Hellsing - Blood Heritage

"Alucard, what the hell is wrong with you? You are acting like a pubescent schoolboy!"

"Are you jealous Master?"

"How DARE you presume to think such nonsense!? If that girl is going to be working for us from now on, I will NOT have you tormenting her all the time! Do you understand me vampire?"

"Now Master, she's only been awake for a few hours. I've hardly had time to engage in a decent conversation, much less torment her..."

"Don’t talk back to me Alucard! I'm giving you only one warning. I will NOT put up with you driving the girl to distraction like you seem to enjoy doing to me. Do you hear me?"

"... you think I'm distracting Master?"

"ALUCARD!!!!"


Syn looked at Walter worriedly. "Um... are you sure this is a good time?"

Walter waved a hand at her. "Don’t be alarmed Miss Newsom. This happens all the time. You'll grow accustomed to it after a while."

That made her feel much better about the situation. She held her breath as Walter knocked on the door to announce their presence. The arguing voices quieted, and a much calmer feminine voice called out for them enter. Walter led her inside the office and motioned to a large desk in the middle of the room.

"Miss Newsom, Sir."

A rather striking looking woman with pale blonde hair and deep olive skin looked up at her. "Thank you Walter." she said in a cool, even tone. "Miss Newsom, please come in and have a seat."

As Syn approached the desk, she noticed that Alucard was seated in one of the armchairs across from it. She felt his eyes on her as she lowered herself onto the other one. Once seated, she found herself at a complete loss of what to do. Jonas had always handled the 'face to face' meetings with clients, and of those, Syn was sure none of them had been a knight...or a vampire. She decided to play it safe and wait for one of them to begin.

Integral studied her for a long moment, making Syn feel a lot like a fish in an aquarium. When she spoke, it was in the same cool tone she had used with Walter - polite, but firm and demanding of respect.

"I must say Miss Newsom, you don't look much like a gunsmith."

Syn blinked in surprise. "Well Sir, if you don’t mind my saying so, you don’t look much like a knight yourself." she pointed out.

The corner of Integra's lip quirked, threatening to spread into a full blown smirk. "Right you are Miss Newsom. It appears we have something in common." She gave Syn a nod of approval. "I trust that between my vampire and Walter, you have been filled in on the current situation?"

Syn nodded.

"Very good. I suppose we can dispense with the usual pleasantries and get straight to business then." The knight folded her hands on her desk and gave Syn a serious look. "What do you know about our contract with Newsom Customs?"

Syn allowed herself to relax and let the business side of herself take over. "Not much I'm afraid." she replied honestly. "My Uncle informed me that the contract was with a private organization requesting 'unique' weaponry. But he left rather suddenly, and I haven't had time to review the file."

Integra nodded in understanding. "Well, despite it being due to negative circumstances, your being here does make this much easier. Simply put Miss Newsom, I want you to design and build weapons for my vampires." She slid a manila envelope across the desk. "Of course, seeing as how you'll be working for us from now on, once you complete this assignment, I will take your recommendations on improving the arms of my human soldiers as well."

Syn picked up the file and read it silently. After the first few lines, her mind kicked into high gear - jumping up and down with excitement at the infinite possibilities. It was a weapons order for two designs - one for the female vampire, whom she hadn't met yet, and one for Alucard. She twisted a lock of her hair absently as she read the specifications for Alucard's gun request.

"Is this gun supposed to be a companion piece to the Casull?" she asked.

Integra started in surprise. "How do you know about the Casull?" she demanded, shooting an accusatory look at Alucard.

The vampire chuckled at her reaction. "You didn't believe me when I told you how good she was at deducing things Master?"

Syn rolled her eyes, though deep down, she couldn't help but be flattered by the praise. She pulled her necklace out from under her shirt and showed Integra the bullet she wore on it.

"This," she began, falling into that voice she tended to use when talking to people who knew nothing about guns. "Is a 454 Casull round. Steel jacketed with a core of pure silver, fired from an explosive shell. Judging by the folding pattern and the stress lines on the slug, the gun that fired it had an extended barrel - somewhere between 36 and 39 centimeters." She glanced sideways at Alucard, who was grinning like a maniac. "May I see it?"

