Fractured Pieces, New Mirror

It hadn't been the purpose for which he'd been sent to this godforsaken place, but when his senses picked up the familiar presence of Hellsing's pet monster, his blood had risen at the prospect of a fight. Like a siren call, the hum of energy that surged through his body drew him through the halls of the crumbling manor in search of combat.

Up the stairs and down the hall, he followed that sense of wrong until it carried him to a door only a few feet away from the gaping wound that had been fire damage to the house. And it was there that he picked up on something else: the sound of choked, labored breathing. Not something that would be associated with his quarry.

He had broken down the door on the assumption that the monster was claiming a victim, but the scene that greeted him was hardly what he'd been expecting. He froze at the sight of two figures bent over what was left of a table, the dominant of the two the only one clothed. Sane will dictated he attack or flee, but his feet remained rooted to the ground, and he couldn't even force himself to look away as Alucard forced his blond prey down harder, drawing a cry of pain in a voice that struck him as uncomfortably familiar.

The vampire finally deigned to notice his presence, and the smirk that crossed thin lips as Alucard looked up and stilled his companion's movement sent a spike of cold nerves through his stomach. Long fingers curled under the bare figure's chin and lifted.

"We have a guest, little doll. You know who that is, don't you?" the monster purred sweetly, fingers moving to sweep long hair out of his captive’s face.

The spike became a pit, horror flooding the chill when it became painfully clear why the voice had sounded familiar. Involuntarily, he took a step back as dulled green eyes landed on him, then flared with the barest spark of life before emptying again. And another when an adoring smile crossed lips that he’d last seen pleading for salvation.

"Insegrante..."

When he finally managed to get his own voice to work again, it came out in a choked rasp. "What the hell kind of trick is this?"

The monster had the nerve to look hurt as he pulled away from his -Clone? Illusion?- companion and slid an arm around a thin chest to pull the man upright. "You don't like your little present? And here I thought he was perfect. After all, he lacks everything you hated about the original."

He swallowed thickly and finally managed to turn his head, both from embarrassment at seeing his former charge in such a stripped down and helpless state, and the revulsion that swelled up at the way Alucard petted the false Enrico as though he were some sort of cat. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you?"

He didn't hear either of them move, the next thing he was aware of being a solid force hitting him low in the chest and knocking him back into a chair that had mysteriously appeared behind him. Instinctively, his hands went for the blades hidden in his coat-

-and never reached them. Alucard made a chiding sound, and the shadows reached out to bind his hands to the chair's arms. Reacting in disgust, he turned his head to snap something scathing at the vampire, but a hand that didn't belong to the bastard pressed gently to his cheek, stopping him short, and he blinked up at the doll, trying to ignore the soft purr next to his ear.

"Quiet, loving...obedient. Isn't he what you'd always wanted? Nothing at all like his old self, although he does retain a few small sparks. And this one will never decide he’s outgrown you, either. He can’t." He shuddered, almost grateful when the voice moved away a little, but that died quickly at what the monster said next.

"Pet, why don't you show our guest how much you've missed him?"

He went rigid as a thin body slid into his lap and a gentle hand covered his mouth, cutting him off before he could protest as it had done before. Others, gloved and cold and equally familiar, forced him to tilt his head back and hold still, unable to look anywhere but those empty eyes. A shudder went up his spine as the fingers against his mouth moved away, replaced by warm lips.

“Shh,” the vampire purred at his muffled noise and renewed attempt to get free. “Just listen.”

‘Listen to what?” he originally intended to reply, but something caught his attention instead. The mouth against his was moving soundlessly, and in a way that formed words. Moreover, he could fully understand what was being said. Abandonment and hunger and condemnation and forgiveness and a thousand other things that he had never permitted to lurk for too long in his own head and had ignored in the other man when he’d still been alive. It sent new, unwanted shivers through his body, dredged up old thoughts and mental wanderings he thought had died in the six years since London.

He was sure that he would insist on his deathbed that the real reason he roughly claimed the doll’s lips with his own was to stop the litany. Not the rush of heat that came with hands both cold and warm beginning to wander under his clothes. Not the time-vanished half-formed wanting that came with the feel of long hair brushing his skin and scents both missed and forgotten. And certainly not the surge of lust at being offered so brazenly something that this creature’s predecessor had never would have even considered. It was just to shut him up. That was all.

What he didn’t have an explanation for, however, was the fact that when the vampire’s shadows released his hands, he tangled fingers into the doll’s hair to hold him still while he hungrily ravished a willing mouth. Nor could he explain the fact that he didn’t attempt to push doll or vampire away when hands continued to roam, divesting him of most his clothing.

And he would never be able to explain why he reveled in the cry of mixed pleasure and pain the doll made, or the way a slender body arched in his arms as he drove himself deep into it. He didn’t care that the creature he held was most likely just a fake, that what memories he’d thought he’d heard the doll speak of were all in his own head. He didn’t even care what sick enjoyment Alucard might be getting out of this, or how much he would hate himself later when he had to face up to the fact that he’d lost the game and given a free show all at once. Right then, all that mattered was that, for just a few minutes, he had someone he’d wanted and hated and missed in a way that he’d never been allowed to have.

When he began to regain his senses, he found he’d been redressed, and the vampire was watching him. He mustered up enough energy for a suitably threatening growl, but they both knew there wasn’t much behind it.

At least not until Alucard drew the doll he’d made of Enrico close and began to reabsorb it.

He wasn’t sure what caused him to move. Old guilt over the old loss? New want, maybe, now that he’d had a taste of what he’d always been denied before. But whether the thing was a very good fake or the brainwashed original, he reached out and grabbed the young man by the arm, pulling him free of the shadows and ignoring the slight hiss of pain that the vampire made before recovering.

“So attached already?”

He bristled at the archly amused tone and glared back as he cradled the doll to his chest almost protectively. “You said he was a present, didn't you? The intention is usually that recipients keep presents.”

That actually got a laugh, which only served to annoy him further, and his own glare sharpened as the monster leaned in entirely too close. “Very true, my beloved enemy. I suppose I can let you have him for awhile. After all, it will only be a matter of time before you grow bored of him, just like his predecessor.”

This time, he did get to one of the blades in his coat, although not in enough time for it to impact anything but wood when he flung it. After muttering a few choice curses in the direction of the empty space where Alucard had been, he turned his attention to the doll. For all the world, it looked as though the double was simply sleeping, but for a brief flash of fear, he thought that perhaps this Enrico was dead as well, when he got no response after attempting to shake him awake. He wouldn’t put it past a certain monster to pull such a trick. Resumed slow breathing reassured him, however, and he laid the doll down before stripping off his outer coat and wrapping it gently.

He’d picked the doll up again and was just taking his first steps toward the door when he heard a faint noise and felt the body in his arms stir. Looking down, he found green eyes staring up at him, sleepy, but more lucid than they’d ever been during this whole encounter. “Where are we going?”

He shivered at the sound of the voice, the tone having not changed to match the eyes, then took a deep breath and shifted his hold on the doll to cradle him closer, just hoping to whoever might still bother to listen to him that he’d made the right decision and wouldn’t make the same mistakes over. “Home,” he replied, as made his way out into the hall.

“We’re going home.”