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Dirty Money

Ruby changed into her spare clothes and got ready to check-out. Her tattered nurse's uniform was thrown into the bin because she didn't think she'd be able to wash out the blood; the smell was too much, and she figured they could provide her with a new one. When she was finished brushing her hair, she stuffed her brush into her bag and looked outside the window; she realised it was raining, and she had no umbrella.

Depressed, Ruby stuffed her arms into the sleeves of her not-so waterproof jacket, put on her rucksack, pulled the hood over her head and then promptly left her hotel room. News of the infirmary incident last night spread over the media like wildfire. It would be closed down and Ruby's nursing degree would have to be continued elsewhere. And where that 'elsewhere' was, she wasn't so sure. It was declared 'to be announced'. For now, Ruby figured she'd stay at home for the time being.

She waddled down to the hall and pressed the elevator button, stepped inside when it arrived and waited, listening to dingy elevator music until it finally arrived back downstairs at the lobby. She stepped out and just then -

"Good afternoon, Miss Ashcroft."

She looked up.

It was an old man. He was dressed in a butler's outfit… he was tall, with dark long hair tied back and a single monocle sat perched over his left eye. He was also rather pale; Ruby wondered if he may have an ailment. Still, his lean physique and upright, perfect posture indicated he was very fit for his old age.

He smiled back at her, "…Sir Integra wishes to see you, Miss Ashcroft." He said, as he bowed politely.

"…How did you know my name?"

The old man smiled yet another crooked, withered alligator smile. "We, of the Hellsing Organisation, know everything."

"…And… who is…Int…Intel Core…"

"Sir Integra Fairbrooks Wingate Hellsing." The old man corrected her; he sounded extremely proud when he spoke the name.

"Sir Integra Facebook - "

Walter interrupted her immediately, "You met her last night. She is the leader of the Hellsing Organisation."

"I did? Oh, right. Is…is this about what happened last night at the hospital?"

"Yes." He bowed gracefully once more, "Sir Integra is also the one in control over the vampire, Alucard."

Alucard.

When he said that name, Ruby thought she'd pop a gasket. But instead, she gave the old man a calm and collected smile, and nodded. "I…I see."

"We're quite aware he has made himself quite the acquaintance with you. Now, if you don't mind, Miss Ashcroft… Please come with me. We have a car waiting for you outside."

…..

Ruby was blindfolded when the car started.

Whatever this…this… Hellsing Organisation was, it certainly was something as top secret as the MI5. After what felt like the bumpy car ride of an eternity, the brakes finally screeched to a halt, and the door opened. She was made to leave the car and walk, and the old-butler-man, who had introduced himself as Walter C. Dornez, helped her the entire way. Finally, she heard large doors opening, the blindfold was removed and Ruby stared around.

She had been led to a large room, resembling a dining room with a long, rich mahogany table in the centre and four chairs evenly spaced out. The room was elaborate; the walls were furnished with wine red wallpaper and gold trimming, luscious Persian rugs with matching royal red curtains outlining each window. The furniture were even more stunning - ornately sculpted statues stood stiffly on both left and room sides of the room and pieces of assembled, life-sized armour standing proudly on little mantles, holding assorted weapons from swords to spears. Ruby gulped; were they even real?

Walter pulled out one of the chairs at the table and gestured for Ruby to sit, "Please, have a seat. Sir Integra will be here shortly."

"O-Okay. Thank you, Walter."

"Would you like some tea while you wait?"

"Um, no thank you."

Walter smiled back at her and politely excused himself. Ruby was left alone in the dining-guest room, sitting on the chair, staring around. The urge to look around and touch everything was overwhelming.

Eventually, she gave in to her primeval, wanton desires to touch something rich and rare and stood up, making her way towards one of the assembled armour pieces. She glanced at the spear it was holding and wondered what was holding the armour up in the first place. She leaned over and tapped at the shoulder plate of the armour piece inquisitively. It gave a hollow 'thunk'.

"My master will dislike it if you get your fingerprints over her prized collection."

At the sound of the voice, Ruby leapt up, startled, and wobbled backwards. Her heel caught a crease in the rug and she went stumbling backwards just as a tall, familiar figure loomed over her, his grin never ceasing as he watched her land on the ground none too gently.

CRACK.

