I'm so very sorry, my dearest readers, for the long wait between chapters. But this...I have a lot of writers block on this story, despite all the ideas. Do forgive...:tosses readers cool Alucard sunglasses and keychains: Enjoy!

Chapter Four

Darkness Within; Darkness Without

Vescinthe Martinez walked the streets; his dark eyes alert as he moved thought the huddled slums of New York. He didn't know where in the hell he was going, and at this point, he didn't care. He was just trying to get away from whatever was stalking him. Not that he was afraid, of course, but it was the simple fact that something was watching him that was bothering him. Of course, it could also just be his imagination…he was quite paranoid sometimes…which usually didn't help too much.

He wore a gray hoodie and faded blue jeans, a black gym bag slung over one shoulder. Around his neck was a tiny urn, filled with ashes. He didn't even know why he wore the thing. It was around his neck one morning when he awoke, and he just never took it off. It held some kind of secret that he was eager to find out, it seemed.

He hailed a taxi with one hand, the other buried deep in the pockets on the hoodie itself. The first taxi that came along stopped for him, strange, in the busy city of New York. He hopped in, glad that the damn car had air conditioning as he directed the driver where to go.

"To the airport," he said, resting his head against the back of the seat.

"Which one?" asked the driver as he pulled out into traffic.

"I don't care, pick one. I'll pay you double my fare if you're silent the whole way there too."

The driver said not a word the whole time after that. Vaguely, Vescinthe wondered why he was going to the airport, but he had the sudden urge to go to London, for a yet unknown reason. He shrugged mentally. It's not like he had anything holding him back in the states.

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Integra burst into Alucard's room, walked up to the vampyre, and soundly slapped him across the face. After a few moments, his skin began to redden, and then turn blue, and slowly black. That was seriously going to leave a mark he did not wish to have, though he could rid himself of it at any time. But no, he did not remove it...let Integra have her moment of anger. He did not make some smart-ass comment though, or try to irritate the woman further. He had not seen her that angry in a very long time, and though it was he the anger had been directed at the first time, it was still hard to bear it…sort of.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Integra seethed, her normally pale face contorted red with rage. "You bloody fucking imbecile! You knew the moment her blood touched your lips that she was kin. Don't you DARE tell me that vampyric blood relations don't hold the same bonds as human relations, because I'll know it's a load of posh. You had no right!"

Alucard, properly scolded and slapped, looked down and to the side, staring at the floor as though he could melt through it-which usually he could, but not in this room-it was spelled to keep him in if need be. And his master wanted him in there, so he had no means of escape. Integra continued her tirade though, without avail.

"She's your own daughter, Alucard! You and I both know that, as much as we may not want to believe! I cannot believe you would do that! And the simple fact that you dared drink from a Hellsing, family or not, is enough to make me want to chain your sorry ass back down in the dungeon where I found you! Maybe if I let you sit down there for a couple of decades, you might learn some semblance of decency!"

Alucard looked straight into his master's eyes. "Integra, I am sorry. I did not mean to drink so much from the girl. I have not fed from a living being in a very long time and the hunger was overwhelming, even for me."

Integra's eyes narrowed. "Don't give me that crap, Alucard. I know very well that you can control your hunger when you want to, be it for the rations or for living blood. You just didn't want to…you wanted to watch the girl die, because she had been raised by Anderson!"

Alucard's eyes narrowed this time, and his unusual remorse turned into barely held anger. "I did not want to kill the girl, my Master," he said, a sneer on his face and anger in his voice. "You were right in one respect. She is my flesh and blood, and we vampyres do hold our blood bonds sacred, despite what you humans think. I honestly could not help myself, and now my own daughter will hate me because of it. Do you think I want that? Family means as much to vampyres as it does to humans…probably more, because we live a hell of a lot longer than you do, and our family is few and far between. Some vampyres create many fledglings because of their want for a family, and that is usually all we can get. So when I tell you that I bloody well didn't mean to hurt the girl, I meant it!"

Integra was silent, the anger draining from her like water from a storm drain. She had never really seen Alucard ever be so emotional about someone, not even his precious Police Girl. She paced back and forth in his room, her hands clasped behind her back. Alucard sat down in his carved chair and crossed his arms, placing his hat back on with a nudge from his mind and pulling the brim of said hat down over his glasses-covered eyes. He was not angry anymore, but merely feeling the weariness that was ever present in his mind now-a-days.

He did not speak as his master left his room silently, nor did he move from his seat for the remaining hours of the night, not even when Seras came and knocked on his door.

Integra went to visit her daughter, hoping the girl would be all right.

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Somewhere in China:

Lann Tao sat in the bay window, staring out of the slightly foggy glass. It was raining outside, a depressing sight to most, but something he truly enjoyed himself, and he had the windows thrown open so that the spray from the rain caressed his pale skin. His twin brother, Ren, and their sister, Jun, were downstairs training with their spirit partners, as they perpetually did. See, Lann, along with his brother, sister, and most of his friends, were Shaman. Lann's spirit partner, Saber, was floating just outside the window, letting the rain fall through his ghostly body. Lann smiled at the sight.

