Alrighty then, cross your fingers.

Chapter 1

The Coming Storm

Romania

(February)

"Number six has been captured, Countess"

Mina nodded, "Very good," she turned to face her lieutenant, "I want at least one hundred soldiers per vampire. Until then, no one leaves the country."

The bat demon made a face and crossed his arms. "Countess…"

"Don't argue with me," she opened a drawer in her desk, "I've already marked all the places we'll raid once the troops are functional, memorize them and be patient."

"And the nun?"

Mina narrowed her eyes, "You are not allowed anywhere near her or her coffin. She is a hostage, not your personal plaything. Do not touch her." She placed a large bundle of maps on the desk, "She will be moved into the catacombs at sunset. If I or anyone else catch you in her chamber you will be eliminated."

Again the demon made a face, "But you're keeping her in the catacombs." He grinned evilly, "Temptation is not an easy foe."

Mina backhanded him so hard across the face it sent him tumbling to the floor. "You would do well to fight it, Flanders. And I'm sick of listening to your voice. Get up, take the maps, and get out of my sight."

Flanders did as he was told. As soon as the door shut behind him, Mina sensed another presence in the room.

"Schrödinger, how nice of you to join me. I haven't seen you for weeks."

"Ist gut to know I vas missed." He approached and kissed her hand when she held it out to him. "All is going according to plan?"

She smiled at him, "Flanders is still being a nuisance, but I'll manage."

He smiled back. His form had changed since the London War. Schrödinger now wore the form of Mina's late husband Jonathan. Mina wasn't entirely sure why, but couldn't complain. It was pleasant to see John's face now and again, even if he did have a German accent. Quantum physics obviously had some advantages.

"You understand what you must do?" she asked after a short time.

"Ja, Countess."

Mina inclined her head, "You can master the accent in the short amount of time we have?"

"Ja."

"Very good. Go and prepare." She waved him off, "Time is of the essence to put all the pieces in place. You leave in one week."

Schrödinger was gone.

The Vatican

Heinkel had been sneaking phone calls to Anderson; trying to keep him updated on the happenings in the church. The entirety of Section XIII was outraged when word got out of Anderson's excommunication and since then, Heinkel had been searching for a way to rectify the situation and the Iscariot backed her.

She still felt guilty about keeping secrets from the church, but she swallowed the feeling before Anderson answered his phone.

"Heinkel?"

"Father Anderson, I-"

"Don't call me that, Heinkel" he interrupted, "I-"

"Nein. You're still Father Anderson to us." She sighed, "It doesn't look like they're budging, but ve think Helena's Nail may sway them. Have you found it?"

"No, not yet." A weak chuckle, "But the protestants are looking high and low."

"Vay to spread the vorkload."

"Don't give me that," the priest sounded annoyed, "Ah'm in no mood."

"Yes, Father," she laughed. "Just remember, there's hope for you."

"Yes…" he didn't sound convinced.

"Hoffnung für dich… Auf Wiedersehn." She hung up. Heinkel looked to her fellow priests; they all wore somber expressions, just like they had every other time she'd called the paladin.

"Ach! Come on guys!" She snarled "Hoffnung! Glaube! Exhaust all resources!"

They perked up, but still didn't seem convinced.

London, a few days later.

A new batch of troops, Frenchmen to be exact, arrived one the Hellsing grounds early one Sunday morning. This addition rounded their numbers out to 250.

/ I have a bad feeling about zese guys /

Seras scowled to herself 'What's wrong, Mr. Vernadead?'

/ I don't know… zey seem… immature. Are you sure zes boys can face vampires? Hell, could zey shoot down a zombie or a ghoul? Werewolves? Humans? /

'You just don't like them 'cause they're French too.'

/Bullshit/

"Attention, men!" she shouted above the din. They didn't listen at first, "Hey!" Seras gave a sharp whistle and all eyes turned to her. "You are all now employed by the Hellsing organization! You will be hunting vampires an—"

An expected interruption, "Vampires? Vampires?" Seras let the men have their laughs. "Are we gonna raid ze mummy's tomb too?"

Seras folded her arms across her chest, "Laugh all you want, disbelieve all you want, but there ARE vampires and you WILL be hunting them so long as you're here." She turned and walked out of the room without bothering to open the door. She was halfway out when she turned back and said, "I expect you all at the firing range at 0500 tomorrow morning, is that clear?"

The few that could still form words replied, "Yessir!"

The night before

Integra awoke to a shadow looming over her bed. She twitched a bit and blinked a few times at the darkness realizing who it was. "Alucard?"

"Good morning master," He sat at the foot of her bed.

"Morning?" She quickly glanced at her clock, "Oh yes, quite." A pause, "What did I tell you about coming into my room while I'm sleeping?" She sat up and crossed her legs. Now both vampire and master sat lotus style on opposite sides of the bed.