"Of course." he purred, pulling the gun from his coat. He held it out to her, letting it dangle from his finger by the trigger guard. "Be careful. It's a bit heavy."

Syn glared at him, then took the weapon with both hands. It was heavy - much heavier than any handgun she had ever encountered - but not so much that someone with enough upper arm strength couldn't wield it with both hands.

"This is factory grade construction." she noted, thinking out loud. It was an excellent weapon despite the lack of a 'personal touch' she had become accustomed to in a custom armory. It wasn't exactly what she would have done, but it was a marvelous piece of work. She couldn't bring herself to think of making a replacement for it.

"A companion piece then." she decided. "Something of similar design that could be used in conjunction with it. I'll have to put the ejection port on the left side of course, but..."

Integra cleared her throat. "Does this mean you are interested in the assignment?"

Syn's head shot up. She had been rambling. She gave Integra a sheepish smile, then looked back at the file. "What exactly do you have in mind for the other gun?"

"The police girl usually serves as long range artillery support." Alucard informed her. "Anything along those lines would be appropriate."

Syn returned the Casull to him. "No specifics other than long range?"

He gave her a mischievous smirk. It made him look so devilishly attractive that Syn had the sudden urge to start drooling.

"I think I'll trust you to use your imagination." he replied in a tone that to her ears was almost seductive. "I would be most interested in seeing what you come up with for my fledgling."

Syn swallowed down her heart, which had somehow managed to crawl up into her throat. "Alright..." She shook her head and forced herself to look away from him - focusing instead on the woman who was now, for all intents and purposes, her boss.

"I think I can come up with something for you." she said, returning to her business tone. "However, I have a certain methodology to how I work, and I'll have to request that I be allowed to work on these weapons privately. I'll being the designs to you for approval of course, but once I begin building them, I can't allow them to be seen until I consider them finished."

If the knight found the request strange, she didn't show it. "Agreed. Is there anything else?"

"Yes actually." Syn took a deep breath. "Could I have my gun and my phone returned to me?"

"Of course." Integra replied. "I believe they were placed in the room Walter had prepared for you. I'll have him escort you there." She motioned to the butler, who was waiting silently at the door.

Syn rose to follow him, then paused, thinking of something. "Sir?" she said, turning back around. "If you want me to begin working on designs immediately, I'll need to get a few things from my house."

One of her eyebrows went up. "May I ask why?"

"Umm..." Syn held up her cast. "I'm right handed... so I won’t be of much use to you without my computer..."

Integra blinked. She seemed to have forgotten the fact that Syn's arm was broken. "I'll see what I can do."

Apparently, she wasn't going to get anything else from the woman, so she turned to follow Walter up to her new room. As they went along, Syn marveled at the sheer size of the house. The very walls sang of elegance and refinement. When they reached her room, Syn was momentarily blown away. Compared to her room at Jonas' house, this one was massive. Not only that, but it had French doors leading out to a private balcony, a HUGE walk in closet, and the most amazing looking bathroom she had ever seen in her life. She whirled around and gaped at Walter.

"This is MY room?" she asked in disbelief.

The older man laughed. "Sir Integra takes good care of her employees Miss Newsom. Considering the nature of the work you'll be doing here, we thought it best to give you enough space to work in as well." he pointed out a recessed area with a drafting table. "Of course, if there's anything else you need, you have only to ask."

Syn didn't know what to say. She wasn't used to being in such nice, fancy surroundings. Living here was going to take a lot of adjustment.

Walter left her to get settled into her new living quarters. Once he was gone, Syn did what she always did when she found herself in a new and interesting place. She snooped.

It couldn't really be considered snooping, since it was her room, but it still felt like it. She opened every drawer in every side table and dresser in the room, finding Lasher and her phone in the top drawer of the table beside her bed. She crawled under the bed and poked around, went out onto the balcony to see exactly where she was in regards to the grounds, turned the faucets on and off in the bathroom, and even crawled fully clothed into the claw foot tub to see how comfortable it was. (She didn't even know they made claw foot tubs as big as hers. She was sure you could fit at least three people in it.) Once she was satisfied that she had explored every nook and cranny of her new personal space, she walked out of the bathroom with the full intention of seeing just how bouncy the mattress on her bed was.