Ruby let out a pained yelp when she realised she'd accidentally used her hand to cushion her fall - somehow she'd managed to fall on top of it at an awkward angle. Tears welled up in her eyes immediately and she slowly sat up, slightly surprised that Alucard hadn't even attempted to help her up but was instead, watching her.

"…Oh dear, you've hurt yourself." He sounded amused, as he stepped over her, the tail of his red coat fluttering over her with each step he took.

Yes, thank you Alucard for pointing out the obvious. She glowered up at him bitterly as she held her aching wrist. She inhaled a hiss of pain and felt tears threatening to fall. She was crying, or about to. That was the last thing she'd wanted to happen.

Alucard lowered himself to kneel down beside her to her left. Where had he even come from? She didn't even hear him! And didn't she already warn him not to sneak up on her like that. "What are you doing here?" She mumbled, inching away from him as he slinked forwards to her. The throbbing pain in her wrist didn't subside; she wanted to hold back the tears but this time to no avail.

He smirked at her, "This is my home. How nice of you to visit."

"… actually, Sir Intel Core asked me to come."

Alucard raised an eyebrow, and then realised she must be talking about Integra. Nevertheless, he grinned back at her. "And you accepted? Journeying to the lair of the beast…that's very brave of you. Who will guarantee your well-being?"

"I can look after myself, thank you very much." She said, quickly dabbing away at a tear that had dribbled out from the corner of her eye, hoping he hadn't seen.

He saw. "Let me see your hand."

When she stared at him like a deer caught in headlights, he chuckled. "You don't have to be afraid," He reached over and whispered in her ear, "I won't bite."

She immediately pulled back away from him, "No way. I know how to handle it; I'm a trained nurse, remember?"

He gave her a testing look, one slender eyebrow raised. Immediately she began sweating buckets under his intense scrutiny. "Yes," Alucard said as he glanced to the side for a short while, "…you look after people who are injured, but who's there to look after you when you are hurt?"

Ruby's bottom lip wobbled as she contemplated his words. All of a sudden, she felt very pitiful and needy. Before she could reply, his gloved hand landed on her cheeks and she realised he was wiping at her tears. Why was he being so…affectionate? Not long ago did he demand her to kiss him like some angry kid who didn't get his candy. She shrunk under him as he leaned closer.

Alucard sensed her hesitation. "Let me see." His voice was so soft and gentle, yet suave and husky at the same time… In response, Ruby blinked blankly into empty space, seemingly enjoying the sound, and he reached for her hand.

Returning to reality, Ruby did a double take and narrowed her eyes at him, "Wait! What are you going to do?" She barked, watching his hand close around her wrist.

"Where does it hurt?"

She remained silent.

"Ruby."

She blinked; he had used her name for a change. Embarrassed, she squeezed her eyes shut and stubbornly turned her head away.

"Tell me where it hurts, Ruby."

A few seconds passed. She opened one eye, then meekly gestured to her wrist joint with her other hand.

"Here?"

Ruby nodded.

He looked up at her and then lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to her wrist. And another. And another. Her face went a funny colour in response. "There. Is that better?" He said, after one final kiss. Her heartbeat escalated to a rate she thought she was impossible.

Worse still, she was blushing profusely even though she swore to herself something like this would never make her heart flutter. This kind of stuff only happened in movies. A man had never kissed her hand before. For Alucard, the sight of her flustered by his actions rather amused him. She squeezed her eyes shut and then shook her head fiercely, "NO. What I need is a bandage and-and maybe – " He interrupted her by capturing her into his arms and she tried to wriggle out from his grasp. "Hey! Lemme go! What are you doing?"

For a vampire, he was rather warm. Or maybe it was his large coat that was generating heat. It carried a faint smell of gunpowder and… blood. She squirmed although this only caused him to increase his grip on her tenfold. "Ahhh, I couldn't resist. Seeing you so helpless… you're like a little kitten."

She flushed and peered up at his handsome face. Yes, she had to admit he was devilishly handsome. It made her uncomfortable but also made her heart pound. A face like that would cause trouble. A face like that must've also attracted the attention of hundreds of other females. Who was to say that his 'affection' towards her was only concentrated for her solely? Perhaps, and most likely, he had plenty of other females before her.