"Not to." He held up his hands, "But sometimes I can't help myself, you're aging so beautifully…"

Integra raised an eyebrow, "Really now?"

Alucard grinned, "Alright, maybe not for this particular offense, but for the others, yes."

"Others?" her face reddened a bit and she ground her teeth, "You better be joking."

He shrugged, "If only I was, but that's not the point." He could see that Integra was going to argue with that, but didn't let her, "There is a matter of," Alucard averted his eyes for a moment, and lowered his head, "personal importance I must discuss with you."

"Personal importance?"

"Yes." He took a deep breath, "I have been experiencing these… visions…"

Integra scoffed, "Dreams? You came to me because of a—"

"Not just dreams Integra. Most of the occurrences happen when I'm awake."

Alucard then proceeded to enumerate a series of events that left Integra stunned by their frequency, "And what are these visions of?" She asked once he had finished.

A moment of thought, "It starts in a snowy field," he breathed deeply, "a set of…dog or wolf tracks lead up to this castle. It looks vaguely familiar, but it's been renovated. New stone, gardens et cetera. Inside the place seems empty, but there's one room on the second floor; the library I think, that is…painted."

Integra inclined her head, "Painted?"

"Runes, sigils, and such." He pointed to the back of one of his gloves, "Similar to this. Inside are these…people. They look as though they're preparing for war."

"And what does this have to do with us?"

"Mina is among them."

The woman blinked, "The girl from the control room. The one that sucked the life out of you. She's there?"

Alucard nodded.

"hmm," Integra rested her chin on her palm. "Perhaps… Perhaps we should find this castle, and take care of that Mina woman. Or perhaps this is just a dream and we should think nothing of it." Pause, "Return to your coffin, I don't see any threat at current, but I'll have Seras begin training the new men just in case."

"Of course." He stood next to her bed and gave a slight bow.

"Away with you," she waved him off, hoping to get at least one more hour of sleep before she was needed for the day. Integra lay back down and turned her back to him.

Alucard touched her shoulder, "You know you talk in your sleep."

Integra hurled a pillow at the empty space where the vampire had been. "Bastard."

Alucard sank through the floors back to the basement reflecting about the way the master Hellsing handled matters. He'd only told her the bare minimum and she had a thought to act. What would happen if he'd given her the vivid details?

No.

The men were under trained and there was no sign of a threat. Even the lower class ghouls had stayed in hiding thus far, why get worked up over nothing?

Still…

The vampire sat on the lid of his coffin and tore open a transfusion bag. He closed his eyes and drank slowly.

/ Bright sun reflected against pure snow burned His eyes. A sharp pain in the right arm and a large black, dog-shaped mass tugged; mouth clamped just above the wrist. Frozen and unable to fight back, He let the dog drag him. The snow gradually turns from white to red.

The castle. High on a cliff, long stone bridge leading to the oak and wrought iron double doors. The shape let go upon entering. He wandered a bit, all the rooms were empty. Up the main staircase and He heard the sound of women laughing and the banging of doors. Down the hall, more empty rooms or locked doors. At the end of the hall was the library, the doors were thick but opened as if they were lighter than air.

A single rune, the mirror image of the brand He wore, was painted in blood on the floor. Three people stood huddled around something; their silhouettes obscured it. A fourth person came up behind Him and knocked Him to the ground. The other three turned around, revealing three women; Integra, Seras, and an unknown, all chained to chairs.

Mina was at the head of the pack. One hand was behind her back and the other waved away the man that had been holding Him to the floor. The man's cat-like ears twitched, but he rose without argument. She crouched down next to Him. The pendant around her neck caught the light and He felt a strange sinking feeling all over, and his stomach tied in knots. Mina barred her teeth and pulled her hand out from behind her. Helena's Nail held in a white knuckled grip, poised above His heart.

"No," she said, then looked up at her lieutenants "Shoot the women first."

He couldn't see, but He heard the first two, and felt the third tear like fire through His chest. When His eyes opened he saw the Nail plummet into his heart. /

Alucard opened his eyes. The transfusion bag was empty and, judging by how much air had been sucked out of it, had been for a while. How long had he been out?

He wanted to kill something.

The following evening, Alucard got his chance. Reports that the ghouls were coming out of hiding floated in and out. He and Seras had been assigned to a particularly large group of nasties one the coast of Southern Ireland.

Seras and her master walked together in the dull half-moonlight. She smiled at him and said, "Looks like things are finally back to normal, eh?"

He snorted and sped up his pace.

"Master?"

End chapter 1

A/N: so yeah… here's chapter one. It's strange all of the international hits this story has gotten thus far. And Armistice for that matter…

It's strange how many hits my stories have gotten period.

I don't understand…Anyway, please review! If you want...you don't have to. But it'd be nice to get some feedback.