressed his nose into the crotch of her jeans.

She screamed bloody murder whacking the egg juice dripping whisk at his head. "Get off me! Blood Sucker!" She fought and squirmed in anger as he continued to grip at her butt cheeks and press his nose further into her unmentionables.

Completely ignoring the sting of the whisk and her yelling Alucard inhaled heavily through his nose to find a scent that did not belong. Although it had been over a month since the altercation traces would still linger in such a location. He forced to sniff beyond the delectable aroma of her natural essence for anything that didn't belong. 'Denim. Soap. Talc powder. Sweat. Arousal. Old blood. Sulfur. Male ejaculation…... no.' He shot up to standing to embrace her tightly around the waist. She still wailed the cooking implement at his head and now his face. In a dark gravely voice he growled "I'll kill him, rip all his organs out through his back side, and break every bone one by one! He is grime for the devil to walk on. A complete festering pile of dog shit!"

She stopped her assualt when he started his tirade. Seriously the guy was insane. He released her, backed up a bit, and went down on one knee with his head bowed. "I will destroy the one who has touch you wrongly." He vowed.

She raised an eyebrow. "YOU have touched me wrongly! Go destroy YOURself!" She grabbed the bowl and flung the eggy goo into his face and hair then marched toward an exit. At the doorway she turned. "If you DARE lay a single finger on me, I will burn the skin off your testicles then stuff garlic up your every orifice!" Her threat echoed cleanly through half the manor. "You perverted maniac!" She slammed the door so hard several glass cups toppled in their cupboards.

Alucard stood with literal egg on his face. Perhaps in his anger he had not comprehended what his actions would do to her. 'She'll understand later. Now to go kill something.' with a shake of the head the raw egg goo evaporated and he phased off the property.

000000000 Feb 8 2009 Egypt

The pupil rested satisfactory back in his narrow armless chair. After months of taping into the lioness's mind he felt confident enough to officially proceed with his personal brand of vengeance. Using her as practice for the first month to pry into memories, jumbled thoughts, and scattered emotions he successfully stream lined his skill to view, and to a certain extent experience, whatever stage in her life he wished. He realized now why his Mistress had allowed him so much time to infiltrate his victim's mind. It took two full months to sift through everyday of her life. The tastes, the sounds, the smells, and the very surroundings that she perceived had to be documented fully into his consciousness for what he intended to do next to work. He found from Master Usi that even the most seasoned member could not harmlessly extract a person's full memory without taking a month or two to do it. He was told the older the victim the longer it would take. Usi, who had been the first to examine the lioness's livelihood in full detail, unfortunately could not transfer what he learned to him because the secondary source no matter how thorough he was, could not keep memories from being distorted to the point of absurdity. It was easier to simply relay the knowledge verbally. However, one of his brethren could transfer a mental "photo" of a memory for example a child's face or their grandmother's backyard.

It was trial and error at first and his victim nearly became conscious at one of his blunders. Luckily the seditives prevented most of those occurrences. With all the knowledge he gained he knew exactly where to hit her, spiritually speaking that is. He relished the thought of informing his victim that he had physically violated her, though he might not have to. She had some fairly dark memories that he could exploit to his full advantage.

By god he loved being what he was now. He was no longer a weak mortal but something that rivaled even the most powerful of vampires. And, he had none of their weaknesses. They preyed on the blood of flesh, while he and his brethren preyed on the pure energy of their souls and the energy of their pleasure. He loved the sex. It was at least double the height it was when he was human. Also he did not have to worry about knocking some girl up nor getting an incurable disease. All of his kind were sterile in that fashion. Obviously there was a way to increase their numbers. The pupil was proof of that. The females held the key to transforming a human into what he was now.

