One week later: Seras emerged from a mass of shadows and fell to the floor. She still wasn't use to teleportation, and it took her a couple of minutes to adjust.

Seras got up and huffed. He could've dropped me off in my bed. He knows I get dizzy when he pulls that shadow stuff. She looked around and sighed. Guess I should be happy that he, at least, put me in my room. He could've stuck me in the middle of the mansion and watched as I scrambled for something to cover myself with. Speaking of which...

Seras walked over to her dresser and removed a clean uniform and set of undergarments. She looked at them for a moment, then decided that it would be best if she took a shower first. After the last week, the vampire figured she could really use one.

The vampire left her clothes on her bed and stepped into her bathroom. She closed and locked the door. She doubted it was really necessary; but the vampire had started locking her bathroom door immediately after that time Pip 'accidentally' walked in on her while she was bathing. Oh, he can be such a pervert! Although, he didn't attack me while I was going through my, uh... 'heat'. Of course that's only because he couldn't smell the pheromones.

Seras turned on her shower, waited until steam began to rise from the spray then stepped inside. She had just started to lather up when a cold chill ran down her spine. The draculina felt as though she was being watched. She turned around; and sure enough, her master was standing in the back of the shower, leering at her.

Seras shrieked then quickly moved her hands in a clumsy attempt to cover herself.

Alucard chuckled. "Not really much point in that now, is there?"

"M-Master, please."

Alucard took a step nearer to his fledgling. "Please, what? The last time you said that to me you were begging me to..."

"No!" Seras blushed, but her shout was unexpected enough to halt her master's advance. "I-I'm sorry, but please stop."

Alucard stared at his fledgling, an indiscernable expression on the ancient vampire's face. "Did you not enjoy the time you spent at my castle?"

Seras blushed deeper and looked down. "I-I am... grateful for your, um... help." Even though I do think you milked it a bit. I doubt I really needed a solid week of... 'love making', to vent my pent up energy.

"Did I ask if you were grateful, Police Girl? I asked if you enjoyed yourself."

"D-don't y-you already know the answer to that?"

Alucard moved closer to his fledgling. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her in and held her tightly. "Oh, I think I do. So, what is the problem?"

"I... I... I..."

Alucard sighed and used his lips to silence his stuttering fledgling. Seras didn't bother to protest. Instead she just closed her eyes and slightly parted her lips. Alucard kissed her deeply for a moment, then retracted his serpentine tongue back into his own mouth, raised his head and looked down at his trembling fledgling.

Seras opened her eyes and stared back up at her master. He spoke, "Yes, I thought as much. So why are you holding back? Give in to your desire." Alucard began to move his face back toward Seras's.

"N-n-no, please."

Alucard let go of his fledgling, crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed. "Police Girl, I really don't understand what's wrong." Alucard sounded genuinely confused by his fledgling's reluctance.

Seras sighed too, then she tried to think of a way to explain her hang up. After a moment, she began, "Master, why do you want to... to..."

"Have sex with you?" Alucard finished for the draculina. "Because it's fun. It gives me pleasure, and it gives you pleasure. So, why not enjoy it?"

"Because..." Seras began quickly, then slowed her speech back to normal. "Because I don't want to... 'sleep with' someone just for 'fun'."

"You want it to be for love?" Alucard questioned, a look of understanding finally beginning to form on his face.

"Well... yes."

Alucard turned and began to walk back toward the far end of the shower. He stopped and cast an over the shoulder glance back at his fledgling. "Police Girl, you are a vampire now, an immortal. You can live for hundreds of years. You may even live to see the second coming, although I hope you are spared that." Alucard paused for a moment, then continued. "Love is... fleeting. It is a temporary thing. Perhaps, for some humans, the time of their love can last them until the day of their death; but such is not the way of our kind. We live too long, and love..." Alucard looked away for a moment, as if trying to collect his thoughts... or perhaps the No-Life King was momentarily lost in one of his ancient memories. "Love is a luxury that our kind cannot afford. Eventually, you'll discover this for yourself."

Seras was shocked. Somehow, her master had managed to sound very unlike himself. His voice sounded almost... human, and it seemed to carry a note of longing and sadness rather than its usual psychotic glee. "Master?"

Alucard turned away from his fledgling, and his voice returned to normal. "Finish your shower and get dressed, Police Girl. I will let my master know we have returned. Check in with her as soon as you're done." And with that, the ancient vampire walked through the wall and out of Seras's bathroom.

Seras did as her Master instructed. She finished her shower, then got dressed and went to Integra's office. The vampire, couldn't help but feel a tad nervous as she watched the knight who had chased her all around the mansion. But Integra seemed to be back to her old self. She took a puff from one of her cigars and let it out slowly. Then the knight stared hard at the vampire. "And you're sure that the... 'pheromones' are gone?"

