Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Hellsing belongs to Kouta Hirano and to whomever he sold the exploitation rights. This fanwork is just (probably) free advertising to his works.

(Re) Building an Empire

Onset of the Eight Year –A While Later-

Her Master had said she didn't mind the classes, they were advancing very fast and Gregory surprised her the other day with a marvelous stockade; that was a good statement. Problem here was the rest of the day, since Integra didn't grasp the concept of vacations, was her working in her desk while letting the kid trail all around the mansion by himself.

She was a terrible care keeper, and she didn't mind giving the charge to anyone else around to accept it. From Emmanuel, who had been kind enough to give Gregory a short first aid course. To Duke, who had to spend hours behind a gaming console being explained how to use it despite it was his gaming console. And finally to Seras who wasted some sleepless days baking cupcakes that she wasn't going to eat but she faked she did it. Integra had deliberately included the vampires in the child's stay, not wanting to repeat the incident with little Barnaby, she presented Seras and Duke as the undead's they were.

Gregory wasn't surprised, his father used to talk a lot about mystical creatures and he himself had been taught several ways of facing them. It was kind of cute how convinced the kid was that if anything happened he only had to go to the vampire's chamber to nail a stake at their hearts, as if it was the most mundane of tasks. About Airitech, her Master asked to keep the wolf boy in the basement, more for Duke's sake than for protecting Gregory.

Between this new guest and her new responsibility, Seras thought Integra was leaving too much on her hands. What annoyed her most was hearing the boy nonstop talking; she should have figured it out after seeing that drawing of Lory. Gregory didn't like his father none a bit, and whenever he felt out of his reach, the kid started pacing in a nonsensical never ending monologue of how much his father's decisions pissed him off. But other times were less rant and more plots for world conquering and ideas for a movie he was planning to do. Funny part was that whenever they were passing by her Master's office door, he never opened the mouth not even for breathing.

"Can I ask you something, Gregory?" She said in one of those rare occasions the boss' office was on their way for whatever plan they had after a long session of fencing. The kid nodded in inherent silence. "Are you afraid of Sir Integra?"

He remained mute until they had turned around the corner in the next alley. Suddenly, as if he had remembered how to speak, the answer was more befuddling than the expected.

"It's just that… Sir Hellsing lost one eye in the war."

Seras didn't what was actually going through the boy's mind. She only wanted to take care of Airitech, it had been ages since the last time she had taken the little werewolf to walk, and maybe have a talk with their familiars once in a while. At least she manage to discharge the boy in such way that past his sleep hour was impossible to keep him awake. But spending the day with Gregory left her exhausted; it was messing around with her sleeping habits.

"Seras, you are finally here. The wolf is been whining for hours and I really need to finish these papers." Duke wasn't helping either, he had decided to stay in the same chamber that her since Airitech had claimed his just next the vampire's.

"He probably wants to go to the bathroom, is it so hard for you to take him out?"

Duke paled at the sole idea of getting close to the pup. Seras knew that asking him for that irrational fear was off topic, so she sighted and stood up from the puff where she had already found a place and phased through the wall. Airitech wanted, indeed, go to the bathroom, which was by the end of the corridor. The boy only needed someone to go with him.

On their way back Seras deadpan stopped upon seeing Gregory wandering around, like it was natural for a kid to be up and above at those ungodly hours.

"Seems like someone is sleepwalking…" she heard Pip mention it in her head. Before she could react properly, Airitech had run towards the boy, throwing him awake with a surprise lick-attack. Gregory surely was stunned, one minute he was kissing Seras goodnight and the very next he was on the floor being mercilessly covered in dibble of what looked like a hairy infant. The kid started screaming, frantic hands trying to pull out the heavy body that pressed his chest. The minute Seras had reached her pup's collar, an intense shadow snatched Airitech from her hands.

Duke had heard the yelling and his fight or flight response was triggered again. This time it was the wolf boy who decided to fight back, managing to bite the vampire to get himself free, the instant little Airitech landed he became smoke and filtered through the walls. Seras was impressed for the new ability her pup had acquired, but that amazement didn't last a lot when she looked at both guys crying out their fear. Duke was particularly pathetic, considering he was next to a genuinely scared seven year old boy.

Seras decided this was a good moment to face her Master, spit out how Sir was neglecting her responsibilities into her. Integra heard the complaint from head to tails with a pensive expression as the one she had every time she was about to make a big decision.

"You are right" she half read a paper to leave it aside, it was the third contract she wasn't in the mood to sign that day, Duke resumed the work in his computer for letting them know that despite the deadlines of the project he had to develop, he was listening. "I was starting to think that Lory expected me to fix his son, not only the fence teaching."

