The second I started watchin Black Lagoon, I immediately saw the similarities between Balalaika and Integra from Hellsing. Both of them are women built of iron. I can well imagine them sitting across from one another talking politics or something or other, but each of them watching the other like they were pure enemies. This meeting takes place after the Vampire Twins incident and after the Valentine Brothers assault on Hellsing HQ. Enjoy.

Part 1

Everyone knew that when one of Hotel Moscow's men went missing, there was bound to be trouble. You didn't mess with Hotel Moscow and expect to escape untouched. The Russian Mafia would obviously have something to say about the event. Then there was the story of the outsider, dragged in by Balalaika and her gang of former spec ops soldiers. He'd arrived in Roanapur a few days before the disappearance, apparently on some business. An uneventful man, looking for information, then vanishing into the night. There had been talk that he'd been at the scene of the contact's disappearance and had been seen with a sniper rifle as well. So, naturally, Balalaika's men had found him, looking for a plane to Beijing and from there to London, and brought him back. That had been some time ago. Now there was talk of murder, blackmail and, much to most people's horror, a vendetta with some foreign agency. That meant something like the CIA, or MI-5 or worse, the Chinese Military Intelligence. Whatever it was, the city could not afford another war, a war not unlike the one that had sprung up during the rampage of the vampire twins.

--------

"So, I heard that the police had been bribed by this guy. Basically he said stay away from this one alleyway is all, then he goes out and next morning, poof, the contact's gone. Sister Yolanda reckons that this was when he went out and he took the guy hostage, then killed him and disposed of the body."

"You're so full of bullshit Eda."

Eda was out of the habit, so to speak, and wearing her alternate pink string vest, white shorts and of course, her pink sunglasses. Her companions at the bar counter were Revy, a member of the Lagoon company, Rock, her straight-laced colleague and, of course, barman Bao. The crew had come here to try and recuperate after the nightmare that was the vampire twins. The city had returned to a state of normalcy, but there was an air around the place, like someone had had an intense fireworks display and then it ended abruptly. Like any time after a firefight. Right now, Eda was talking about the recent disappearance and the capture of the outsider by Balalaika and her crew.

--------

Revy chugged down another glass of Bacardi, just as Eda protested loudly, then continued with her story.

"Why do you still hang with this piece of crap Rock? You know if you ever want better treatment than you're getting, then you know where to find me doncha?"

"Get on with what you're fuckin' talkin' about Eda!" Revy ground out between her clenched teeth.

"Sheesh, don't get your panties in a twist, Revy. Look, basically what the deal is that once Balalaika's guys found out about this guy, they took him in pretty quickly. But here's the thing, he was packing a lot of powerful heat, including a .50 cal sniper rifle. With some pretty weird looking rounds."

Rock surprised himself by paying attention. Normally whenever the two girls talked it was about guns or jobs, neither of which really interested him. For some reason this story did. "What kind of weird are we talking about?"

Eda grinned, her glasses making the gesture look exceptionally predatory. "Silver coated rounds, explosive rounds and all of them untraceable."

Bao spoke what everyone was thinking. "What in hells name is someone doing with stuff like that?

"Beats me," Revy stated, "but the guy was seriously asking for it if he thought that Balalaika wouldn't come down on him like a ton of bricks once he killed one of her guys."

Eda lit a cigarette. "Well, I don't think he knew. Word on the street is that he was asking about the Vampire Twins."

Revy glanced at Rock. Sure enough, he'd flinched at the sound of their name. One of the Vampire Twins had used the Lagoon company as a way of escaping the city after her brother had been killed by Balalaika. On the orders of Hotel Moscow, she'd been shot on the dock of their destination. But they'd conducted a slaughter throughout the entire city, killing indiscriminately and conducting horrific acts of violence on captured prisoners. Rock was the only one who'd seen them as more than just savage killers, seeing a pair of frightened, angry children striking back at their cruel world. Revy pitied him, he wouldn't last very long unless he learned that sometimes it was kill or be killed.

"So, has Balalaika killed him yet?" Rock asked, trying to change the subject.