Ruby blinked, wondering why she was even thinking about this. She had no interest in him! Yet here she was sounding like a jealous brood, knowing that he may or may not have had other women before her. Her nose wrinkled in distaste at herself; she was all too aware that behind the attractive and somewhat gentlemanly façade, concealed a bloodthirsty monster. No matter how gentle he was; she felt she already knew what he was and had been, capable of: death and destruction. He certainly seemed amused by it. She gave him a sour look. "What are you up to? I thought you said you weren't interested in anything about me."

"That doesn't mean I won't care about you."

"Pft. You only want my blood." She snorted at him. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to me or else you'll risk losing the whole goodie package for another century or so, am I right?"

He suddenly grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look at him, their noses almost touching. "Didn't I say not to let yourself get too carried with your own words, girl?" He hissed, but then his gaze on her softened when she swallowed down. Alucard was steadily watching her parted lips; the desire to kiss her haunted him. "…You dislike my advances, although most women have always yearned and revelled in my affections." He murmured as he brushed away a strand of hair from her face, "That, I do not understand."

A pang of discomfort and disappointment hit her in the stomach. So... her assumptions about him had been true?

Still holding her close to him, he said, "I suppose I haven't even considered if another male has a claim on you. With a face like yours, I don't think you would ever be without a significant other."

… was he complimenting her? She wasn't sure if she had heard properly. "…I – "

"Er-hem."

Alucard didn't seem surprised by the interruption but Ruby gasped and turned to face the figure at the doorway. The same olive-skinned woman from the hospital was standing there.

"Are you quite done intimidating my guest?" She said. To Ruby's surprise, Alucard let go of her and she was left blinking numbly as she sat dazed on the floor. She blinked at her as the woman's eyes narrowed at the sight of her wrist. "And what happened?"

"Um… I fell." Ruby croaked out.

The woman who Ruby believed was Intel Core – sorry, Integra – sighed, and motioned for Walter, who had been standing beside Integra. "Walter, help her."

"Yes, Sir Integra." Walter strode over and picked Ruby up from the ground. She was made to sit on one of the chairs while Walter went to fetch a first aid kit. Integra gave Alucard a look of disapproval and shook her head; he merely smirked at her. As soon as Walter finished patching her up, Integra motioned for her to follow.

"This way please, Miss Ashcroft. We have much to discuss."

"Yes, ma'am." Ruby blurted out without thinking twice. Integra's mere presence commanded respect. She trailed after the woman and the butler. To her dismay, Alucard was coming as well. He kept staring at her from the corner of his eyes. Unable to bear his steely gaze no longer, she turned to him with a clinching fist. "…What? What is it now? Why are you looking at me like that? Get whatever dirty thoughts you have out of your head."

He snickered at her softly and said, "Do you like it here?"

Ruby was completely taken by surprise by his question. She hadn't expected it all. "…Huh?" She stopped frowning at him and slowly averted her gaze to her front, dumbstruck by the sudden and unexpected question.

Then, she inspected her surroundings more closely. Since she had met Integra, would she meet that busty blonde girl too? She wanted to thank her properly. "…W-Well… it's nice, but…It's not very… homely." She replied, as she took note of the extravagant portraits on the wall and the elegant tapestry of lions and shields and dragons outlining the mansion walls. This place was like an extension of Buckingham Palace! But there was something…empty about this place.

"…'Homely'." She heard him utter under his breath, before a deep chuckle erupted from the back of his throat. He added, "What an interesting vocabulary you have, my bride."

"Shh! Don't call me that in public!" She hissed at him, before silently gesturing to Walter, who was the closest near them.

"Walter is an old friend of mine."

"I don't care! It's embarrassing!"

Hearing the bickering pair behind him, Walter mustered a smile and glanced to Integra who merely rolled her eyes.

Ruby gave Alucard one final, wary look but said nothing else. Finally, Integra opened a random door in the corridor and entered. Ruby stepped in, as Walter held the door. Alucard merely drifted through the wall, coming to a stop to stand beside Ruby, who glared at him, then cautiously stepped away. So that was how he entered her hotel room and snuck up on her back at the guest-dining room, she realised. Being a vampire meant you could walk through walls… The list of other vampire possibilities seemed endless in her view.

Alucard smirked back at her and she threw him a venomous look in response.

"Miss Ashcroft." Integra began as she sat behind the table, noticing their interaction already, "An explanation was obligated to you last night but unfortunately, our organisation had our hands full... But what you witnessed last night was no feat. Civilians usually do not get dragged into these affairs, nor do they go through such ordeals pertaining violent supernatural phenomena and live to tell the tale."