He remembered fondly of his rebirth. Once the dirty-blond haired male agreed to their divine scheme and swore allegiance to Mistress Mut, she took him to her bed chambers and made him sit on the edge of her bed. She told him to drink a cup of red wine she had given him. It contained a few extra ingredients along with her spit to prevent Mistress Mut from absorbing the male's life energy during the change. He drank and she waited until the concoction took effect. She had smirked so evilly down at the painful bulge in his pants and he near messed himself then and there. At the time he had wondered why the woman gave him a drink that acted like Viagra. She sauntered over in that risqué violet outfit and with the slightest touch of her finger to his cheek he did come in his pants. He had looked up at her to expect disappointment but her smile only grew. It was then he noticed he was still very much hard in the pants. She told him to remain still as she methodically caressed her two fingers around his face. After a minute the man was near bursting again. At that point she added the fingers of her left hand to his other cheek. He came again allowing pleasure to flutter up his spine into his brain at an intensity higher than before. The woman still smiled wickedly with satisfaction in her eyes. Still he was hard and wondered briefly if the woman was trying to kill him with bliss. Because of the physical contact she had known his thoughts and whispered a soft no. Another minute past like before, this time with a kiss, spilling his seed a third time outside of a woman's body. Groaned he had at the thought that he wasn't going to actually feel the inside of the Mistress he wanted so bad to copulate with. She whispered "you will" in her seductive voice of hers and ordered him to now removed his clothes. The instant they were gone off his male form she shoved him into the center of the massive bed pressing his back into the soft sheets, moved aside the front of her skirt, and took the full of him into her pussy. This time the male didn't come immediately since he wanted to enjoy the feel of her for a bit. "You are going to be hard for awhile." She spoke in excited sultriness. "You may come as often as you wish for your bliss gives me energy to do what I will do." She proceeded to stroke up and down unleashing many ejaculations inside her.

After a sufficient amount she grabbed the male's head while he was in the midst of an orgasm, opened his mouth with hers, and drew out the entirety of the male's spiritual energy into a glowing ball of white that hovered between their mouths. Instead of devouring it into her mouth like she normally did she breathed onto it. A yellowy black wisp of smoke slivered out her mouth to merge into the glowing sphere. The white slowly changed towards grey growing darker by the second. The darker she made it the stronger that one would be and she needed this one strong for his future tasks. She settled on a dark grey three shades lighter than her coal colored hair. At the stop of her smoke the blackened orb of energy dropped back into the male where a great deal of pain would ensue. She collapsed to the side of him not bothering to witness her newest pupil's thrashing about as blood dried to sand, unneeded organs failed, and new ones grew in its place. It only took about a minute for the change to complete itself. He won't remember that part, none of them did, not that any cared or not.

Usi later explained to him what basically happen at the crucial part of the transformation as he had witnessed it done on others. The dirty-blond was glad he couldn't remember her practically yanking his soul out. It sounded downright creepy, though the memory of the amazing sex he had with Mistress Mut all but obliterated that.

Back to the topic at hand, the youngest of their cult caressed his victim's gaunt cheek. Months of sedation and liquid nutrients had withered the lioness's body down from a healthy 150 pounds to an almost sickly 110 pounds. From muscle mass mostly but doctor Sefu in charge of keeping her alive upped the dosage of the liquid food as Sefu noticed her body fat percentage dropped too low the previous month. The young man could care less. It only meant that his victim won't be easily hoping off the table to run away. The clique devoutly believed that this woman held the internal soul of their beloved goddess and it was his duty to break the spirit of the living woman so their goddess could spring forth into this realm to take control over it. The girl's body need not be in prime condition the group believed, only that it be alive for the goddess to assimilate it and become her own when the spirit was broken. For the Egyptians they didn't not believe in one complete soul to define an individual but several different forms that culminated in a person, the lb(heart), the sheut(shadow), the ren(name), the ba(internal soul), and the ka(spirit). He didn't really care in their belief system since he was Christian through and through. Well, perhaps not completely anymore. He doubted God would except him into his holy kingdom considering he wasn't human anymore. He did however believe in Mistress Mut's great wrath should he fail in his objective.

He once saw her get angry at one of the lycanthropes that served her and her kind. He really could not understand why they would use werewolves of all creatures to serve them but no matter. The poor thing, which was a seven foot tall, literally armed to the teeth, muscularly unchallenged anthro-morph, screamed in agony when she grabbed his snout. Darkness swarmed into her eyes as features in her face grew angular in demonic twisted-ness. Blood seeped out of its ears and eyelids. It lasted a total of five seconds leaving the dangerous creature in a whimpering fetal position at her feet. Mut sauntered off like nothing had happened.

The incident was one of her more merciful punishments and there was no better motivation for the brown eyed pupil to put all effort into his task. He cracked his knuckles as he stretched and grinned evilly. He will take much enjoyment with his task to break her. He settled both hands on her face for a countless time. "The tide has turned, bitch, let the games begin."

