Sacred Lineage

She ascended the stairs. She dressed carefully for the date, wearing a comfortable slacks suit with a jacket. It could still get quite cool in the evenings, and, in addition to that, she wanted to wear her shoulder holster. Feeling better after sufficiently arming herself with the Glock, Deirdre met Marcus at the foot of the stairs on the ground floor.

“Let’s pick up the basket, then we can go.”

He nodded, and accompanied her to the kitchen. He looked like all the armed guard that anyone could ever need, honestly, with all of his combat equipment with him. She wondered if he was going to keep it on in the car, it wouldn’t be a problem either way, though, with the windows tinted the way they were.

She picked up the picnic basket, and carried it out to the car. It was quite heavy, and several delectable odors were rising from it. She looked inside when they got out to the car, and noted that there was a sack that said ‘Driver’ on it. Walter was such a dear, always thinking of everything. Deirdre passed Marcus the sack, which was bulging.

She looked through the basket, and was impressed with what she found, but didn’t snack. There’d be time enough for that later. Right now, she wanted to think about what she might expect tonight.

“Deirdre,” Marcus cut through her reverie, “there’s something I haven’t told you yet, something that I think that you should be ready for.”

“What’s that?” She didn’t bother correcting him, or reminding him of her title. A very few people knew her well enough to use her given name, and he was one of them. There wasn’t anyone that could be watching, and she didn’t really want to stand on protocol. Besides, once Edward got into the car, Marcus would be “Driver” and everything would be quite formal.

“I hope that this isn’t the case, but it is something that is worth mentioning. If you do shoot him down, and he is after power, and he is the little prat that I think he is, he may well get violent with you.”

That wasn’t exactly something that she’d wanted to consider. Not only that, she had not stopped to realize the ramifications if he did do something like that.

“I’ll keep that under advisement, Marcus.” Was all she said. Her tone, though, said much more. Although soft, there was steel to her voice.

A thought came to him, and he almost discarded it, but his intuition gnawed at him.

“I think we should wire you.”

She thought for a moment. She had already been warned that her ‘date’ had potentially violent tendencies, and she was already aware that he could be a troublemaker. She was the one that had brought the concern to Marcus, so perhaps…

“Yes, I think that is a reasonable request.” She didn’t have to take anything as an order from anyone besides her mother, but there were times that it was in the best interest of one’s personal safety to acquiesce. Besides, if nothing happened, there was no harm in it. If something happened, it would just be one extra protection.

It didn’t take very long, and she suspected him of having the idea previously. He had already proven that he could be quite devious at times. He was, she realized, almost as dangerous as Alucard. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the imagination, it was just that he didn’t have the experience. Six hundred years was plenty of time to gain experience in all of the ways to both kill and not be killed.

She wished that she had more experience. Just now, she was starting to realize that her existence had been somewhat sheltered. Emotionally, she’d been very sheltered; she’d only known what it was like to be loved and respected. Now, somehow, she had realized that not everything was as perfect as her upbringing. She wondered how that had happened, but pushed that thought from her mind. It was time to go.

Marcus pulled the car up, and Deirdre got into the back seat. She hated that, but propriety must be maintained. Ordinarily, Walter would have driven her, but not this time. Walter no longer had the necessary quickness to take care of her if something went wrong, and Deirdre was intelligent enough to know that in this situation, it was necessary to have someone who could help her. After what had happened with the two Millennium Chipped vampires before she was born, part of Integrals orders always were to make sure the family had a capable bodyguard. For Integral, Alucard fulfilled that role. Deirdre was relatively sure that he or Seras would fulfill that role for her as well, but on the other hand, she wasn’t really sure if Alucard would leave her mother willingly, and Seras was the emergency intelligence officer of the day.

