Author notes: I first dreamed up this scene a long, long, long time ago. And then didn't finish it for ages, by which time I was unhappy with several things about it but recognized there was no point in revamping the whole thing all over again in an endless pursuit of perfection of which I am always so tempted.

So it goes.

Welcome Home

Walter paused outside the door in the middle of the hallway, standing out of the way with the trunk he carried. Integra, having already fished the key out of the small black book bag slung over her shoulder, unlocked the door. It opened just as easily as it had last fall; Integra went in first, pushing the door all the way open so Walter could follow with her trunk. She stopped in the middle of her anteroom, glancing around appreciatively at the armchairs, coffee table, and bookcase, all exactly as she remembered them.

"Thank you, Walter; I'll take it into my bedroom."

He nodded, carefully lowering the trunk to the middle of the carpeted floor and straightening again. His appearance really was quite deceptive, Integra thought to herself, recalling the ease with which he had handled her luggage from the trunk to here.

"I'll be back in ten minutes with a tea tray, Sir Integra."

"Thank you."

As he exited, Integra unlocked another door on the wall opposite and took a few steps into her bedroom. Oh, how she had missed its size and privacy, the large bed's headboard against the middle of the left wall and the heavy floor-length curtains drawn shut over the windows and glass doors that opened onto the balcony. The air was almost stifling – with quick steps, Integra crossed the room and untied the loose knot in front of the curtains and pulled them all the way back, refastening them to a sturdy peg on either side of the windows. She unlocked and pushed open the doors, stepping out onto the stone balcony. Moving to the edge of the low railing, she looked out over the Hellsing estate.

There was fortunately a breeze moving, visible in the branches of the trees inside the grounds and those that heavily lined the eastern side of the iron fence. But inside the premises it was mostly green, neatly trimmed lawn, sweeping out from the house and running all the way to the front gates. To her right was the strip of compounds, where the soldiers lived and trained and Ferguson and Dr. Trevellian had their offices.

The view stirred the old familiar feelings of pride and love, but it was greatly overshadowed by the constant anxiety and awareness of great responsibility that ran under her nerves: to not only maintain the efficiency and well-run atmosphere of everything below her, but also to keep it improving. She would have to go out as soon as possible – probably not this evening, she would undoubtedly be in her office late into the night – but tomorrow, then, to watch the men's drills. Two months ago a whole new division of soldiers had arrived from the SAS, and despite Walter's reports, she needed to see for herself whether they were up to par yet with the veterans. Her fifteenth birthday had been two months ago, she mused, and it was definitely better than thirteen – but it was still unlikely that any of the men would look at her with anything more respectful than concealed amusement and curiosity. Even when she was seventeen, and officially knighted…or even as an adult, she would still be a woman…no, she would have to prove herself to ever earn their trust and respect, and it was possible for her to start working towards that now.

There was little to see going on outside now – a few men walking between the compounds, and a dozen or so off-duty soldiers playing a game of basketball. Decidedly, Integra turned and went back into her room, though leaving the doors open – her room already felt a few degrees cooler and more breathable for it.

Pulling her trunk from the anteroom into the open space between her bed and closet door, Integra went about unpacking her school uniforms and hanging them up in a section of her closet. She paused as she was doing this to strip out of the school clothes and shoes she was currently wearing, and reached for a white button-up shirt, olive-green dress pants, and tie – her customary uniform when she was home. However, pulling on the pants first, she first sensed something was amiss by how uncomfortably tight they were around her hips and a draft around her ankles. Glancing in the full-length mirror set in the middle half of the closet, Integra blinked to see several inches of bare skin above her ankles. Well. That wouldn't do.

After kicking the pants back off, a quick comparison with the others showed that they were all the same inadequate length. Feeling slightly bemused – yes, she had had to let out the hem in her school skirts more than once during the year, but had she really grown that much? – Integra set off on a brief hunt for something that would temporarily suffice, besides her school uniform, which she felt strongly averse to wearing any more than necessary after having to wear it every day for so many months. Finally, she found a pair of white shorts that seemed very attractive given the early June temperature, and since a dress shirt would hardly be fitting with the shorts, Integra decided she would remain in her undershirt until Walter did some emergency alternations on a few pairs of her pants.

