Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing. Duh.
Oh, FYI: all my stories take place in a certain order. This story is designed to follow "Bound by Blood" but you can read it on your own and understand what's going on. Bound by Blood just gives a bit of insight into the way Seras is now, how developed her powers are, etc. Well, enjoy! Feel free to criticize, flame, make suggestions... whatever. I'm open to anything.
Seras Victoria coughed, her blood spurting from her mouth as she wretched onto the grass. Her whole body was violently shaking, her head pounding furiously.
"Come one, Police Girl. This isn't over."
Seras looked up, blinking. Towering over her was her master, clad in crimson garments, his hat and glasses blown away by recent shootings, the long black hair, ebbing down his back as his eyes glinted ominously. Seras tried to rise, to stand tall at his side, but her knees were still too weak. She stumbled, falling forward.
Alucard caught her, gripping her upper arm firmly and pulling her upward. He did not release her until she had caught her balance.
But Seras still felt weak. Her stomach was quivering, ready to empty it's self for what felt like the hundredth time that evening. She tried to keep her body from trembling.
"Relax, Police Girl," Alucard said calmly, keeping his eye on her to ensure that she did not fall again. "It's just an aftereffect of the poison. You should be feeling normal within the hour."
Seras clutched her mouth, holding the blood down. She swallowed hard and glared up at her master, saying, "Your definition of normal rarely lines up with that of others."
"Shouldn't you be saving your strength?" he spat, glaring right back at her, but not without a hint of amusement in his voice.
"I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if you had warned me about the poison blades!" she replied angrily, standing a little straighter.
Alucard sighed in annoyance. "I thought for sure you had sensed them. Even a-!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Seras replied, wincing as a shudder overtook her body. "Even a fledgling should have been able to sense them."
"Then why didn't you?"
"I was still half-asleep!" Seras snapped, eyeing him with loathing. "You woke me up, teleported me into the middle of this hell-hole and then expected me to be in top condition?" Seras laughed harshly. "You're idea of a joke?"
"I still find it somewhat amusing..." he said, almost to himself.
The look Seras gave him could have frozen a river. Unfortunately, Alucard only seemed all the more amused.
"You still haven't told me what's going on," she murmured, letting the fight go. "All of a sudden, I'm in the middle of this field surrounded by pathetic little vampires! Care to explain?"
"Not particularly," he replied, wiping a smudge of blood from the side of the Jackal. Sensing her emotions at the response, he added, "Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to change that. You're in no condition to defy me. Now just follow my instructions, like a good little girl." He turned on the spot and began walking through the tall grass.
Seras glared at him with all the strength she had left, willing him to die on the spot. However, she knew he spoke the truth. Her shoulders slumped as she hitched up her Harkonnen cannon from where she had dropped it on the ground and trotted off after him, still resisting the urge to faint.
As they walked along, the only sound that could be heard was the faint mumbling of Seras as she cursed her master under her breath, knowing full-well that he could hear her perfectly. After one particularly gruesome and detailed description of his most slow and painful death, Alucard glanced back at Seras, lightly remarking, "And just when do you think I will give you the chance to carry out such an elaborate scheme?"
Seras seized the moment of broken silence to ask, "Master, what are we looking for?"
"Nothing you'll be able to see," he replied, turning his head from her once more.
Seras frowned. "Then why am I here?" she asked, thinking longingly of the soft velvet lined coffin that awaited her back at the Hellsing Manor.
Alucard looked at her briefly before saying, "Police Girl, what did you notice about those vampires?"
"Well, there were a lot of them in one place..." she said thoughtfully. "That's pretty unusual. They aren't usually so compatible."
"What else did you notice?"
"They wore strange clothes, like something out of a museum," she replied, struggling to remember everything about the battle that had just taken place.
"Very good, Police Girl," Alucard said, smiling darkly. "Those vampires were not of this time."
"Not of this time?" Seras asked blankly. "You mean, like time travelers?"
"Something like that," Alucard replied, shrugging.
"So, how did they get here? Can all vampires time travel?"
"Vampires cannot "time travel" on their own," Alucard returned, openly annoyed with her simplistic questions.
"Then how...?"
"That's what we are trying to find out, isn't it?" Alucard said coldly. He seemed to be looking for something, his crimson eyes scanning the surrounding area carefully. Then he stopped walking altogether and grinned broadly.
"Police Girl, do you sense anything?"
Seras closed her eyes and concentrated, allowing her vampiric senses to wander. Something dark was lurking in the trees, but the aura it gave off was so faint she almost didn't notice it.
"Over there?" she asked pointing in the direction she had felt it.
Alucard nodded his approval. "We call it a daiv," he told her, pulling out his gun. "They're very uncommon, particularly in this day and age. They are fierce and powerful creatures, though not overly intelligent, and they possess the ability to create holes in time. I once owned one, actually."
"So, that's what's letting all the vampires through?"
"Yes," Alucard replied, walking toward to the trees. "Be at the ready, Police Girl. Don't let it catch you off guard."
Seras swallowed and nodded, loading her Harkonnen cannon and taking aim, awaiting the appearance of the daiv.
Alucard stepped into the shadows and all was silent. Seras waited, trying to keep herself from shaking as the affects of the poison continued to wear off. For a long time, the world seemed to stand still.
And then, a gunshot echoed through the night. Something large and hulking crashed through the underbrush, heading for the field, for Seras. She placed her finger on the trigger of the Harkonnen, waiting for the beast to show itself.
With a roar, it bounded from the trees, splintering wood as it went, it's red eyes shining like lamps in the dark. Seras pulled the trigger and... nothing happened. An empty click resounded in the base of the gun.
"Dammit!" Seras shouted, smashing the side of the cannon with her fist. The daiv was drawing steadily closer.
"C'mon! Work!" Seras said angrily, hitting it harder. The approaching beast was getting far too close for comfort. She could already see it's yellowed fangs dripping with saliva.
Suddenly, something clunked. The shell shifted into place. "Brilliant!" Seras exclaimed, taking aim once again. It was only then that she realized how close to the daiv she was. It lunged. She fired.
The daiv dodged the massive bullet and siezed the gun, crushing it in it's massive jaws. Seras felt a pang of fury as she watched bits of metal shower the soft earth.
"Walter made that for me!" she said furiously, launching herself at the beast.
"Police Girl! Don't touch it!"
Alucard's voice sounded so distant as she dug her fangs into the thick black pelt, viciously tearing at the flesh beneath.
"Police Girl!"
She felt Alucard grab her wrist. She kicked him away from her, and Alucard, not expecting an attack from his own fledgling, was caught off guard. He released her, and Seras dug her hands deeper into the bloody fur beneath her, gouging the muscles it protected.
And with a pitiful howl, the daiv plunged into the dark stream of time, taking it's unwanted passenger with it.
Alucard recovered in time to see the beast and his fledgling vanish into nothing.
"No," he whispered, dashing to the place they had just stood. "Seras!" he called into the empty air. "SERAS!"
Alucard sighed, knowing exactly what had happened. Seras was brave, he'd give her that. But also incredibly stupid! He'd warned her not to touch it! And now the daiv had dragged her into the farthest reaches of time, where not even Alucard could reach her. Not without assistance anyway...