Close Quarters

Ketti: ZOMIGAWD A NEW FIC. How dare I, right? Pff, well. Blame JuJu. She demanded I post chapter one last night. I didn't. So I'll do it now. And I haven't fully plotted this all yet beyond the vague 'ohwhatatwist' at the end. So make sure y'all tell JuJu and Lithi to poke me with sticks when I'm not typing fast enough.

Seras Victoria woke, screaming, as a crushing wave of something passed over and through her sleeping form. Eyes burning red as blood, the blonde leaped from her coffin, phasing through the wood without a second thought just in time to avoid the a support beam crashing down from the ceiling and through her wooden bed. Heart pumping a mile a minute, her fingers and toes flexed, instincts roaring in her ears to get out, get out now!

'Master?!' She yelped into their connection as she dodged a second beam, only to squint her eyes shut and force herself to phase a second time as her wardrobe toppled over in what would have been a pinning move. There was no immediate answer, but she sensed that something was wrong, and her room was a death trap – no pun intended – so she grabbed the frame from the floor – the glass hadn't broken, amazingly enough – and bolted into the hallway. The floor buckled and she screamed as it suddenly collapsed, sending her into the lower level just above her Master's rooms. The next shockwave of something… it felt… the power knocked her off her feet and she hit the floor face first, picture frame still amazingly intact. Groaning, she pushed herself up to her hands and knees, wincing as she pushed her broken nose back into place, before bolting down the hallway as she heard an ominous creaking sound overhead. Coherent thought gone in her adrenaline fueled panic, the fledgling's instincts screamed at her to get to the surface, above ground, but the louder voice of her vampire self warned her that it was still daylight out there. Torn, she whimpered, but as the next surge hit, she dove desperately through the floor to land in a graceless heap at her Master's feet in his massive room. She looked up at the man, shocked to see him gripping his head while the runes on his gloves glowed as brightly as his eyes. "Master!"

Her wide eyes widened further as she saw the sparks flying from his left glove, watching with horrified amazement as one of the runes surrounding the pentagram began to crack and peel away from the white cloth, disintegrating into thin air. The next wave of her Master's powers sent her flying back into the far wall, and the pressure made her scream as bones compressed and she doubled over as three of her ribs snapped. Desperate, the floodgates of her meager powers opened and a shaky shadow wall formed around her, a feeble shield, like sprinkling water into a raging fire.

To her relief, she felt the connection in her head jumpstart and the battering waves of untamed force halted, leaving the much abused blonde in a heap on the stone floor, breathing raggedly despite the unnecessarity of it – she was a vampire, after all, and though her heart still beat to circulate the stolen blood, she was a dead thing, walking and talking only by some profane power.

'Master?'She whimpered weakly, trembling as her muscles twitched and flexed to repair the damage, and it took nearly all her remaining strength to crane her head up and observe the still form of the red clad man. After a moment, his eyes opened – when had they closed? – and the look her gave her was undecipherable as he strode over on silent feet to crouch in front of her, frowning. "Police Girl."

She cracked a smile at him, vision blurring, "I'm glad…You're alright… Master."

She was tired, so tired…

Shivering, she felt her lids close as her body shut down to repair itself, she hadn't been drinking enough blood lately to have used so many of her vampiric traits in the same five minutes.

The last thing she felt before the darkness swallowed her was a pair of hands grasping her under the arms and hefting her up against a warm chest.

"-cceptable! The amount of damage alone!"

Seras stirred, clenching her eyes shut tighter as she sensed the brightness of the room beyond her lids, and turned her face away to nuzzle deeper into her pillow. Her…strangely hard pillow. Grimacing, she cracked an eye open only to squeak and immediately close it at the assault of light, bringing her hands up to cover her sensitive orbs and whine piteously.

