GAHHH I'm so sorry for the extremely late update. This chapter was so hard to get done! Those who have been following this story and are still with me now, well done and thank you. I will go over this story and edit after I am finished. I'm also thinking of becoming a beta. The poll's still open, too, if anyone is interested.

PS. Sorry if there are any mistakes/missing words etc :(

The Psychological Profiling of Caelum

It was the day of his interview and he deliberately arrived fifteen minutes early. As he stood outside the office, he adjusted his tie and smoothed down the lapels of his suit once more before rapping lightly on the door.

A few seconds later, a voice said, "Come in," and he opened the door and stepped inside. The office was very large; larger than he had anticipated. At the very end of the room was the desk, and behind it, was the fabled floor-to-ceiling window that granted Oracle the best view of the financial district. The first thing his eyes landed on was the human woman beside the seated president. Oh yes, the human. The president's human daughter. He saw her when she was a child, but saw less and less of her as she grew up, but now he knew. The president's daughter was a ghost of a woman, with her untamed mousy brown hair and poor, sickly-grey eyes.

"State your purpose." murmured the president, who did not even look at him. Instead, he was engrossed with some documents in front of him on the surface of his desk while the human was busy pouring him a cup of coffee.

"I'm here for the interview."

"Oh, right. You're hired."

"Eh? Uh…T-Thank you, sir."

"What is your name?"

"Garth."

A loud hiss from the right made his head whip to the source of the noise; Garth saw a tall, white-haired vampire lurking in the shadows who had been watching him cautiously the entire time since he stepped foot into the room, like a guard dog ready to pounce on marauding invaders. If his memory served him right, this was the right-hand man of Caelum, named Luther. Luther was the one with white hair and pink eyes, and his lower half of his face was always obscured with a black mask with a coiled tube attached to the mouthpiece. Was this his colleague from now on since he had just got the job of Executive Assistant?

"Don't be scared. He won't bite unless I tell him to." The president said, still without looking up from his work, "I have an assignment for you."

He glanced at the president behind the desk. The president was called 'Caelum' but no-one knew him well enough except from his peers to call him by his name, even then they addressed him with a 'Mister' attached. Although Garth had seen him before on the telescreens in the company, the president was a lot younger than he realised. The man was at least in his early twenties and held a boyish demeanour to him. Despite that, he spoke with an archaic feel to his words. Something about the president told him that Caelum was…old. Very old.

"Mary."

"Yes, father?"

"I want you to go to Hellsing manor; Luther will follow. I think it's time to bring them here."

The woman gave him an exceptionally long look before sighing, "…Yes, father."

Caelum turned to Garth next, who froze up on the spot under his stern gaze. "You. Come here. Hold this for me."

Garth blinked numbly as Caelum dumped a small test-tube into his hand. "…Sir?"

"Quiet." hissed the president, who then pulled out a knife from his desk. "I want you to put the mouth of the test-tube to my arm. Right here. Yes, that's right. Hold it steady now."

The vampire watched the president with wide eyes as he levelled the blade on his wrist and sliced at himself, watching the blade glide over his porcelain skin before it tucked into his flesh. The human woman turned away with slight disgust while Luther watched on, strangely unfazed.

Garth stared as Caelum's blood seeped out from his wound and into the test-tube, in long, draining spurts. But as soon as the first small rush of blood gurgled out, Caelum's wound healed in a blink.

"… Take this." The president fitted a rubber cork into the test-tube lid, preventing the blood from sloshing out. Garth gawked at it in his hand as he tried to make sense of what was going on. "Garth, listen carefully now. I want you to take one of the helicopters, and head to the north of Scotland, where you will meet a man; he will know who you are...well, he should. No matter what happens, you must make sure this gets to him. He will know what to do. And when you return, I will have another for you to deliver for me, too."

Garth decided not to question why. "Yes, sir. I'll see to it immediately."

With that, the president gave him a well-deserved smile and a light pat on the shoulder that had the young vampire beaming proudly at himself. "Very good, Garth. You'll do well."

Meanwhile.