"Then?" Seras was tired of sleeping in the night, and tired of saying pretending that being a vampire was more like having a medical condition, no big deal, no danger implied. "I'd rather go night hunting that keeping an eye on the kid during the day"

"You know very well that Alucard was capable of doing both without complaining, so I can expect no less from you, Victoria."

"There again with that, recently you haven't stopped you Master was this and Master was that. I'm not half as powerful as him and… I think I don't want to ever be anyway! I miss him almost as much as you do, and I miss Walter too. And for the record, I think he could have managed the situation better than Master!"

"I don't remember ever allowing my subordinate to raise the voice at me, or mixing up feeling with professionalism!" Integra slam so hard the desk that actually her palms hurt, but she wasn't ever going to confess it. "You don't require an explanation to act accordingly to my orders, you only will allow you to know that I simply don't want Barnabas situation to repeat-"

"That was like a million years ago, Integra. Get over it." Duke resumed his tapping, frustrated that those mails weren't going to get answered by magic. "And stop bickering with that boss-subordinate tone. For god sake we are family, if you haven't noticed."

The old vampire was right. Seras was worn out of taking care of two kids at the time, and it didn't matter what Integra had just said, Alucard should have never manage in the situation she had gotten in. She scratched her arm uncertain of when to leave. She noticed Integra was abashed as well, though she was better at hiding it, the Draculina had learnt to read those subtle expression changed on her Master's face. She couldn't help to snicker at the revelation, her contagious chuckle got Duke until both vampires were laughing out loud for some reason. Integra couldn't help but smile, not able to recall when was the last time she head Alucard or Walter crackle, if that ever happened, she had to admit she had gotten a different kind family.

The very next morning, Gregory went missing.

Seras had never seen Integra so worried. She had seen her Master listen in silence the report of all her dead troops after a wrong mission, she has witnessed her coolness when upon a Round Table meeting where they called her self-centered tomboy, among other harder insults; she even remembers that sealing ceremony when her Master was being strangled without a single strand of fear in her icy blue eye. Yet, Integra must have had something with children; they have given her nightmares that only someone closes enough to her could notice.

Seras knew Integra despised kids unconsciously, almost as she despised herself being one once. Maybe that was why she had preferred to overwork herself in Irons Mansion upon knowing her room was shared with a bunch of orphans, or why she turned irritable when a Round Table member mentioned that she had hit the age for maternity. In her line of work a child could mean more sorrow than joy, and it was exactly what her Master was experiencing now that Gregory had disappeared.

Duke, not very talented in looking with his third eye, had spent the entire day making calls; from a police boot to another, from neighbors that were miles away to close friends. Emmanuel, had gone tracking every single action the kid had done the last day, looking for hints of what the boy might had been up to. Lastly, it was ridiculous that some Hellsing enemy had stolen the boy right under their noses, in their own home no less, but Integra didn't want to discard the possibility, so she sent the Draculina to eliminate every single vampire in twenty miles around.

Long ago they already pinpoint the location of those monsters. Nowadays many of them had turned to a more healthy way of coexisting with humans, which was the main reason they had rest untouched for almost half a decade. But not this day, Seras had been ordered to slaughter them, to kill every single undead despite their acting, to make deaf ears of their pleas or their requisitions to the agreement. So she did with most of them, five out of six.

"This is ridiculous." She mumbled to herself once the housekeeper closed the door after informing her that the last one lucky enough had gone out for vacations with his host human family. "They were all innocent; they didn't pose a threat to the country."

"You might be right, but these were our orders." Pip talked inside her.

Her mobile rang that very instant, it was Emmanuel who had gathered interesting facts.

"Captain, I've just have a talk with the maiden that cleans the right wing Tuesdays. Usually she gets notes from Duke on the kitchen board whenever a new task comes up. And she handed me this unusual note saying she was supposed to pack luggage for the kid, as for he was going out camping with you next week. She did so."

"What about Duke?" Seras was starting to doubt, her brother should have consult her before inviting the boy to a camping. "What did he say?"

"It's not his note. We even compared writings and, even if they resemble a lot, there are slight differences."

"So that means the kidnapping was planned ahead from someone working in the mansion…"

"That's what it seems like, Captain."

"Is there something else you have figured out? Sir Integra is informed about this?"

"Nothing more, and yes, she was the first to know this."

"All right, just keep in touch if something else comes out."

"Yes, Captain."

Seras sat on the nearest bench she saw on the park. The sun was far from coming out but every second passing by reminded her that the poor boy was suffering out there, and in a lesser extent, Integra might have face Lory's rage. The organization was over the edge of losing its mayor financial partner and the political credibility her boss had accomplished might as well go to waste.