000000 March 26 2009

"Excuse me Sir Hellsing for intruding," Voiced Mikey breaking the silence since Alucard disappeared, "But from what I heard described these creatures sound like incubi or succubi."

"Incubi and succubi," Integra repeated thoughtfully. "Demons that seduce humans in their sleep and drain energy from them. I don't think I've read any literature that suggests that they're real. Walter?"

"As far as I know there have been no known cases of their existence. There is literature of encounters with succubi, but most of those cases have proven to be pure falsehoods. None describe in detail what Miss Victoria witnessed and the evidence from those police reports, however the term does seem to fit them the best."

Muffled yelling and a door slamming reverberated through the office.

"Uh oh, Master pissed off Annabel big time." Seras clarified for the rest of them.

Integra rested her forehead in her hand. "Hell, he has no bloody sense at all."

The doors banged open as Annabel stormed into Integra's office. "Sir Hellsing, that…that blood sucking bastard VIOLATED me! He stuck his nose right, right THERE!" A finger pointed to her crotch.

The majority of the personnel moved away from the aggravated woman. Integra remained in her chair. "Did he say anything of it?"

"Yes, but that is not the point!" Annabel slammed her palm down on the desk. "He TOUCHED me without my expressed permission! I want him punished! He's done nothing but fray my-" She gasped with surprise as eyes spotted the Ankh on the table. All of them watched, especially Pip, as Annabel collapsed into a heap on the hardwood floor.

"I think she recognized it." Seras spoke as Mikey and Winston picked her up placing her in a chair. Pip nodded solemnly.

His mental gears were turning watching the fainted redhead critically.

"What's wrong Pip?" Seras asked.

"Um, just zhinking zhat if she recognizes zee ankh, she must have seen a similar one on 'er attacker." He supplied for Seras but that wasn't exactly the truth of what he was thinking. No, he was thinking of all the woman he had dated or had acquaintances with, especially a buxom brunette who acted in several French soap operas and plays.

Annabel groaned then sat up in her chair. "Hm, what happened?"

Integra spoke. "It looked like you fainted. Officer Winston, Micheals, you may leave. You too Captain and Miss Victoria."

Three of them headed for the door.

"I'd like to stay Boss if you don't mind?" Pip asked.

"I do mind." She said, pointing at the door. Pip shuffled out slowly.

Walter poured the redhead some tea then graciously left the room. Whatever was to be said would likely be highly sensitive information.

"Miss Phoenix, do you know why you fainted?"

"I think um I'm not sure. I saw that and…" Annabel gestured at the ankh.

"Do you recognize it?"

"It… feels familiar."

"Lets back up. What exactly did my servant do and say?"

With a bit of ire she said "He put his whole face between my legs and wouldn't let me go. Then he starts yelling that he'll kill him and rip out organs and break his bones one by one, and he is dog shit. Then he drops down on one knee like he's swearing an oath to destroy the one who touched me when its HE, Alucard, who has touched me." The girl fumed with arms crossed.

"He has no tact, bloody idiot." Integra sighed at the implications. By Alucard's behavior it seems that a foreign male had violated his Annabel. "Annabel we had suspensions that you might have been more than just attacked that night in Rome. It fit's a pattern for the cases we've uncovered. Tonight it came to his attention of that possibly with you. With Alucard's rather crude examination it seems to confirm that you were violated at the time as well."

The redhead paled slightly at the news. Integra gave her some moments to let it settle in her mind.

"Your attacker may have been wearing an ankh like this which is likely why you fainted. May I ask if you've had any nightmares?"

She spoke quietly. "A few, but I don't really remember them."

"You may go, but I'll tell you this. Alucard was only looking after your best interests. He cares about you deeply though I doubt he'll ever admit it aloud. However, you may reprimand him for his rash actions if you wish."

She left with a small smile on her face.

000000000000 March 27 2009

Pip decided to think carefully about this instead of barging in to the boss's office at the first tingle of his gut. So instead he sat down with a notebook in hand to make a list of all the evidence. Furthermore, the captain didn't know all the facts about amnesia and its effects. Annabel could be acting normal for that condition and he was merely chasing a wild goose.

