Still all alone…no one has reviewed…all alone… :( Well, on from depressing subjects. I almost forgot to tell you people, and it really doesn't matter right this second, but from June 28 to July 16 I will not be online at all, because I will be traveling to England with PeopletoPeople. Again, doesn't matter very much now, but if I'm in the middle of a story then, you're out of luck until the 17th. Actually, I won't just be going to England, I'll be going to Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (both parts). Nineteen days in the U.K! Also, I've noticed that large portions of my text are italicized, when they weren't in the original document. Very sorry about that, and I'll try to repost those chapters, along with this one.

Zara's POV:

I sat in the plane seat, staring out the window as Techno and Manic played a kind of verbal Dungeons and Dragons. "Then I plunge the plane in a nose dive, headed straight for a volcano!" Techno said, folding his arms. Maniac laughed. "But I am invulnerable to fire, so you and the plane are incinerated as I make my escape. Then I dump a whole boatload of melted rubber over the top of the volcano to seal you in!" Techno slammed a hand on his armrest. "But the volcano will be erupting, so you and your seal are blown sky-high, and you are killed when you fall back to earth." Maniac pointed a finger in his face.

"I will use my disk bombs to propel myself onto a passing jet!" He blinked, then said "Well I have survived the volcano blast and am trailing behind the jet with my wires, and I electrocute it, sending you to a watery grave in the icy Atlantic!" She giggled. "I jump on an iceberg and send sharks after you!" He straightened in his seat, staring at her angrily. "Well I electrocute them into doing my bidding, and send them to attack your iceberg and push it to warmer water!" She scowled. "I blow them up with my disk bombs." He chuckled. "They are bomb-proof sharks who live in a volcano and they eat bombs to give them power!" she stared at him for a second, then said "Well, I use them as stepping stones to hop onto a nearby island!" He rubbed his chin. "The island is a desert island with nothing but a palm tree and a big rock on it!"

That stumped her for a little longer than usual, but she came through. "I carve out the rock using my disk bombs and paddle to shore using the tree as an oar!" he scowled. "My sharks bite through the bottom." She shook her head. "It's a big diamond rock, they can't even scratch it!" He thought for a moment. "Pirates in a nuclear sub pass by and steal you and your diamond canoe!" She giggled. "I blow them up with their own missiles!" He shook his head. "Your missiles backfire and explode, killing you and everyone else on that sub. In fact, they set off a chain reaction that blows up the entire eastern seaboard! And that sets off a chain reaction that destroys the whole world, and speeds up the sun's lifetime, until it explodes, and the entire Milky Way galaxy is turned into a black hole!"

I give her credit, it only took about ten seconds before she came up with something. "I become a ghost and posses you." He laughed. "Yes, but I'm blown up with everything else! You cannot win!" They both looked puzzled, and then Maniac finally said "Truce?" He nodded. "Truce." I breathed a sigh of relief, and I could hear Auger and Adit doing the same in the row behind me. "They lost me the minute they started talking about volcanoes." Adit muttered, putting his noise-cancelling headphones back in. Auger flicked her magazine back open. "I hung on until the iceberg. Then I got hopelessly lost." I sighed again, gently banging my head into my seat back. "I was totally onboard the whole entire time." I moaned. "And I regret it."

Seras was sleeping in her coffin, as was Soarece. Alucard looked like he was sleeping too, so it was just us humans this time around. Integra was reading in the very front of the jet, just behind the pilot cabin, probably looking over her forms she needed to sign and discussions she needed to participate in. I contemplated the possibility of grabbing a parachute and jumping overboard, but I couldn't leave Soarece to suffer alone. Alucard too, but he had been suffering under this sort of thing for a while. Besides, I wanted to see my plan in action. I hadn't told Alucard, or anyone else, what I was going to do, but I wasn't going to do anything. At least hopefully, if anyone caught me that would be a bit hard to explain.