After emptying the rest of her trunk, Integra set about discovering what other clothes she had that no longer fit. Her dress shirts seemed all right (they had been a bit big in the first place, though that was actually desirable – she would just have to watch it so they didn't become too form-fitting); her ties seemed like they would have to be lengthened; her boots were fine; and she would rather definitely need to go lingerie-shopping again soon. Argh. She still felt so absurdly awkward, informing Walter.

Just as she dropped her bras back into the drawer of her bureau, Walter's voice called from the anteroom through the closed door. He blinked at her once when she opened the door, but she paid no mind as she came to take the cup on the tray he was holding.

Despite the temperature outside, Integra had been anticipating the tea, and only gave it a quick, customary blow before taking a sip. She stood still a moment, closing her eyes to better savor the taste – Walter's tea was really one of the top things she missed the most while at school. After swallowing, she opened her eyes again and said matter-of-factly, "As all my pants come about to mid-calf, it looks like we'll have to go shopping fairly soon."

"I rather thought we might have to, madam," Walter concurred. "I'll make the arrangements for this weekend, if it suits you." He set down the tray on the coffee table. "If you like, I could take a few pairs now to make the necessary alterations, just to take care of the next few days."

Integra brought back three or four pairs from her closet, and Walter folded them smoothly. "If there's anything else you need now –"

"No thank you; I'll be up in the office in a little while." She took another sip as Walter bowed slightly and left.

Carrying the cup back to her room, Integra stopped short in the doorway when she saw who was sprawled on the far end of her bed. "Well, who invited you into my room?"

The sun shone fully and blazingly into her room, but thanks to the length of her bed, it was set back far enough so that only the last quarter of it was in the light. Alucard, of course, was lounging back with apparent carelessness, but there was a very safe amount of carefully measured space between him and the sunlit half of the bed.

At her question, he tilted his head forward, grinning as he looked at her over the colored glasses – a dramatic effect in combination with the angle of his hat. She knew he was very well aware of it. "It's good to see you again too, master. But to answer your question – I do believe you did, in the middle of the night a couple years ago."

Integra felt her face heat – a reaction that she hadn't had for quite a while. Annoyed, she walked over to her vanity and set down her cup, then moved to her bed, on which Alucard reclined so self-assuredly, practically on her pillows. But Integra couldn't make herself feel very upset with him at the moment – regardless of how he had said it (though something made her think it hadn't been entirely sarcasm), it was true that she wasn't exactly…irritated to see him again. He was always very interesting, and a handy distraction from her usual stresses. Like how he still wore a red trench coat in June, even if temperature did mean nothing to him.

Taking a seat on the edge of her bed and leaning back on her hands, Integra studied him without reserve. Unlike her, he was unchanged, of course, from when she had left in September for school. Integra was rarely ever aware of her own body, but she couldn't help but be now – how low her tank top was cut, and even though her shorts weren't as incredibly short as some of the girls at school liked to wear them, they still showed a daring expanse of her tanned thighs, especially as they had hitched up when she sat down. She tilted her head back and felt the ends of her hair tickle the backs of her hands – she hadn't cut her hair at all this year, but to trim the ends occasionally.

It was rather strange, of course, that she was sitting like this and wearing as little as she was, in front of a vampire – but then, part of her mind argued, it was Alucard, and she owned him as he worked for Hellsing. There was, in fact, no one else in the world in front of whom she would ever sit like this – none of the idiot boys at school, for certain – and even though it was Alucard, it still felt oddly daring, almost exciting. While before the sun had felt too hot, there was a small breeze going through the room now, clearing the air and making the heat of the sunlight more enjoyable on her bare skin.

