Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Hellsing. At all. Nope.
AN/ Second chapter of 'It was only a game', I hope you enjoy it and I apologize for the long wait...Read and Review!!
So, this is following the storyline....sorta. Of the Manga, not the Anime. Both are good, but I really prefer the Manga. Seras is so weak in the Anime....sighs But...I am doing my own thing here, so it is a little AU. Mainly I am making Seras a little less of a wuss... I hope you can forgive me. But I will strive to keep everyone in character. (except for Seras, she I am changing a LITTLE bit) If anyone finds any mistakes in my portrayals, please do not hesitate to tell me!! Thank you!
darknessfollows: I'm glad you think so!
RyousRayne: Oh wow! That is such a beautiful thing for you to say! I hope you enjoy it!
S.T. Nikolian: You are very perceptive. *chuckles*
SickDeath: I will try! XD I will try my hardest.
TyedyeRin: Here you go!
SparkleandShine21: I'm glade you think so! I tried hard. I'm sorry I took so long to update.
Rebel Atar: I am so glad you think so! I tried hard to keep all the characters in character. And of course Alucard was spying on her, how else would he behave?
utterlyconfusedlover: I'm SO sorry I took so long!! I've had writers block...Here is the update! Please Read and Review!
Higurashimon: Awesome, glad to have hooked you, hope you like this chapter just as much. :3
Seras stood silently in the middle of the open compound, her Harkonnen Cannon smoking in her hand and gray overcast sky above her although there was currently no threat of rain. Although it was the middle of the day, as the sun was covered well enough she felt only a little discomfort, and she was able to withstand it easily enough. She would just need to feed well tonight, and get some actual sleep…something she had still not been getting enough of; although to her relief she did not think it showed. Her eyes being naturally shadowed now certainly helped things in that regard. And it wasn't like her skin could get much more pale anyways.
The cannon was almost half again her height, a 30mm Anti-Midian cannon which used both Depleted Uranium shells and armor-piercing incendiary rounds. And even so she held it easily in her left hand as if it were only a basic issue combat rifle. With her strength being what it was very easy to lift things even many times her own weight. In fact, she was quite certain that if she wished so she could easily lift a literal ton; maybe more. But she had never had the wish to experiment. Also it had never actually occurred to her to try.
As it was her mind was not on her extraordinary abilities or how much her vampiric traits made things easier. All her attention was focused on the targets in the distance and she smirked, pleased with herself to see that she had destroyed all the proper ones and not 'harmed' the civilians. She slung her Harkonnen up over her left shoulder and turned to face the group of recruits standing behind her.
"Alright then; so that is how it's done!" She announced gesturing with her right arm at the carnage in the distance, 250 meters to be exact. She knew that human eyes would not be able to manage such a feat, even with the assistance of a scope, but she was giving an example of how useful it was to have a Vampire in the ranks. And, ok, so she was showing off too. But she deserved it she thought. They were staring at her in disbelief and she fought the urge to flush. She needed to loose that silly human emotion, she had no reason to be embarrassed, absolutely none at all.
"Well, of course none you all are expected to ever have to shoot that distance, but you need to learn that killing Freaks is not at all alike to killing humans." She continued with a small smirk, knowing that her fangs were visible and having a guilty pleasure of seeing some of the mercenaries shudder, and she even saw one cross himself. How funny! But it was even funnier when she had first been introduced to this particular group.
Seras was standing at attention behind Sir Integra Fairbanks Wingates Hellsing as the Lady surveyed her new troops slowly, her hands clasped behind her back. Sir Integra seemed disappointed and Seras did not blame her. It was not customary to hire men from outside the know –men who knew of Vampires and Freaks that is- and most certainly not any from outside the claim of the Queen; but after the catastrophe of the recent attack by a pair of brothers by the name of Jan and Luke –Vampires both; chipped Freaks more precisely- and their army of ghouls they had brought with them, their numbers had been cut most drastically. 86 of the 96 Hellsing London base staff members, and most if not all of their active members had been killed, bloodily and without mercy. So with their numbers so low and the Freak population growing so swiftly, outside help was necessary. And at least this set seemed at least to contain some discipline; although they were all lounging about in chairs and one crates. Even if they were French.