Maxwell's POV:

I waited, resigned to the fact that Hellsing was indeed going to show up. First off the plane was Alucard, who was just as demonic as ever. I remembered the fight he had caused the meeting before last, and winced. Hopefully he was over his little mood, although it had plagued him for three years. Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing was next, and I gritted my teeth to see her walking along the tarmac like she owned it. Alucard's fledgling was next, yawning as she stumbled off the plane. She was followed by a group of teenagers from the younger mercenary group, along with a vampire I didn't know. Damned heretics, corrupting God's own children. The vampire and Alucard seemed to be waiting for someone else to get off the plane, and my composure almost dropped when I saw that creature, that demon, stroll down, pausing to hug the new vampire and stick her tongue out at Alucard.

She had not changed much in three years. She was a little taller, a little older, and wore completely black sunglasses that blocked out her eyes completely. Several things clicked in my head as the whole group walked towards me. This creature was gone for the same period of time that Alucard had been violent. Her physical appearance had not changed much at all. She wore sun-blocking glasses. Then I wondered how she had been when we tested her, and relaxed. Thank God she cannot be turned by a vampire. I wonder how long that demon has been interested in her? They stopped in front of me, and I plastered a smile on my face. Anderson, who was standing next to me, didn't bother, scowling at the demons.

"Maxwell." Said Sir Integra coldly. "Integra Hellsing." I said, just as distant. "Alucard, Seras, Techno, Alexander Anderson, Maniac, Auger, Zara, Adit." Said that girl cheerfully, gesturing to the separate groups. "Now that we've stated the obvious, let's go!" I stared at her, trying very hard not to do something I would regret. "You haven't changed." I said frostily, glaring at her. She flashed a grin at me. "Nope. Neither have you. I don't know about you, Anderson? You done anything new with your life since our last meeting?" He growled, one hand reaching inside his coat. Alucard stepped forward, reaching inside his coat as well. "Stop!" I shouted, putting a hand on Anderson's shoulder. That damned demon reached up to Alucard's shoulder, yanking on it till he backed off. He scowled at Anderson, one hand resting protectively on the girl's back.

Integra interrupted. "Honestly, you're squabbling like children. Zara, stop being rude to Iscariot. Apologize now." She sighed, bowing slightly and muttering "I apologize for making you mad sir. It won't happen again." I forced a cheerful smile. "Quite alright, young people sometimes speak without thinking." But not you, you snake-tongued vixen. She smiled gratefully, backing up a little. We made it to the van without incident, and I drove, thankfully spared the argument over who got to sit where going on in the back. "Integra sits there because she's in charge, Alucard sits here, and we all sit here!" I heard the girl yell. "Why does he get to sit on a seat?" Seras wailed. Because he's her lover. I thought to myself. "Any of you want to try taking it from him?" I heard Techno say, and the back was instantly quiet.

"That's why." The demon-child said, and we both rolled our eyes. "Like cats and dogs isn't it sir?" Anderson said quietly, and I nodded. "I heard that!" said several voices from the back seats, including Seras's, the demon-child, and the new vampire. I managed to keep a straight face, but what I really wanted to do was bang my head against the dashboard. I can't take an hour stuck in a confined space with these people, I'll go insane. "Anyone want to sing 99 bottles of pop on a wall?" said one of the mercenaries, and I accidentally jerked the steering wheel in terror. "NO!" bellowed Anderson, Sir Integra, and myself. As the children in the back snickered, I longingly considered the possibility of suicide. "What can we sing then?" asked the demon-child, catching my eye in the mirror.

I paused in consideration. "Why don't you Christmas carols or something? I'm sure we'll appreciate that." They all chuckled, and a song started up. I immediately regretted allowing them to sing at all. "Dashing though the snow, on a pair of broken skis, over the hills we go, crashing into trees! The snow is turning red, I think I'm almost dead, woke up in the hospital with stitches on my head! OH jingle bells, jingle bells, Santa Claus is dead, Rudolph got a four by four and shot him in the head!" My eye twitched as they chanted this song over and over, filling my head with its obscene rhymes. "That is psychotic!" I yelled, finally overcome. "But catchy!" they all yelled back, seemly unconcerned. I realized with horror that Anderson was humming the tune under his breath. I nudged him sharply. "Anderson!" I hissed under my breath, and he stopped. "Sorry sir. It does get stuck in your head after a while."