"…Mina…"

Ruby woke up.

Alucard had said something in his sleep.

He had said a name.
But it was not her name.

It was another woman's name.

A few hours had passed since she'd drunk from Alucard. No longer tired or weary, or hungry and feeling as though she would lash out and stab her teeth into the next living, breathing, warm-blooded thing she came in contact with, Ruby had woken up from the sound of Alucard's voice to find herself sitting in his lap. How she managed to fall asleep in that position, she had no idea, but witnessing Alucard's sleeping face mere millimetres from her own was rather a sight to behold.

She was snagged in the cage of his arms. Even in his sleep he held her so tightly and so possessively that she remained limp for a few minutes until deciding to slowly inch out of his embrace, to leave him dozing upright on his throne. Holding his arm up by pinching his sleeves, she carefully arranged his arms to lay over the armrests, watching him the entire time incase he would wake up. He did not.

Alucard was handsome and she couldn't help but settle herself on the floor beside one of the armrests, observing him with an almost childish curiosity as she rested her chin on the back of her flattened palm. She watched him sleep, his chest rising gently with each unnecessary, obligating inhale and exhale even though she knew he no longer held breath.

As he slept, she decided to return up the stairs and into the main corridor for some fresh air, yet she still could not go outside in the daylight so resorted to avoiding windows. Generally, there was also no interesting place in Hellsing manor that contained no windows and thus eradicated ninety five per cent of all rooms she could enter. Integra was nowhere to be found. Neither was Walter, or Mr Morris. Or Seras.

With little option, Ruby decided to go visit Joshua, whom she hadn't seen at all since she arrived in Hellsing.

According to Walter, Joshua's quarters were in the basement to the east of Alucard's lair. As she made her way down the stairs, she swallowed down noisily knocking lightly on the door of Joshua's alleged room (it was the only door in the corridor, in fact). His room was also in the same corridor further down from Seras' quarters and she wondered inwardly how Joshua would react knowing that she was a vampire now. The boy held and conveyed such raw, intense emotion about one being a creature of the darkness that she was beginning to get really worried...

And when the door opened, she blinked blankly at the pale face.

"Joshua!" She exclaimed, and everything she had planned to tell him which she had rehearsed in her mind so many times had completely vanished from her mind, leaving it a blank empty slate. "I'm so glad you're in."

To her surprise, he glanced left and right first before asking, "Where's Alucard?"

"He's still sleeping."

Then he said, "So you're a vampire now."

"…Huh? Oh. Yeah. I am."

Ruby gazed at him intently following her rather slow response. He was not smiling nor was he frowning, not that she was particularly good at reading people's facial expressions to find out exactly how they were feeling at the precise moment. Now that she thought about it in more detail, since Joshua had been living for thirty years (maybe more, by now), how he was not frustrated and angry was beyond her. Or maybe he was and did not show it. If so, the boy was very clever and held a strong emotion intelligence she wished she could possess but ultimately could not, or not until, she presumed, a long time had passed. Surely the boy would be frustrated to be having to sit through countless of high school years over and over again.

It was then Ruby also realised Joshua was giving her a sour look and she threw her gaze down to the shoes. "I know you're angry."

"You had your reasons, right?" Joshua said, "It was because of HIM, wasn't it?"

"…Please understand, Josh."

"I do." He replied, and Ruby was beginning to inwardly breathe a sigh of relief until – "But I still don't get what's so great about him that you would do anything for him, Ruby, like become one of us."

The way he had said 'us' seemed to make Ruby feel like an outsider. Apparently Joshua still bore somewhat ill feelings towards Alucard despite being a vampire and despite the fact that he was living under the same roof as him; Ruby pondered what she could possibly do to alleviate the hostility between them. "I'll still be the same person, Josh. I'm still Ruby."

"Well, are you still going to study and become a nurse?"

Ruby hesitated.

