A/N *Creeps in slowly, hands chapter onto desk* yeahhhh ... it's been a while and I promised I'd be more frequent. I am sorry, dear fans. Life hit me square in the lady balls.


Hope's recovery was conveniently quick after she began to get medicated. The 'antidote' the Doctor had conjured was a perfect counter, and Hope's strength regained nearly completely after a day and a half. She felt a little woozy, but otherwise she was back to being herself. Gene was sceptical about the small amount of time the recovery took, though he had no solid reason to be suspicious. Alucard, on the other hand, knew something was afoot. He knew to be wary of this Doctor, but he was certain he wouldn't be a huge problem for him personally or Integra for a while, so he decided he'd let it slide for the time being.

Things were quiet in the mansion. Quiet, aside from the decorators and the caterers rushing around the halls in preparation of the upcoming ball. The ball was a yearly event Integra held marking the peace within Europe after the London Holocaust, and everyone important and of significance was invited: politicians, royals, nobles... including the Catholic Church. Iscariot never missed an opportunity to enter the Hellsing property and more often than not had ulterior motives, nonetheless they behaved themselves and were cordial for the sake of keeping the peace and imagery. It was grand, themed event that was a chance for officials to let their hair down and relax a little.

After a thorough check up from the Doctor, Hope was allowed to leave the hospital wing of the mansion and go back to her room. Chrissy of course had to stay. She had an internal infection from one of her injuries and had to rest for a while longer.

"You gonna be okay?" Hope asked her, holding her friends' hand.

"Yeah... I'm safe here, right?" replied Chrissy, "Besides, it's not me I'm worried about..." She paused for a few moments, looking at Hope carefully, assessing every one of her facial movements.

"What?" laughed Hope.

"The nightmares haven't stopped, have they?"

"Wh- yeah, of course they have-"

"-Hope."

Hope sighed, shaking her head in defeat.

"What do you think they mean?" Chrissy asked, "Do you think that maybe you got some sort of prophet-fortune teller abilities? Like do you think they predict your dad's movement-"

"I think they're just dreams," Hope answered sternly, her eyebrows furrowing in irritation. She was reciting what Alucard had previously told her even though she didn't believe it completely herself. Slowly, she was starting to put together a plan, one which consisted of piecing the dreams like a puzzle to try and determine Darius' movements, weaknesses and intentions.

"I think maybe we shouldn't throw any ideas out. It could be the answer to defeating him for good- "

"Can we not talk about this? I don't want Alucard or anyone else hearing. I already struggle keeping him out of my head, all of it would be for nothing if he over hears me."

"Are you serious about defeating him yourself though?" Chrissy said quietly.

"I can't have anyone I love die. Last time Alucard fought him he nearly... nearly... " the young vampire trailed off as the thought of Alucard being gone made an impact on her heart. This was probably the first time she realised she didn't want to lose Alucard and his death would actually devastate her. Huh. Who would've thought? "I'm not risking it, okay? I'm better on my own with this. I mean, look at you. This is my fault."

"None of this is your fault." The firmness in her voice was assuring, "You didn't ask for it, did you?"

"No..."

"Then stop blaming yourself for everything. For your mum's death, for your grandparents' death- you are good, Hope. Good. And you'll only get better. You have an amazing opportunity here- you are a vampire, and not just a low grade cheap one, you're vampire royalty. You're literally a Romanian princesses. Like, you are technically a princess."

Hope giggled at the thought, "Imagine me in a big royal dress with a fancy hairstyle having to act all posh and shit."

"I can't," laughed Chrissy, "You? Posh and poise? When Hell freezes over and my Nan stops hating Germany."

"It will soon have to be reality, I'm afraid," Gene said from the door. Over his arm he had a garment cover and Hope squinted her eyes suspiciously.

"What's that, Gene?" she asked.

"Integra wishes for you to attend the ball. As our representative."

"Excuse me? Ball?"

"Ah yes. Every year we have an annual ball... a sort of peacekeeping 'congratulations, we didn't kill eachother' type ball. Everyone we have alliances with comes: Iscariot, Swedish Royals, our investors... the list goes on and on. You'll meet them all, I image." He noticed the girl staring at the material on his arm, "Oh- Seras chose this dress for you. She wanted me to relay that you'd look 'gorg'. Excuse me if I butchered the pronunciation . She said you'd know what it'd mean. "

Hope folded her arms, displeased, "And what is it I have to do as a representative?"

