Holy cow…..so it has been 2 years I am so sorry. I wrote this today, it's not as long as I'd like….but it is something for you all. I hope you enjoy it. 3
Last time: She stiffened even further and swung her hands back over her head to knock hi hands away while jumping to her feet and whirling to face him with a scowl." You have no idea what it is that I want Master. And I am not about to tell you either." She told him in a cold voice, her eyes narrowed. He just smirked at her in a knowing fashion and bowed to her as if conceding her point as he faded back through the wall. She just stared at where he had been her mouth agape now. What the hell was that? That was way too easy…what was he playing at now?
"Millennium." That had been Jan's final word to Sir Integra as his body was devoured by the flames of the damned. He laughed as he was dying, mocking them with every word, but he seemed to find it amusing to actually give them clue to who was creating all the chipped freaks, fake vampires that lacked substance (Or so he Master fervently claimed). That had led to an in depth investigation by Walter that had seemed to lead nowhere, and then Father Enrico Maxwell had invited Sir Integra to a meeting to discuss the ambiguous word. And what he had reveled had seemed almost unbelievable. Seras had not been there at this point, but Walter had graciously told her what had happened.
"It goes back fifty years ago to World War II." Father Maxwell had started after forcing Sir Integra to practically beg for the information that he had invited her here to share in the first place. He's lucky Alucard had not been there at that moment. "Large numbers of military personnel fled the border from a defeated Nazi Germany. Kameraden Bavarinia, Spider, Helper's Gates, Brother Kreuz, Nahid, Odessa. Such organizations and assorted expatriate Germans assisted in this mass flight. Their primary destinations were the many South American nations sympathetic to the Fatherand." Was the lengthy story he began with. Seras had heard that Sir Integra had little patience with such easily researched drivel, but Father Maxwell had continued.
"They all began their movements just before or after the defeat of Germany. That much is certain. Fleeing the country during the war would have been desertion. The Millennium we know is the name of a project and a military unit. They are the ones who carry out the highly classified transfer of resources and personnel for the Nazis. This Millennium has been working diligently since the initial stages of the war. They ran around occupied Germany falsifying documents while expanding their resources and gathering promising men of talent. They transported everything to South America…confiscated Jewish property, works of art, precious metals, foreign currency, valuable securities, and so on. From the smallest gold tooth to the largest submarine." Walter had told he that at this point he and Sir Integra had been staring at Father Maxwell in silent shock, and the man had taken this as a question.
"You wish to know how we know, do you?" He had been laughing, smug. "Because the Vatican helped! Considerably!" He had left soon after, leaving Sir Integra and Walter to decipher this new knowledge.
But that was for Sir Integra, Walter, and her Master to worry about. She was in over her head as it was with the new recruits, the 'Wild Geese'. For her it was to follow orders and try and whip the mercenaries into shape. But it was not easy, and that overbearingly French captain, Pip Bernadotte made it more difficult. Despite evidence to the contrary, he still seemed to be having difficulty with grasping the fact that vampires existed, and that she herself was such. He was constantly taunting her, teasing her. And of late it had seemed like he was flirting with her of all things! But only recently did it occur to her that this might be a good thing…after all, she did want something to take her mind off of her Master, did she not? And her decision had been to try and fixate (oh, such an ugly word) her affections on someone aside from him, so why not Pip? As she had noticed so thoroughly on first meeting the man, he was nothing like her Master. What could be better?
She had been watching Pip closely these last several days, without making it horribly obvious that she was doing so. She had gotten better at being covert. So at least that was going for her. Little else was. After that last debacle with her Master, the night Sir Integra's had her meeting with Father Maxwell, she had kept the barriers in her mind tight. It was a big strain on her, and she was even more grateful that she had begun to drink her blood on a regular basis. She had also been forcing herself to sleep. But her sleep had not been what one would call restful and were fraught with dreams that she could never recall upon waking, but always left her shaken and feeling as though she had lost something.
But Alucard had not shown his hand yet, and seemed content to let her stew for the time being. She felt that somehow she should be upset that he was not paying very much attention to her, and that he spent all his time holed up with Sir Integra and Walter, but instead all she felt was a vast relief.
It was midday, and overcast. She had been setting the men (her men, what a thought!) to work with ballistics and their firearms, with the focus being on increasing the range they could effectively fire at, and consistently hit their targets. They had been getting better, and she was finally beginning to win a little respect. This made her happy, happy enough that she was able to forget about her Master's incessant hold on her for almost an hour at a time. She could feel his eyes on her at times though, and it always seemed to be after a period of time when her thoughts did not dwell on him. But she might just be imagining things.
At the moment the men were having a break for lunch, and she was sitting in one of the higher branches of a nice sturdy tree, staring out over the grounds. Every now and then she would glance over to survey the men, and Pip who sat with his men. Laughing with them, sharing their meal. He actually wasn't a bad looking bloke now that she had gotten used to his absurdly long hair. It suited him now that she took the time to consider it unbiasedly. Well, as unbiased as she could get. And she was curious about the eye-patch. It certainly added an air of danger about him, and she was obviously fond of danger considering her circumstances. And he was very close to his men, he seemed like a very good commander, he had an almost paternal affection for them. Much different then Sir Integra's sometimes cold demeanor and her Master's arrogance and superiority.
This time when she glanced over to the mercenaries she did not see Pip with them. She straightened up on the branch she was sitting on and started to search for him.
"What are you are lookin' for, Draculina?" She started and then stared down through the branches beneath her and saw the tall man staring up at her curiously, a cigarette held between his thin lips as usual. She was taken aback by his sudden appearance, she had not noticed his approach. Master would be disgusted if he knew she was snuck up on by a lowly human. And there was no way she'd let Pip know she was looking for him. So she'd lie and hid her surprise.
"Nothing commander, I just thought I sensed something." She lied smoothly and turned her gaze back out across the grounds as she had been previously. Then a thought occurred to her and she looked back down at him. "Do you need something commander?" She asked curiously. Why had he come to her? Although he never wasted a moment to harass her, he had never actively sought out her company before. He shrugged and grinned up at her around his cigarette.
"Ah, ze men were wond'rin' if you'd join us for lunch. Not zat you'd eat o' course….but ze company maybe be nice?" He seemed a little flustered over the line of her 'eat'ing or not, but mostly he seemed amused. But also sincere. She did not think he was trying to pull one over on her, but then, she did not know the man well enough to know the full extents of his humor. She looked over at the men, watched them watching Pip and herself. She supposed it might possibly be a true offer. She mused for a moment. Would this be good or bad? Master would not like her to be getting so friendly with the humans, but she was lonely, and it was not like he was much in the way of company….but then there was, what would Sir Integra think? She was very much by the rules in many things. She saw Pip beginning to look a little nervous, and he fidgeted slightly.
Well…why not.
"I'd love to." She said with a smile.