And just like that, she was hit with a gruesome and devastating realisation that made her step back slightly and her mouth hang open somewhat. She hadn't been to class for a long time. She hadn't heard from Gwen. But none of those really mattered, for the answer was simply no. How could she be a nurse now…if the mere sight and stench of blood set her senses tingling, her Hunger rumbling, her fangs lengthening? She could not even control herself. If she even could resume her studies, she didn't think it would be plausible for her to continue on with such an occupation regardless…

"Do you even know what you have just done?" Joshua added, growing angrier and angrier by the minute, "Do you have ANY idea what you have done to yourself? To your friends, to your family, to…to everybody who care about you?"

Ruby began to hold her arms up and shake them to and fro. "Ahh! Josh, please – "

"You don't understand." He added, "And now you're going to live forever and see everyone you love die one by one and then when the years go by and you've lived for over twenty years with no change you're going to feel really lonely and angry at yourself and you can't talk to anyone because they're not the same as you and – "

He stopped when Ruby threw her arms around him, blinking wide-eyed in her embrace. "…?"

"Josh…its okay…I knew what I was doing." She held the boy tightly in her grasp. She waited for him to respond, but nothing happened. He was as still as a statue, and she was worried he really hadn't the heart to forgive her, but then -

"….…I thought you were different." He mumbled.

"I know, but…I do love Alucard, and I love you too."

Joshua's cheeks went from their natural pale hue to a faint, crimson shade. "H-HUH?" He almost shrieked out loud as he peeled himself out from her grip and turned away, spluttering and muttering incoherently under his breath.

"What I mean is, you're really important to me. You're like the little brother I never had." She explained, and he began to calm down; the dracul was now simply blinking blankly at her, "And I can understand why you're angry, but it was my decision, and I know what the consequences are. I'm prepared to go through with them."

Joshua gawped at her then, his expression transitioning to stunned, fixated silence to shock in seconds. "…But…"

"I know how bitter you are about being a vampire, Josh. I know."

As he continued to watch her, he couldn't help but notice Ruby seemed to have changed slightly since the last time he saw her. He could tell she was still somewhat immature then but now she seemed to possess an almost jaded acceptance about her situation that he felt a little guilty for his outburst at the beginning when she came to see him. "…I'm sorry I yelled at you." He mumbled.

"It's okay. I understand."

A silence spawned between the two, until Joshua looked up. "…Can I get another hug?" He asked sheepishly.

She laughed, then nodded. Ruby held her arms out and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, which she found to be a little uncharacteristic for her to do. For once, she ultimately realised she had not even initiated a hug with Alucard before. She mentally argued her case that the vampire seemed intent on insisting that he was the dominant one in the relationship and did not tolerate it when women threw themselves at him…but still…

Joshua felt small all of a sudden in her arms. Despite knowing that he was over forty years old in age, she had always viewed him as a potential little brother and she had come to believe that he too felt a sense of familial obligation towards her. They pulled away from each other a few minutes later and he asked, "…So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. What did you do when you first turned?"

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly in response, "…Er…well, I can't really remember." Joshua said sheepishly. "Sir Integra said you don't remember what happened during the tournament. Well, just to fill you in; Mr Morris and I almost died. We're okay now, but yes, we almost died."

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's a long story." Joshua moved to the side and held open his door for her. "Do you want to go inside?"

Before Ruby could speak, an arm snaked around her waist from out of nowhere and she whipped round to see Alucard who was suddenly standing behind her.

"Alucard?" Ruby and Joshua exclaimed in unison.

The elder vampire grinned at them both before pulling Ruby closer to him, her back pressing against his chest. "So this is where you wandered off to…" He purred, nipping lightly at the shell of her ear with his fangs while Joshua's expression scrunched up slightly in response, his eye twitching.

"Yeesh, get a room." The dracul grunted, before turning to Ruby. "I'll talk to you later."

"Sure..." She watched Joshua retreat into his room before throwing a quick glance to Alucard; she then remembered he had said the name 'Mina' earlier on and stiffened slightly as he leaned over and began to trail kisses down her neck. "…What are you doing here?"

His lips formed a devilish grin. "I woke up only to find you missing from my side. I did not give you permission to leave the basement…" Although they had been intimate before, Ruby quivered and squirmed in his hold uncomfortably. He let go of her slowly once she had struggled, his eyebrows furrowing. "…What's the matter?"