Distantly, he heard a knock on the large, echo-y front doors and stood, stretching. The rest of their shaman friends had finally arrived (for what, he didn't know…Jun was the one that had invited them over) and he jogged lightly down several flights of steps to greet them, Saber floating behind him, dripping on the lush oriental carpets once in a while. At the bottom of the steps, he was tackled by his best friends', Yoh and Horohoro, who got him sopping wet and brought down the wrath of his older sister at the same time.

"BOYS!" Jun and Anna said shrilly at the same time, making all the men in the room stiffen like boards. "Stop fooling around and follow us!"

The three friends looked at each other and shrugged, following the women into a long hall with a table that covered about half of that space. Ren was already seated, as was a fellow shaman named Faust and his late wife/spirit partner, Eliza. The boys seated themselves (relatively quietly) around the table, and waited for Jun to start speaking.

"Well, my friends, it seems that we will be going on a little trip…."

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Gabriella opened her eyes groggily. Her head was pounding painfully, and she felt like she had been deflated. Looking around her, she noticed that her mother had fallen asleep next to the bed, her hands wrapped around Gabriella's pale own. Walter was on the other side of the bed, fastening another blood drip to the IV in her hand. He noticed she had awakened, and a warm smile crossed his lips.

"Good Evening, Miss Hellsing," he said softly, so not to wake Integra. "Sir Integra insisted that she be by your side the whole time. She was quite irate with Alucard. So…hungry, are you?"

Gabriella smiled back at him. The lack of blood probably explained the deflated feeling in her body and the pounding headache in her skull. She nodded, and moments later had a blood pack in her hand. She drained the liquid quickly, and then motioned as politely as she could for another one. She was quite thirsty…but that was to be expected, with the amount of blood her father had taken from her. Walter nodded to her as he handed her another blood packet and then backed out of the room…not a moment to soon, either, for Integra woke just then.

"Gabriella?" she said, saying her daughter's name out loud for the first time to the girl's face. "How are you feeling?"

Gabriella finished off the pack in her hand and smiled at her mother. "I feel well, Sir Integra." She said softly. "I've a little headache, but that should be gone in a little while. Are you ok?"

Integra smirked and looked down at herself. Her clothes were wrinkled in the worst way and her hair was completely disheveled, sticking up in some places. She tried not to, but let out a chuckle anyway at her own appearance.

"I'm fine, Gabriella." She said. "A little disheveled maybe, but fine. "

"And Father?"

"I…he…everything's fine, Gabriella.," She said, avoiding the question.

Gabriella could tell that her mother was lying, but she did not push the subject. Despite what her mother might think, she was not afraid of her father, even though he had done such a rude and despicable thing to her. She just wanted them not to fight, and to learn more about the people she was now forced to be around…She wished her papa was there with her so that she could talk to him. Her eyes filled with tears, barely perceptible, but there. Papa was gone for now and her life seemed to be falling apart at the seams.

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Paladin Anderson was riding towards London on the soonest train he could to get to his daughter, when he felt a particularly strong tug at his mind and heart, and knew that the vampyre girl he had called daughter for eighteen some-odd years was thinking about him, or wishing that he was there. He knew that his daughter was with that Hellsing scum (not caring that the vampyre was her real father), and he was worried for her. He decided to employ a talent he hadn't used for years, for he had never had the need to. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Gabriella? Er yeuh there, chit?" he asked her telepathically, his mind reaching out to hers desperately. He could feel the surprise in her mind, once his mind was connected to hers for speech.

"Papa?" she whispered, glad no one was in the room with her, for her mother had left not but a few moments earlier; she had other business to attend to.

"Chit, yeh need teh speak wit yer mind, ahlraht?"

"Yes Papa," she responded mentally. "What is going on?"

"Ah was gonna ask yeh theh same thing, chit. Whit's going on? Whit's been happening since thaght….since yeuh were taken?"

"Well," Gabriella's mental voice seemed hesitant. She didn't want to badmouth her biological mother or father, but she wanted her papa there so badly, that it was apparent in her speech. "An elderly gentleman named Walter did a DNA test or to figure out whether or not I was the daughter of Sir Integra Hellsing and the vampyre Alucard."

"And?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"They are my biological parents, Papa."

"Whit else has happened?"

"I did something a bit stupid…" she said, more hesitancy in her voice. "Alucard wished to see if I was his daughter by tasting my blood."

Anderson got angry immediately, and it was apparent in the feeling of his mind.

"He drank from yeh? Did that bastard drink from yeh?"

"Yes," her mental voice was full of chagrin. "He drank from me, and he didn't stop, and Sir Integra just about killed him."

Anderson simmered with anger, his face getting a little red, enough to make the other few people in the train compartment wonder what was wrong with him. But he was tough looking enough to keep them from questioning or bothering him.

"He'll be lucky if I dun kill him first, chit," he whispered mentally. "Just kep tabs on them till ah can get to yeh. Ah'm headin towards London now. Stay safe till then, chit."

