Disclaimer: Hellsing belongs Kouta Hirano, this story was made only for the sake of enjoying his marvelous creation a little more. No money involved.

(Re) Building an Empire

First Month -Two Weeks-

Among the tasks that Sir Irons had asked her to help with, there was giving a home to all the orphans that Tufnell House sent them. The tenth boy that had found a home this month rode the vehicle to his new home, and Integra was proud of her advances with the orphanage. Every two weeks they had received more children, it was a slow task to guess their whereabouts and obtain information from their families.

So far only five had found survivor relatives out of the London wreckage; another had found his father in London, whose severe injuries hadn't let him to reunite with his daughter; and three more, this week all together, were accepted in an internship with military education. Those last kids would have tough times and rough training that would make their lives a living hell, but enduring them would bring better human beings than the tramps and homeless people they would end being in case of not finding anyone to support their studies. Like whose that seemed raising in number from recent events.

Integra pressed the bridge of her nose, she had finished writingg up the third kid file for an international child aid program, they would get help from a philanthropist organization at least for some essential needs. It was frustrating how all her efforts were aimed to get money from someone else. Life was not easy when you are penniless. She threw the files on the out pile the right side of her desk.

There was still a lot work to do, but it was almost dinner time and the cigars were no longer getting rid of her hunger. Scanning around her room, Duke had fallen asleep on the chair; his face resting on the computer keyboard, the screen still on. The odd vampire. No wonder he was tired. He had been pushing his natural instincts to the limit by staying awake for several days straight.

Integra stood up to do some stretching, she looked through the window, the library was on the second floor and gave a full view of the country surrounding the mansion. She glanced at the entrance, the ambulance parked outside, it has stopped bringing people now. The paramedics had changed their main task to accompany Seras and Duke in the rescuing missions, sadly most of the time it was only retrieving corpses. Those men had resulted more useful, not to take credit from the Wild Geese, whose members had changed their weapons for bandages, but they were more diligent and less aggressive than the mercenaries.

It has been a month since the remaining nazi bunker's incident, and the number of ghouls had diminished notably. Of course this wasn't a reason to low the guard, after all, creatures of the devil have some sort of appealing to the human misery, and this was the perfect moment for an older and wiser vampire to try and take control of London from the shadows. Integra shivered by the idea.

Something called her attention, Barnabas was taking care of the flowers in the front garden. The boy amused her with his antics, the first days he arrived ceremonially to ask for another book, but after a week he disappeared. He offered help to a recently hosted carpenter for some time, they made makeshift beds for about five people and the project went on without the child, who had changed hobbies to the one of a gardener. Nor that, given the current situation, anyone would care the state of the plants. But he was an energetic and helpful kid, and she was hardly thinking what to do with him. Duke had found information of him long time ago, and she had secluded it, unease of how her decision would result.

A heavy sigh and she remembered how hungry she was. She wondered if there could be any problem to ask Ann or Mary to bring her something to eat, or if it would be better to wait, and head the dining room and share the meal with everyone.

"Duke, you can't be sleeping here." Integra kind of ordered, up to the date she didn't know how to lecture the older vampire. She had used the same tone to the man as the one she had for Alucard, and it worked someway, until the perky speech of the vampire made her change her mind. She didn't know how to order a monster that didn't belong to her to begin with. The program for sealing his powers was half through...well, more quarter through, actually. She had to be careful to keep the vampire in line until the day she could seal him arrived. Lately the vampire had avoided sleeping in the crypt. Two days ago he had said that place gave him the creeps because someone had intruded in it to leave flowers everywhere, and spent his resting hours on the couch. Figures, a vampire scared of some random mourning family member. However the Irons' family was too rich and proud to loiter inside the crypt themselves, perhaps a servant or a hidden lover?

"Duke, wake up." She pressed him on the shoulder firmly.

Eyes still closed, the vampire shouted a throaty growl

"Well... he's not hurting anyone by staying here." She felt the incident in London had softened her. Giving up, she pulled another cigar, the last from the box. She was saving that one for tomorrow morning but it couldn't be helped, it was necessary at the moment.

Integra turned off the computer, pulled a coat from the rack, and covered the old vampire's head. At least she didn't have to press her orders for making him see who was the Master, like used to do with Alucard. Duke would follow her blind heartily for the sole reason that it was the nicest thing to do. And she was aware that it wasn't morals what moved Duke, it was the amusement he was having just by working here. The opportunity to spread territory, even temporary, where his former Master had done it; and to share time with a younger vampire like Seras.

She looked back at the lump concealing the vampire, he hasn't moved an inch. The idea of going downstairs seemed more pleasant considering she had a living corpse napping on the office. She pulled off her glasses to massage her eye, it had been hard to say goodbye to deep vision, and she was beginning to think that eventually she would go blind from all the effort she was putting under her single good eye. At any moment Ann would arrive to inform her dinner was ready, she was almost munching the butt of her cigar with the sole premonition of a hot stew or boiled vegetables. Despite her bitter attitude, Mary's cooking reflected someone who loved life, and probably her style rivaled Walter's.

