Disclaimer: I do not own Seras Victoria, Alucard or the Hellsing Institute nor any story derived from the original manga by Kouta-sensei. I do however own everyone else. Mostly.

~x~

'black orchid'

~x~

Subject name: Unverified

Gender: Female

Race: unverified, believed Caucasian

Eyes: unknown

Height: unverified, presumed between 5' to 5'5"

Age: unverified, suggested between 18-20 years

Weight: unknown, presumed between 120-130 lbs.

Condition: Subject is chained to wall, hands above head, in a seated position, face and skin hollowed giving the appearance of partial decomposition, appears asleep and does not respond to touch or sound.

Elliot stared down at the dossier in his hand, hardly noticing the blood smudge from the cut on his thumb, before looking once more to the figure bound to the wall.

"How long is this supposed to take?"

He glanced over to the girl beside him. "'Cause I've done this before."

She rolled her eyes. "It's been almost five minutes. Hey, what are you looking at?"

"The preliminary report from the exploratory mission last week."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not a thing."

She turned her violet eyes back towards the figure on the wall. "You sure you weren't supposed to say anything?"

"Yes."

Calculating eyes surveyed the scene before a hand reached out to grab his arm.

"Winter! What are you doing?"

His protest went on silent ears as she proceeded to unbutton his sleeve and roll it up. When she finished, she drug him closer to the chained figure and stretched his arm out to it.

"I don't think," Winter commented, drawing a blade from somewhere on her person, "that you donated enough blood." Before he could pull away, she cut a line into his flesh."

"Ow! Jesus!"

"Stop being a pansy and hold it to her."

With a short glare, he obliged, holding the cut but a few inches from the vampire's mouth. A second passed, then another before he felt the cool sensation of a tongue on his newly opened wound. Just barely, he managed to resist the instinct to flinch away and instead held in place while the vampire latched on to the wound.

As they watched, her flesh rapidly regenerated into full youth. She pulled her mouth away, jerking her hands in a violent action to free herself from her bindings. Elliot stepped back a few feet, watching her intently. The vampire leaned forward, bringing her legs under her until she knelt on one knee before the blonde youth.

"Master."

"Um, what's your name?"

"Seras Victoria."

"Miss Victoria, welcome back to Hellsing."

Finally, she lifted her head and he gasped when his eyes met her crimson gaze.

"Yes, master."

~x~

Elliot couldn't help but watch as the blonde vampire approached the other, still bound to the wall. She had been awoken but ten minutes before, listening intently as he introduced Winter and himself and updated her on some of what had been happening since they were sealed more than a century before, including the moving of Hellsing headquarters to the Tower some years before.

During the entire discussion her face had remained emotionless, void of every thing except the intelligence in her eyes that hinted at more than comprehension, perhaps, even, determination. She had asked no questions of him until the end, apparently accepting his promise of a more detailed history when they returned to HQ, and, even then, her question was succinct and to the point.

"Are you going to wake him as well?"

Her voice had held no expectations, nor curiosity. The total lack of inflection made him hesitate for a moment before shaking his head slightly.

"Not right now. I'm hoping it won't be necessary. Why? Do you think we should?"

She gave him a long look, locking gazes with him for long enough to make him feel uncomfortable, before answering.

"He is not the most manageable individual, sir. Even under orders, you may not be able to control him."

"Oh, uh, okay then. We'll save him until a more desperate situation then."

"Yes, sir."

And, with that, she turned form him, taking her eyes from him for the first time since she had looked up. The lack of inspection was a physical relief and he nearly jumped when Winter patted him on the back in amused sympathy.

They both watched her crouch down before the chained figure on the floor but it wasn't until she reached forward to pull the hair from its face to revel the haggard features, that he realized she hadn't really answered his question. She had told him a fact about the other vampire, but hadn't given an opinion.

He pondered on the fact until she stood once more and faced him, features as expressionless as before. She walked to them, determination resounding in her steps. It was the only sign of personality that she had shown so far and he unconsciously let out a breath in relief. When she reached him, she asked her first question of the Institute.

"How are you for weapons?"

~x~

When he was younger, his father had made a day of watching the old science-fiction movies of years past. Most of them depicted some sort of new age weaponry with lasers or some such. He knew that Miss Victoria had probably grown up watching those movies and wondered, briefly, if she was disappointed at the fact that guns hadn't actually changed all that much.

As if reading his thoughts, she glanced over her shoulder at him as they walked deeper into the dungeon area.

"Nothing will ever be better for killing vampires and ghouls than silver."

