A/N: So this took a while, but woo, it's here! This story is still going! Yay!
The move into the Hellsing mansion went smoother than expected. Vlad put it down to the personal assistant to Dame Hellsing, a Gabrielle Carolan, who greeted both Jack with an awed: "Is that a Batman plushie?" It won her the attention of both child hybrids immediately. After all, only someone who was so very cool would recognise Batman straight off. Vlad and Robin exchanged relived looks at this; had Jack shown a single dislike to the place, Barry would have caused enough trouble to have Vlad staked without trial. Which was not something he wanted to try to escape from again. Once was enough, thank you very much.
Selene, for her credit, did not look too surprised by Vlad being joined by a breather. She glanced briefly at Robin's neck when showing him to his room later on though. Vlad had taken his leave, saying he had business to deal with and would be back before dawn. This had left Selene and Robin standing awkwardly in her office, until she had offered to take him to the room which would be assigned to him. Robin gave a soft laugh at the constant glancing. "The neck's too obvious, you know?" he told her, a smirk crawling on to his face.
"Pardon?" He rolled up his sleeve, showing a bite mark on his arm. Selene looked at it, and then looked up. "Are you his pet?"
"More like his conscience," Robin said, after thinking on it for a few minutes. Selene gave a curious look, and Robin shrugged, sitting down on his bed and fingering the bite marks. Funny how the actual biting hadn't hurt. "Vlad's been my friend for years, and he never used to be this ... cold, I guess is the word for it. It's like, the more he ages as a vampire, the less humanity he has, and it scares him," he gave another small shrug. "So he keeps me around, to keep hold of that small bit of humanity left."
"And the feeding?"
"Sometimes he doesn't eat," was the only answer Robin would give, but his tone suggested there was more to it that he was not going to reveal to her, not today at least.
xXx
"Thanks for meeting me, Vlad, I can't tell you how worried I've been," Elizabeth said. They were sitting in a small cafe, in the centre of Cardiff. She was wrapped up in a hand knitted scarf and hat set in a flattering shade of pink that highlight the vein in her neck, Vlad noticed, before mentally scolding himself for doing so. His friend's mother was not a mid evening snack! "How is he?"
"He's fine, I'm sorry he hasn't managed to get home more often, the job is rather demanding," Vlad said smoothly. The lie was fairly easy, as it was partly the truth. He had managed to swing this meeting – letting Elizabeth believe it was her idea – after sending a letter which suggested he, due to his demanding job in his home country's political system, had taken Robin on in a role of personal assistant. It had made Elizabeth's worry lessen slightly, though Vlad doubted that Graham believed him. "He's currently setting things up in our new premises."
"You mentioned in your last email, yes," Elizabeth said, pouring herself a cup of tea from the pot Vlad had ordered for them. "And he's ..."
"He misses you, he just doesn't let it show," Vlad nodded. He looked out the window while Elizabeth had her tea, enjoying the silence. He had grown to like the silence, it was odd. He used to detest it. "Mrs Branagh, Elizabeth," he said, turning to face her with his most charming smile, "have you ever considered whether or not vampires exist?"