She stopped struggling at once. "…Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah."

He could sense something was wrong. She didn't have to tell him; Ruby was a very open, predictable and honest person, and it was very obvious whenever there was a problem or some unfortunate happening. Her facial expressions and mannerisms gave everything away and her mood was always easy to discern. "…You are in doubt."

"What? No, I'm not in doubt."

"Shall I remind you why I have turned you?" Alucard purred eagerly, before he pressed her against the wall, pinning her against the cold brick with his large frame. Now that she was turned, he had almost forgotten to mark her properly; he cupped her head with his large palm and brought her head back and began to bite at her exposed neck affectionately.

Ruby did not seem to respond in the way he wanted her to. He had been expecting her to begin moaning and simpering under his touch as he liked it; instead, she began her useless struggling and trembling again, with clear dislike and protest to what he was doing.

He shifted his grip from her waist and grasped at the sides of her cheeks, brushing away hair from her face in progress. "…Ruby," He said sternly, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head.

"Tell me." He demanded, almost on the verge of growling as his voice went gravelly and low in seconds, "Tell me now."

Eventually, she squeaked out, "…I…don't feel like a vampire. I'm…clumsy and awkward and I'm nothing like the vampires in books or TV - "

"And why do you believe vampires who appear on 'television' or books is the accurate embodiment of how and what a vampire should be?"

She shrugged. "…I don't know."

"Your fear is unnecessary and irrational. Is that all?" He questioned, and when she fell into silence once more, he prodded at her again. "What else is there?"

"I…I heard you say Mina's name in your sleep."

A steely silence followed.

Ruby squeezed her eyes shut. Oh no, she thought, I should not have said that. Here comes an argument…

To her surprise, Alucard let go of her and stepped back; she re-opened her eyes and blinked at him meekly. "…Mina..." He murmured under his breath, "…Mina is a significant individual; she is an aspect of my history, which I cannot deny, change or undo."

She was relatively surprised he'd said that. She had thought he would be defensive, that he would deny he had done such a thing or claim that she had heard wrong. For some reason, she felt awful herself that she had even mentioned this to him now. The feeling worsened tenfold when his lips twisted into a dark grin, and she inwardly grimaced. "…What?" She mumbled.

"How adorable. You are afraid and jealous."

Her face went slightly red in response. "Wha - ? No, I'm not."

"You can deny it all you want. But truth to be told, Ruby, my memory of Mina is very vivid."

She bit down on her lip and turned away from him with her arms crossed, "…Alucard, why are you telling me this?"

"I am telling you this as I do not understand why you are upset."

"I'm not upset."

"Mina no longer exists in this world. You have no competition."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what are your qualms?" He questioned as he wrapped her in his arms again before pulling the edges of his unbuttoned cloak around her, goading her for a response,

"So… basically you're just telling me to accept that Mina will be…well, she…" Ruby left her sentence trailing as he began to nuzzle her neck warmly. She had forgotten what she was going to say. Whatever he was doing, it was actually confusing her. She no longer knew whether she was angry at Alucard. Instead, she felt she was thinking too much. Admitting defeat, Ruby lowered her head and turned away, pondering to herself.

"…Very well." He said again, realising she was still not swayed. "I will show you something."

She was too distracted in her thoughts to realise they were no longer in the dark, dank corridor, but in a brightly lit room which Ruby had been in before. She blinked, still bundled up in Alucard's arms with his cloak wrapped around her. He slowly loosened his grip on her and smirked as she perked up to glance around. The treasury. It was the same room where Integra kept her ancestor's treasures which had been gathered over time, including Abraham Van Helsing's silver cross, which was sealed and protected behind the glass cabinet, sitting proudly on the cushion of red velvet. "Why are we here?"

"I have something for you." He let go of her and strode to a grand, elaborate armoire near the open door, and as Ruby was left alone, she backed away from the direction of the silver cross, as though repelled by some invisible, divine force. A little grip on his arm made him look up, and Alucard chuckled when he saw his mate clutching tightly at his arm, giving uneasy glimpses to the cross over her shoulder.