Unfortunately, the mattress was occupied, so her plan went unfulfilled.

"Having fun?"

Alucard, whom she was beginning to understand had thing for annoying the mess out of people, was stretched out on her bed. He was propped up against her headboard with his gloved fingers clasped on his chest. She had no idea how long he had been there, but from the amused look on his face, he must have been watching her for a while. The thought of him witnessing her exploration of the room made her cheeks tingle with embarrassment.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Syn demanded. She put her hands on her hips - which was a tad difficult with a cast, but she managed. "And why are you on my bed?"

Alucard cocked his head to the side. "I was waiting for you. The bed was the most comfortable place to lounge while you were playing around in the bathroom." His lips spread into a grin. "But I think it would be even more comfortable if you were on it with me."

"Ha ha. Yeah, a snowball has a better chance in hell."

"Which circle of hell?" he asked. "I understand that certain levels of hell are quite cold."

Syn huffed in irritation. "One of the really hot ones. Do you do this often?"

"What?"

"Sneak into women's bedrooms without their permission? Because that type of behavior is very stalker-like."

The infernal vampire had the nerve to laugh at her. "I wasn't sneaking. I was simply curious about how you were adjusting to your new surroundings. I must say you're taking the news much better than my police girl did when she first arrived..."

"Yes, well, I figured that going into hysterics wouldn't be very helpful. And I don’t faint or burst into tears, so I don’t have much to do other than go along with it." Syn narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Although I do find it strange that you people are making me stay here."

Alucard tapped his chin, acting like he didn't understand either. "Perhaps my Master wishes to ensure the secrecy of the weapons you'll be building." he suggested.

That was part of the explanation Walter had given her, along with the excuse that working for Hellsing was necessary now that she knew about the existence of vampires. That didn't make much sense either, now that she thought about it. Her family had known about the existence of vampires for years - even before the attack ten years ago. The house she shared with Jonas had been fortified with blessings to keep anything demonic from coming within 100 yards of the grounds. And yet, none of her predecessors had ever been forced to work for a shadow organization.

"I'm more than capable of keeping this confidential while working at my own house." she pointed out. "My family has been doing it for years."

Alucard settled back against the headboard. "If you're so distrustful of the reasons you've been given, why don’t you come up with your own explanation?"

"Because I have a feeling it has something to do with you." she snapped. "Now are you going to tell me or not?"

His face lit up with mischief. "How much do you want to know? Give me something I want, and perhaps I'll tell you."

If Syn's arm wasn't broken, she would have punched the wall. Or him. Punching him would definitely make her feel better.

"You know what? Never mind. I don't want to know." She massaged her temples. She glanced at the window, noting the sun's rays spilling over the horizon line. "Don’t you have a box somewhere to go sleep in or something?"

"A coffin you mean?"

"Yes, a coffin. You know those big boxes they put dead things in?" She quipped in exasperation. "Isn't it about time for you to go slinking back to it?"

Alucard's eyes trailed over to the window. Despite her irritation with him, she couldn't help but notice how different they looked when the light hit them. It was like they were suddenly a fiery orange color instead of their usual crimson.

"Unfortunately, you're right." He said with resigned sigh. He glanced at her slyly. "Unless you would allow me the pleasure of sleeping with you..."

Syn's eyes widened with shock. "Why you dirty...!"

He was gone before she finished, disappearing into those weird swirling shadows of his. The faint sound of his laughter was the only clue that he had been there at all. Syn kept a fixed eye on the bed for several hours before she dared to lay down. With everything that had happened recently, she wouldn't be the least bit surprised if those shadow tendrils showed back up.

Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened. The few hours of sleep she had gotten as a result of being knocked unconscious hadn't been very restful, but she still had trouble getting to sleep. Her brain was just too active to allow it - and the itching of her arm was almost unbearable. She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for god knows how long. Finally, around noon, she fell unconscious hoping that maybe, by some trick of nature, she would wake up in her own bed and find that all of this was nothing more that one of her weird dreams.