I really should be doing other things right about now, studying for instance. But after giving it a little bit of thought, I decided in favor of publishing this. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing.

Tainted Lips

~Hellsing One-Shot~

"You're late, Alucard," she breathed out, tone raspy and heavy. "You are too late."

"My apologies," his voice barely reached above a bass whisper. He had yet to move, frozen upon the floor, where he had settled after her fierce counterattack to his silent, intrusive claim of her neck and blood, staring at Integra intently.

Her icy eyes locked upon his tall form, that was yet to be fully revealed before her eyes. She just barely resisted the urge to bit her bottom lip. Apologies...? Were those apologies enough? Thirty long years passed... thirty... Time ticked by with no concern about the living or un-living. Time passed and left ugly splotches of fatigue, painful weariness upon her once smooth skin. And she was left like a lone lioness to fend for herself in the wilderness. She may have had Seras by her side, but still… The pain stubbornly ate at her heart, regardless of her efforts to tame its catastrophic influence. Walter was gone. Alucard was gone. The entire island of Britain was nearly gone, decimated by unholy demons of hell that came to ruin it from its very roots.

After all they've all had been through, were apologies enough to compensate, replenish what had been lost?

She made no move to acknowledge or completely refuse his bland, even quite tasteless, apologies. She needed none of that anyway.

"Is it blood that you want?" she queried, voice steady. He had tried to feed of her only a few moments prior. And it never escaped her mind that this had always been a request of his; her blood. What could his answer possibly be now? After all these years of absence? After-

"... Do you want my blood?" she requested further clarification, but also scolded herself inwardly. Truthfully, she was certain of what his answer would be. A very small, tiny part of her psyche whispered that the issue at hand was not that she knew his answer, but that she might have... longed to hear what she expected to hear of her servant.

His burgundy eyes glimmered dangerously at her words. "Yes. Exactly," he replied, his bass voice echoing throughout the room. As always, he never held back when the matter pertained to his bodily needs.

In very strange and still quite unfathomable way, Integra's lugs exhaled in relief. Alucard's voice could be heard once again in the Hellsing manor. Was this a cause of joy, or maybe grief? In any case, she could not allow herself the luxury of contemplating about such a –most likely considered menial to others- detail.

"I haven't taken any proper form of sustenance for the past thirty years," he explained. "I am famished."

Not sparing a moment to reflect upon those words, Integra's legs moved. She suddenly found herself before her servant. Alucard raised his head to cast an insistent gaze upon the proud woman.

"I am..." She refused to -even for a brief moment- register the fact that her voice wavered subtly; it was something only she was ever entitled to be aware of. "I am already an old woman," she reiterated, mustering again the fearsome strength of character she had always wielded. Those words were probably self-explanatory, weren't they?

"That is fine," he only offered back, a ghost of a grin playing about his lips.

Involuntarily, a faint, proud grin settled upon Integra's lips as well. She exhaled slowly and chuckled for a very brief second.

She guided her right hand slowly, almost teasingly to press upon her mouth. A slim finger was promptly bit into and a small rivulet of blood escaped the confines of her skin, to brush gently as it flowed away from the small wound.

Alucard's lips curled up. He inhaled avidly, savoring the scent of Integra's pristine, virgin blood as it invaded his keen nostrils. His mouth opened slightly by mere instinct. His –too delicious looking, albeit dead- lips parted to reveal his alabaster fangs as they slowly slid into view.

Integra stretched her arm and Alucard's eyes followed the limb as though it contained the drink of life itself; which, in his case, was not really far from the truth.

He stared intently as the few drops of opulent –in more ways than one- drops tantalizingly hovered above him. Her hand placed there... She was blatantly teasing him. Alucard let out a pained breath he was in no need of whatsoever and blinked once.

"Welcome back, Count." She smiled widely, suavely. It was clearly uncharacteristic of the always cold Integra Hellsing to offer such a meek –and yet still austere- curving of her lips.

He did not hesitate to acknowledge her words. "I am home, Countess," he dawdled and slowly rolled his long, tongue out, athirst for blood.

Each drop that fell into the cavern of his welcoming mouth was more that he could ever ask for. Bliss and completeness in a world void of any sentiment, such as his world was.

He had returned. Returned to His Master, Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. And... the taste of her blood was exactly what he had yearned- and more.

Her firm, commanding presence had always been the light in his never ending darkness after the very deciding moment during which they met. The promise of tasting her blood was the water in the vast, endless desert of his soul— Soul…? Did he really still retain one? Most likely not. Even so, Alucard couldn't help but savor the sweet, fulfilling taste.

The next few seconds elapsed in such velocity that it was impossible to properly keep track of. He was suddenly standing proudly, towering above her, pale lips dusted with the scarlet red of the blood she had just offered to quench his thirst.

Integra faintly thought she heard a low growl emanating from the vampire before her. And then all sense of reality was long relinquished in a brewing storm she had currently no hope of escaping.