Her pillow moved, and the sound of her Master's laughter reached her ears as a gentle weight settled on her head and the soft brim of a hat touched her fingertips. Moving her hands, she clutched the sides of the rather oversized fedora as she tilted her head back to stare up into the amused ginger eyes of her Master. Her cheeks flushed as she realized she was curled up in his lap like a cat, and she turned to observe Sir Integra at her desk, smoking furiously as she glared at the stack of papers littering the wooden surface. Blue met blue as the fledgling peered out from the shade of the hat, and she caught a hint of concern in the Hellsing's eyes before she turned to the side. "Walter."

Seras shivered a bit as she realized that barely a foot separated her from the pool of sunlight that the curtains could not quite reach. As if sensing her concern, a red clad arm wrapped around her waist and tugged her closer to the chest she'd been using as a pillow, and she turned once more to stare up at the face of the man she owed her unlife to. 'Master?' She whispered into their bond, not wishing to disturb him.

Rather than answer, he looked to the side and she followed his gaze to see Walter approaching with a familiar ice bucket – her nose wrinkled the slightest bit, because cold blood was rather bland – and she smiled at him as he nodded his head towards her, reaching into the ice – shivering – and retrieving the medical bag, not even hesitating to sink her fangs into the filmy plastic and drain it of its crimson contents.

Handing the butler the empty pack with a wide smile, she shifted her weight slightly to lean more comfortably against the arm supporting her back, and looked to Sir Integra curiously, "What happened?"

"Something unexpected." She grunted, and turned her gaze to glare at the girl's sire. Alucard nudged Seras further to rest her weight against his chest as he held up his left hand to show the missing portion of the seal on his glove.

Seras' eyes widened as she recalled the release of sheer power that had decimated the lower levels and shivered, rubbing her hands along her arms as she remembered the raw force of it breaking her bones.

"The seal on Alucard's powers is meant to be as eternal as himself, Miss Victoria." Walter supplied helpfully, "with the damage done, it seems even he cannot control it properly."

Her Master huffed and she felt the air tickle the back of her neck, "It is not so simple." He grumbled, offended, "These accursed runes do more than restrict my fun," she couldn't see it, but she was sure he was gracing the humans with his trademark manic grin, "without the proper permission, the Control Art Restriction System would lock my access to the upper levels." He was being surprisingly helpful and willing to talk, Seras noted, but she thought that it injured his pride to be unable to control his own power more than being caged. "With the missing piece, the power flux is sent wild, outside of my body, because the restrictions are still in place." He sounded a little sullen, she thought, and hid a giggle at the thought of him pouting over it, until she sobered as she recalled exactly how destructive the 'out of control' power was.

"And cause thousands of pounds worth of damages." Integra growled, "it's lucky my ancestors prepared for this sort of thing or the whole manor would be collapsed into the basement."

Seras blinked, "Prepared how?"

Walter's lips twitched, "A ten foot thick steel curtain separates the manor from the sub basement levels and acts as a sturdy foundation." Her Master snorted softly, and she wondered idly if perhaps, Integra's great grandfather had ordered his newly chained vampire to do the work himself. "In any case, the basement levels are fairly well trashed, most of the rooms have collapsed in one way or another, the only chamber to survive the chaos unscathed was Alucard's."

The vampire beneath her waved his hand negligently, "The sub levels needed remodeling, anyways." His sharp teeth were bared in a mocking grin that Seras caught sight of from the corner of her eye, and she heard Sir Integra take a forcibly deep breath, perhaps to avoid shooting her servant when he had his own on his lap like an unloving shield.

"Where will Seras stay, then? The manor rooms are out of the question for multiple reasons."

Seras winced a bit, and tipped her head slightly so that the wide brim covered her face.

"I'm afraid Miss Victoria will have to-" "stay with me." Alucard cut in, sounding bored, and his fledgling thought perhaps a bit grudging. His left hand settled on her thigh and squeezed, though she wasn't sure if it was meant as a warning or comfort.

Walter hummed, and she peeked up at him curiously to see a strange expression on his face, "I wondered if that was why you were wearing her like a new fashion trend." The butler's lips curled in a rather cattish grin as he took a step back and bowed before exiting the room.