"I shouldn't be here." She hissed quietly, "…Look, the door's even open. Someone must have been in here. They're bound to come back."

"This will be your accommodation from now on so you are allowed access to every room in this mansion. You need not worry." He replied, as she continued to glance around warily. A few minutes later and he plucked her hand off his arm which was still gripping him like a clamp, and then he slipped something cool around one of her fingers. Ruby glanced down to her hand subsequently and gasped.

There was a ring on her forefinger.

Her mouth fell open in shock. "…What is this?"

"It is a ring."

"Huh? But why?"

"It is yours, because you are my Queen."

Her face felt unusually warm. "…I…I can't accept this." She muttered anxiously. The fang had already been enough of a gift. Now a ring was just… she had no words to explain her shock. The ring… there were no jewels on it…it was merely a plain ring, but with an inscription on it. However, she could tell the ring itself was handcrafted. She squinted her eye at the dirty gold ring around her finger. Not that she meant 'dirty' in the literal sense, but it would have been her exact choice of words, for it looked old.

He raised an eyebrow in response, "Why not?" Her modesty was baffling sometimes.

Her lower lip trembled. "…It looks expensive."

Alucard chuckled and patted her head affectionately, "It is a treasured possession I brought with me when I moved from Romania to London. Since then, it has remained here in my master's treasury, ownerless."

Ruby's jaw dropped in shock once more following his statement. "This is from your castle?"

"Yes. I, too, am surprised by how long this gold can last…" Alucard said, holding her hand and turning it back and front gently. The ring glimmered faintly under the gleaming light of the treasury room.

"B-But I can't accept something like this." And she was about to take it off when he stopped her by cupping his hand around hers.

"I want you to keep it, and wear it everyday." He said, gazing deeply into her eyes that she felt lost and hazy, "…If you wore it, it would make me very happy."

She couldn't help but blush fiercely. Now she truly felt bad for bringing up the subject of Mina. "…Alright. But what does it say?" She gestured to the inscription she noticed on the band of the ring.

"'To my dearly beloved'."

Her blush increased, yet she still managed to squeak out, "Romanian?"

"Old Romanian."

"Oh, I see." She said, her mouth forming a tiny 'o', "So…how would you write your name in Old Romanian, then?"

He watched her intently. "You wish to know?"

Ruby nodded.

Alucard glanced around the room before turning to the armoire where he had fished out the ring; he delved one probing hand into the contents of one drawer and rummaged around without much care, and found a piece of discarded paper and a blunt pencil, then promptly wrote something down. She watched him curiously, and when he was finished, Alucard placed the pencil back down and presented it to her.

She had never seen Alucard writing, or his handwriting before, so this was new. His handwriting was neat, but she did not know what exactly he had written meant. "…What does it say?"

"Vlad Tepes." He said proudly, "Voivode of Wallachia."

"That's your name? As in…your real name?"

"Yes."

"Then…should I call you 'Vlad' instead?"

"'Alucard' is fine." He replied, although…having Ruby call him 'Vlad' wouldn't be such a bad idea after all…

Ruby watched him steadily for a few minutes, then lowered her gaze to the ring on her finger. "Thank you. It's lovely." She said, a little awkwardly for she had never received such a gift before in her entire life. "…I'm sorry for bringing up Mina."

Alucard's lips cracked into a grin. "…You apologise for every meaningless thing." He chided at her, before he pulled her into his arms. She sunk into his embrace and giggled as he pressed his lips against her cheek affectionately. He mused to himself, "Nonetheless, it was assuring to witness your envy."

She wriggled slightly in his hold. "…Assuring?"

He dipped his head down to work his lips over her nape, "Yes." He planted another sensual kiss over her flesh, "…Yes, it is."

However, they were interrupted by quick footsteps rushing through the corridor outside the room. Alucard paid no attention to the sounds yet Ruby glanced up as the trample of footsteps grew louder and louder, coupled with frantic yells and shouts. "What's going on?" She asked.