On the left he made a list of Annabel's qualities and quirks he knew of before her trip to Rome. He wrote energetic, playful, bouncy, unpredictable, friendly, stubborn, clumsy, caring, honest, along with loves big guy, fond of kiddo, mood swings, usually jumps in without thinking, full control of fire, whiz in the kitchen, smart but sometimes doesn't act it, doesn't stay mad long, helps others, and in Pip's opinion a heart of gold.

On the right he wrote how she currently acted. He wrote jumpy, unsure, energetic, tries, curious, along with kitchen flunky, can't stand big guy, reluctant with kiddo, in control of powers(as far as he knew), spent time away from others(again as far as he knew), and doesn't talk as much. He added special notes below this, things that lit up red flags in his mind: Blew up in face with Seras about liking Pip, Scary ass face when she watched those slashers(despite the big guys reassurance), and the big kicker, pretended to faint in front of the boss and others.

He knew she faked the collapse. Annabel reacted too quickly seeing the pendant and fell too slowly to the ground, and she recovered far too easily in that chair. She had in essence lied right in front of Sir Integra. Never had he known her to lie to the boss, omitted stuff sure but never lie. For one thing Annabel's a terrible liar. Even the most ignorant person would know that something wasn't quite the truth. Pip wished Integra had allowed him to stay. He wondered if she had fooled the boss or not. She certainly fooled his men and his mignonette. And, wondered what excuse she made for fainting. One thing was clear, she did recognize the ankh, but why would she fake passing out, unless it somehow gave her away. However, that made no sense, unless she was hiding something from everyone. 'What do you have to hide Dame de Rouse?' Pip rubbed his chin. 'We are your friends and family. You can trust us.'

He went down to see Dr. Smith in the medical ward to learn more about retrograde amnesia and its effects. He didn't disclose his exact reasons for visiting the doc, playing it off as a very concerned friend of Annabel's. Pip learned that there was more than one type of memory like there was procedural memory which were learned automated skills, like ballet dancing or piano playing for example, and declarative memory which were events and facts of the person's life. Dr. smith told him most of the time only one of those were effected. Since Annabel lost the declarative type it was a good chance she still had her ingrained skills.

"So zats why she still has full control of her fire powers?"

"Hm, yes that's plausible." Confirmed Dr. Smith.

"What about cooking skills?" Pip asked.

"Well, that's a bit more complicated as cooking duties include a wide range of things. She may be able to cut vegetables to precision, but wouldn't know what ingredients to put in a stew."

The doctor went on to how an individual with amnesia would react to her surroundings. He told Pip she likely felt stressed or embarrassed that she can't remember people's names or place occurrences in her environment. She's probably felt overwhelmed by all the people who want to get reacquainted with her.

"It's best that she go at her own pace."

"Yeah, I guess zats why she finds Mr. Alucard so irritating. I zhink he's pushing Annabel a bit too much."

The doc agreed. "I wouldn't doubt it. They are an item, or were. I'm sure he misses the old Annabel."

"Yeah, misses zee unlimited nookie." Pip added offhandedly.

The doc chose to ignore that. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"I know et's a dramatic zhing to happen to anyone but do zhey retain zheir personality even if zhey don't know who zhey are, like Annabel's go get 'er attitude, or zheir attraction to insane black 'aired vampires?"

Dr. Smith chuckled a bit. "The mind is a tricky thing. In severe cases of memory loss one could have a change in personality but I don't believe Miss Phoenix is a severe case. There's no brain damage to speak of, and does in fact still retain a sense of herself. From the get go she knew she was an adult female who could speak coherently and understand written words and concepts. It is generally believed that a person's personality does not change or changes in very small ways over a period of time. Brain diseases like Alzheimer's could effect it but that's certainly not the case here." The captain followed the doc's long winded explanation. "Have you noticed something, Mr. Bernadotte?"

Pip put on a bright face. "Ah et's just she seems a bit withdrawn but I figure she's just getting used to 'er surroundings again."

"Its natural to be on shaky ground for the first few weeks after what happened to her. I haven't known her long but I believe she should be acting quite herself by now. She's the type to recover mentally and physically in quick order." He changed gears. "You must be happy to be getting that cast off next week."

"Oh yes, I'll be showing my men I 'aven't lost my edge and be able to kick zheir asses." He said. He thanked the doc and returned to the barracks with new information.