The children in the back all laughed hysterically, and I was reaching for a gun to shoot myself when Integra chimed in. "I'm terribly sorry Maxwell, but they were stuck in a plane for several hours. Be glad they didn't have any candy." I stared at her in mute horror via the mirror. "Don't worry, it only takes 58 more minutes to get to the Vatican!" chirped the vampire girl, and I twitched. How does that woman stay sane with these people in her house all year!? I wanted to jerk the steering wheel and drive off a cliff, but there weren't any on the road we were using. Just my luck. Why did they have to be important enough for me to meet them!?

Zara's POV:

When we arrived at the Vatican, Maxwell, Anderson, and Integra all ran for the doors. I couldn't blame them; the last ten minutes of the drive had tested even my patience. Alucard had displayed more patience than I thought possible and not even threatened to shoot us. He swept by me, muttering. "I hope that wasn't your plan." I snickered. No. I'm just warming up. Techno chuckled behind me. "You know, I thought Maxwell was going to shoot me after the spitballs." I rubbed my chin. "You know, I was wondering why he was waving it around. Here I thought he was trying to hit the paper airplane."

"Integra won't fire us will she?" Soarece asked, looking at us with wide eyes. We, as veterans of such endless campaigns, were much more relaxed. "She will be extremely grumpy for several days, but other than that, she'll be fine." Unlike Maxwell. I would almost feel sorry for him, but I would have to forget just what happened on that ship. Regretfully, I couldn't do anything that caused a national incident, but I could work within that parameter. Few people appreciate that fine-tuned instrument of a child's annoyance factor. If all went well, Maxwell would be running around the walls by midafternoon.

Maxwell's POV:

Five minutes after I had escaped into the Vatican, I felt like the world had turned against me. When I first stepped into the foyer, my shoes skidded out from under me and I crashed to the floor. Integra smirked. "Bit slippery isn't it?" I said, trying to feign confusion. I heard a throaty chuckle behind me, and saw Alucard openly laughing, and I gritted my teeth. The mercenaries stopped in the entrance, all peering at me, then trying to hold back snickers of their own. The demon stared at me, raising an eyebrow. "Over wax the floors or something?" she said slyly. I glared at her, getting to my feet. "Over exuberant maids I expect." I said, dusting myself off, trying to maintain as much dignity as I could. Since they were both at the back of the group, no one else saw, but I glimpsed Alucard's hand brush the abomination's gently, and they both smirked.

Why that little… I ground my teeth together, trying to maintain my rage. Anderson started forward, slightly exposing his bayonets. I saw Integra move forward as well, and Alucard and his fledgling growled. The demon-girl stepped forward, smiling slightly in anticipation. The mercenaries moved forward, reaching for their weapons. A voice interrupted us. "Integra! Maxwell! Hurry up! We're starting!" Sir Penwood strode towards us, peering at the demon-girl. "Oh, you must be Mrs. Pazúry. Please, come this way." He ushered her and the young vampire towards a gathering of men from various organizations, all of whom were looking interested.

I was led away with Integra, with the vampire and his fledgling accompanying her, and with Anderson trailing behind me. When we sat down at the meeting table, I felt a slight prick of pain in my leg, and looked down to see a splinter lodged in my ankle I could have sworn we polished these yesterday… Then I remembered the high five exchanged by the girl and Alucard. Curse her. I don't know what her goals are, but curse her to hell. I bent down and picked it out, wincing a little. As we got deeper into the meeting, I relaxed. There was no way that the girl could cause anything now… "AHH!" a maid's shriek and the sound of splintering glass made everyone at the table jump. The woman serving us drinks was staring at a window, and I turned to see the demon-child hanging upside down in front of it, facing away from us. She turned, seeing the horrified faces of the council members and the broken glass on the table.

She swung upwards, and a voice on the walkie-talkie said "Sorry sirs, we were testing her ability to survive with increased blood flow to the brain, and the only way to do that was to hang her upside-down. On a positive note, she seems fine…" I rubbed my forehead in resignation as the whole council began twitting about how the scientists should have been more careful about testing. I saw Alucard grab one, and was close enough to hear him question if she had volunteered to do this. "Oh yes sir, she seems fine with it! Very polite girl." Said the scientist, before hanging up. He put it back, before backing away to a polite distance and watching us with narrowed eyes.