Ruby listened on intently.

"The Hellsing Organisation is a group that has existed in secrecy from the public. Unfortunately that is no longer the case for you as Alucard has disclosed more to you than intended." Integra said, shooting him a warning glare. He rewarded her with a playful, tantalising smirk. "…I'm certain he must have exposed the existence of vampires to you, Miss Ashcroft."

"Yes Sir Integra, um... about that…"

"I'm also quite aware Alucard has taken quite the 'interest' in you." Integra said, "Unfortunately, although Alucard is my servant, there are some of his endeavours that are not under my jurisdiction."

Eh? Not under her jurisdiction? Ruby felt slightly disappointed.

"However, that does not mean I am entirely powerless." Integra added, "Let's start with the basics…"

"Basics?"

"Vampires have always existed. They have been in legends, urban stories, myths and cultures, and they have many names. They have always lived alongside human beings for as long as time itself. But since they are creatures of the night, everything they do remain hidden in the shadows. To protect humans from the threat of vampires and all that is evil, that is why Hellsing is here."

"Well said, my Master."

"Be quiet, you." Integra snapped at Alucard immediately without batting an eyelid, "You're already in enough trouble as it is."

He chuckled mischievously at her yet she kept a straight face. Ruby figured Alucard was playful and taunting to almost everyone and not just her. At least it was nothing personal.

Integra exhaled some smoke from her cigar, "Miss Ashcroft, you must understand the last thing we need is for someone to go to the nearest broadcasting network company and tell them about our line of work for a few thousand pounds. Therefore, for your co-operation and silence, here is what we will compensate to you."

Slowly, Ruby raised her hand as if she was a student in class wanting to answer a question the teacher had asked, "Can I ask a question first?"

Integra barely budged from her seat. "No."

"O-Okay…"

Her hand went back down. Alucard could barely contain his amusement when he watched Ruby throw her gaze to the floor dejectedly.

Integra snapped her fingers and Walter stepped over, suddenly holding a medium-sized, chestnut brown suitcase in his arms, which he placed on the table. Integra opened it and Ruby gasped. Inside, were tightly packed, wads of currency notes. Waiting patiently beside her, Alucard thought he saw Ruby's eyes light up.

"Well?" Integra began, her eyebrow raised, "Take it. It's yours."

She felt dizzy, her legs feeling weak. "What? Why?"

"The money... It's rightfully yours. You are entitled to it on our behalf."

"And… it's compensation?" She didn't like the sound of it. "...How much is in there…?"

"Twenty million Great British pounds." Integra replied, without hesitating once, and Ruby let out a feeble squeak.

"T-Twe…twenty m-million?!" She choked out.

"Don't worry. Twenty million pounds is worth nothing to us." Integra said. "It is no loss. And if you are smart, Miss Ashcroft, you know what to do. Take the money, and you bear no affiliation with us. You will not force our hand, should you foolishly intend to reveal our existence and purpose. You will not be harmed. You will not be persecuted by our associates. Your life will return to normal. Of course… I will do my best to restrain Alucard from…pestering you. I guarantee."

At that point, Alucard ground his teeth together in a feral snarl. Integra merely shot him an all-knowingly smirk of triumph.

"…Don't worry. Alucard won't lay a finger on you ever again, as long as you take the money. It's all yours, Miss Ashcroft."

Ruby was staring hungrily at the money before she slowly reached out a hand to touch. She had never seen so much money before. The thought of the spoils and everything it could buy dizzied her. She could go on endless shopping sprees… buy new shoes… new make-up…hell she could even get plastic surgery… But wait! Could she really be bought like that? Was she really worth 20 million? Was she worth less? Or more? What if she accepted the money? Well, she'd be 20 million pounds richer, and she'd have a free conscience and her safety was guaranteed. But she'd also end up looking greedy and materialistic in Integra and Walter's eyes. But what if she didn't accept? Alucard would never leave her alone. The Hellsing Organisation… this…MI5-like corporation… will always be onto her in case she exposed their existence.

Or worse, they'll have her killed.

Ruby turned to Walter and Integra, who were gazing at her expectantly, then, For some odd reason she herself did not understand, she turned to Alucard. His expression was undecipherable. She wasn't sure what or whatever reason had compelled her to see his reaction.

She glanced back at the money once more.

What do I do? Do I take the money, or not?