The ride to Edward’s house was both short and uneventful, there was small talk about previous missions, most of which Deirdre had only the reports to go on. Since her mother’s illness had become common knowledge among the senior staff, Deirdre had become too important to be allowed to be in the line of fire. It wasn’t as if she’d been point before that, but now she was expected to be the brains, the planner…it was almost too much for her. She felt like a little girl playing dress-up at times, and was concerned that her plans and decisions would be incorrect.

Alucard had tried to help her with that, occasionally throwing cryptic remarks her way. One of his favorites was: “The best plans never survive the first engagement with the enemy.” She tried to keep in mind that so long as everyone came back it was a good outcome, but usually everyone didn’t come back. The only unit that consistently had everyone coming back was Marcus’ special team. She didn’t know exactly what he was doing differently, but the small units with the tactics he was using seemed to work well. She had considered speaking with him about expanding the teams, but that would mean either taking him out of the field (which, given his success rate was at this point at least, unthinkable), or getting him to try and train other prospective commanders to his way of thinking. She wasn’t sure if either option was a good option at the moment. He hadn’t been there long enough to make a good trainer for the other captains, and more captains could possibly cause problems for the ones already in command. It would solve a few of her problems to make another major, however, the person she had in mind for that wouldn’t be well trusted enough by the others for a while either.

She sighed and resigned herself to having to deal with things as they were for the next several months.

Marcus pulled up to the house, and Edward came out. Marcus rolled up the window between the front and back seats, then opened the door for Edward. She’d warned him that they were attending a picnic, and he was dressed appropriately in a golf shirt and knickers. She smiled as Marcus opened the door for him. She hadn’t said anything about this, so either he had spoken to Walter about etiquette, or he had watched too many of those American movies like Driving Miss Daisy.

The drive out to the country was less than pleasant for Deirdre. She had realized the slick oiliness that Edward was using, and the empty platitudes and insincere compliments were irritating. She continued to be polite, and even managed to flirt back, although she was starting to have trouble covering her inner irritation.

Marcus, who could hear the conversation, was beginning to get concerned about the situation. He could hear the beginnings of stress in her voice. As he listened to the line of crap the boy was feeding her, he snorted. No wonder she was stressed. No one should have to put up with that kind of inane chatter all the time. She was too intelligent to be treated like the kind of brainless bimbos the Lords liked to pretend the Ladies were. A bloodthirsty part of him hoped the little stallion tried something. He’d certainly enjoy shooting him if he did. If Deirdre didn’t beat him to it, anyway.

Not only that, but he had noticed a car following them. It was staying a good distance back, but the CIA man in him had already identified the make and model of the vehicle. He was aware that it had been following them almost since they’d left the house. This was an added source of tension for him, because the car was far enough back that he couldn’t tell how many people were in it.

It was a longer way out to the area that they’d picked than he’d expected, but it was important that they get a chance to be private. They made it to a little place up close to the Thames that Deirdre had shown him on a map in about forty-five minutes. Her stress level didn’t seem to be getting much worse to him, but it was hard to tell since he couldn’t see her to read her body language. Her voice continued to sound stressed, but no more stressed than it was.

She was smiling when he opened the door for them. Edward carried the basket, and she carried the blanket, and they were the perfect picture of domestic bliss. He had to admit that she was a pretty good actress. If he hadn’t been able to hear her he might not have been able to tell. As he watched her further though, there were tiny signs: the set of her head, the quickness of her movements…he was used to reading things like this, and to be honest, he’d had a bad feeling about this from the beginning. One of those feelings that told him that it would have been a bad idea to come here.

The tailing of the other car continued to remind him that the entire thing was a bad idea. It continued to stay back, but he was aware of it. Marcus’ nerves screamed at him that there was something wrong with the situation. Why exactly would Edward need a bodyguard? Deirdre had always had a driver who could double as her bodyguard, but she had apparently been unaware if Edward had any before, or she’d have mentioned it. He was sure that she could have spotted a tail, so obviously this was something new.

He liked this situation less and less.

