Next chapter here." I fixed all my stuff, so now all I have to do is hang in there until summer vacation. Topic jump, at the end of the year we're going to ValleyFair. That means the Steel Venom, Power Tower, Wild Thing, Xtreme Swing, Renegade, Excalibur, Corkscrew, and the rest of them. I'm so pumped! If you've never heard of any of these rides, or even ValleyFair, I pity you. MOA and Nickelodeon Universe ain't got nothing on ValleyFair. It's AWESOME. Will I tell you what the black stuff was? Maybe. Will Schrö ever get back to Zara's mind? Possibly. Still working out what I'll do to Maxwell and the rest of them.

Zara's POV:

"Umm, bonjour?" I asked the man at the ticket booth. He glared at me, and Alucard tightened his grip on my shoulders. "Que voulez-vous?" He growled, glaring up at the both of us. Friendly type. Alucard took over in flawless French, ordering him to give us two tickets to England across the Channel. I leaned back, glad that Alucard knew how to deal with surly French ticket men. A few seconds later, the man was suspicously quiet, sitting in his chair with a disturbingly vague expression. As we walked up the gangplank, I whispered "You hypnotized him, didn't you?" Alucard grinned, casually whistling. "Now what on earth would give you that impression?" he asked innocently, putting his glasses back on. I poked him in the side. "Maybe it was the fact his eyes turned pink."

He cursed under his breath. "I need to figure out how to make that go away." He muttered, and I giggled. "I don't think you can. Otherwise how will normal people trust each other anymore? Anyone and everyone could be a vampire's hypno-slave." He raised his eyebrows. "I really need to figure out how to do that." He said, grinning. I poked him again. "No. Bad vampire. Don't even think about it." He smirked, bending down and kissing the corner of my mouth. "There. I didn't think about it at all. I just did it." I punched his shoulder, wiping my mouth in an exaggerated show of annoyance. "I meant don't think or do anything." He grinned again, leading me down to the cabin we would occupy. "You should have said that then. Otherwise I might use a loophole."

I scowled at his back. "How on earth did the Hellsings catch you?" I growled. He stopped, and I ran into his back. "Hey!" I said, backing away. "A little warning next time." He made a shushing motion with his hand, and I shut up. A voice ahead of us said "I know they boarded this ship, we just have to find them. Do not leave port until we have located them!" The captain's voice protested. "But sir, we do not have the man power, and the people have paid money to be transported as quickly as possible! We need the money from future customers. Our company is small and every ship-" The other voice cut him off. "That is of no concern. We will pay you three times what you gain from this voyage if we find them quickly." They walked away, boots thumping on the concrete floor.

Alucard hissed, clenching his hands. "We can't use any of the other ports; they've already been closed down by the Vatican. This is the last ship to be locked down." He said levelly, already looking forward to taking down several dozen Vatican operatives. "Where's your coffin?" I asked, thinking back to something I tried with Techno and the others in Panama. He looked at me, surprised. "I left it at the Hellsing Manor. Why?" I grinned. "We need to get to one of the lifeboats, pronto." He raised his eyebrows. "I assume you have a plan?" I gave him a thumbs up. "Yep. Show me where they are?"

***Time Skip***

"Okay, we made it." I said, leaning on the lifeboat and panting. Alucard waited for me to catch my breath before silently swinging it over the side, letting me jump in before he lowered it into the water. I waited on tenterhooks, expecting to be spotted any second. Luckily, they all seemed to be busy doing something else. Alucard landed with a thump next to me, cutting us free of the bigger ship and letting us drift away. "You want to row or should I?" I whispered, keeping my eyes trained on the ship lights. "I'll do it." He said through gritted teeth, obviously affected by all the running water around us. "Okay." I slid out of the oar-spot and let him row us away. We had almost lost sight of the ship when its alarms started up, and we heard shouting echo across the water.

"I wonder what's the matter with them?" I said innocently, flashing a grin at him. He smirked back. "Probably nothing. Maybe a passenger got lost?" I poked him in the chest. "Smarty-pants." He shrugged, still rowing us away. The only thing I was worried about now was speed-boats searching for us. "How long does it normally take to cross the Channel by row boat?" I said nervously, scanning the open sea on all sides of us. Alucard grunted. "At least eight hours, possibly a day." I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "Joy." We sat in silence; the only sound was the creaking of the oars and the shrieking of various seabirds circling over our boat and other places in the calm sea.