She tried to decipher what Emmanuel had just said. Aside from the lady that cleaned the right wing, a kitchen staff formed by a chef and his two assistants, and the chauffeur, the rest of the staff was never the same. There was this cleaning services company that sent every week five or six people for domestic tasks. Duke was in contact with them and assured the confidentiality from their members, it was unlikely that he had overlook some suspicious patterns in the employees, unless he had been too distress by the fact that there was a werewolf in the house. Seras sighted in low spirits.

"I'm completely at lost". She felt useless sitting in the bench. After not getting anything out of murdering semi-civilized vampires, Seras had only received a scarce text message from her boss. It was a well done and a wait for the next order. With no other place to go, she decided that some introspection would help.

She found herself in the top of a little mountain, pastel colors and smiley faces on every inanimate object stated it was a child's dream. Isole was playing with her younger sister on a wooden fortress across a stream. The draculina stood up and joined them. It seemed the hut was bigger in the inside than outside. Pip was playing house with them, he was the dad and Elica was the baby. With pictures like those, Seras was surely giving too much of liberty to her familiars.

"Vielleicht hat er spielt Verstecken?" The youngest German girl implied, barely sucking her thumb in pensive expression.

"Aww c'mon, we are four heads there must be a better option." Pip was formerly the leader of the souls living inside Seras, the strongest voice among them.

"If you allow me…" Raymond had managed to stay calm for several years, restrained with magic to a corner of her mind; Seras had only left his opinion to be heard whenever she thought it was useful. "You are looking the wrong angle. The kid hasn't been taken, is much more just gone." Seras considered most of his advices were biased, so she restrained him more until he was out of reach for harming the rest of the familiars.

"Your kid is with my pup." An ethereal feminine voice manifested somewhere deep in her. Seras had never heard it before, but it was clear and sound, like a howl, like a song. A beautiful woman with silky hair made an apparition before Seras. Her attires were entirely made of silver fur, or so Seras thought for they could have been her own fur as well. The last wolf maiden, Cadhan Coroach's wife, Maella. She might have lost the body but never the spirit.

She hadn't thought about it, Airitech had been unusually quiet the last days. Seras had allowed the wolfish boy to play in the gardens by night, and she couldn't discard that Airitech had met Gregory in one of his outings. The only question here was, if it had happened, why Lory's son had never mentioned about it?

"Please, I need your strength to find both." With the exception of Raymond, the familiars were accustomed to her owner being nice at them. The wolfish woman was taken aback from the kindness, and approached to a reaching distance to the girl. When Seras managed to touch her silver fur, she found a different point of view on the park where she has been waiting for orders.

Things were bigger in some degree, but the sounds were even more accurate than in her vampire ears. And her nose was so sensitive that it didn't dither her senses being slightly color blind. Soon she caught the essence of both kids. At first it was a dim trait that disappeared from time to time, but once she had found the path the aroma was turning stronger. She rushed as fast as her new four-legged new shape allowed. The closer she was, the easier it was to follow. Her worries rose when she noticed she was approaching to Peckham, as she only could foresight the worst with a two little kids in an area like that at night.

The trail took her to Nunhead cemetery; visiting hours were long to start with the day, so when Seras was intending to pass through the gate she found unlocked a new ability. She has lost completely her material body.

At first she panicked at finding herself completely blind, completely deaf.

"Hush you, pull yourself together and feel." Maella's voice comforted her. Seras remembered captain Hans turning into smoke; Alucard and Duke could change into mist. She felt she was something different someway as she was more mobile and gracious. She might have been lost in the experience if it wasn't for a single movement that called back to reality: breathing. Someone was breathing, and hard.

She felt the sobbing and whining of both kids, once she could pinpoint the exact place going back to normal turned more complicated than expected. She came back to her un-dead form without her left arm, some recurring trouble whenever she experienced recently awakened powers.

Hunched on the deepest corner between two tombs, Gregory was crying silently with Airitech in baby form on his arms. The pup has lost his PJs, the kid had lost a shoe and his clothing revealed he had had an encounter with the mud, but they didn't seem injured.

"Gregory?" The draculina tried to sound the most casual, even so the kid yelped at the sight. Airitech was apparently sleeping, the toddler changed shape the fasted he could to growl at the supposed menace. But as soon as he recognized Seras he ran towards to add more to rip even more her already tore up stocking. Gregory followed up into a hug.

Author's Note: First of all, sorry for the long delay. I didn't quite quit this story, some more chapters were written while this arc squished my creativity away. A kind of compensation if you haven't checked, there's an extra fragment added to the last chapter.

As I struggled to fix my original idea of Gregory befriending Airitech, it turned hard to put those two in real danger. In all honest I didn't like how this chapter turned out, it seems too out of character to me If you happen to find weird phrasing, mind its lack of beta reading, but I really wanted it to come out already.