This was French mercenary group which went by the name 'Wild Geese' and was led by a man named Pip Bernadette. He was a handsome enough fellow she supposed, although his hair was really much too long and seemed very ridiculous. It was a dirty blonde color, and the braid was wrapped about his neck and still fell to his lower back. How could he stand it? He also had an eye-patch over his left eye, but it only added to his rather rugged appearance. But looking at him only made her think of how very different her Master looked, and how much she preferred his dark grace to the appearance of this French-man; she greatly preferred his elegant sharp features to this rugged unfinished visage the Captain had.
Seras realized that her mind was once again going off on an ill fated tangent and she swore inwardly before focusing her attention diligently on Sir Integra. She and the woman had become a little closer of late -being the only two females in the whole of the organization had a hand in that- and Seras had no wish to bring any disgrace to the Knight by spacing out in front of her new recruits, and even less did she have any desire to cause Sir Integra to become upset with her. Sir
Integra was a very intimidating woman indeed.
The men had all been scoffing when she and her Master's Master had entered the room, laughing about the ridiculous idea of being there to apparently fight 'monsters'. They seemed to not believe in any such things. Well, they were about to be shaken up a fair bit. When the two woman had entered, with Sir Integra saying in a clear and cool voice "It's true.", being both blunt and serious, the room had fallen quickly silent. Integra was then silent as she surveyed the motley crew before her.
"The rumors you all have been hearing are all true." Sir Integra finally spoke, her voice calm, serious, and pitched perfectly to carry to the back of the crowd. Seras thought she had a wonderfully commanding voice.
"Your enemies are blood sucking, ageless, immortal, Vampires. We carry garlic and Holy water, drive wooden stakes into their hearts, and cut their heads off. Then we burn their corpses and scatter their ashes at a crossroad. That is how we work. Read Bram Stoker for more details." Her voice was stern, but calm. She spoke with the matter-of-factness as if simply stating the weather. She was still now, facing the lounging group with her hands clasped behind her back. Her words were met with an outburst of humor and disbelief as all the mercenaries began to exclaim over her sudden words.
The captain's moderately accented voice rose above the throng in a shout of disbelief.
"You must be barmy!" He exclaimed while rising to his feet. "There is no way Vampires exist in this world...-" He continued, his voice almost sneering before Sir Integra cut him off with a calm disregard.
"You simply don't know. No, to be accurate, you simply have not been informed." She had a smug grin on her face now as she continued. "This Hellsing organization was formed one hundred years ago. We have conducted our operations beneath an unsuspecting populace..." and here she paused dramatically. "...as an instrument in the war against Vampires. It's hard to understand no matter how I say it. So behold. That is your enemy, a Vampire. "As she finished she stepped to the side and pointed at Seras. Seras blanched and stepped forward. Everyone was staring at her in shock and disbelief.
"Ah, hello..." She said in a nervous tone, cold sweat running down her back and she smiled tentatively. The Captain walked up to her and pointed at her in disbelief.
"You're…" He seemed to be finding it hard to believe. "…A Vampire?" he said incredulously. She smiled nervously, showing a fang as the corner of her mouth twitched with nerves. "Uh….yeah…something of the sort…" She replied slowly, and her face would have been flushed could she do such a thing as blush anymore. And the mens' responses were to start laughing quite hysterically. She turned a little sadly to Sir Integra. "I knew they'd laugh at me…" she sighed with a mixture of embarrassment, annoyance, and depression. It wasn't that funny was it? Most humiliating. And Sir Integra seemed just as annoyed and a little sympathetic. She certainly empathized with men looking down on a woman with power.
"And laugh they do." Sir Integra agreed with a sigh.
"Shouldn't Master be here with me?" She asked with only the barest trace of a whine in her voice. And after all, he was a Vampire among Vampires, they'd never dare laugh at him.
"No." Sir Integra answered immediately. "He wouldn't rest until they were all dead." She continued matter-of-factly although sounding a little annoyed. Seras immediately saw that Sir Integra was quite right and just sighed. Sir Integra seemed to have had enough with the mens' mirth and looked fierce as she pointed at her with a demanding finger. "FINE! Show them some proof, Police Girl!" She demanded, a demand Seras felt gleeful to obey.
"Roger!!" She exclaimed, her right hand raised in salute. She turned to the men, a small grin forming on her face as she curled her fingers as though ready to snap. "Now then." She said calmly.