However, instead of the formal knock, Ann jolted inside the office without previous notice.

"Sir, we have a problem!" The maid's panic was exaggerated.

"What is it?"

"It's Barnabas, he entered in a crypt!"

Integra couldn't avoid to look back at the window, where said boy was picking flowers minutes ago. The garden was dark and empty.

Dinner had to wait, Ann prompted Integra by the house halls in a steady pace. Out of her former warning, the maid had remained silent. When their steps headed outside the mansion, Ann's reticence made her uncomfortable.

"Ann, are you related to what happened?" She could see how the maid flinched under her stern words.

"It's all my fault, sir!" Ann spun on her heels to face Integra, the boss was taken aback by the sudden burst of fret from the normally cheerful woman. "I showed him the mansion's surroundings, even though you had forbid us to do it." The maid resumed walking, almost dashing when they reached the garden.

So it was it, the kid had probably fallen in a well. In given case, the better Integra could do was to call the rescue team. But when they reached the forest, her former idea turned unappealing. The maid then stopped beside a well known underground door, Seras' crypt.

"Barnabas is here but," Ann paused, gulping while both arms hugged her together "there's something down there. I heard his yelling, went down and saw..." her tongue mangled as the tears flew down her tanned cheeks. "I don't even know if it's too late."

Integra huffed scornful, she would had expected this kind of ridicule display from anyone but Irons' servant staff. Without saying a word, she entered the crypt as casually as it was to visit Seras in her 'room'.

Upon entering Integra's heart jumped. The dim light that reached from the outside showed that Seras was half body outside her coffin, a trail of blood was gorging from her half severed head and pooling just by her feet. Integra didn't waste a minute to pull her subordinate around to check how much damage was done. She had to cover her mouth when discovered the Draculina's face had been burnt with some kind of acid, her former red eyes were beyond recognition, and her expression was one of a deadman. A drill bulged out of her chest, exactly from the right side where her undead heart was; the drill bit making a makeshift stake.

"Seras! Seras Victoria!" She yelled while holding the corpse of her friend, the head went back ways, hanging from a single chunk of meat on the neck. It wasn't possible, she wouldn't allow the girl to give up just like that. Images of the once lively girl, like the omen of her departure, showed up inside Integra's mind. She shook the girl a couple of times, calling her name was useless, it was a matter of time before she turned into dust.

The head of Hellsing knew what beheading did to vampires, it was simply that she was expecting more from Seras since she was Alucard's fledging. But no, history had taught her that even the ones created by the No Life King were as frail as any other, Lucy Westenra was the pure example of it. A pang of remorse in her stomach materialized the idea of Alucard actually returning to find some random kid had killed his fledging in her sleep. How could the vampire react to that? Behind his mask of slaughter machine, Alucard was surprisingly delicate about certain matters.

Only when she laid down her friend's body on the coffin, she could hear the faint sobbing behind her. Turning around, she found behind the row of coffins a little boy slumped against the wall. He was crying uncontrollably as one of trembling hands grabbing his mane of white hair, each finger tangled in the strands an unbearable way, while the other held a wooden cross so firmly that his skin had turned white. Integra could pinpoint why his little fingers were bathed in blood and decided to bear with it. Amongst tears, the boy started chanting the Lord's pray like a broken recorder, pausing only to grab some air and continue with muffled sobs in a constant mumble.

"Barnabas?"

"Go away." Clenching tight both hands on the cross, he resumed his pray. Integra wasn't good with kids at all, and it wasn't that she had shared time with this particular boy even if they used to sleep in the same room. She didn't know what to say, even in her line of work, losing the people she cared of was still distressing and if logic was telling her that this kid didn't deserve her hatred, emotions were messing with her right then.

"You did quite a research about the undead." Integra looked away at the crypt. The boy had carefully placed silver ornaments all around, even the cutlery was adorning the entrance. Also, there were wildflowers over the coffins, and petals filled Seras's one. It was a vampire immobilizing tactic that not many used, even when it had carefully proved effective in Bram Stoker's novel. She knew this boy was special. Seras herself had told her when she felt a kind of holy power within him, and that someday he would turn into a reliable pawn. This was the main reason she had kept him to return to his family. Even so, her decision had been a terrible mistake, now Seras was dead, and he was mentally scarred and maybe beyond repair.

"I said GO AWAY!" Turned at her enraged, his infantile voice broke in a high pitch that surely hurt his throat. Integra realized that his right eye missing under the stream of blood oozing from a deep vertical cut that covered most part of his face. A mental smirk flashed in her, at least the Draculina had fought back.