Several hours later, I drifted off to sleep, lulled by the rocking waves. I jerked awake a little bit later, hearing Alucard moan. He was slumped down, holding his head in his hands and panting. "Are you okay?" I asked in alarm. He shook his head. "So much running water…" he groaned, sounding exhausted. I scrambled over to him. "Hey, is there anything I can do?" I said, sitting down next to him and rubbing his back. He leaned on my shoulder, and I almost collapsed from the sudden increase in weight. "No. I just need to rest a little bit…" he said wearily, closing his eyes. So I let him lean on me and waited, watching the sun start to set in the water to the west of us.

When it got dark I shook him, trying to wake him up. He didn't wake up, in fact, he looked like he fell even more asleep. "Alucard, get up." I said, poking him in the chest gently with the point of a silver dagger. He didn't move. "Alucard?" I said, starting to get worried. No response. I looked down, worried that the boat was leaking or something, but it was still sound. Calm down, he's probably exhausted from being as close to being in running water that is physically possible for a vampire for several hours. He'll be fine. That didn't reassure me very much. "ALUCARD WAKE UP!" I shouted, pounding on his chest. No response. Umm… oh, I got it. I carefully slit my wrist, holding it close to his slightly open mouth. My blood trickled down his throat, and he stirred.

I sighed in relief, then squeaked as he wrapped his arms around my body, pinning my torso to him, still with my wrist above his mouth. I felt it throbbing, and I hissed in pain from the awkward position. His head bent forward and he attached his mouth to the cut, licking it and sucking the blood that still trickled out slowly. The flow slowed, then stopped, and I waited for him to let go and wake up, but instead I felt a nip directly on the cut, and looked down to see him still blissfully sucking my blood in his sleep. I scowled down at him, feeling slightly woozy from blood loss. I tried mentally screaming at him, but soon gave up. I let my head fall forward on his chest, exhausted from both blood loss and a very stressful day.

I looked at his face, and one eye blinked open, looking very sleepy. "Hmm?" He looked slightly surprised to see me laying on him with my wrist in his mouth. I smiled at him weakly. "About time." I slurred, my eyes almost closing by themselves. I wrenched them open, trying to stay awake. His free hand suddenly slid down my back, and I arched, too tired to even try to stop the response. "Stop…it…" I mumbled, relaxing even more as he stroked my back. He smirked. "I love you." He said in amusement, and I glared at him sleepily. "Wha…" I slurred, my mind struggling to work even in my exhausted state. His grin broadened. "I…" he said clearly. "love…" he let me slide my arm back to a more comfortable position. "…you." He pulled me close to him, cradling me in his lap, and rocking me.

I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore, and murmured sleepily as I closed them "You absolutely sure 'bout that?" He chuckled, and kissed the top of my head. "Very. Go to sleep." I managed to shake my head. "Don't wanna. I wanna stay here…" I patted the side of the boat weakly. He sighed, and shifted so I was lying on the bottom of the boat. "Better?" I couldn't respond, I was that tired. I tried to shake my head, but I felt like it weighed a million pounds. A soft blackness overwhelmed my senses, and I fell into sleep without a word.

Alucard's POV:

She relaxed in sleep, and I took a deep breath. That was close. The water around me was still an annoying blight on my senses, but it was no longer pulling me down into a eternity of sleep. I probably wouldn't have woken up at all if she hadn't bled herself for me. I smiled, remembering the sweet aroma that penetrated my fog, pulling me up out of it. I shifted slightly, feeling something that I held close to my chest. I held something in my mouth, from which the delicious liquid was pouring. I felt a trace of annoyance when it stopped, nibbling at the wound, enticing more blood out, feeling it slide down my throat, still warm from the person's body. I heard a screaming sound, but it was far away compared to the taste I was currently savoring. It slowly stopped, and I half-opened my eyes.

I remembered the shock I felt when I realized Zara was sprawled on top of me. Most likely she had tried to wake me up, and in my sleep I pinned her down, like I would normally for a prey animal. I had her wrist in my mouth, the blood having stopped shortly after I opened my eyes. I bent down, arranging her more comfortably, hoping she would have a better sleep. I knew the dark circles under her eyes weren't caused by beatings, rather from lack of sleep. They certainly looked like she had been punched in the face, they were that dark. My poor little kitten.