But Pip Bernadette had not finished with his laughter and he continued, making her quite annoyed, almost angry now. "If, if, if you're a Vampire….then I'm bloody Frankenstein's Monster!" He told her while still laughing. Her eyes narrowed and she simply flicked him on the forehead with one finger. He was sent reeling back, his head snapped to the side and his nose bleeding as he fell over.
He grunted incoherently in surprise and pain and disbelief. She walked slowly towards him as he got back to his feet.
"I challenge you, Captain. And I'm only allowed to flick my fingers." She told him calmly as she proceeded to do just that and he was sent reeling back again and again and into his startled men. He sat up, his nose oozing blood and his uncovered eye wide in horror.
"She's…a….freak!" He exclaimed as he scooted back. "Can't see her at all…can't even sense her! All she did was flick me but my head is spinning!" He continued in disbelief. Somewhere inside herself Seras thought she should be upset or even insulted to be called a 'freak', but she actually found that she did not care. She smiled slowly, showing her fangs to the startled men.
"Right, so….like she said, I'm a Vampire." She told them slowly, as if talking to dunces. And still they did not catch on, how dense these French-men were!
"You're really a Vampire?" The Captain asked incredulously as if he had not just seen her proof first hand. She would have replied then with a snide comment but her Master's appearance made it pretty much void.
"Of course she is." Alucard said calmly as he came through the wall, all hat and shades and cloak as always, black on red on white. Certain to impress, and impress he did. "Among us she's the lowest of the low…but she's obviously a Vampire." He continued with a smirk. She unexpectedly found that his comment about her being the 'lowest of the low' didn't just sting, it felt like a punch in her gut. She felt breathless, even considering she no longer needed any such thing, and she felt the sting of tears in her eyes. But to cry now, in front of the recruits? In front of her Master and Sir Integra?! Unacceptable. She grit her teeth and turned to the men and forced herself to find amusement in their fear over her Master's entrance. They all screamed like little girls and stumbled back away from his imposing figure.
"Not much in the way of guts, will they be of any use to us?" Alucard asked, sounding thoroughly amused. And Seras found that she shared his amusement, it was rather funny, their fear. But it was obvious that Sir Integra did not share their views for she was quick to reprimand him.
"ALUCARD!!" She exclaimed angrily. But it was at that moment that Walter appeared.
"My humble apologies, my Lady." He said in his usual calm and self assured manner. "I tried to stop him…" He began before Alucard cut him off.
"They'll be guarding my bed. I want to see what manner of men they are." Alucard explained with his usual smirk but Seras felt the logic to his words, it only made sense after all. And the Captain was now speechless as he stared open mouthed at Alucard.
"That aside, my Lady." Walter continued calmly. Integra turned to him.
"What is it?" She asked him. He walked over to her and held out a envelope which appeared to be made of a rather high quality paper, and had a seal on the back.
"This was sent to us." He said as he handed it to her. Sir Integra took it dubiously.
"A letter?" She asked as she turned it to the back where fancy script was scrawled.
"Notice the sender if you would." Walter told her calmly. Her eyes widened with shock and her body stiffened. "Yes." He said, as if in answer to a question.
"Vatican Section XIII…the Iscariot Agency?!" Sir Integra exclaimed in disbelief. Seras stiffened, her eyes wide and her chest felt tight. Wasn't that the Agency which had sent that mad Priest, that Regenerator; Father Anderson?! Whom even her Master had had trouble with?! She felt fear trickle down her spine as Sir Integra had a quick and quiet discussion with Walter. She turned to her then.
"Seras, see what you can do with these men here, see if they will fit with our duties. And then you will have the rest of the evening off to do as you will. Alucard, Walter, with me." Sir Integra said curtly before she spun around sharply on her heel and strode stiffly out of the room, Walter on her heels and Alucard no nowhere to be seen.
Seras salute her Master's Master back and then turned a little nervously back to the amassed men. They were still cluttered up against the wall, staring between Sir Integra and her.
"Well…that was my Master, Alucard, and the older man is Sir Hellsing's Butler and our…assistant in other matters." She explained slowly, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly. It was rather unfair to dump all of them on her like this. But if she wanted her Master to see her as something other then 'the lowest of the low', she had to prove herself to him, and what better way to start. She straightened her shoulders then and lifted her chin. Taking a deep breath that was more habit then anything else she stared calmly at the men. "Alright then! So let's see what you men can do!"