Gabriella nodded, even though her father couldn't see it.

"Yes sir," she said, her mental voice soft and properly scolded. "Stay safe, Papa."

Anderson nodded to himself, and broke the mental link. After a few deep breaths to calm him down a bit, he opened his eyes and looked around, and noticed all the stares he was getting. He ignored them and left the compartment in search of something to eat.

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Alucard opened his ruby eyes and reached for the goblet of transfusion blood on the table next to him. He sat alone, in his room in the basement, and contemplated what he had just heard. Ignoring the fact that he had listened in on his daughter's mental conversation without a second thought, he mused on why Anderson was coming here. And why the girl called him Papa.

The second one was easy, of course. Anderson had raised her, Catholic and Iscariot to boot. She saw him as her father figure because he had been there in her life since she was an infant. It infuriated Alucard to no end that offspring of HIS would be so close to the Vatican like that…not that the Vatican itself actually mattered to him. That wasn't the point. It was Anderson. But like he had told Integra…He was not going to let the fact that the girl was raised by the Paladin bother him. She was his flesh and blood after all, and he was going to take advantage of that.

Not bothering to get up or make any move at all, he pondered for a moment whether he should tell Integra that Alexander Anderson was on his way here at this very moment. No...He'd let her get the surprise of the Vatican dog upon her doorstep in repayment for the insult to his pride. It wasn't like Anderson would get a chance to hurt anyone within the Manor anyway...Alucard was too fast and his pride was raw...

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Integra sat alone in her office some days later, having neither seen her daughter or her servant Alucard for most of them. She gave orders via the mind to Alucard and Seras, not bothering to call them up here. Though she was no longer angry at Alucard, she didn't want to be around him right now. Things were confusing enough without him trying to complicate the situation right now with one of his stupid stunts.

He did as he was told, went on missions, and sat in his basement room the rest of the time. He could sense that Integra didn't need nor want him physically around her. This was fine. He had been alone before, he didn't care. But it was his daughter that he was concerned about. He knew that Anderson was on the way there, and he still hadn't mentioned it to his master. He could, of course, go into Gabriella's mind and find out what was going on, but he knew that the girl-if she had truly been raised by Iscariot- would be able to block him from her mind. It intrigued him enough for him to search out his fledgling.

Seras was sitting alone in her own room, staring down into the bowl of blood she had fixed for herself. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to imagine it was a bowl of tomato soup, rather odd smelling, but tomato soup. She hated to disappoint her master, and because she did not drink, that was exactly what she was doing. She sighed and lifted a spoonful to her lips, her hand shaking as she took the liquid into her mouth and swallowed it. Her eyes were closed tightly as she did this, but she managed to get the entire bowl down.

A snicker echoed into her mind. "Finally, you drink of your own will, Police Girl," Alucard murmured into her mind, making her jump and causing a chuckle to escape from her lips. He walked through an inky black portal from his room to hers, and she stood respectfully.

"Sit," he muttered, taking a seat on the other high-backed chair that occupied her room. "I have a…mission for you." He said, trying to keep an amused smirk off of his face for the moment.

"A mission, my Master?" she said, looking inquisitive. She had been training with him between missions to develop her vampyric powers, but she suspected that this wasn't going to be like a test from the lessons.

"Yes," he said, his head tilted down and his hat pulled over his eyes. "You have heard, I'm sure, that my…daughter…is here," he said difficultly, even though he knew the young woman was of his blood.

Seras nodded. She had seen Gabriella in the firing range with Walter the other night and had been amazed at the precision of the woman's aim. She shot like Seras' own Master, almost better, though she would not admit it out loud. She had only seen the woman though.

"I want you to befriend her," Alucard stated bluntly. "I have a feeling that my Master doesn't want me and her in the same room with one another for some time," he didn't elaborate why, though Seras knew from Walter, "and I think that Gabriella needs…a friend."

A finely shaped eyebrow rose at that comment. Her Master, thinking about a young woman's feelings? Bah…he was up to something, but Seras would be damned if she'd pester him to tell her.

She nodded after a moment and stood, saluting him, "Senior Officer Seras Victoria accepts her mission," she said solemly, and faltered when she heard her master chuckle.

"Good."

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Seras: Why do I have a bad feeling about this::mutters about having to "make friends" with Gabriella.

Gabriella: Because I hate you and I'm going to...:Willow looms up behind her with a baseball bat: Oh...wait...that's info for the next chapter...guess you'll just have to wait and see :snickers:

Willow: That's better, Gabriella, my dear.

Integra: Willow, stop threatening my daughter.

Alucard: Or I might just get to...have a snack.

Willow: Again...you see me being scared:;giggles insanely, Integra rolls her eyes:

Alucard: While our author laughs like a loony, it'll suffice to say that at least we met some new people here. Much meeting and exchanging of pleasantries will at least try to ensue in the next chapter, but until then, enjoy, and please review::gags at having to sound so nice, it ruins his badass image:

Willow: Yeah...what he said. Enjoy!