"I believe a squad has just returned from a mission." Alucard murmured in response. Much to his vexation, Ruby pulled out from his hold and strode towards the door where there were indeed, soldiers in their uniforms stampeding down the hallway towards the direction of the main hall.

"Does this happen all the time?"

Alucard chuckled lightly in response, "Yes. Never mind them."

Ruby didn't seem to notice. "Wait - " She hopped out of the doorway and squeezed herself through into the throng of soldiers although Alucard was calling for her to return. She twisted round to him and nodded, "I'll be right back!" She yelled, and then proceeded to dive through and manoeuvre within the crowd into the hall, where a group of uniformed men with guns slung over their shoulders were standing unmoving– two of them were holding up an unconscious soldier by the arms.

"Help! We need help!" They were calling, and Ruby stopped shortly in front of them.

"What happened?" She asked, as she cast her concerned glance to the unconscious man; he was bleeding from the stomach. "I can help."

The two soldiers turned to each other, and Ruby wondered what was stalling their responses, until she realised one was actually eyeing her down from head to toe. She swallowed down uncomfortably and stepped back, and the soldier grinned, winked at her and said, "That's real cute, but you just let us big boys handle it, 'kay?"

"But – "

"Say, what's your name? You new around here? My name's Alex, and I'm a high-ranking - "

He was immediately elbowed by his non-unconscious companion who was also holding up their fallen ally. "Dude! What are you doing? Stop that! Didn't you hear? That's the new bride of Alucard!"

The man named Alex stopped grinning at Ruby then, his expression contorting with confusion, and shock, "Wha - ?"

However, he was interrupted by another voice: "What's going on here?"

The group looked up to the source; a man in a white coat with a stethoscope looped around his neck was walking down the stairs quickly towards them. "What's going on?" He repeated himself as he arrived at the last step, before he took one look at the unconscious, bleeding soldier, "What are you doing dawdling here? Get this man to the infirmary right away!"

"Y-yes, Dr Seward."

With that, the rookie soldiers hurried away with their fallen comrade, and the man in the white coat turned to Ruby. She blinked at him as he approached her; the man was handsome and young although Ruby figured he was perhaps Morris' age, perhaps a little older, as he appeared far more solemn and mature in some aspects compared to the demeanour of the vampire hunter. His eyes were blue and distant and he held a soft, but stern gaze. He said, "My name is Jack Seward; I am the residential doctor of Hellsing. I don't believe we've met."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ruby."

"Ah." said Seward, as they shook hands, "Integra told me you were studying to become a nurse."

"Yes, I am."

"If you wish to come to the infirmary, you are more than welcome to."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, since you are here, you may as well make yourself useful." Despite those words, Seward spoke with no spite in his tone, and Ruby understood that he indisputably meant well.

"Really?" Her face lit up consequently, "I can come and help? Even though I'm…I'm…"

Seward did not smile in response to her growing enthusiasm, however. "I don't see why not. We always need an extra pair of hands around here, regardless if one is human or not, and I would appreciate the help."

She couldn't believe her ears. "Wow! Y-Yes! I'd love to, thank you so much, Dr Seward – I'd – " She was cut off by a hand on her shoulder and turned round to see a familiar vampire behind her. "Oh, Alucard, you're here."

The grip on her shoulder increased. "What did you think you were doing, Ruby? Somehow you have come to the belief that you are allowed to leave my side whenever you wish…" He murmured, as he lifted her away from the doctor and dropped her behind him.

"...Alucard, Dr Seward said I could help out at the infirmary."

Turning to the doctor himself, Alucard gave him an acknowledging grin in response, "…Dr Seward. That's very generous of you, but I'm afraid Ruby won't be able to join you today. She is not well."

"I see." Seward replied, without probing any further, "Very good. I shall be on my way. You know where to find me if anything comes up."

Ruby watched the doctor leave before turning to Alucard meekly. "What do you mean I'm not well? I'm perfectly fine."