He was right to get some medical advise. It cemented some of his concerns. Annabel wasn't acting herself. He carefully recalled every interaction with her since seeing her bedraggled bloody form in Rome. He also looked at the list of old Annabel traits. The new Annabel still had mood swings, was still stubborn, and was still energetic, however, Pip just realized she hadn't been clumsy one bit, rather she was quite coordinated. It took many pain staking man hours for the old Annabel to aim her gun and later her fire balls properly. She still had issues with her accuracy when they left for Rome. So, how does a bump on her head improve her coordination? He added that new nugget to the left.

She bombed in the kitchen in every aspect he saw. With chopping meat and vegetables she had stabbed herself in the fingers many times and her cuts were poor. Obviously she did not retain the procedural memory of her chef skills, on the other hand her fire power skills were sharp as a well honed blade.

The new Annabel quite ignored the tiny draculina as evident from spending much time with Deatrice himself. The old Annabel spent copious amounts of time with her, showing her how to cook, letting her watch as she sparred with the soldiers, letting her help in her duties like cleaning the library, and overall provided a motherly presence. She even took her out into town once for a local carnival. The new Annabel didn't seem to lend help as much as she used to and rather left a mess behind instead of cleaning it up. She did do her share of cleaning rooms and floors but bared a lack of enthusiasm with it.

If he thought about it her verbal outbursts, for which she was famously coined Spaz for, wasn't nearly as abundant nor as unexpected. Also, the new Annabel appeared to bare an ingrained fear and hatred for vampires in general though that one was just Pip's opinion. The old Annabel, after initially meeting Alucard and Seras bore no ill will toward them for what they were nor feared them.

With all the evidence stacking up how can the elder vampire not see that there was something seriously wrong with Annabel? 'Could he be blinded by his love for 'er to not see it?' Pip likely would never see the answer to that for he doubted the vampire would ever confide in the Frenchman.

Now that Pip felt secure that something was indeed wrong, he moved on to what that wrongness could be, making a list on a fresh sheet of paper.

First up was split personality rising to surface. Not knowing what to go on about that he wrote down 'attackers altered brain patterns when they wiped her mind'. If they can make someone forget their entire life they might be able to do more than that. 'Maybe zhey added subliminal messages into 'er subconscious to hate vampires because zhey know who she works for and wants 'er to kill them. No, zat wouldn't account for Seras's encounter because the incubus thing left her alone after learning who she was, nor Annabel's fake collapse.' He blamed all those sci fi movies he watched while he was a teen for where his mind was going. He added brain washed to the list. 'She could have been given new memories, ones that aligned her with the Sekhmet group, and she's a spy for zhem.' He chuckled at himself. 'You're zhinking crazy old boy. Although zat would account for zee shocking behavior and Seras's encounter, but not zee change in personality I think.' He wrote down 'its not her at all'.

It seemed impossible but he thought it; an impostor sent in to infiltrate the Hellsing Organization. It could not be that theory as she looked like Annabel, had the tattoo like Annabel, had the same powers as Annabel, and he knew Alucard could smell the difference as well as feel the otherworldly presence that non-humans gave off and knew if it was her or not. 'Was it possible to duplicate someone's aura like a clone or somezhing? Is eet even-'

"Ah, hello Captain."

Pip jumped off his chair and nearly toppled over with his bum leg. "Ah! Annabel, you gave me a start."

"Oh, sorry, but I came to ask you if I could borrow one of your men to drive me into town. I'd like to do some shopping since I've found I like it and want to improve my mood." Her eyes shifted into thoughts that did not please her.

He closed the note book. "Of course. I'd like to come with you if zats alright. I know a few shopping places."

With a dismissive wave, "That's not necessary. I googled some places on the Internet. I doubt a guy like you would wanna do shopping with a woman anyway. I just need someone to drive me is all."

Pip didn't push the matter least he make her suspicious. "All right. I think Lieutenant Sauls knows zee terrain best. He should be in zee mess hall."

"Thank you Captain." She looked down at the brown notebook. "What were you writing?" She asked innocently.

"Just drills for my men. Zhey're getting slack in my inactivity." He lied with conviction.

"Oh, okay. Later captain." With that she left.

Pip rubbed his face. 'Mon deau, I should not be so jumpy like zat.'

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B/N: Oh finally someone notices something is wrong! Go Pip! Follow that nose of yours...wait should I have saved that for later?

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