Seras Victoria watched Alucard intently.

He was sitting on a bench outside the conference room door, waiting. He looked none too pleased.

Inside, the Convention of Twelve railed.

Seras could just barely hear their voices; Alucard, with his supernatural hearing, could probably hear every word. As the minutes dragged on, Alucard's shoulders slumped, his elbows came to rest on his knees.

The door to the conference room opened up. Seras sank back behind the corner, but continued to spy on. Remaining invisible was very taxing on her immature vampire body, and it commanded most of her concentration to remain undetected.

Walter stepped out of the conference room and gently shut the door behind him. He turned to Alucard, who was now sitting straight up. "She's gathering her things," Walter said, his voice more even and cold than Seras was used to. "You'll be allowed inside in a moment."

Alucard asked, "Don't they want her to testify?"

"Sir Integra can't participate in the deliberation because they consider her a victim." Walter adjusted his monocle, studying Alucard carefully. "They were appalled. They said the very fact she could defend you meant she was a hostage in her own home, that there's an immediate threat to her safety."

Alucard said evenly, "I'm an immediate threat to her safety." It wasn't a question. It was an acknowledgement. It was almost an admission.

Walter added coldly; "Women always blame themselves."

Alucard didn't respond. He just continued to look at Walter. After a moment, the vampire nodded in acknowledgement.

At that moment, the door to the conference opened again. Both the vampire and the butler looked up expectantly as Integra Hellsing walked slowly out. She clutched a folder uselessly to her chest, it's contents hastily brushed aside by the Round Table members. She pointedly stared ahead, refusing to look at anyone.

Alucard stood hesitantly.

Walter stepped forward until he was nearly chest-to-chest with Alucard, practically daring the vampire to try to walk past him.

"They're ready for you, Alucard," Integra announced, almost sounding disinterested, not looking at either of them.

"Master…" Alucard called.

Integra did not turn around. "I did what I could for you, which was more than you deserved. It's out of my hands now. Just go in there and don't fuck up." She continued walking, muttering under her breath; "Fucking idiot. Stupid goddamn..." Suddenly, she turned around at said directly at Alucard, "You're a goddamn idiot!"

Alucard did nothing. His expression was undetecable behind his mirrored yellow lenses.

Seras was cringing, clinging to the wall.

Integra seethed, her fists shaking, "Go in there and don't fuck up!" With that, she walked away, shaking her head.

Alucard looked at Walter, his expression unreadable under his yellow lenses.

Walter had his arms crossed. He glared back at Alucard. "Well? Go in there. They're expecting you."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

There was hush in the conference room as Alucard entered.

The vampire's supernatural black form melted and hovered, at first just two glowing red orbs, then a ghastly white face, and then his lanky fluid body. His mouth pulled back over jagged teeth gleaming like broken mirrors, his red eyes rolled back behind his glasses as if he were a rabid dog eager to rip their throats out. "Good evening," he greeted in the friendliest, most menacing of tones.

Before the vampire was an oblong table where eleven knights sat silent in judgment. At the far end of the table, there was an empty seat; Integra's seat.

The knights who remained were of various ages and had varying degrees of graying hair, but what they had in common were stiff postures and impatient eyes. But even as Alucard stood there, doing and saying nothing, the men began to avert their eyes. It was as if they could not gaze upon Alucard for very long without his threatening essence affecting them.

The only man with a steady gaze was Sir Irons, the senior member and unofficial leader of the Convention of Twelve. He was old, his mouth drawn tightly, his skin sagging, but his shoulders were broad and his jaw square and tense like a man much younger and stronger.

A little apart from the table, an empty chair was placed alone. Alucard eyed it carefully.

Sir Irons addressed Alucard: "Well? Sit down. Let's get this ugly business over with."

Alucard walked over to the chair and sat down, crossing his legs and folding his hands in his lap. He did not remove his hat or his glasses. He sat straight, alert and quiet.

"Do you understand why you are here today?" Sir Irons asked.