He watched from the car as Deirdre spread out the blanket, and the pair of them began enjoying the picnic dinner. He could hear them talking, mostly commonplaces still, until after the dessert course. Deirdre poured the wine, and Marcus could tell by the sound of his voice that he’d had more than she had. It wouldn’t have surprised him at all if Deirdre had been drinking water, she rarely drank. He remembered Alucard saying something about sherry once, but it had been in passing, and Marcus couldn’t remember exactly what had been said now. Something about her not wanting to seem a sot, even when she needed to relax.

The conversation started to be a bit more interesting, and he paid closer attention.

“So, Deirdre, where are your pets tonight?”

Deirdre feigned misunderstanding. “I don’t have ‘pets’ Edward. I have too much to do to take care of them.”

“You know what I mean, your pet monsters.” He sounded extraordinarily eager.

“Monsters?” Deirdre’s tone was dangerous. Edward was no fool, he began changing the subject.

“This Sherry is extraordinary. Is this the usual quality of wine at your residence? Perhaps I should have come the last time you invited me.”

He is so bourgeois. She thought. I shouldn’t have even come.

“I rarely drink,” she responded. “I find it dulls the senses.”

“Ah, I forget, you would not know how the sherry heats the blood. And in the presence of such a lovely lady as yourself..” He let his voice trail off for a moment. “It brings to mind so many ways that you could share your beauty.”

“Edward, this is hardly the time.” She protested.

“Have some sherry, Deirdre, it will help to relax you. It’s clear you’re no sot, all you’ve drunk is water tonight.”

She could hear Alucard’s voice in her head then, from the night he had bitten her. He’d said almost the same thing, but in such a different tone of voice. Edward sounded irritated, where Alucard had sounded caring and gentle. That begged a question: Why did Edward want her more relaxed? Perhaps it was best if she didn’t drink it at all.

“I think not tonight, Edward, I’m trying to retain my girlish figure.” She said teasingly.

He desisted, but he was somewhat unpleased.

Marcus was wondering why she hadn’t shot him yet. He was still splitting his attention between the not-so-happy couple, and the other vehicle.

She looked out over the river as Edward watched her. She certainly was lovely enough for him, and she had a spirit he’d enjoy breaking at his leisure. Perhaps if he could get her with child tonight one way or another…it was then his plan solidified.

“Deirdre,” he clasped her left hand in both of his, “would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

She looked at him as if he’d suddenly grown an extra head. She knew this was coming, knew this was expected of her, but this great sodding boor? She didn’t think so.

“Edward, I’ll need some time to think.” She didn’t want to turn him down flat right now. She could feel something in the air humming, there was something afoot here, and she was suddenly coiled as tightly inside as she was when they started shooting ghouls and chip-freaks.

“Why, my love, I know I love you, do you not love me?” He cajoled.

“Love? What is love between people like us? We are matched like cattle and expected to bring forth descendants. There isn’t much love to being rented out like a brood mare.”

Her bitterness lashed out at possibly the worst moment that it ever could. Her belief that she could not marry for love jumped out and betrayed her in that moment.

“How dare you speak to me that way?” he demanded.

“Dare?” She responded in a quiet, deadly tone that would have alerted a more intelligent man to his peril. “How dare I? How dare you!”

“Do you plan to rot away in that Manor like your slut of a mother? Do you plan to let the butler of Hellsing father your child as well? Which of the Captains are you planning to sell yourself to, you whore!”

The words were like a slap in the face, but she did him one better than that. She spoke in the same cold, deadly quiet tone she had been using, and she made sure he had to slightly exert himself to hear her.

“I’m not a whore, Lord St. Ives, I’m a bitch. You see, a whore will sleep with anyone. This Bitch will sleep with anyone but you.”

She saw the blow coming and could have avoided it, but chose not to. His fist connected with her cheekbone with a crack that satisfied him. She used that time to draw out her Glock and lay it against his forehead.

“Blink and you’ll die in the dark, motherfucker.” She’d been waiting to use that line for years. It would have been wasted on a ghoul. Alucard! she called with her mind, I need you!