Alucard's smile and gaze intensified in a certain way. Without looking in the vanity mirror in front of her, Integra could well imagine how she looked, with the sunlight turning her normally dark blonde hair to an almost white-blonde, and lighting off of her lightly brown skin. Still feeling that unfamiliar thrill of daring, Integra dropped to her elbows, and then – well, why would it matter? – slid them forward so she was lying flat on her back. She drew her right knee up as the left dangled off the side of the bed, still looking up at Alucard, and folded her hands atop of each other on her stomach.

Almost unnoticeably, Alucard had dropped down too to be only a little above her level, though there was still a foot of space between them as she was lying completely in the sun, and he in the shade. His eyes were partially closed, and Integra was suddenly struck by the impression that it was the personified expression of a cat's purr. A very light smile curved her lips.

"So," she said softly, "you were saying that you missed me?"

One might have not thought it possible, but his fangs actually gleamed out of the light as his grin stretched wider. "Only as much as you missed me."

Her own smile disappeared. "Oh, don't make those vague, cryptic statements – "

He leaned closer, though still inches from the dividing boundary. "I know you did," he said, not tauntingly, but simply matter-of-fact.

Integra stared back at him, disliking her inability to deny it. It always irked her (though especially during this past year) that he was able to pick up on her emotions so well – particularly when they were strong – even when she wasn't nearby.

Alucard continued, with the appearance of mild interest, "It didn't seem like a good year for you, overall."

At this, Integra closed her eyes. The angle of the light still hit her eyes, causing the inside of her eyelids to burn red. It was an odd sort of welcome pain. "It doesn't matter," she said aloud. "It's inconsequential."

"You're home now for the summer," he reminded her, stating the obvious as he often did – as though she might not realize it.

Integra cracked her eyes open again – blinking, she felt the heat in her eyelids. "Oh, yes," she said dryly. "And you know how relaxing my summers are. Every year they get better and better." She stretched her arms forward by her sides and bent her hands back so they were at ninety-degree angles with her wrists, her fingers curled. "Still," she added, more quietly and seriously now, "I am glad to be home." Her eyes abruptly flashed back up to him as she shot out with a sudden, defensive note of sarcasm – "You know it must be bad, if I prefer your company to that of my peers' at school."

He said nothing to that, but continued looking at her intently. And undoubtedly thinking he was very alluring in that hat. Integra pushed herself further down the width of the bed and artfully kicked the wide brim of his hat with pointed toes, knocking it off his head and onto the floor.

He did not react, of course, to the action or her very small smug smile that followed, but observed seriously, "I don't think you like my hat, master."

"Not indoors. You know that."

He removed his glasses, somehow without breaking eye contact or that smile. "The glasses are usually included in the objection."

She took off her own, holding them out to him. "Well, set these on the table with yours, if it makes you feel any better."

He complied, rolling onto his back to reach over and lay both pairs of glasses – one with red lenses and black frames, one with clear glass and steel – on the top of the small square table, next to her alarm clock and lamp.

Suddenly feeling the dangerous combination of sleepy and completely comfortable, Integra yawned and stretched again, this time raising her arms past her head, causing her undershirt to rise up a few inches over her abdomen.

You're beautiful in the sunlight.

Integra glanced at him, startled. He was looking at her with his chin resting on his hands on the bedspread, not so much admiration in his expression as attentive contemplation. She kept her arms lying loosely above her head as she looked at him – his statement, while not exactly spoken, nevertheless took her aback – he had always before simply let her know his appreciation through his expression.

She continued to stare at him, thinking to herself – this was such an unfamiliar situation, so different from anything she had experienced before. There were very strange motivations at work here that only heightened her feeling of daring from earlier. It was interesting, this recklessness which was nothing like what she felt when she accompanied some of the missions. This caused such a high feeling of fluttering in her stomach, and a different sense of empowerment than that with which she was familiar. Such as just by the smallest movement now – how she stretched a moment ago – she could induce effects that were completely out of proportion with her action. Then it occurred to her suddenly: oh – perhaps this is flirtation.

Well. As this was entirely uncharted grounds, Integra chose to act now by daring impulse. Closing her eyes in mock unconcern, Integra said aloud, "Well, isn't it unfortunate that you can't touch me while I'm in it –"

She was cut off as hands seized her around the sides, yanking her completely from where she was into the shady half of the bed and against him.