I gathered my bearings, watching the stars and testing the current with my oar. I started off, rowing as straight as I could towards London, watching her sleep, and wondering how long her blood would keep me going. She turned over, thunking her head against the side of the boat. I heard her mutter something, then she said clearly "Alucard." I raised my eyebrows, bending down and placing a hand on her forehead. I was rushed with sound and images. Pounding feet. "My lungs hurt, I can't do this much longer"! I turned, seeing Zara dart in front of me, clearly running for her life. A dark shape flitted around in the scrub behind her, moving much faster than a human could.

"What should I do? Someone help me"! I saw her put a hand to her side and cry out in pain, tumbling to the ground as she curled up in a fetal position. She twisted, convulsing and writhing in pain. The shadowy shape stepped out of the trees, but I couldn't see who it was. I tried moving, but I was frozen in place. "Why do I hurt so much? Please, someone help me!" The shape moved closer, clearly enjoying her pain. Tears streamed down her face, and she was whimpering, holding her stomach and crying in pain. The shape was right above her now, and it held a sharp bayonet-like object.

She rolled away from them, trying to get away, but they stepped on her leg, holding her down. It raised it's blade, and she moaned, still trying to escape. It brought the blade down, and time seemed to slow as I saw it head straight for her unprotected neck. I heard her scream my name, "ALUCARD!" before everything went black. I quickly moved my hand away, backing up and rowing as she stirred, then turned back over. I growled, silently cursing the Paladin and Maxwell for giving her more nightmares. She had just managed to stop having ones about Millennium too. These thoughts occupied me for several hours, so it was a shock when the sun came over the horizon. I winced, glaring at the beams of light illuminating the dawn.

Zara stirred again, rolling over so far she came to rest against my feet, I blinked, looking down at her sleeping form. She curled around my legs, softly humming, and smiled slightly in her sleep. I rolled my eyes, somewhat annoyed by her cat-like instincts, which seemed to be still in effect. "Wake up." I said, gently shaking her shoulder. She growled in her sleep and curled tighter around my legs, batting my hand away with her own, the nails of which had grown slightly longer. "Lemme 'lone." She muttered, still asleep. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Teenagers. "We're here." I said loudly, hoping to wake her up. No response, except a sleepy growl. "Let go of my legs." I said, trying to reason with her. Mumble, mumble. I gritted my teeth and splashed water on her, soaking her face and hair. She yelped and sat up, spluttering.

"Alucard! What the hell!?" I grinned at her, freeing my legs. "You wouldn't wake up, and I need my legs to help me row." She rolled her eyes, wiping her face off and wringing out her hair. "Jerk." I shrugged, smirking. She glared at me, then her face softened. "Are we there yet?" she asked, folding her arms and leaning back. I looked up. "No, we'll have at least a couple hours before we spot land and I can phase there." She sighed, shaking her head. "Can I help, or will I be slowing you down?" I considered this for a moment. "I could use a break." I said, sliding out of my spot and letting her take over. She took over, obviously used to rowing, and set off. "A little to port." I called out, watching her with urban amusement. She glared at me, adjusting her course. "I thought you were taking a break?" she growled, pulling on the oars in perfect time. I grinned at her lazily. "I am. I'm also directing." She sighed. This is going to be fun.

Zara's POV:

Truth be told, I was glad I had something to do. That kept my mind away from the whole "Alucard just told me he loves me", and the nightmares. "A little to starboard." He said, watching me with a wicked twinkle in his eye. I shook my head. "You said a little to port, and now you're saying it's the other way?" He grinned widely. "You went too far to port. You need to go the other way a little." I scowled, moving the boat over. He looked along its length, then nodded to himself. "Excellent. Now-" I cut him off. "Oh no you don't. You said this way and I'm staying this way.

He scowled, folding his arms. "Pouting teenager doesn't suit you." I informed him, yanking on the oars. He glared at me, and I stifled a giggle. "What?" he said frostily. I let go of the oars for a moment and imitated him, sticking out my lower lip for emphasis. "This position doesn't suit you." I said, trying very hard not to burst into laughter. He growled and I went back to rowing, shaking with my attempts to hold back laughter. "Wise people" Alucard informed the air, casting his voice in my direction. "Do not make fun of vampires." I shrugged. "Whoever said I was smart?" I said playfully. He sighed, putting his head in his hands. "What have I done to deserve this?" he asked them, and I burst out laughing. He looked at me, slightly annoyed. "What?"

