[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Note: Breaking News - Malakai is bisexual. Don't ask me how I know. I'm telling you
because it has some relevance. You'll soon find out. Anyway, sorry it's been so long but I've
been at my mom's house. And oh, boy, has she been a pain. So anyway, here it is, Chapter
Whatever Number!
"Where is Seras?"
Alucard absolutely detested being human right now. Not only could he not locate his
fledgling through their bond, but he couldn't figure out why she had disappeared. He knew she
had left of her own accord; Walter had told him as much, but it didn't help that she had not told
him where she was going. Malakai did not know where she was either. Although the smirking
silver haired man wasn't exactly looking for her. Cursing the Iscariot Organization under his
breath, a thought suddenly popped into his head. The roof. Seras had always loved being up
there. Turning around and walking to the front door, he wondered what sort of emotional state
she'd be in when he got there. One could never tell, when it came to her.
* * * * *
Victoria sighed, inhaling the evening air as deeply as she could. It was two days since she had
closed herself off from Malakai and Alucard. When they had at last gotten the opportunity to
speak to her, Malakai had merely told her good morning, smiled, and continued munching on his
breakfast. Alucard had offered her a similar greeting. Without the "good morning". The two of
them had been talking, she knew. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. Right now,
though, Victoria was merely resting from a long day of being examined by a team of bossy, rude
scientists. It was bad enough that one of them had spent all day looking at her ass, but to be
unconscious for God only knew how long, and for God knew what reasons . . . she shuddered.
She just hoped that particular doctor had excused himself during that portion of her examination.
Throughout the day, the scientists had x-rayed her, examined her insides, taken unbelievable
amounts of blood, and made her eat ridiculous looking pills and other such things. And after
they had woken her up from being sedated, they had only offered five minutes of recovery before
starting again. She growled. She had had a word with Sir Integral about that, and although she
had really tried to be nice about it, she knew that she had been very . . . there were no words to
describe it. Alucard and Malakai had both undergone similar procedures, she knew, because
later on they had sat down in Malakai's room to eat lunch and compare notes.
"And he sprayed himself with the hose," she giggled.
After lunch, Malakai had solemnly declared that he would go outside, and spray himself
down with a water hose. Alucard and Victoria had followed him, much to their misfortune,
because immediately after spraying himself, he had turned the hose on them. Shrieking, Victoria
had tried to run for cover, but Malakai had caught her, pinned her arms, and stuck the hose down
the front of her shirt, laughing. Alucard had come to her rescue, but had gotten sprayed as well,
though not nearly as . . . thoroughly. Victoria smiled. Sir Integral had then come out, gaped for a
moment at the sight of them, and declared that they would not come inside until their clothes,
soaked and clinging to their frames, were dry. Shrugging at her words, Malakai had turned the
hose on Integral. Victoria nearly burst into laughter at the memory of it.

---

"Seras?"
At the sound of her master's voice behind her, she jumped. She had not expected him to
find her, or at least not this soon. She smiled up at him and watched him as he sat down cross-
legged beside her. His eyes were fixed on the darkening sky, which was now a dark blue color,
with only the faintest hint of the sunset on the horizon. He seemed completely content. She
almost reached up to curl a strand of his hair around her finger, but decided against it.
"Master," Victoria said, "Was there something you wanted?"
He turned to look at her. She like that he was more attentive now that he was human.
"Are you . . . all right?"
Alucard's eyes studied her intently. She nodded, unable to remove her gaze from his. He
tilted his head back, turning his gaze to the stars. She could not see the expression on his face
very well now, it was so dark, but she knew he was in deep thought because of his slow, silent
breathing.
Suddenly he said, "You love him, don't you."
It was not a question. He knew. She unconsciously leaned away from him, startled.
Then he turned his electric blue eyes back to her.
"What? You did not honestly believe you were hiding it, did you?" he said.
Victoria was absolutely speechless. Suddenly, Alucard grinned.
"I-that is . . . how did you . . . know? I mean . . . you . . ." Victoria gaped.
"I know everything," came the amused response, "There is nothing in this world that you
can hide from me, Seras."
Amazed and afraid, all Victoria could do was study her shoes and wait for him to speak
again. A thousand questions raced through her mind, the least of which being how long he'd
known, and what he was going to do now.
"He's quite irresistible," a voice said to her as she was caught in the current of her
thoughts, "isn't he?"

She looked up at him.
"What do you mean?"
Alucard smiled again, "I knew that this would happen, Police Girl. I knew that you
would be drawn to him. After all . . . I have known him since childhood. I know how he is, how
he thinks. There is not a woman in the world who could not or would not love him. I also knew
that he would feel the same about you."
He had known from the very moment he had seen Malakai walking along behind her in
that warehouse, but he had done nothing.
"So you knew? The whole time?" she asked to confirm her belief.
"Of course."
Her eyes drifted down to study her shoes again. A hand moved up to stroke her hair, and
with a start she realized it was his. The amusement in his voice and manner was obvious,
thought she did not know why he would be amused. To her, this was not at all funny.
"And of course, you know . . . Malakai told me himself," Alucard told her.
Her gaze moved up sharply, meeting his.
"He told you? When? Why?"
"Because of who he is, Seras. To Malakai, not speaking is the same as lying, and
dishonesty is a great wrong. He could not stand the thought of "lying" to me any longer.
Especially not when the deception was causing you such distress," Alucard replied.

