It had been an exhausting week for the young Hellsing leader. Vampire attacks followed by ghoul attacks followed by more vampire attacks, the whole experience left Integra feeling completely numb. She was still rather green in this whole ghoul business. She had no qualms about killing them, but she could not stop thinking about the number of fatalities after each mission was accomplished. Just what were they accomplishing? She knew in her mind that without the Hellsing Organization there to fight and kill the vampires and their undead armies, the number of dead would be much higher. Still, it was hard for her to believe she was making a difference.

The final reports completed, the 16 year old Integra leaned back in her plush office chair, massaging her temples. She was so tired, and yet her mind was racing: reading over reports long since laid down, thinking about the body count, the supplies used and the supplies that needed to be ordered. I just need a place to relax and take my mind off of this horrid matter, she thought. Standing and walking around the desk, Integra knew just the place.

She turned the doorknob of one of the double doors and slipped inside the calm room. She slid her hand knowingly down a familiar seam in the wallpaper to her right until her fingers brushed over a brass switch. Flicking it, Integra watched as the library came to life in the glow of the soft lights. It was her favorite place in the mansion to just sit and relax and there were countless books to ease her busy mind.

She chose a book at random from a promising shelf of classics and then lay down on her back, her feet up, on the sofa in front of the fireplace. There was no fire in the hearth this night, but Integra didn't wish for one; she liked the way she seemed to lie in a small spotlight with much of the rest of the room dim and in shadows.

Usually, this last detail about the room would pique the girl's interest as it annoyed her when her servant hid himself among shadows to watch her. This night, however, she did not even think about it. She opened up her book and eased down into the cushions of the sofa as she read the beginning of the first chapter of A Tale of Two Cities, probably one of her most favorite books of all time.

She was in the middle of the second chapter when she dozed off, the book falling limp in her hands. She awoke only when her hands dropped the book completely on her chest. She jerked awake when she felt the new weight come down on her body, then looked placidly around the room in her tired daze. Yawning, she decided she could no longer hold her eyes open; her mind was at ease now and it was alright to retire to bed. She dragged herself into a sitting position, placing the book beside her. She allowed her eyes to close as she debated, while just sitting there and leaning back on the sofa, whether or not to actually bother climbing the steps to her room when she could just as freely sleep here in the library. While she thought it over in her weary stupor, the shadows around the room began to coalesce into one tall and lean form of a man. Integra didn't notice as the newly formed Alucard quietly stepped forward; her eyes were shut and she was dozing again, dreaming of awkward shapes and voices as her brain slowly leaked chemicals to please her mind's ever-conscious eye. Alucard grinned at how damned cute his Master was in this drowsy state. He took the liberty of planting himself down right beside her so close that their thighs brushed. She would never allow such an invasion of her personal space when she was awake, so this was quite an amusing luxury.

With this new weight, the sofa cushions sank down considerably, causing the dozing teenager to slip downward against Alucard's shoulder. She made not a sound as this happened; she showed no signs of waking. Alucard stared down at the little nymph resting on his shoulder and moved in his seat so that he sat lower and could now lay his Master's head on his chest. He smirked, imagining how red she would become if he mentioned this little con during her next tirade of insults. Pulled now into a slightly difficult position, Integra, in her sleep, shifted so that she rested more on her side, her shoulder fitting perfectly just below Alucard's. Her hand came to land on Alucard's chest, but with there being such an incline there, it slipped down and came to rest in his lap, catching Alucard completely off guard. If he had needed to breathe, now is a perfect example of when he would be struck breathless. He trembled slightly, feeling and seeing that soft, delicate hand laying there so heavy in his lap. There had been nights when he would watch her sleep and he would imagine himself being touched like this by her. He would see himself drawing her against him and feeling the heat radiate off her slender body. The lust was sometimes uncontrollable and he suffered long, cold, lonely hours, trying to forget those agonizing fantasies. Now, as his Master lay there against him, unknowingly arousing him more and more just by being there and having her hand resting where it was, he was fighting himself and that lusty animal inside of him. He cursed himself mentally for allowing this little moody sprite to affect him this way. He was some 500 and something years old; he was used to having his way with women and now he was acting like some little pubescent boy. It was degrading!

Just then, a soft moan escaped his Master's lips as she began to stir. He grinned and looked down at her as her eyes slowly opened. She tilted her head up and stared at him drowsily. "Alucard?"

He chuckled. "Master, would you like for me to carry you to your room?"

She yawned and shook her head. "No." She laid her head back down on the back of the sofa, but was seemingly unaware that her hand still rested in Alucard's lap. He chuckled softly again.

"If you insist, you can stay and doze against me for a while longer." He held her gaze for a second before glancing down in his lap where it was becoming obvious that he was still quite a bit aroused. Integra looked down where her hand lay and her eyes widened. Quickly, Alucard dropped his own gloved hand down over Integra's and said, smirking, "I don't mind."

Integra jerked her hand away and pulled back from Alucard, her cheeks blushing copiously. "Um, no! I'm going to bed now!" She turned from him and stood quickly, causing a wave of vertigo to sweep over her tired mind. She stumbled forward and would have fallen if not for Alucard, who quickly reached an arm around Integra's slender waist and pulled her back down so that she was flat across his lap on her back.

"That was close, Master. You could have fallen and hit your head on the mantle. Why don't you just lie down for a bit?" He grinned and Integra flushed even brighter.

"Let me get up, vampire! I'm sure I'm fine now," she argued, struggling to right herself and sit up only to find that when she did, Alucard pulled her back against his chest and planted his legs on either side of her own.

"Master, you were sleeping against me just a moment ago. So peaceful, you were. Now, you fight to get away from me!" he feigned sadness. "What is wrong, my dear Master?"

She grumbled a response, annoyed at being trapped like this and at a time when all she really felt like doing was closing her eyes and letting sleep take her once more. She hadn't thought Alucard would be listening to her thoughts, but, as he leaned back to relax against the sofa's cushions and brought Integra back with him, it was obvious that he had. "Master, why don't you just close your eyes and sleep? I'll make sure you have no bad dreams to wake you up. You've been working so hard lately." Integra sighed and allowed herself to relax. She had succumbed to that feeling of limpness and now it felt that it would take an emergency to make her move a limb. She closed her eyes and let her servant's arms wrap her up tightly and securely. Once again, she allowed exhaustion to have its way and drifted off peacefully into a deep sleep. Alucard grinned incessantly throughout that perfect night, taking small liberties every now and then by playing with his master's golden locks or taking deep, intoxicating sniffs of her hair and flesh. The night was truly wonderful; it was almost as pleasurable as the beginnings of his long and intricate fantasies involving Integra. But he must not think of those…they tended to excite him and then Integra, pressed as closely against him as she is, might awaken and leave…and we wouldn't want that.