"Nothing out of your skillset. Mingle with the guests and be charming enough to perhaps get some information out of them. Integra will brief you on the day with further details. In the meantime, here. See if this fits you." He handed Hope the garment and bowed his head before leaving.

"Oooh look at you, James Bond," Chrissy teased, "A real life secret agent mission!"

"It seems cool but I probably have to seduce some creepy old man with a thing for teenage girls," Hope grumbled.

"And that would be bad because... ?"

"Chrissy!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding... unless..."

"Shut the fuck up!" Hope lobbed a pillow at Chrissy, who got a nosebleed at the sheer force of the vampire's throw.

A few days later

Hope sighed and stared at the dress in the white cover draped over her chair. She hadn't opened to see what it looked like yet, and she was dreading the night to come. Naturally, the introverted girl was not thrilled about having to spend the night socialising with people who'd gawp at her existence.

Eventually she found the courage to open the zipper and reveal what was inside: a very simple but elegant over the shoulder dress with flowy gradient fabric that went from black to a deep red at the bottom. Seras really knows me, thought Hope. She'd also been provided with a pair of simple short red heels and several cases of brand new makeup, as well as numerous hair accessories, items and thingymabobs. She kept it simple- light contouring of her face, darker shadows around her eyes in a cat-like shape and light curls with her long hair. She twisted her bangs into loose braids and pinned the lengths back into a half bun, then she stared at her made up self in the mirror.

"I don't look half bad," she said out loud, turning in front of the reflection. There was a knocking at the door and Seras entered without being answered.

"Oooh!" she squealed, "You look so beautiful Hope!" She gave Hope a quick squeeze, almost suffocating her with her bosoms.

"Seras-makeup..."

"Sorry!" Seras pulled a way and Hope narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the other vampire.

"How come you're not all dolled up?"

"I'm security. I have to patrol the property and make sure no one's doing anything shifty."

"Do you think anything shifty will happen?"

"I don't think anyone has the balls to try anything in our own home. But they're certainly sneaky so I have a feeling they're going to test the waters at least."

Hope nodded in agreement, but was spacing out. Her previously-frequent anxiety was slowly creeping up on her and the thought of having to talk to strangers suddenly terrified her. It had been so long since she had to socialise outside of a familiar circle and her stomach churned thinking about all the negative outcomes that may or may not happen. Seras noticed her mental absence:

"Hey," she said, putting her hand on her shoulder. Hope looked up at her, attempting poorly to cover her visible anxiousness."You'll do just fine. I know it. Yeah?"

"Yeah..." Hope exhaled.

"Integra wants to brief you in a bit, but take your time girly, okay?"

Seras left but Hope remained, taking a couple of seconds to regulate her beating heart. She tried reminding herself that she had been through such traumatising events, a little social gathering shouldn't upset her this much. But it did. Eventually she gave up trying to calm herself down and made it to Integra's office. To her surprise, Integra was wearing a dress and Hope nearly had to do a double take at the older woman's grace and beauty. The dress was grey but had sparkles that caught the light and hung elegantly off her slender form, and her hair blended with the material. Hope was sure she had a knife hidden in one of the layers of fabric. Or a gun. Or five.

She was so beautiful she didn't even notice Alucard leering beside her desk. Even his clothes her slightly different to normal- he wore a burgundy, close fitting suit and tie with black accents and his hair appeared to be longer and slicked back.

"There isn't much to brief you on," Integra said, "But just... be nosey where you see fit. You're good at that. Especially if a young gentleman called Enzo arrives. I want you to be ... welcoming towards him."

Hope furrowed her eyebrows at the request and stared at Integra in confusion. Integra remained silent, which added to the awkwardness of the moment. Her eyes darted to Alucard for help, perhaps to prompt him to telepathically confirm what Integra meant. There was no response from him so Hope had to say: "Ma'am, are you saying I need to fuck him?"

Integra chuckled, "That's not exactly what I meant. But if it comes to that ... build a relationship of sorts with him. Make yourself known and be friendly." Hope's second round of silence spurred Integra to add: "Is there a problem with this?"

"N-no!" stuttered Hope, "Uh... is he my age?"

"Give or take two years, yes."

"O-Okay. Yeah, I can do that."

"Good girl. Remember, they'll be just as curious about us so keep your wits about you. Be in the ballroom by seven. Dismissed, both of you."

Hope and Alucard both nodded at the same time and left. Hope went to head back to her room when she heard Alucard comment from slightly behind her:

"You look nice, Nightingale." He dematerialised after that, but Hope stood there smiling, the warmth of his approval causing her cheeks to blush pink.