He took her hand and began to lead her towards the treasury room. "You are fine because you have just had your fill. Should you be hungry, you would turn mad from the mere sight of blood. Should anything happen, the consequences would be catastrophic." He murmured, "Compared to Police Girl and the Sniffer Dog, your constitution is rather weak."

Her eyebrow rose delicately. "…What."

"Do not misunderstand me; I am merely issuing a precaution, that's all. Not everyone is the same and I respect that. If you want to build a larger level of tolerance, I'll be pleased to offer you…private lessons, Ruby. Perhaps then you can master self-control over your own will…then I shall contemplate setting you loose on the unsuspecting patients upstairs." He purred, throwing a quick glance to her over his shoulder.

"…How come everything you say that's meant to be at least innocent or genuine always comes out wrong or dirty?"

He chuckled and turned round to scoop her into his arms as the soldiers continued to pass them, trudging towards the direction of their own quarters with their mucky boots. "Let's return to the basement, shall we?"

"Can I ask a question first?"

"Yes?"

"Will I be able to walk through walls?"

"No, not yet. Unfortunately, you are the lowest of all vampires, Ruby. This status will erode away in time."

She sighed gently, and was about to open her mouth to speak once more but -

"There you are."

Ruby and Alucard threw glances up to the staircase exactly where Dr Seward had been, now, Integra was standing at the top of the stairs, but she did not go towards them. Instead, she gestured for them to follow her. "We need to talk, my servant. Miss Ashcroft, you need to come with us too."

…

In the office, Alucard and Ruby arrived inside to see Seras, Walter and Morris. Joshua was not present. Walter was by Integra's side as usual, whilst Morris was beside Seras in his wheelchair, waving at the two cheerfully although seeing Morris confined to a wheelchair was a little unsettling for Ruby, especially since she had recovered from her own accident. That was true; she once had a permanent limp and despised herself for it. How on earth would Morris be feeling? She continued to watch as Morris' lengthy space between himself and the table because of his outstretched, supported broken leg kept him from reaching the can of fizzy juice on Integra's desk, his fingers grappling at thin air.

Seras reached over and handed it to him.

"Thank you, Miss Victoria."

"You're welcome." She smiled warmly in return.

Integra seated herself behind the desk while Alucard sat down in front of Integra; Ruby took the spare seat beside him. The director then turned to Walter, who nodded and began to hand everyone in the meeting room photocopies of a few documents stapled together. "We're doing all we can to find your parents, Miss Ashcroft." Integra said first, noticing Ruby's worried look.

"What is this, sir?" She asked, rifling through the stapled papers. It was at least four pages long.

"We've done a psychological profile of Caelum."

Alucard let out a snicker in response as his photocopy lay limp in his lap. Instead, he merely stretched back in his seat with his leg crossed over the other and his hands clasped together neatly.

"Would you care to tell what you find so amusing, Alucard?" Integra asked, a little tiredly, as she flicked her steely gaze to him.

"Morris laboured all day and night for this?"

"If it helps us find out more about Caelum, then – "

"There is no need, my master. From my confrontation with the vampire on the island, I can deduce precisely what kind of 'man' he is."

"And…?"

"He is mad."

Integra sighed, "…Alucard, please listen to what I have to say." She said, "If it is true that he is as old as you, and if it is true that he was a member of the Black Flame Guardians, and protected humans, then I cannot come to understand what drove him to become what he has become now."

"…Not everybody needs a reason to do bad things…" Seras mumbled half-heartedly under her breath.

"Another thing we are still unsure of is the exact time the Guardians moved from Romania, to the Northern border of Scotland. When they lived in the mountains, the humans of the village would provide them with sacrifices on the shrine on a regular basis. Whether these sacrifices passed away from natural or unnatural causes, we aren't sure of that either."

Ruby was staring at the first page intently before she glanced at Morris, who was jotting down notes in pencil: Sacrifices – Murdered? Or killed by natural causes, ie, illness, old age, accident?

"That creature might hold more information." Alucard said, as Seras gulped down.

"Master, you mean Mr Thade?"

"That's right, Police Girl."