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that? Let's see now, I've been shot three times, fallen off a cliff, been struck by lightning, kidnapped twice, blown up, attacked by a shark, been brainwashed, and that was all after I met you." He blinked. "Well yes. Now that you mention it, you have been rather set upon in the last few years." I nodded. "So don't you dare say "What have I done to deserve this" in front of me." He grinned, and suddenly I was sprawled on the floor of the boat, with him directly on top of me. "What the hell are you doing?" I spat, wiggling.

He smirked down at me. "Attempting to make things up to you." He said, and I blinked, confused. Then his lips crashed down on my own, and I lost power of coherent thought. Sure, not the most original lines. Yes, lying down on the deck of a lifeboat with an oar and a bench digging into you is not the most comfortable position. But Alucard seemed to ignore all that, and I certainly didn't notice after the first few seconds. His arm snaked around my back, pulling me up to deepen the kiss, which also came with the pleasant bonus of being lifted away from the poky bench. He gently nibbled my lower lip, but I pressed my mouth shut, wanting him to work for it.

He massaged my back with his hand, and I jerked, pressing into him, still being stubborn and not opening my mouth. His other hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me so close there wasn't any room between our bodies at all. I squirmed, not wanting to give in. The last straw came when he moaned pleadingly, and I finally opened my mouth, letting him enter. He licked my tongue with his own, curling around it and yanking. I growled, shoving back at him playfully. His tongue elongated, and I experienced a moment of frustration. No fair! I mentally shouted at him, and he grinned. I don't play fair. He yanked my tongue into his mouth, and I gulped.

He seemed content for the moment, but when I tried to pull back he clamped his teeth down, preventing me from getting it back. Out of curiosity, I ran it along his teeth, and was interested to note all of them, not just his canines, were pointed to some extent. No wonder ghouls always have such graphic wounds. This would seriously hurt if he bit down. I realized his grip on my body had tightened, and he was shifting on top of me, obviously in conflict about something. You okay? I asked him in concern. He half-opened his eyes, looking at me. You really do not want to know how bad I want to turn you right now. I blinked. Should I be concerned? He closed his eyes, and surprisingly jerked away. "Not really." He said, pulling me upright. I sighed, and grabbed the oars again.

I started rowing, unconsciously licking my lips, still tasting him on me. He squinted, and then pointed behind me. "Finally. Look, there's land." I turned, seeing a dark smudge on the horizon. "Think you can phase there from here? He closed his eyes, then frowned. "No. If we get closer, maybe, but right now there's too much water between here and land." I rowed even harder, until a few minutes later I hissed, holding my hand against my chest. One of my blisters had broken and blood was oozing out, along with a clear icky liquid. Alucard grabbed my hand before I could do anything, bringing it to his mouth before stopping and looked at me for permission. I nodded, and he brought it to his lips.

His eyes never left mine as he licked the blister, kissing the wound like he had kissed me a few minutes before. I sighed as the throbbing pain stopped, and an icy coolness spread out from his lips, making my hand grow numb in a matter of seconds. He let go, licking his lips as I inspected it, seeing nothing but a faint pink mark. I started rowing again, but broke the silence and said musingly. "You know, you could sell that stuff. People would pay millions of dollars for healing vampire spit." He looked startled. "Why on earth would I want to make money?" he said, looking confused. "I can always get what I want by hypnotizing people or stealing things."

I rolled my eyes. "That's morally unsound. And rather selfish." He chuckled. "I am a vampire. I define those words." I glared at him, then rubbed the back of my neck. "This may be a sensitive topic for you, but I've always wanted to know, why is your name Dracula backwards? And why is the Hellsing name spelled just like the one from Bram Stoker's book?" He froze, and I snapped my mouth shut, not wanting to aggravate him more. "Are you sure you really want to know the answer to that?" he asked softly, somehow projecting more menace than I had ever seen him do before. I nodded. "Yes, I do. I have to know." I said, avoiding his gaze.

I'm still thinking on what they should do to Maxwell. Possibilities… not coming to me. If you haven't realized his name is Dracula backwards, kudos to you, you have officially out-unobservanted me. Still no word from Schrö or what the black stuff is, because I realized I would need to get them back to London before I can properly freak them out. Knowing you people, you'll formulate some wild guesses, (which I would love to hear by the way) and rant about why you have the right idea. This is the longest I have managed not to give any hints. My fingers are itching to write it all out for you, but I must resist. *wrestles with fingers, yanking them away from keyboard* MUST TELL! Okay, I'll make this quick, R, R, Rcomment! Auf Wedersien!