She resumed facing forward again only to stop a few feet later. She turned to face what appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be a completely blank wall. Though he tried, Elliot could find nothing to distinguish it from any other stretch of wall they had passed. Still, after considering it for a minute, she looked at them.

"Master, Miss Shannon, please take my hand."

He glanced at Winter a moment before stepping to the other side of her and taking her hand somewhat hesitantly in his. Winter, on the other hand, shrugged casually and took Miss Victoria's grasp with ease. No sooner had she wrapped her fingers around her hand, did the vampire take a step forward, pulling all three of them through the wall. A feeling like cold water passed over him and he was grateful when they emerged on the other side still dry.

"Wow," Winter gasped in awe, drawing Elliot's attention to the room around them. It appeared to be an armory of sorts.

"All of these are custom designed to exterminate vampires. Most of them can be used by average humans."

"This would be one of the ones that can't, right?" Winter queried from across the room. She was standing in front of something that looked a bit like an anti-aircraft cannon.

"Correct, Miss Shannon. If one of you were to fire it, it would take your arm off."

"Good to know," the younger girl replied.

"Can we take these?" Elliot finally managed, looking at an assortment of handguns.

"They belong to you, master."

"Oh," he murmured, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah. Um, why are they in a room like this?" he asked, looking over to Winter at the sound of a gun cocking.

"Sir Integra thought it would be wise to have a weapons stash that no one could enter without help from me. …Or him."

Elliot smiled. "My great-grandmother was an amazing woman from what I hear."

For the barest instant, he thought her eyes flashed a different color, perhaps blue, but it was gone before he could be sure.

"Yes, Sir Integra was."

She turned from him suddenly and walked up to a case beside the large gun Winter had pointed out earlier. Raising the glass top, she pulled out a silver blade, a little over a foot long, with a slight curve to one side. She looked it over for a moment before pulling out a black belted sleeve. Silently, she slipped the blade into its casing before pending over to strap it onto her thigh.

"Stop staring. It's rude."

Elliot started, looking over to Winter who had come to stand beside him. Her lips were turned up at the corner and her eyes shown with barely concealed amusement.

"I found a gun," she offered excitedly, holding up a silver handgun for his inspection.

"That's impressive. You are entirely too picky."

"You can never be too picky about weapons, master."

The two looked over to the vampire where she stood a few feet away, looking at the firearms herself. Winter grinned at her.

"I like you, Seras."

The vampire glanced over at the girl before looking back at the gun in her hand. "I'm glad, Miss Shannon." She walked to the opposite side of the room from where they were standing and opened a cabinet door, blocking her from view. After a minute, she closed it, carrying an assortment of things in her hand. She put everything down on a nearby case, taking one of the guns and slipping it under her long shirt and into the back waistband of her skirt. Several items went into a bag and the other gun she took in hand, pulling the bag over one shoulder.

"This is for you, master." She held the gun out to him. "It was Sir Integra's."

"T-thank you. Um, what's in the bag," he asked, taking the gun from her.

"Ammo. For your gun, the one Miss Shannon picked out, my own weapon and several rounds that could be fit into regular side arms."

"Oh, okay. If you are ready then?"

"Yes, master."

Silently, she took their hands again and led them through the wall. When they exited, they were not, however, in the hallway. Instead, they stood at the front of the once formidable mansion, now in ruins.

"What happened?"

"There was an attack when I was two. Most of the troops were away. So was my father."

"And your mother?"

"Died in the attack. Winter's, too. Her father saved both of our lives."

"And the vampires?"

"Terminated."

"Good."

She turned away, looking to him for instructions. For a minute, he couldn't speak. Something about the way she looked at him put him off balance. He didn't feel any fear, nor did he think she was making silent judgments about him when she looked at him like that. It was something else.

"Let's go," Winter broke in, exasperation coloring her voice.

"Y-yeah."

With one last look at the ruined mansion, he turned to walk to the waiting car.

~x~

In the year 2132, a plague swept through the world. The infection began in the Federated States of Indonesia, started by the ingestion of diseased fish. Once adapted to human biology, the sickness spread like wildfire. In the first month, one hundred died, in the second, a thousand. By the third, it had spread to half the world and in the fourth it was everywhere.

Within a year, half of the population of the world had fallen.

The remaining five billion were in chaos. Pointless arguments erupted, chastising the World Health Organization for not better containing the pandemic, criticizing the emergency services, questioning how to prevent another disease. Every profession in the world had taken a hit. Businesses, military, schools and hospitals were clamoring to bring order to the world again.

And, with everyone's attention elsewhere, the vampires made their move.