The meeting went on without a hitch after that, and we had finished up when I heard a shrieking sound, accompanied every few seconds by a splintering crash. I stood up, running towards the sound of the disturbance, imagining rogue vampires, ghouls, anything. What I got was far worse. The scientists were shooting some of my best china in the air, and the vampire girl was standing underneath them, darting upward every few seconds to smash into a plate of bowl, completely destroying it in a tortured shriek of air. "STOP!" I bellowed, and the all froze. "Sorry sir, but these were the only ones were could find. You wouldn't want a whole bunch of dusty plates cluttering up the place anyway!" said a scientist, waving said china in front of me. "We'll clean it all up." Said the vampire, standing on one leg.

I put my head in my hands. "That was my best china, all of it was antiques!" I saw the demon-girl in a corner, stirring a few shards with one finger. "Probably cheap knockoffs. They shattered like glass. The real antiques are much stronger." I could feel my eye twitching. "Maybe because they were being hit by a vampire." She rubbed her chin. "Probably. Hey, is it my turn to be tested again!" One of the scientists consulted a checklist. "How fast can you run, and how long can you run that fast?" She scratched her head. "I dunno. Hey, Maxwell, do you have a track field?" I nodded stiffly. "Behind the house and to the left." She grinned. "Thanks!"

They all trooped out, and I was left in the hall with my dishes all smashed on the ground, wondering feverishly how much peace treaties I would be violating if I strangled that insolent demon. The vampire Alucard phased through the wall next to me. "Not very many, but you would have to deal with me. Her death would put me in a very bad temper." I swallowed. Dealing with Alucard in a bad mood was not a very good idea, and he didn't care what he violated for revenge. "It was just a passing thought." He growled, looming over me. "It had better be." He phased away, and I took a deep breath. Damn both of them to hell.

Zara's POV

"Okay, on your mark, get set…" the woman who was putting me through me paces was very nice, and I didn't mind being tested if there was an actual reason for it, and this was for the greater good. "GO!" I took off, trying to run as fast as I could. I felt like I wasn't going fast enough, even though the faces of the scientists and Soarece were just light colored blurs as I whizzed by them. Think faster. Imagine you're being chased by dogs. I managed to put on another burst of speed, but it still wasn't enough. Think that Captain, the Major, Doc, and all of Millennium and their allies are chasing after you. FASTER! I ran faster, trying to reach that limit that was dangling just out of my reach. I was so close…so close… NOW! I felt that beautiful sensation of having reached my limit and ran, keeping that pace for as long as I could, which was about five minutes.

I skidded to a stop, feeling sweat soak my body, and I was gasping for air. Someone handed me a water bottle, and I swallowed again and again, trying to get the water back into me where it belonged. I kneeled on the ground, to mustering the energy to get up, just resting my tired muscles. "How'd I do?" I finally managed to croak. "Excellent. You were clocked at almost sixty miles an hour for a while there." The woman said, and I smiled, feeling a warm flush of pride. Soarece helped me up, and I leaned on her shoulder. "What's next?" I whispered, feeling drained. All the scientists looked disappointed, and I frowned. "You are far too tired for more testing right now." Said the woman sternly, and the others nodded reluctantly.

I let them drag me to a chair inside, then snoozed for about two hours. I woke up to a flood of sound, and realized blearily that a dance was going on in the room I fell asleep in. I automatically looked around for Maxwell, and was pleased to see he was as tightly strung as a bowstring. Techno had obviously been at work, and I caught his eye as he swirled by with Soarece, and winked. He winked back, and we shared a moment of mutual dislike for Maxwell before he and Soarece were swept away by the crowd. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Alucard. I read the question in his eyes and said "I'm working on it. Maxwell's being stubborn." He chuckled. "I wanted to congratulate you. I haven't had so much fun at one of these meetings in ages. Which one of you did the fish?"