Seras blinked, then giggled at the mental image. Then she remembered that… "My coffin got crushed," she announced with a huff, "I only got out of it a moment before a support beam collapsed. Now where do I sleep?"

The ominous laughter emanating from her living chair sent chills down her spine. Oh.. Oh, no. No.

'Yes.' He purred into her mind vindictively as he pulled her flush to his chest and rested his chin on her shoulder, "Won't this be cozy?"

Seras paced antsily around the large room, hands crammed firmly into her pockets to keep from ringing them as she observed Walter picking his way cautiously down the hallway through the open door, carrying a small suitcase of Seras' things that he salvaged from her wardrobe. She had a new, much smaller, dresser tucked away on the far side of the room with her precious picture frame perched atop it. To sooth herself, she ran her fingers along the wooden edge, smiling fondly at the image of three humans; two adults and a small blonde child. It was a picture of her fifth birthday when they went out on a picnic, it was the only thing she was allowed to retrieve from her old apartment after she became a member of Hellsing. Partly her Master's orders – "leave your old life behind, Police Girl, you are no longer human." – and partly Sir Integra's. Seras was legally dead, after all, so returning to her apartment after the fact was out of the question.

"Miss Victoria?" Walter questioned, mildly concerned at the far away look on her face, he'd gotten far too close to her, and if he'd been an enemy… Setting the bag down he carefully raised his hand to her shoulder, and she flinched, ducking away from his touch with a startled snarl on her lips. He gave her a kind smile as he patted her shoulder, "I'm afraid it will be a few weeks, at the least, until repairs and remodeling can be finished. But if you need a break, know that I don't mind sharing my room for a day or two."

She grinned back at him, feeling sheepish as he turned to leave, "Walter? Thanks." He nodded and continued on without another word and she sighed as she glumly put away her meager possessions of two replacement uniforms, her pajamas, and a fuzzy pair of lounge pants with a matching tank top – it even had a tank on the chest, and she grinned as she eyed the bullets dancing around the hem – before blushing mildly as she tucked her underwear into the very back of the drawer.

"All moved in, Police Girl?" Her Master cooed mockingly as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and she squeaked, squirming for a moment before going limp. His breathy laughter sent shivers down her spine as the puffs of air tickled the back of her neck. "Master?"

"Hmm?" He hummed, reeling her into his chest and stepping back to drape himself indolently across his throne like chair, "Has Sir Integra found any notes yet on how to fix the seal?" Seras questioned as she squirmed into a more comfortable position atop her sire, he was like silk covered steel and her cheeks flushed a bit as she wiggled about until finally settling for resting her back against his raised knees and – thanking god she wore pants – draping her legs on either side of her Master's chest.

"Not yet." He hummed as he rested a hand on her ankle and she trembled at the sudden surge, as if lightning passed through her skin. Biting her lip to withhold her whimper, she took deep, unnecessary breaths through her nose until the painful feeling faded.

Her Master bared his teeth in a jagged smile as he tightened his grip and pulled until she slid down so that her shoulders rested against his thighs. She squeaked and her blue eyes went wide with mortification, "Master!"

"Mmm, something wrong Police Girl?" 'Afraid Walter will see us in this compromising position?' He mocked, and her face burned as she planted her hands awkwardly on either side of his hips. This was weird! Why was he so…

"What, would you rather I toss you around a little first? I didn't realize you had such violent tendencies, Police Girl."

Spluttering, cheeks rivaling the ripest tomato, she was unprepared for his other hand gripping her ankle and flipping her head first over his chair to land on the floor in an ungraceful heap, arms splayed out protectively to cushion her head as she landed awkwardly, rump high in the air, too dazed to realize the proactive position. Groaning into her arms, she flopped onto her side and looked wearily over her shoulder at the grinning upsidedown face of her sire. "Master, you're mean."