~x~

"Five nations rose up after the plague. For the most part, they took over existing countries with quiet coups. The United Nations managed to keep it under wraps for the most part. These new vampire nations also tended towards keeping their troubles within their own boundaries, appearing content with the rule of their own countries, not bothering with the outside world around them.

"From what we can tell, most of them have a high number of humans living inside their borders. They are believed to be there voluntarily in most cases."

Elliot paused, looking over to the vampire, attempting to gauge her reaction. Her eyes focused on each of the vampire nations in turn.

"They seem to have gone for countries with deep rooted history."

"Correct, Miss Victoria. For the most part, as far as anyone can tell, they have taken over only to revert back to the ancient ways. Except Japan. They didn't really change much at all."

He shrugged before tuning the projection to the next image. It lit up the darkened room, throwing shadows on the three occupants. Briefly, he wondered if Winter had fallen asleep. She rarely went so long without comment.

"On the coattails of these uprisings, several other countries began to have severe vampire problems. Most of these were countries that were either too big for a quiet overthrow or where the vampires were generally too weak.

"England fell into the second category," he boasted with some pride. "Even after the blow received at the invasion of the Millennium, with the help of yourself and Hellsing, we were able to rise effectively back to power enough to be rid of all strong vampires. Most of what we have found today are new vampires, left over freaks and a new breed of vampire too weak to make ghouls.

"We have been successfully warding most of them off but I'm afraid they are growing in numbers. Approximately five years ago, we began noticing that they were increasing in numbers at an exponential rate. It has been brought up that someone may have tapped into left over Millennium technology to bring about this change.

"Also, our numbers have been diminished a great deal due to an attack last year," Winter chimed in, startling Elliot slightly.

The vampire looked over to the girl for a moment before looking at the numbers projected in light beside him. Her eyes darted over the facts and figures quickly before settling on Elliot.

"Tell me when. Tell me where. I will rid the country of this scum."

"Tomorrow night."

"Yes, master."

~x~

"She's amazing."

"Yes, she is."

"Do you think she'll clear out the entire building by herself?"

"Yes, I do believe she will."

"I think I'll ask her to help train the troops."

"They might live longer if you do."

"…I think they are scared shitless of her right now."

"Yes, I do believe they are."

"Why are you grinning?"

"I'd love to try and fight her sometime."

"Down girl."

~x~

There were approximately one hundred men and women in the room, staring at the young Hellsing leader. A large portion of them were veterans of the organization, one of them for twenty years even. Others were green recruits, brought in only weeks before. All of them had seen a ghoul, most a vampire. They were all ex-military or ex-police. Most importantly, they were all loyal to Hellsing and its leader.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you are thrilled to hear that I've designed a new training course for all of you. And I do mean all. Sorry, Captain Douglas."

The older man chuckled. "Nae you worry, my boy. I dinna think I'm too old to learn sommat new."

"I will reassure you that you will not be training with Miss Shannon again," he continued, pausing to let the relieved grumbles subside. "However, I cannot say that you have an easier taskmaster ahead."

At this, the door behind him opened to reveal a striking figure with blonde hair pinned up in a neat bun. The woman wore a version of the Hellsing uniform so far unseen with a sleeveless navy uniform shirt brushing the backs of her legs as she walked in, concealing almost all of a black micro-mini skirt but for an opening in the front under her standard issue belt. Her long legs were showcased in black thigh-high stockings above her mid-calf military boots. She was an odd mix of the familiar and the unseen, especially with the strange black gloves she wore to her elbow.

Elliot had to admit, as he looked at her, that she presented a very attractive picture. For a moment, he wondered where she got the blue lensed glasses she wore to cover her eyes, but, with a mental shrug, he turned his attention once more to the now silent troops.

Several of them were looking in unrestrained appreciation, especially at some of her more…obvious attributes. He could almost see the gears in their heads turning as they wondered whether or not she was free game for a date. Almost all of them looked curious, uncertain as to who the new Hellsing member was and unsure as to why she was already being compared to the devilish Winter when she looked even more frail than the other girl.

A small group of them looked on in shear horror, remembering their encounter with her a few nights before on mission.

"Good timing, Miss Victoria. Troops, this is Seras Victoria. She will be in charge of all missions hence forth." She will also be taking Miss Shannon's place as resident Trashman.

At this comment, her eyes flicked over to the younger girl sitting in the corner. Winter wiggled her fingers in hello, a broad grin on her face.

"Sir!"

"Yes, Thompson."

"Miss Victoria is a Vampire."

Elliot smothered a smile at the murmurs that erupted at the comment. Even with her emotionless expression, the woman did not look like the vampire she was. Several of the men made disparaging comments, others outright laughed.

