A/N: Okay, okay. Kill me now. I haven't updated for the whole summer. There just hasn't been time. Between taking care of my post-surgery mother, and going to doctor/physical therapy appointments after a recent car accident, I just haven't really been able to sit down and type.
So kill me.
Thank you ever so much to my newest reviewers:
-StaySee
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-black-lotusblossom
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And many thanks to all of my readers and reviewers thus far.
Enjoy the chapter. Replay
A Hellsing Fanfiction
By Lady Hito
Chapter Fifteen
Alucard watched as Seras followed Walter out, his back still to his master.
Integra observed her vampire servant through her spectacles for a moment before pulling the cigar from her lips. "Alucard, turn around."
He obeyed, walking the few steps to her desk. "Yes?"
After another moment of observing the Nosferatu, Integra spoke again. "Is something the matter, Alucard?"
"What do you mean?" Alucard's reply was spoken just as slowly as the question was asked.
"You seem…bothered by Seras Victoria's return. Do you no longer wish to work with your fledgling?"
Alucard didn't answer for a moment, settling for looking straight at his master through his tinted spectacles instead. Finally, he spoke into the blonde's mind as he phased through the floor of her office.
I will work with whomever you decide to choose to work with me, Master.
"The day's just not starting off the way I'd like it to." Seras murmured, after a moment's pause.
Walter nodded. "We all have those mornings. Anything I can do to help?"
Seras shook her head. "It's fine, Walter. Really."
"Well, if there's anything you want me to do, just say the word, Miss Victoria."
Seras gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Walter."
Anderson paced back and forth inside his hotel room. His plan, he was sure, would work, and soon, he would be able to retrieve his sister, Elizabeth, back from Integra Hellsing. It irritated him that he had to devise a plan, quickly, to help Liz. If Maxwell hadn't ordered it, he would've just left her to escape on her own.
The anticipated knock came just as the paladin paused in his pacing. He opened the door and was greeted by one of the newly recruited members of Section Thirteen.
"He's in the car, sir."
Anderson nodded. "I'll be out in a moment." He dismissed the young boy, who couldn't be more than eighteen, by slamming the door shut in his face.
"Let's meet this Antony Vaughn…" He flashed a malevolent smile in the mirror before heading out the door and out to where the wealthy businessman was being held.
They arrived at Hellsing manor a bit sooner than Seras would've liked. The peace and quiet in the car ride had been a nice reprieve for the young blonde.
As if sensing her reluctance to exit the car, Walter placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to come in right away, Miss Victoria."
Seras returned his friendly and knowing smile, dropping her eyes to her lap. Perhaps a bit of quiet thinking time to herself would help her to de-stress a bit. "Just ten minutes, please, Walter."
The caretaker nodded and, understanding the worried girl's need to be alone, opened the door on his side, placing a foot out of the car. "As much time as you need, Miss Victoria. I'll be outside."
"They're late." Integra impatiently tapped her foot as she sat back in her office chair. Her eyes would occasionally shift over to where the tall grandfather clock stood, ticking away the seconds. She had given Walter strict orders to have the former Hellsing vampire in the room she currently occupied by ten o'clock—now, it was seventeen minutes past ten, and the pair was no where to be seen.
"I'm sure they've merely run into a little trouble." Alucard suggested. "Or, she doesn't wish to come back to her former job."
"Hm." Integra's lips were set in a grim line as she fiddled around on her cluttered desk for her box of cigars. It took a moment, but finally, she found one, and now faced the task of locating her lighter.
Alucard watched on, amused, as his master fumbled around for the lighter. Of course, the Nosferatu knew where the object currently evading the blonde was—he just liked watching her futile attempts at finding it. When at last he grew bored of the "entertainment," he spoke.
"In your drawer." His words were accompanied with a slight lifting of the corners of his lips.
Integra eyed him coldly while her right hand opened the drawer and closed around the lighter inside. "You seem amused."
"Your way of finding misplaced items never ceases to make me chuckle inside."
The young Hellsing took a long drag of her newly lighted cigar before replying. "Trust me, Alucard, if you were human, you'd be the same."
"Oh, but of course."
She heard the hint of sarcasm in his voice, but didn't bother with a retort, instead staying silent for the rest of the time whilst awaiting the overdue arrival of Seras Victoria and Walter.
At last, when the hands of the grandfather clock showed that it was ten thirty-five, the door creaked open and the two walked in.
"Good morning." Seras greeted, glancing at both Integra and the vampire that stood leaning against the wall a few feet away.
There was a rather awkward silence at first, where the Hellsing took yet another long drag of her cigar before speaking. The first words out of her mouth were,
"You're late."
"I apologize—"
"It was my fault." Seras cut Walter off. "I…asked for a bit of time to myself before we went in."
Integra didn't look any more convinced than she had a moment before, and she didn't bother to question either of them any further, instead taking a third long drag of her large cigar.
"So I assume you've read the contents of the envelope I gave you yesterday?" Integra inquired, her tone weary yet at the same time sharp.
"Um…I've gotten through most of it. I fell asleep late last night in the middle of my reading, and I really didn't have time to—"
"But you've grasped the understanding of what Hellsing strives to do, yes?" Integra cut her off.
It took a moment for Seras to recover from being interrupted so abruptly, and her answer came as a stutter. "I…yes, I-I believe so."
"Have you, or haven't you?" Integra was getting a bit testy. They had already made her wait for thirty-five minutes, and now seemed to want to waste even more of her time with ridiculous answers to her straight-forward questions.
"Yes, I have." Seras' own tone was beginning to show some of her irritation. The whole conversation was frustrating her even more than it seemed to already have frustrated the Hellsing.
A short, but almost cold silence followed her reply.
"Good." Integra broke the silence, putting out the half-burnt cigar in the ashtray by her right wrist. "That will be all for now."
"Thank you for your time." Seras spoke lightly, but her eyes held a coldness that could've challenged that of the lead Hellsing's.
"Walter will show you out again." Integra went back to the papers on her desk, signifying that the conversation was over.
Seras turned to follow the old caretaker out. "Have a nice day."