Startled, Integra's eyes flew open, a sharp and indignant exclamation already on her tongue – and it froze there, as she was arrested by how close Alucard's face was to hers. What – what was he playing at – what they had been doing before was entirely different, harmless, but now he was acting like - And there was a challenge in his expression: too much for you, Master?

Integra narrowed her own at him – but why should she move? It was her bed, her room, and she was the master here. …Because, of course, in any other situation she would definitely move away herself.

…And why should she move? The thought was slower, more distant with everything else she was sensing right now – the heat still lingering on her skin, the cool blanket underneath her, and Alucard gazing into her face from just inches away, his black hair falling in locks almost into his eyes. Integra stayed right where she was, and thought…why should she move? Alucard was hers, she could do whatever she wanted with him, and it wasn't anyone's concern – and if she wanted to…right now…why the hell should she tell herself no, again – why couldn't she give herself something she wanted, just once, and when it was no one else's concern –

Integra was never entirely sure of who moved first – but his mouth was against hers and she, she was kissing him back. His lips were startling cold, just like the rest of his skin, but the intensity and – energy, almost life behind the kiss made her awareness of the temperature only last an instant. The shock of the fierceness of it, nothing slow or gentle, almost made her gasp but for the thought of what consequences that might have.

She could feel her heart thudding in her chest, and her breathing was erratic, but Alucard rose up over her, taking over as he continued the kiss. His hands slid beneath her shoulder and around her side, just under her chest, and he pulled her easily further up the bed, onto the pillows. Integra shivered at this, the expression of how much he wanted her, and grabbed his upper arms fiercely to hold him down, pushing up again into his mouth. He was hers, and God, she wanted this like she couldn't remember wanting anything before –

It was this new sort of desperation that made her pull at him and, without thinking, open her lips under his. Alucard growled, short and deep in his throat, and moved his hand to the back of her neck to hold her tightly up to him –simultaneously, cold met heat in her mouth in a way that left Integra unable to form any complete thoughts at all for the next several moments.

It came to a pause with their lips not a breath apart, looking at each other as Integra breathed and Alucard was motionless with such an expression that would have alarmed her any other time – but now, her mind was reeling and she thought she might be trembling, and very little mattered.

Alucard stared at her, his eyes burning and a few dark locks of his hair hanging down, as he raised a hand to gently brush her face and her own hair back. His eyes half-closed as he leaned farther over her, his nose brushing hers.

Integra, he whispered to her, his gloved fingertips circling around her temple and ear, Integra, do you know how I have desired you for so long – to feel your heat under my hands and lips, your hands on me, and letting me show you –

And now he kissed her again, but so gently and slowly it caught her breath, and she grabbed him by the back of the neck – but he continued to touch his lips to her, just gently grazing them as he kept his eyes half-open, looking into hers – then he moved deeper, dragging his lower lip between hers. Integra made some strangled, inarticulate sound in the back of her throat, and lifted herself up again to kiss him, and he increased the intensity to match her.

Do you want this? His hand moved down over her chest, skin and thin undershirt – Do you want me, like this –

Integra almost cried out loud in answer; as it was, she strained forward again into his hand. His other hand crept down her side, then her thigh, and moved back up to press three fingertips between her legs. At that, she gasped, "Alucard," and her fingernails must have been digging through the material over his shoulders as she arched up. He pulled his leg in between hers, keeping the pressure as she wrapped her own legs around his and her arms crossed over his shoulders, hands pressing down through his hair on the back of his head, as she pushed into his mouth with everything she had.

Through the blinding haze of nothing but sensation, body against hers and fingers setting nerves aflame in a way she had never experienced before – a triumphant shout from outside, some soldier with a winning shot no doubt, cut into the dream, and Integra was knocked back into where and who she was.

She froze, then shoved him away, untangling herself from him and the bed as fast as she could. Without daring to look back at his face, she stumbled towards the door.

"I have – to get to work – "