"ALUCARD!"

The vampire jerked awake in his coffin with a groan as his master's voice echoed throughout his mind.

It was alright for her, she wasn't called upon at ungodly times to go out on some wild goose chase.

And he didn't mean the mercenaries.

He stumbled over to a wall and phased through, dragging himself up to his master's office.

Integra paused, staring at her vampire.

While usually, he looked completely flawless in the way he dressed, stood and spoke. He looked incredibly dishevelled at the moment. His clothing was rumpled, his hair tangled and messed, his red eyes were dim, lacking the usual spark, his posture was slumped and his speech dragged, almost slurring.

"Yes, master?"

"I have a mission for you. There's been a disturbance a few miles from here and it needs to be taken care of before it gets out of hand. Take Seras and the Geese with you, it'll be a chance to get them out into field for some more practice."

"Yes my master." He phased through the wall and Integra shook her head with a frown

He was just acting like that for attention.

As Alucard shot the ghouls down, he could feel his nausea rising quickly. He trembled lightly with the effort it took to stop himself from giving in. That would give the ghouls a chance to attack him while he was vulnerable. And he didn't want to look weak in front of Seras or the mercenaries.

The gunshots soon stopped and Pip stood tall with a gigantic grin. "Well, mission accomplished men. Let's get back to base before we freeze our asses off!"

They began to head back towards the off road trucks when Alucard felt a sudden wave of dizziness and the world slanted. Pip cursed in shock and rushed to catch him as he was the closest.

He knew they were talking to him, he could see through his blurred sight that their mouths were moving as they yelled in panic, but their voices sounded like they were coming from the bottom of a deep well. His eyes slid shut against his will and he fell unconscious.

Pip lowered the now unaware vampire to the forest ground and they stared down at him helplessly. He lay limp on the autumn leaves, his hair spread around his head like a dark halo.

Pip frowned, yanked off a glove and hesitantly reached forward, pressing a hand to Alucard's brow.

He was burning up.

As far as he could remember, vampires were as cold as ice when it came to their body temperature and NEVER got sick. Not ever.

"We have to get back to base now!" he ordered. He pulled his glove back on and slid an arm underneath the vampire's knees and back, lifting him up and heading towards one of the trucks.

Seras stepped forward to help but Pip shook his head. "I've got him Seraz, can you get the doors for me?" The blonde opened the doors of the van and the mercenary stepped inside, lowering Alucard to the floor, pillowing his head with his legs.

He was shivering, his eyes rolling as he struggled to regain consciousness.

They drove back to the manor at speeds they were sure the organization would get fined for at some point and had to out drive a police car halfway back.

They finally got back and Pip hauled Alucard up again before turning to one of his soldiers.

"Inform Sir Integra of his condition and tell her that I took him down to the basement."

"The basement sir?"

"His room is down there. It's cold so it might help reduce the fever. Now go!" And without another word, he turned and made for the stairs that lead to the lower levels of the manor.

He quickly made his way through the hallways, frowning as his breath came out as white mist in the frosty air. It was icy down here. 'The damn vampire had better be grateful.' He thought.

He walked into Alucard's room and sat him on the lid of the coffin, letting him fall forward against his shoulder while he flipped on the dim lights. The vampire unconsciously winced at the lights and shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry." Pip muttered.

He unknotted the cravat, removed the red trench coat, unbuttoned the vest and shirt and pulled them off, revealing the vampire's pale chest.

He lay him down and ran back down the hallway to one of the bathrooms, filling a basin with water, grabbing a wash cloth and hurrying back as fast as he could without spilling too much water. He had had to do this once before when one of his soldiers had gotten an injury and it had gotten infected, making him fevered and incredibly ill. Unfortunately, he hadn't survived the night, and he didn't want that to happen again anytime soon to anyone he knew.

He placed the basin down next to the coffin and dunked the washcloth in before wiping the damp material over the fevered vampire's face.

He made a noise deep in his throat and twitched, frowning slightly as the water ran down his face and neck.

His skin burned like the fires of hell.

What was happening?