I winked at him. "Neither of us did anything! It's Maxwell's fault if he objects to fish in his desk. Of course, I had no idea he had fish in his desk. After all, I was asleep this whole time. Hey, how is Maxwell? I need him to be very snippy if I want this to work." He glanced over to Maxwell, whose eye was twitching again. "Right now he is thinking equal thoughts of killing you or himself. He's ready to snap at anyone for the smallest thing. Why?" I didn't answer. "The less you know the less Integra can find out. Is there anyone here who he could get in trouble with? Any superiors?" He looked around, then nodded. "Yes, you see that man over there? Sir Islands is the head of the Round Table. What are you planning?" I said nothing. "Just ignore me for the next ten minutes, and you can do whatever you want after that." I slid out of the chair, heading straight for Maxwell.

I looked behind me, but Alucard was gone. Okay, that makes this a lot easier and a lot more intimidating. I grabbed an apple from one of the stands and wandered over to where Maxwell was sitting, munching on it causally. "Excuse me sir?" I said, crunching my last bite of apple. He looked up, and assumed his coldest expression. "Yes?" he said shortly. I tossed my apple core into a nearby garbage can, and asked "Why are you wearing such a plain cross? Seems a silly thing to have, I mean, I know Integra wears one, but is that just a Protestant thing, or do Catholics-" The rest of my sentence was cut off as he whipped a gun out and began shooting at me wildly. Everyone began screaming and I ducked as a bayonet shot past my head. ALUCARD!

He phased out of nowhere, crouching over me and shielding me from Maxwell's bullets. "Well done." He muttered into my ear, and I suppressed a smirk. The shots stopped, and Alucard straightened, pulling me up with him. Sir Islands was shouting at Maxwell, who was being forcibly restrained by several of his own organization. "Now," he said, calming down and facing me. "What on earth did you say to get him so riled up?" I rubbed the back of my neck. "I asked why he wore a cross like the one Sir Integra wears, and he freaked out." Integra looked surprised, then frowned. Anderson, who had been standing by Maxwell the whole time, nodded grudgingly. "That she did sir. I heard her. She asked him why he was wearing a cross, and compared it to the one Sir Hellsing wears." He nodded towards Integra.

Sir Islands took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Maxwell, I am disappointed. It was a simple enough question." Maxwell snarled. "She's been doing things to me all day! I found fish in my desk!" Everyone, who was of course listening in on this, gasped. I rolled my eyes, looking hurt. "Have not! I was training with the scientists, and then I took a nap in the corner of there!" I pointed to the chair I had been occupying all afternoon. Many people nodded thoughtfully, and several servers spoke up. "She was sir! I saw when I was cleaning up for the tables!" "I saw here when I was cooking the food!" This went on, and I basically had witnesses for the entire afternoon.

Maxwell was seething with fury, and he freed himself with a jerk of his arms and stalked out of the room. Sir Islands apologized to me and the room at large, then went after him. I meekly let Integra yell at me for several minutes, and walked to a quiet corner when I was done. It wouldn't do to be seen gloating. When I was there I laughed myself breathless, remembering the look of astonished fury on Maxwell's face when he realized he had been witnessed shooting at me. I felt a moment of worry when I thought about security cameras, then relaxed. I was in a closet, and I knew there were no cameras here. It was a maintenance closet in the women's bathroom, so nobody would have seen me come in either.

Well, almost nobody. I felt much less roomy all of a sudden when Alucard phased into the closet with me. "I wish I had brought a camera." He said quietly, and that set me off into another laughter fit. "He'll never forgive me." I said, chokingly, trying not to be too loud. He chuckled. "No, he probably won't. Which reminds me, am I on your bad side? I don't want to have the same treatment someday." I rubbed my chin, considering this. "Only if you leave my head and thoughts alone. I get headaches all the time from when you try to break in." I felt him shift and he rubbed my forehead gently. "That wasn't my intention. Are you coming out soon? Techno wants to congratulate you." I opened the door, moving around Alucard as I did so. "Yeah, I want to see his face when I tell him it was my goal the whole time!"

Poor Maxwell. There is nothing crueler than sticking someone in a van of bored teenagers. (I know this from personal experience. 99 bottles of pop on the wall, 99 bottles of pop! Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of pop on the wall! That gets old real fast.) I was gone almost all day at some parade or something, so this was a bit hackneyed for the ending. (Look it up) I got one more review! Are you people all grounded or something? Or did I just suck at writing for the past few chapters? Please tell me. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!