And that brought her back to the present. She had run the men through their paces, tried them out on their weapons to get a feel for how they fought, their cohesion, and their leadership skills. She had explained to them about Vampires, about the Freak Chips, about what Hellsing did. And then she had shown off a little bit. By now she thought she had done more then enough to have followed Sir Integra's orders, and she believed she deserved a little rest. She dismissed the men and then with a sigh of relief retired to her own quarters.
She propped her Harkonnen Cannon up in a corner and saw by the blood on the table that Walter had been by. She sat in the single chair and picked up the packet of blood, not even a little bit hesitant this time. She popped the cap and drank deep, reveling in the taste, her eyes closed to relish the flavor. He had given her O+, her favorite; as morbid as that was. But she no longer cared, she had now fully embraced this portion of the night.
Her eyes snapped open and she gasped audibly when she felt what she thought might be fingertips trailing along the back of her bare neck. She spun around, but nothing was there. If she had had a beating heart anymore, it would have been racing. "Master?" She called softly, nervous, and a little afraid. Was she imagining things? She would love to feel her Master's fingers on her…his hands on her, but she knew he was only playing with her; besides, she might just be imagining things…hoping...in vain. Because he'd never…seriously…
It felt as if her heart was being squeezed and she felt her eyes prickle with tears. But no, she told him he would not win, so of course he would play all the harder, pushing his buttons. She'd not give him the satisfaction of making her cry. She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fangs. "I think not." She informed him coldly, determined to ignore him completely. She finished her meal and put the empty bag back in the bowl of ice, a little too forcibly as she accidentally broke the bowl. She swore colorfully and jumped to her feet, staring with annoyance and anger –at herself and her lack of discipline- at her hand which had began to bleed sluggishly.
That was when she felt his presence at her back and she whirled to face him, her eyes wide and her breath –so to speak- caught in her throat. What she saw caused her face to heat up with a false flush, and if it had been possible her heart would have raced. He was without his fedora, his glasses, and his red overcoat, and he was staring hungrily at her hand; which he held now in his own much larger hand now, and was raising slowly to his mouth. She stood still, unable to even blink, so shocked was she. And she felt a heat pooling low in her belly as she watched his mouth open, his tongue stretching out in a way some may have thought obscene but she thought absolutely sexy…and he was about to lap up her blood…heat coiled tighter in the apex between her thighs, she felt herself getting wet; just on the thought of her Master licking her blood!
And then she blinked, he was gone. She looked down at her hand; no wound, no sign at all that she had ever cut herself. Confused she spun back around and saw that the bowl she had thought broken was sitting there, fixed. Or never broken in the first place? It came suddenly, the realization. He had tricked her. That bastard of a Master had made her hallucinate, or day-dream, something! The BASTARD!
She snarled her rage, her lips curled back from her fangs and she back handed the bowl ruthlessly, sending it sailing across the room where it shattered against the wall. And then with a hitched sob she spun back around and ran across the small space to throw herself onto her four poster coffin, angry and sad at the same time. Pissed off and so depressed that she felt like crying until she soaked her pillow. But no. No. She would not give him that pleasure. She dug her claw-like nails into the blankets beneath her, slowly shredding them as she hissed her anger. She now knew for 100% certainly that it was indeed her Master behind everything. And she was now more resolute then ever to not loose to him. She held no fantasies about beating him at his own game...he was much to canny and smart for her to ever pull anything over on him. No. All she could do was control herself and simply not let him win. And that would be victory enough for her.
Of course her little temper-tantrum from moments before was not exactly a good thing, a small victory for him actually, but he was welcome to it for now she knew his game, and she would play to win. Or at least, not loose. A dark smirk slowly formed across her face. "I know what you are playing Master." She purred darkly as she pushed the button to lower her bed. "And I will not let you win." She informed him, her voice now cold. She closed her eyes, and locked her mind as tightly as she could against him as she forced herself into a deep –hopefully dreamless- sleep. She would need all the energy she could get.
And as she fell asleep so quickly, she did not hear her Master's amused response. "You think you know what game I play? Oh Police Girl, dear girl; you have no idea…" And with a dark chuckle the red eyes in the mirror slowly faded from view.
AN/ Well? I know it took me ages to finally update, like…way too long. And I am sorry. I hope this chapter makes up for it. And no fear, I have ideas on how to continue it, so the next chapter should not be far behind!!