"No," Alucard answered. "Honestly."

There was some quiet mummering. "See? No remorse," someone muttered.

Sir Irons asked, "Are you unaware of the accusations against you?"

"I'm unaware how they are your business," Alucard said. "You are meddling in a private affair."

"The Hellsing Organization and the Convention of Twelve exist only at her majesty's pleasure," Irons said. "We don't have private affairs—only state business."

Alucard smirked. "Salacious rumors are the business of the Queen? Ho-ho. Parliament and the Royal family have their share." He lifted his hands in mock surrender. "Can our family not be afforded some privacy as we navigate through difficult times? You understand this is a delicate matter between my master and I."

Sir Irons steepled his hands. "A private, family affair," he repeated thoughtfully. "I don't recall you ever becoming a member of the Hellsing family. You are, at best, a family pet." Sir Irons raised an eyebrow. "Many have joked you are, indeed, a pet. And if you are regulating yourself to the status of a pet, a non-person if you will, then we don't require your input to make a ruling." He opened a file in front of him on the table. "Sir Integra, for instance, insists that you are an animal, incapable of knowing right from wrong. Any misdeeds you commit, she concludes, are hers to take responsibility for." He looked back up at Alucard. "We agree."

Alucard said, "Whatever you decide won't make any difference. I only have one master." He glared at each knight in turn. "You can come to whatever conclusion you wish, no matter how ignorant: your decisions have no impact on me. You can't impose a punishment."

"Yes, that's correct," Sir Irons agreed. "That duty lies solely with Sir Integra. And she refuses to perform her duty to keep you controlled, even though you have demonstrated you are an immediate threat against her life and you threaten the security of our nation. Either she is complacent with your disobedient behavior or she's frightened of you and you're beyond her ability to command. This puts us in a very awkward and unfair position of having to force Sir Integra to relinquish the Hellsing Organization and strip her of her knighthood."

Behind his mirrored glasses, Alucard blinked.

"Unless you can give us some compelling reason why we shouldn't," Sir Irons finished. "As it stands, Sir Integra has defended you passionately. She takes full responsibility." Irons leaned forward. "So which? Is she incompetent? Or is she frightened of you and protecting herself from you?"

Alucard's gloved fingers dug into the arms of the chair.

Sir Irons leafed through a file infront of him. "Or…is she the blonde on the other end of the webcam? Is she…playing this webcam operator thing up because she's embarrassed she was caught fingering herself for a vampire?"

At that, Alucard bolted upright from his chair. "If you call my master a coward or a slut again…!"

"I believe you called her a slut first," Irons calmly pointed out.

Sir Penwood nervously fidgeted with his tie. "Hugh, please…"

"You bastard!" Alucard snarled, his eyes glowering, the room becoming black behind him. In his shadows, eerie red eyes began to open, focusing on the alarmed knights.

Sir Irons flipped a page, ignoring Alucard's display. "'Suck my cock,'" he read casually, "'Suck my cock, you slut. Just accept it. Its going down your throat whether you like it or not. Deeper. Deeper. Yes, that's it my master. Surrender to me.'" Sir Irons peered over his papers, an eyebrow raised at Alucard. "This is the transcript of your chat history on , isn't it? You acted out a perverse, deviant sexual fantasy of raping Sir Integra."

Alucard didn't answer. He shook with rage, his hair flowing behind him like a nest of snakes, his coat billowing in a non-existent wind, his familiars hissing and slithering unseen.

Sir Irons waited. When Alucard didn't respond, he added, "Several times."

Alucard said nothing.

Sir Irons waited for a little while longer, but Alucard said nothing in his defense. He said, "The purpose of this inquiry is to frame these events into a cognitive narrative. Based on our findings, we will make a ruling in regards to you, Sir Integra's future as Director and Hellsing's continued existence in general if we can permit it." He gestured to the chair. "Now, if you'll take a seat. I imagine we'll be here for a while."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

To be continued.