A/N: Sorry for the delay. Between con and the changeover to a new beta (and that's still in the works), things have been hectic. I don't really have much to say about the chapter that I can think of. So read, enjoy, and leave me a nice tasty review please.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, Hellsing, or Dracula. I'd like to, but I don't. So read, enjoy, and leave a nice review on your way out the door or you'll make the kitsune sad. Also, I've been told to add "That if you make the Kitsune sad... Said girlfriend will come hunt you down." And that is a direct quote from the lovely girlfriend, unaltered in any way, shape or form. I feel loved. (There are no threats intended from the author.)
"Violet Turned Red"
Chapter Eleven
Grounded
A very cross looking Integra was waiting for him when Duo snuck back into the manor. Seeing her face and posture, he cringed.
"I don't recall giving you permission to leave grounds," she said in a tightly controlled voice.
"That's because you didn't." No point in beating around the bush after all. He'd left and been caught. End of story. "There was something I needed to do, so I did it."
Integra nodded. "Did anyone see you?"
"No sir."
"Good. You will be confined to the lower levels with the exception of your assigned training for the next two weeks. After that time, you may be allowed leave if we believe your performance warrants it. Dismissed."
He knew he was getting off lightly somehow. Giving her a short salute, he headed down to the dungeons. Until the training she'd mentioned actually started, there was little for him to do other than sit and flex the new senses he'd gained.
It wasn't long before Duo was curled up in his coffin against the pillow he'd (re)stolen, watching a shadow curl around his fingers like an affectionate pet around its owner's legs. He only half controlled the thing, he knew, so forcibly kept it small despite the underlying desire to absolutely let it loose to grow and feel.
"You seem to be a natural."
"Must be the blood," Duo said dryly, looking up at the old butler that had entered. "Because this wasn't exactly covered in my training."
"As a Preventer or as a Gundam pilot?" Walter asked casually, an eyebrow lifting behind his monocle.
Duo's eyes narrowed. "How did you find out about that? I know Une's got that information under tight lock and key."
"Perhaps, but even a resourceful lady such as your Une cannot completely stifle something once it's been on the world news." There was a trace of a smirk in the man's otherwise pleasant expression. "It's curious how your moniker was so similar to my own, though using god rather than angel."
He quirked his lips, laying back casually once again. "Angel of Death, huh? It suits. So are you retired now or is this just your day job?"
"I do whatever my employer requires of me," Walter said with a small inclining of his head, but there was something in his tone of voice that told the former Preventer everything he needed to know about the issue.
"I know what you mean," Duo said. He brought his arms up to pillow his head on. "So, do you have any idea what this training I keep hearing about will entail?"
"Alucard has claimed the right to train you in your new abilities as one of the undead," he said. "You'll be training to fight alongside the Wild Geese as well, under Miss Victoria and Captain Bernadotte." The human man handed him a bag of blood along with a glass. "Both should begin very soon."
Tearing the bag open, he squeezed it into his glass as he nodded to the other. It would be nice to have something to do again. A bored Duo was a dangerous Duo after all. That's when he tended to get creative.
-
Duo was woken up much earlier than he was really ready for for an all-encompassing mass of inky black shadows. Recognizing them as rather similar to his own, he stayed still and watchful.
"Are you awake now, little death?" the shadows asked, voice all too familiar to him already.
"You know I am, Gramps," he grumbled, rolling over and pulling his pillow over his head. "So you can cut the theatrics."
Alucard was smirking as his body solidified back into his usual red coated form, which was easily lounging in a chair. He reached down and plucked the pillow away from Duo's head. "Get up."
The pilot reached up and snatched his stolen pillow back, whacking the older vampire with it before sitting up with a fanged yawn. "Ass. I'm getting up already."
"Are you always this eloquent upon first waking?" Alucard asked, the tone of his voice decidedly amused.
"The advantage of living with a man who wakes up freakishly early and brings you coffee to wake you up," Duo said as he reached for his shirt, only to have a bag of blood land in his lap.
"Your 'coffee,' tea, brunch, midnight snack. Don't expect it to be brought to you for every meal. The serving staff does not like to come down here, and I am not part of it."
The former Preventer snorted, glancing at his picture before tearing his 'breakfast' open and drinking it down. He tried not to grimace when he found the red liquid to be room temperature. Honestly, cold would have been better.
His distaste must have shown in his face, for Alucard chuckled. "If you want it warm, fetch it from the kitchens yourself."
"I grew up on the streets, Gramps," Duo said as he pulled on his clothes. "You don't have to worry about me expecting to be waited on."
"How did one such as you remain untouched without a retainer?" Alucard had an odd look on his face as he said that, as though he'd thought to have completed a puzzle only to realize it contained an inner edge.
Duo blinked. "What do you mean?"
"A virgin, boy. One must be a virgin to be sired as a vampire."
He sent him an equally odd look in response. "I'm not. I haven't been a virgin since I was fifteen."
Surprise flickered in old red eyes as Alucard blatantly stared at his grandchilde. It was quite obvious that Duo was not and was not going to turn into a ghoul, as he should have if his statement had been true. But it didn't seem as if he as lying either...
Alucard abruptly stood up and headed for the door. "Finish your meal and go with the Geese to the shooting range. Your training will begin there."
He didn't wait for any sort of response from Duo before leaving. There was something he needed to find out.