His lips brushed upon hers lightly. Not more than a second after he pressed upon her with a degree of intensity he did not even bother to keep in check. Integra's permission was never even asked. And yet, there she was, submitted under his forceful kiss. She could even smell, slightly taste her own blood -a salty, irony substance- crawling out of his mouth to reach hers as his tongue passed through his lips to claim her own.

She was well aware that, despite that he was the most horrendous monster, the most powerful being in known existence, she still retained a very satisfying degree of authority upon him.

Before his tongue could part her lips apart, she bit stubbornly—

"You—!" she protested, gasping for air whilst trying to shove the male away. "How dare you! How dare you, servant?"

"Dare?" he parroted, a smug smirk of mirth registering upon his lips. "Oh Master, do not pretend you—"

His words died in his tongue, as the force of an angry slap met the side of his face. He did not waver nor retreat. He remained firmly in place. He could not be hurt by something as menial as a mere slap, naturally. The woman knew that all too well. Alucard could not inhibit the grin that spread his lips apart and the low chuckle that slipped past his mouth.

"You dare touch me, monster!?" she spat out crossly. She uttered no more words, but Alucard new a thunderous mayhem was raging inside her. As much as he searched his nous, he found no apparent qualms about reading his Master's thoughts.

"You...you... dare touch me in such a vulgar way... with these filthy lips of yours. Those lips… you have blemished souls of mortal and undead with. Those lips you have taken lives of many with. Cut through flesh, smeared and abolished any last bits of innocence. You have butchered, claimed , conquered... and—"

"Killed," he finished for her inner monologue out loud. Integra's frosty eyes widened slightly in understanding. No thought could be kept private before him.

Alucard slowly turn his head again to grace her with a firm, meaningful stare. "My Master, do not fool yourself. I may have done exactly what you so vividly imagined. Truthfully, I have committed far worse tragedies and crimes than a human mind could fathom." He paused only for a second. "Yes. I have indeed killed. Slaughtered, breached flesh and bones. Cut throats and drank plenteous amounts of blood from men, women and children alike. Tarnished virgins. I have taken away life itself with those lips you speak of. However..."

He heaved a dramatic sigh, refusing to avert his gaze from hers.

"I was under the impression that the meeting of lips was still considered an intimate gesture. A declaration of something that cannot be seen and yet can be felt vividly and passionately. Is the change of circumstances throughout the years that pronounced?"

He was only met with Integra's frigid and austere glare.

"I find real beauty in the age your shoulders carry, in the subtle wrinkle of your skin. You are truly a beautiful woman, Integra." He slowly raised an arm, but he dared not place it on her— yet. "I want to claim you, Master—No, Integra. I always did. Now that time has left his mark upon you, I am once again reminded of what kind of woman you are."

"And what kind of woman am I?" she challenged, almost bitterly.

Alucard neared, but Integra made no move to distance herself. He slowly leaned towards her ear and whispered; right then he was the very personification of temptation. "A worthy one. An iron maiden. A woman I want to mark as mine. My woman, Integra," he wasted no time to finally add, "My Master."

Integra could not help but lock her eyes upon the creature in search of... what was she searching for exactly? She knew that she dearly missed him, as horrendous as the realization was by itself.

She hardly resisted the urge to heave a deep sigh. Her father had warned her about the monsters of the dark. And Alucard was exactly that. A monster. A crying child, begging for death that, Integra now knew, would probably never be given to Alucard. He would never taste catharsis, he would never meet his salvation.

She pitied him. And yet she didn't. In a strange way she felt affection towards the beast—no, man that was standing before her. She released a weary, pensive breath and cast an emotionless stare upon the lips that just previously assaulted hers.

For him there was no future. There was only... always. He was a cursed being. Doomed to walk along the passage of cruel time and see things pass and go, fleeting, transparent breezes of forgotten yesterdays and tomorrows. He was doomed to live, if that could be ever called living, it all, doomed to bear witness as the earth itself withers away.

Regardless of all this misery, Integra, old Integra Hellsing, opted to momentarily pretend to have forgotten her rightful place and his own place and her plight. She graced Alucard with a faint, but hearty and honest smile.

Author's Note

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea where that came from. I never considered myself capable enough to grasp the Hellsing characters in a satisfying -at least for me- way. I can only hope the characters were kept as they were supposed to. I really need to point out that this is my very first try at writing a Hellsing story, so forgive any mishaps on my part. Also, I do hope that the words Integra and Alucard used did not seem unnatural. I always thought of those two, especially Alucard, speaking in a formal manner. After all he is very old and Integra is a proper, albeit very fierce, Noblewoman. And yet, I don't think I am that good as to completely succeed into placing the words I want in their mouths. At any rate, please excuse any grammatical errors!

Oh, and I do know that Seras must have been somewhere around in that scene, after barging through the door, but I have to ask you to make do with what my imagination fabricated and simply enjoy the precious moment.

Thanks for reading! If you liked my attempt I hope that you can, please, leave me with your thoughts.