"Yes, Thompson. She is."

Silence fell over the group as he spoke. He looked over to find that she had obligingly removed her glasses, showing her crimson eyes for the first time. She stepped forward, physically taking control of the conversation. Several men shifted back in their seats and Elliot was forced to pretend a cough to cover a smile. She flicked her gaze to him and he swallowed his humor.

"We will start training as soon as I finish speaking. Training will begin in the shooting range then we will proceed to hand-to-hand combat. Tonight, I will gauge you on what you know and how good you are. After that, you will be separated into groups by ability. Some of you will continue to train mostly on your own. Others will train almost entirely with me. Do not presume to think you understand the reason why.

"Are there any questions?"
"Will we be fighting against you, miss?"

"Yes, corporal. Eventually, you will even be shooting at me."

"But, miss –"

"You will refer to her as Major."

"- Major, what if we kill you?"

Murmurs sounded through the room at the boastful question. The vampire merely looked at the corporal with a steady gaze until the room fell silent once more.

"Even if every person in this room attacked me at once, you could not kill me."

"Pardon me, Major, but we've fought plenty of vampires before, we-"

"Corporal, you have yet to fight a true Nosferatu. You have only fought trash. You cannot defeat me."

Silently, she turned on her heel, showing her back to the entire room. She gave Elliot a cursory nod, paused, and then turned her gaze to Winter before giving her an acknowledging nod as well.

"We begin. Come."

~x~

"Miss Victoria, you've been over the troops for a month now. What is your assessment?"

The vampire laid out a stack of folders on the desk in front of him. She picked up one of the folders and held it out to him.

"These ten can make up their own squad. They should be able to handle single vampire missions as a single unit." She handed him another folder. "Same for this group of fifteen. They are slightly weaker but should manage."

She picked up a group of folders, leaving only one behind. "These should be sent in groups of two squads each. Alone they risk extermination."

"And the last group?"

"These three are in their own group. Sakura Tenjou, blade specialist, Ethan Williams, expert marksman and Aidan Fitzpatrick, combat strategist. They can be sent on missions alone for all single vampires. I also want them with me on any multiple vampire missions or with Miss Shannon. They will provide backup."

"I see," he acknowledged quietly, looking at the folders. "Thank you, Miss Victoria. It is nice to have someone with your level of experience as part of the organization."

"Yes, master."

Elliot stared at her for a long minute as she looked back at him unblinkingly.

"Miss Victoria, Seras, would you have preferred that we not wake you?"

Her gaze on him remained steady and for the first time since the night a month before, he saw a flicker of the eyes she'd once had.

"Sir Elliot Walter O'Hara Hellsing," she intoned, addressing him by name for the first time, "I would have preferred never to have slept. It is my will to serve the Hellsing Institute and serve you I shall. Give me orders and I shall obey."

"…If you wish, Seras Victoria."

"Yes, master."

~x~

"We are going to be part of her special team, I hear."

"It is an honor, in a way."

"She doesn't seem to be out to kill us."

"Could be a long term ploy. I, myself, would try to convince everyone to trust me before I turned on them."

"She isn't a spy."

"Are you sure?"

"I actually heard that she is a slave."

"Really?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"Captain Douglas said something about the symbols on the back of her hand. They were binding symbols."

"So…what? She has to do whatever we tell her to?"

"I imagine she has to do whatever Sir Elliot tells her. That is the way binding rituals usual act."

"And you'd know."

"My family specialized in them a century before."

"Good information to have."

"She doesn't act like a slave, though."

"She doesn't exactly act happy either."

"No, she acts determined. There is something about her that gives off the impression a will so great I'd be afraid to come across it."

"I've seen her in action. Trust me. You do not want to cross her."

"Being part of her team will allow me to watch her then. That should be informative."

"You and your information."

"Knowledge is power."

"Power corrupts."

"She doesn't appear corrupted. She hardly acts like a vampire."

"No, she acts like a robot."

"No…she acts like someone ripped out her soul."

"Same thing."

"I don't think so. I wonder what happened to her."

"She grew fangs."

"I doubt that is what it was."

"Who knows? Maybe we'll see."

"Should prove interesting."

"Very."

"Let the fun begin."

AN: Thank you for the overwhelming response to 'Subjugation'. I was awed. I hope you liked the follow up. This story is still a work in progress but I'm hoping to have it finished in a matter of weeks, if not days. My muse showed up in full force on this one.

All the chapter titles for this story will come from Blue October, a fantabulous band if I do say so myself, so if you are looking for deeper meanings, look there.

Please feel free to leave any comments, requests or criticisms via the green box below.

Til we meet again.