---------

"Not sure." Eda began, "He's part of some outside organization, they may be looking for him back. I think Fry-Face is going to try and ransom him. But I don't know if that'll happen…"

The doors of the Yellow Flag flew open. Everyone in the bar gaped as three newcomers came in. The one in the lead was very tall, at least six foot six, wearing a long red trench coat over what looked like a Victorian style suit. On top of his mane of wild black hair he wore a red wide brimmed hat with a pair of yellow sunglasses. His skin was deathly pale and his teeth were bared in a grin that radiated savage glee. On his hands he wore a pair of white gloves with a pair of strange symbols etched on them. At his side was a petite, bosomy, blonde woman dressed in a yellow type of uniform, with long white stockings coming up out of her military grade boots. Her blonde hair was pulled back into an unruly ponytail and she had a nervous expression on her face. Clearly not someone who'd been to this kind of city before. The other man with them was taller than most, though he looked like a midget compared to the man in red, with long braided brown hair hanging down his back. He was dressed in the typical mix of military and various others garb that most mercenaries wore, with an eye patch over his left eye. The man in the centre, still grinning, walked in like he owned the place, the nervous girl at his side looking like she really didn't want to be there. The one eyed man had managed to slip into the place, walking in such a fashion as to not really attract attention. The three walked up to the bar and sat down. Right next to Revy and Eda. Rock could literally sense Revy starting to boil.

----------

Bao nervously walked up to the three and asked, "What'll it be?"

"What have you got that's red and sweet?" was the response from the red clad man.

"Whiskey, sil vous plait." Was the genial request from the French one eyed man.

The nervous girl looked relieved to finally have a chance to do something other than fidget. "Can I have a Bloody Mary?"

The one eyed man turned and looked around the bar, then caught sight of Eda sitting on his right. "Bonsoir mademoiselle, what does a woman like you like to drink?"

Eda smirked. "You like whiskey, doncha?"

"Sure."

"Ever drunk Jack Daniels?"

As the Frenchman opened his mouth, the tall man in red spoke. "We're on business Captain Bernadette, keep that in mind."

"Zut alors Alucard, do you have to say things like that right now?"

Revy tensed, and Rock nudged her shoulder before muttering, "What's the problem?"

Revy barely turned from her drink before she answerd, "Something about this guy rubs me the wrong way. There's something wrong here."

"I hear you," Rock replied, "it's like he knows he's in a hornets nest and he's waiting for the first person to start something."

"Well, if he ain't careful, I'll blow his fuckin' brains out. Started and finished in a matter of seconds."

Captain Bernadette turned back to Eda. "Sorry mademoiselle, but maybe I can buy you that drink after this is done, yes?"

"I guess."

----------

Bao delivered the drinks, red wine for the tall red clad man, a Bloody Mary for the nervous girl and the whiskey (Jamesons Irish) for the Captain. Alucard took a quick sip of his red wine, then paused.

"Is there really blood in that drink Police Girl, or did I just mishear you?"

He grabbed her drink out of her hand and took a sniff.

Police Girl was a little indignant to say the least. "No Master, it's tomato juice."

Alucard's lips twitched up in a sneer. "Then get a proper drink. Red wine sooths the palate and prepares it for more delectable fare."

Suprisingly, the Police Girl lowered her head in shame. "Sorry Master."

Alucard seemed a little taken aback by this. "It was just a suggestion."

"Hey, wimpy chick!" Revy had had enough of this. "What do you take that shit from this fuckin' creep?"

Revy couldn't see it, but a smile grew on Alucard's face. "Ah, the bar scum intrudes. How quaint. Tell me, bar scum, what do you want?"

Revy began to steam and most of the patrons in the bar began to take cover. Rock however, just sighed.

"What the fuck did you just call me?"

At this point Rock demonstrated why he was the only negotiator that the gangs trusted. "We don't particularly like it when strangers insult our drinking haunts. Where are you guys from anyway?"

The Police Girl perked up immediately. "We're from London!"

"We work for the Hellsing Organization." Captain Bernadette took up, "We're looking to get in touch with Miss Balalaika of Hotel Moscow."

Revy was surprised enough to lose interest in a fight. "Balalaika? What do you want with Miss Balalaika?"

Eda jabbed her in the arm. "The captive." She whispered.

"You're right about that. Sir Integra is rather upset about the Mafia's involvement in our work." Alucard had, apparently, very good ears. "We want to discuss the release of our prisoner, according to Sir Integra, with the minimum of fuss." He sounded disgusted with that.

Revy burst out into laughter. "You want to meet with Balalaika to discuss prisoner release. That's a laugh. Balalaika doesn't negotiate much."

Alucard grinned. "Neither does Sir Integra. Just tell us where we can find her."

"This I gotta see."

Like it, hate it, please let me know. I've done my best to keep all the characters in character. I think that Revy and Alucard would fry each others nerves withint two seconds. Revy hates guys who act like they're better than anyone, so Alucards overbearing manner would rile her up in seconds.