"…We're going back?" Seras squeaked, "B-But…"

"No-one's going back to Bal'allan." Integra snapped, before she cleared her throat. "…Right. Moving onto page two now. During the period sometime after, or before, the Second World War, Caelum developed a relationship with a girl who lived in the village; her name was Emilia Rosenthal, who was engaged to Anthony Rosenthal. She was raped."

A short silence followed that statement.

"Again…whether Caelum was aware or unaware of Emilia's marital status, is unsure. Regardless, Emilia told Mordecai Rosenthal, Anthony's little brother, who in turn performed an abortion. From Morris' vivisection – "

Alucard, Seras and Ruby turned to Morris then, who blinked at them. "…What?"

" – the foetus was only a week old." Integra finished, "Mordecai Rosenthal kept it, then told his older brother, prompting him to contact Hellsing; my father destroyed their hideout in the mountains of Bal'allan, but Caelum was conveniently missed. How that came to be, I do not know yet either. And after the events of Bal'allan, Caelum was taken away by another facility that experimented on vampires, which Walter is working on at the precise moment."

The butler bowed respectively then.

Morris put a hand to his chin as though in deep thought, "Might I add to your list that he seems to despise humans but doesn't appear to act on it…this is probably stemming from the desecration of his people, and from his treatment at the facility. He has also accepted responsibility for turning Joshua, manipulating his father, the massacre of the Harker's, and stealing the knife…and mine, most likely."

"Yes, but he abducted the youngest daughter of the Rosenthal's, too. The description of the kidnapper fits Caelum perfectly."

"Do you think she's still alive?"

"Not at this rate, no. I contacted the Metropolitan Police, but it is as Madison Rosenthal said; the disappearance of the infant was not raised at all. Now, I'd like to move on to Miss Ashcroft – " She was disrupted in her sentence by the ringing of her phone beside her on the desk. "…Excuse me."

Everyone remained silent as Integra picked up the phone.

"Hello? Yes?" She said, before her eyes narrowed. "…Yes, yes, I see…" As her expression continued to darken, Ruby turned to Alucard worriedly, who reached over and intertwined his long fingers with hers, giving her hand a tight squeeze. Finally, Integra replaced the phone and turned to the group before her. "We have a visitor. Walter, if you would kindly bring her here via the Public entrance."

"Yes, mi'lady."

Ruby asked, "…Who is it?"

And Integra replied, "A woman I believe you are familiar with, Miss Ashcroft."

Bal'allan Mountains.

"Are you the one?"

"Tha's me."

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Garth." He replied and the thing grabbed his hand and shook it warmly. When it finally let go, Garth stared at his porcelain hand which was now covered in dirt, grit and something…slimy. He shuddered inwardly.

"Nice to meet ye, Garthy. Me name's Thade. So, what does it stand fae? Garfield?"

"…No." Garth eyed the vampire from head to toe. He was very beetle-like, with shifty eyes and a disturbing, dishevelled and almost emaciated appearance. His eyes were sunken in and somewhat hollow, his cheeks equally as undeterminable as the rest of his facial features were. How was this thing an associate of Caelum's? "Mr Caelum told me to hand this to you, Mr Thade."

"Yeh, thank you, I owe you wan."

Garth watched Thade slip the testtube into his flimsy pocket. "…Can I ask why?"

The ugly vampire turned back to the prim and proper, black-suited Garth, who stiffened under his orb-less gaze. "Heck no." Thade barked, as he began to make his way back up the mountain with the tube of blood Garth had handed him, whistling cheerfully, "You mind yer own beeswax, like Mr Caelum tells ye tae. Let the adults git on wi' their business…"

So, yes, Oh My Alucard contains undertones of child abduction, human trafficking and rape… I find those, for a fanfiction, is too much taboo to write about myself but the story must go on.

1. I'm actually unsure about the relationship between Mina and Dracula. In this story, however, Ruby won't say it but she gets the feeling that although Alucard told her he does not care for Mina, a part of him will always still love/remember Mina

2. New character! Garth. He is taking over Ermen's position.