---

"So he told you."
"Yes."
"That night . . . was it that night when I . . ."
"Naturally."
"I see."
She turned to face him directly.
"And . . . it doesn't . . . bother you . . . at all?"
"Do you love me?"
That was about the last thing she had expected to hear right now. She wanted to know if
he was going to go on a killing spree and punish her, but instead he was asking if she . . . if she
loved him. Of course she loved him! Why else would she be so damned nervous?!
"Yes."
"Then why would it bother me?"
"I don't . . . under . . . stand . . ."
"Why would it bother me that you love him if I have not lost your love? Unless you have
but a limited supply, love is not something that you must take from someone in order to give to
another. You love me the same as you did before you met him, correct?"
"Right."
"Exactly."
The sudden shock of hearing her master, of all people, speaking to her in that way about
that subject of all things was lost in the satisfaction of clarity. And then she decided that, since
he was there, she was just going to talk. Talk, and talk until she could talk no more. And he had
better just listen.
"I have been so confused, I mean, I love you, but then I love him too, and it doesn't feel
right, I mean, it's not the same. It doesn't feel the same when he kisses me as when you do, and
it doesn't feel the same when I talk to him as when I talk to you, and I get butterflies in my
stomach when you're around, but when I'm around him, I just feel comfortable and safe. And
when I look at him, I feel differently than when I look at you, because when I look at you, I feel
content, but when I look at him, I feel . . . I dunno, different somehow, and I know it's stupid, but
it's just so unnerving how I can feel one thing, and think another, and do one thing, and want
another, but I never wanted to do the same things with him as I do with you, and yet it just, it's
like . . . I don't know. All I know is that Malakai is Malakai, and you are you, and I love you
both, but you two are totally different people, and that confuses me so much."
Suddenly, his deep, haunting laughter rang through the night air, making her shiver. His
head was tilted back, and at the very corners of his eyes she could see tears forming. He laughed
for what seemed like forever, but when he had finally finished, she realized it was for only a little
bit, and when he finally stopped, he was shaking from laughter he had not allowed out. This was
different from the laughter she had heard from him before, because it did not have the same,
maniacal, wicked quality to it. This was laughter of simple amusement.
"Does it truly confuse you so that we are different? Let me tell you something, Police
Girl, that makes you and he so similar. Neither one of you is capable of differentiating when it
comes to love. One love is the same as the next, as far as you are concerned. Have you ever
really stopped to consider how you really think of him? What he is to you? There are many
kinds of love, Police Girl. Just because you love someone does not mean you are in love with
them," Alucard told her.

---

Many kinds of love . . . in a way, he was right. Love was just love to her, there was no
real difference that she could see, unless she really took time to think about that person. She
knew her love for her father was different from her love for her master, and that her love for
Malakai was different from both. So what really made the difference? She had never thought of
Malakai in the same way as Alucard, never daydreamed about him. It was simply that being
around him, spending time with him, was special, different, and she enjoyed it. She had never
had any siblings, her mother and father had died before having more children, although she knew
they had talked about it. And many times she had been told by her friends about the fun times
they had with their older siblings. And many times, when she was very young, her friends had
bragged about how they were going to marry their older brother or sister someday.
(AN: Every child thinks that they are going to marry their brother or sister, and if not that, then
their father or mother, at some time in their lives. I have drawn on this to make my point.)
She also knew that many of her friends had kissed their brother or sister. Was that how
she thought of Malakai? Was he just a "big brother" to her? It made sense. How often had she
wished for a brother or sister in her lifetime? Someone to talk to and play games with, and to tell
secrets to. She had always thought of Malakai as something she had never had, but it had not
really made sense until now. He was . . . like . . . her brother.
"Christ," she murmured.
"See?" Alucard smiled.
She looked up into his blue eyes, which, despite the lack of light, sparkled. She grinned
up at him, curling her arms around him and pressing her lips to his in a shy, brief kiss.
"Well," she said, "Now that that's over. It's getting kind of cold out here. What do you
say we go inside?"
"Agreed."
They both stood up, and walked to the edge of the roof. Victoria turned and crouched
down, swinging a leg down to stand on the edge of the trellis. She looked up at him as she began
to descend, carefully watching her feet so that she did not fall or damage the rose vines that crept
up around her, clinging to the wooden frame. Soon her feet touched the ground, and he dropped
down beside her, stopping four or five feet up and simply releasing his hold and landing lightly
on his feet. He offered her his arm, and when she took it, they went inside to share her epiphany
with Malakai.
He was not difficult to find. He was sitting precariously on the back of a chair, gazing
down at Ferguson as he spoke to a young soldier. Or perhaps it was the soldier that Malakai was
staring at. Alucard caught the preoccupied man's attention and the three of them went to the
basement. When they had gathered and settled comfortably into Alucard's room (which was
becoming a frequent meeting place for them), Victoria began speaking. She told Malakai about
what had happened earlier that evening and how she had felt, what she had learned and how she
had felt about that. And what she now knew, about him and herself. When she had finished,
Malakai was tilted to the side in his chair, eyes on her. His expression was not angry, or
surprised, or upset, and she realized he had probably known what was going to happen before it
happened.
"I see," he said. "And I understand perfectly."
"You do?"

---

"Yes. Alucard and I have also spoken, remember? I have come to a similar conclusion
about this, and I am glad you see things the same way I do. Much less mess, that way," he
smiled.
Victoria exhaled loudly. Much less mess. She smiled back at him and then, without
thinking, she reached out and embraced him. He was startled for a moment, but then he wrapped
his arms around her and returned the embrace. He kissed her on the cheek and they parted.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel better," Victoria grinned.
"I wholeheartedly agree."
"What say we go get ice cream?"
"I second that motion!" Malakai said.
As the three of them filed out of the room and ascended the stairs, Victoria felt a
profound sense of relief. And a very strong need for Cherry Garcia.

---

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