It was mere seconds before Marcus was standing there beside her holding the Browning .30-06 sniper rifle with the silencer.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t blow your brains out right now.” Demanded Deirdre. She could feel Marcus’ disapproval, he obviously thought that she should shoot Edward right now. Actually, she thought that she probably should, but there was more to think about than her honor right now.

“My five bodyguards in the car. They should be coming right now.” Edward said, snidely. He still hadn’t caught on to the idea that he was in danger of losing his life.

Marcus looked in the direction of the other car. “Actually, Lord St. Ives, they seem to be screened by some trees. Sir Deirdre could blow your brains out, and the only thing that would let them know anything at all is the sound of the gunshot. Don’t you think that would be a little late?”

I wish I had a revolver. We could have made even more of a point with that. Deirdre thought.

I am coming, Princess. She heard Alucard’s deep voice in her head. It soothed her. In an instant she formulated a plan that almost frightened her. On the other hand, she’d most definitely get the Earl of Claire’s attention.

“I could hang you from one of these lovely trees and gut you like a deer,” Marcus said, conversationally.

“No, I think that’s too easy.” Said Deirdre, mumbling slightly from the pain in her face. She was starting to think that crunch meant that he’d broken some bones or something.

He thought for a moment. “I could give him a hot lead enema with this rifle?”

Deirdre tried to smile, but it hurt too much. “Too quick.” She said with finality.

“Oh, you plan to let me play with him?” Marcus sounded entirely too eager and willing. She really hated shooting him down. He was just starting to get inventive, too.

“Um, not actually,” she demurred.

“Well, could I at least castrate him? We could make sure he never fathers children.”

“Although amusing, I’m certain that Sir Hellsing has something different in mind.” Said a deeper voice that faded in from the shadows.

Her posture relaxed the tiniest bit, but her arm didn’t move at all.”

“Alucard.” There was the sudden smell of urine as Lord St. Ives finally realized how desperate his situation was. “Thank you for coming. There are five bodyguards in a car down the hill, if you please? Then we can deal with this.” The tone of her voice suggested that Edward, Lord St. Ives, was worth no more to her than livestock dung would be to a non-gardener.

“Of course, Princess.” He had begun calling her that when she was about twelve, she’d hated to have him call her Master. He’d humored her by calling her Princess, and Princess she’d remained.

“So, can I castrate him?” Marcus asked once Alucard was presumably out of earshot and otherwise occupied.

“Sorry, no.” Said Deirdre.

“Sir Deirdre, may I ask what you are going to do with him?”

“I am going to have Alucard do to him what was called in highschool biology ‘pithing the frog’.” She responded.

“With respect, Sir Deirdre, have you read the Evil Overlord List? It was compiled by Peter Anspach in 1997, and lists several things that Evil Overlords should watch out for. One of these things is, and I quote: Shooting is not too good for my enemies. End Quote.”
“My dear Captain Tourville, I wish I could kill this man. On the other hand, that could cause questions that I am not prepared to answer. If we do it my way, we save face with the Lords and Knights of the Round Table.” Deirdre’s face really was hurting, she wondered if the bones would crunch if she touched them, and then had to suppress the impulse to push and see.

“I’m sure that we can come up with a good enough story-“ he began.

“No.” She said firmly. “What Alucard is going to do to him is incurable and irreversible. His family may believe what we tell them, and they may not, but either way it will send a message, and I plan to send it.”

Alucard had dragged the last two protesting bodyguards up to where the rest of the Hellsing party was standing. He looked Edward directly in the eyes as he sank his teeth into one of the men’s necks and drank deeply. It was obvious that he was taking great pleasure in the drinking, and even more disturbingly, it was obvious that they dying man was taking great pleasure in it as well—until he collapsed.

The last man was begging for his life, the front of his pants as wet as Edward’s. Alucard showed him no mercy either, drinking his life away as greedily as if it was his last meal.