"Oh yes, Sir. Trust me, Master would not of let me return otherwise." Integra continued to stare. Seras rubbed the back of her neck and let out a nervous, "Hehe."

"Good." Integra relaxed back in her chair. "Things are quiet right now, and I can spare you for another day or two. I suggest you use the time to get some rest. You look exhausted." Seras blushed. Integra pretended not to notice. The knight simply waved her hand in a dismissive manor. "You can go now."

Seras half bowed. "Y-yes Sir." The vampire turned and slowly walked to the door; but as her hand reached for the knob, she heard Integra's hushed voice. "And Seras..." The vampire turned around and eeped as she saw that, somehow, Integra had managed to quickly and silently close the distance between the two of them. Seras gulped, "Y-y-yes, S-Sir?"

Integra leaned in even closer. Seras prepared to dash away. Maybe Master wasn't as... 'thorough' as I thought.

But then Integra continued in her previously hushed tone, "It. Never. Happened." The knight fixed the vampire with an almost threatening glare.

It took Seras a moment to figure out what her boss was referring to, but then the vampire flashed a nervous smile. "N-no, of-f course n-not."

"Good." Integra turned and walked back over to her desk.

Seras quickly opened the door and fled from her boss's office. At least she wasn't being chased this time. The vampire nearly ran down the stairs and to her room. Pip was waiting outside her door.

"Ah, Mignonette, it's so good to see you again. I was starting to get lonely." The French mercenary made a half pout, and Seras couldn't be sure if it was genuine or not, though she suspected the latter. Then Pip wrapped an arm around the vampire's waist and began to lead her back towards the staircase. "It's such a beautiful day. Why don't we enjoy a movie together?"

Seras slipped out of her admirer's grasp. "Pip, I'm tired."

"Come on, Mignonette, please?"

Seras sighed. She couldn't help but feel bad for Pip. His arm was still in a cast from when he got it broken trying to protect her, and there was a noticeable new bump in his nose. "Alright, I'll go to a movie with you..."

Pip smiled and interrupted the vampire. "Ah, Mignonette, you won't regret it."

Seras sternly finished, "Tomorrow. Right now, I really need to get some rest."

"He, uh... kept you busy, huh?" Pip grinned.

Seras nearly slapped the Frenchman, but then she remembered about the strength difference and warned him instead, "Pip?!"

Pip chuckled, but it was light rather than lewd. So Seras let it pass. The Frenchman replied, "Alright, alright, I'll go and let you get your rest." Pip thought about kissing Seras's hand but wasn't quite sure he'd get away with it, so he blew her a kiss instead. Then he turned and walked away.

Seras went back and entered her bedroom. In less than a minute, there was a knock at her door. Seras fumed, marched over to the door and flung it open. "I told you..." She stopped when she noticed that, rather than a perverted French mercenary, a stoic English butler was standing outside her room. A puzzled expression formed on Seras's face. "Walter, what are you doing here?"

"Please forgive the intrusion, Miss Victoria." Walter bowed. "I merely came to apologize for my previous behavior."

Seras was dismissive. "Oh, Walter. Don't worry about that. It wasn't your fault. It was the pheromones."

"Please, do not excuse my actions. A proper Englishman always remains in control. Therefor, I must apologize and ask your forgiveness for my... uh, improper behavior."

Seras smiled kindly. "Of course I forgive you, Walter. And, if it's any comfort, you did better than everyone else who got a whiff of my pheromones."

"That does help, somewhat. Thank you, Miss Victoria." Walter bowed again then turned and left.

Seras reentered her room, changed into her most comfortable nightgown, walked over to her coffin and raised the lid. Then she got another surprise. Someone had left a single, beautiful red rose in her coffin. The vampire picked the flower up and looked it over. There was no note attached. She checked the coffin, but there was still no note.

Seras smelt the rose then twirled it for a moment, trying to figure out who would've left it. After a couple minutes of wondering, the vampire pushed the question to the back of her mind. She was too tired. She'd leave the rose's origin a mystery for the night.

Seras put the flower down on her table, walked back over to her coffin then cast another look at the rose and sighed. It was too pretty to just leave on the table. She'd put off her rest a little bit longer and retrieve a vase of water for her flower.

(Well, I hope you all enjoyed the epilogue. I wasn't really intending to write one for this story, but I had a few people request another chapter where everyone was back to normal. And I've just gotten such a good return on this fic that I didn't want to disappoint them. It took me a little while, but I finally managed one last chapter. Well, I just hope you liked it. Please review, and let me know what you think. Thanks.

Have a good day, and God bless.

Metropolis Kid.)