"Sir Hellsing?" Ann called from the security of the outside, the maid stepped in, walking down the stairs despite her fear. Her boss' presence reassured her everything would come out right.

From his nook, Barnabas jolted to hug Ann, her white apron suddenly stained with red. She yelped while an "Oh my God!" escaped her mouth upon seeing the boy's injury. Ann raise her sight towards Integra, the maid eyes couldn't avoid the gory scene of the beheaded vampire and a sheer scream followed her fall on her rear.

"Wh-what happened here?" She managed to compose herself, struggling to stand up with the kid latched on her clothes, eyes fixed in her boss' only to skip the mauled body inside the coffin.

"A vampire." Integra placed a hand on the coffin's edge. Suddenly her eye opened round when she noticed the Draculina was not turning into dust, but melting. Seras was alive! figuratively speaking. She hid her smile before continuing. "Barnabas killed it off for me." She explained matter of factly. Later she will have to tell the truth to Sir Irons, but this would suffice for the maid. "Ann, take Barnabas to Emmanuel for treating his injury. As soon as possible, call Ferdinand Luke's orphanage in Rome, ask for the Father Renaldo. Tell him that Tufnell House has found his grand nephew."

Ann nodded at every request, the kid never removed his bleeding face out of her apron. She urged the boy to walk, but seeing he was suffering from shock, she carried him up. The maid turned back, emboldened by the calm response of her boss, to give a last look at the now decaying corpse on the coffin.

"Sir, and you?"

"I'll stay here. I have to clean this up myself."

Ann hesitated in leaving her boss next to the gory scene, then noticed how Integra was grabbing tightly the hand of the corpse. She wondered if said vampire was acquaintance of hers, as the maid slightly remembered how Barnabas talked all the time about a 'Lady in Red' who shared a lot of time wandering around the Sir, and how much likely that image resembled whose of the deceased girl on the coffin. Maybe the boy had committed a terrible mistake, but Integra was no one to judge the innocence of a kid. If said innocence still existed in him after planing carefully how to get rid of a vampire in the most gruesome way.

"Understood. And... I'm sorry again."

"Yes, no problem, you are dismissed." Integra hustled the woman out with her tone. She waited there several minutes, getting sure the maid and the kid were long gone. "Seras?"

"Yes, Sir Integra?" An echoing voice rumbled in the Sir's head. "Are you aware that you scared my appetite away?"

"Ah...hum... if it makes you feel better, mine is gone too."

As Seras struggled to regain her original shape, Integra mused why she had delayed giving away that kid, considering his heavy instruction in catholicism. She remembered the day Duke found information about this little person, born in Ethiopia from the sinful union between a local girl and catholic father who was working as missionary.

The reason behind his odd last name and why he was sent to England with his uncle upon his mother's death. Maybe she was feeling pity, she knew how those vatican swines loved to hide behind their good morals curtain how corrupted their souls were.

She was afraid that the boy would be depicted a monster in the eyes of that fanatic Renaldo. And in some way, she had seen the potential in the boy. A kid that was not afraid of misfortune and was eager to help even in the most despairing conditions. What a shame not having him around when grown up.

Seras recomposed herself, her arm was still shaky, but nothing unusual considering how bruised his pride was when a single kid had been able to put her in danger. The draculina lifted the drill to eye level and pointed nonchalantly, like an excuse of her poor execution that day.

"It's coated in silver."

"That's no excuse for your low guard, Captain Seras." Integra stressed the Draculina's title just to itch her, like Alucard used to do when called her Police Girl.

It seemed to work just fine when the girl pouted, desperately searching something in the floor that could delude her attention from the scornful eyes of her boss.

"That boy... he grabbed me and... somehow, I couldn't move. It was hurting me to touch him!"

"He must have been planning to kill you way from before, as he worked hard to make the crosses and get the flowers." She damned Duke mentally, the elder vampire had quite warned her about the boy's shenanigans when mentioned the flowers adorning his crypt; but Integra, overflowed with work and obligations, couldn't put two and two together about what was happening.

"Are you giving away the boy to his family?"

"Yes. It seems I'll have to." Integra sighed in defeat, already regretting what kind of person the Vatican was going to turn the boy in. "Unfortunately, I think this won't be the last time we hear of Barnabas Makube."

Author's Note: Heyya! It's only been a week but I got several messages from a fellow fan and I decided to upload this before I go out in vacations. How was it? Did you expect who Barnabas was? Someone asked me if it was a hungrian name, actually I looked for some british names and his popped out.

If it wasn't clear, Barnabas' family is italian. His last name, Makube, is from Ethiopia because it belongs to his mother. His abusive uncle was his mother's brother; while father Renaldo is from his father's side. Presumably the mother picked his name since there was some affinity towards UK.

Finally, gogo199432 is making a fic based in this story. Wow I can't describe how flattered I am *o*. You should read "The Red Eyed Girl", it's just starting but looks very promising.