Deirdre watched, showing none of the discomfort that one whom Alucard had bitten usually did.

Does it not bother you, Princess?

“No,” she whispered. “It does not.”

He looked directly into her eyes now, but she met them steadily. Edward was on his knees begging, but she paid him no mind. He moved as if to rise, and she turned her attention back on him.

“Stay where you are, dog.”

“I thought that’s what your monster was,” he said bitterly. “The Hound of Hellsing.”

“He’s not a dog, he’s not a monster. He’s been my friend and my protector since I was born.” She said levelly. “I won’t hear another word from you. I could cut your tongue out without a second thought.”

“What are your orders, Sir Hellsing?” Alucard threw aside the body, and walked toward the unfortunate Edward.

She looked at Marcus, remembering everything that he had said, then looked at Edward.

“He thought himself above man’s law.” She looked into Alucard’s red eyes steadily.
“Then perhaps he is subject to mine.” Alucard said, mildly.

“Mine.” Said Deirdre. “I should kill him, but there’s a better option for our purpose. Please destroy his mind, Alucard.”

It was a good thing that the Vampire was satiated already, or he may have fought her on her decision. Instead, he took Edward’s face in his hands and looked deeply into his eyes. An incoherent howl arose from the unfortunate Edward, and when Alucard finished with him, he was drooling and staring with a vacant expression.

“Marcus, will you please shoot our vehicle a few times? Alucard, has the other vehicle been disabled?”

Her requests were carried out, and as the five security guards turned into ghouls, she shot them in the head herself. She called the special unit from MI5 on her cell phone, and explained the situation. They’d been attacked by a freak vampire and five ghouls, and the experience had broken Edward’s mind. She, herself had been attacked, and taken a blow to the face. She thought it was broken. Without Captain Tourville and Alucard who had shown up at the last moment, Deirdre and Edward would have become ghouls themselves.

The MI5 man gave his regrets and said he’d return Edward to his family. Deirdre, tired of dealing with him, nodded her consent. They offered a ride to the hospital, but Deirdre asked them for a car, and said that Marcus would drive her if it were all the same to them.

Her face really was alarmingly swollen by then, and the MI5 man gave Marcus the keys to one of the service vehicles. Deirdre and Marcus thanked him and walked to the car. Alucard, who had watched the entire thing, came along with them.

“Are you actually going to the hospital, Princess?” He asked, sounding somewhat mocking.

“No, I’m going to the eugenics lab where you and Seras can work on me with your X-ray vision and healing powers,” she said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

He laughed, pleased with her cheekiness. “I wish you were my daughter,” he said. She didn’t know if he’d spoken aloud or not. “Sir Integral calls me, I will give her a full report, and I believe she will expect you to go to a real hospital.”

“As you say, then.” Deirdre said.

“Make sure that she does see a doctor, please, Captain Tourville.” Alucard knew Deirdre as well as he knew her mother.

“Of course.” He said. He and the vampire understood each other perfectly. In fact, after this, Marcus had a few ideas on things that his unit could try with Alucard if the vampire would agree. Things were about to get interesting at Hellsing, things were about to get very interesting indeed.

While Deirdre was being seen in the emergency room, Marcus started thinking about the things he’d need to line up to make sure that it was a long time before Deirdre got almost-forced into a marriage again. He didn’t particularly give a fat damn if the Roundtable wanted an heir immediately if not sooner. It was his job to keep her safe, and if that meant safe from her own countrymen, he’d do that as well.

He smiled as the next idea came to him. He wondered who he could sucker into playing that part, though? It was a great idea. He’d present it to Sir Hellsing when he’d found a willing victim. There really wasn’t much point in it before.

She came out wrapped up with an ice pack on her face. “I guess we can go.” She said.

“All right, then.” He said, and took her arm.

When they walked out, she noticed the full moon. Alucard would be out watching it. It was just his kind of night.