Aurora stretched and yawned.  She hopped out of bed and turned on the small radio on her nightstand.  Upbeat jazz music filled the room and she danced her way across the room to put the coffee on, singing along.

"All this hard luck in this town has found me. Nobody knows but the troubles are all around me..."

Sliding across the cold tile she stopped in front of her tiny closet to pull out a dress and select a pair of heels she'd only bought yesterday, just for the trip she was taking today.  She whistled and sauntered over to the phone, pulling off Billy's shirt which she swiped from his house the night she'd made love to him.

"Cause when I get low..."  She smiled at the shirt as she tossed it back onto her pillow, sure she could still smell him on it.  "Oh, I get high!"

She picked up her phone and despite the music blaring she dialed up Billy's place.  

"Hello?"  Rebecca said brightly.

"Hello, Rebecca, this is Aurora."

"Miss Byrne!  I'll get Billy..."

"NO!"  Aurora chuckled.  "Actually was hoping I could surprise him.  Will you pencil me in for dinner tonight.  Don't tell him he's meeting with me okay?"

"Oh, but he'll be so happy if he knows you're coming!  It will make this whole place more pleasant."

Aurora laughed.  "You can tell him but not until after three or he won't get anything done today.  Besides, I can't get away until after three.  I owe someone a visit and I want to make sure I pop my head in to see Integra while I'm in town too.  I will have dinner with him and stay over again if he's free. He can pick where we go.  Hey!  Maybe we could hit the Blackhawk and cut a rug tonight!" 

"Three.  Got it.  At three o'clock I will tell Billy you're in town hoping to have dinner, perhaps at the Blackhawk, and stay over.  Where can I get word to you?"

"Um, I'll be with Alucard this afternoon.  I suppose his people at that hotel might know where to find us?"

"Got it. Afternoon meeting with Lord-Alucard, then coming by to see Lady-Integra.  Then... you're his."

"I'm always his."  She quipped back.

"Of course, Miss.  I'll let him know."  Rebecca said warmly.

Aurora thanked Billy_Mastrosimone's secretary and hung up the phone.  She then went to her dresser to pick out this visit's gift for her boyfriend, an over the top apology for the misunderstanding with his left-hand-man and then put them on before pulling on a red dress that would make the Pope himself question his life choices - topping it with a conservative sweater to tone the look for her daytime activities.  

Gun in her purse, knife on her thigh, she fixed her hair and make-up.  She packed a small overnight bag, and pulled on her heels which she wasn't 100% great at walking in just yet (as attested to by her blisters which now had blisters of their own from practicing.)  Then, she stepped into the hall and promptly got a whistle from Marcus.  Phil swatted him hard and added, "You look nice Miss Byrne."

"Exactly the reaction I hope Billy has later today when the sweater comes off."

"No worries of that, Miss."  Marcus offered and raced ahead to open the door to her apartment building.  A few minutes later and they were boarding a plane to the Motor City.  

It was a little after ten in the morning when the plane landed.  Her guys secured a car for her and drove her to the hotel where she understood that Alucard was staying.  She hoped she'd find him since she'd refused to send a letter back with that Durden.  If he wasn't here then she'd have to find Integra first to learn where she could meet up with the mysterious scarred man whose eyes were so much like her own.

"Excuse me," She asked the person at the front desk.  "My name is Aurora Byrne... I'm here looking for a man who goes by the name Alucard?"

Margrette looked at the young woman across from her.  "What do you want with that asshole?"

Alucard sat at the old Petrof piano, "Maggie, be nice to our lovely guest here!"  Alucard scolded his desk clerk as he just continued playing Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2.

"I wasn't bein' nice ta you not her!" Margrette retorted.

Alucard sighed as he played, "Now what if this woman was here on business with me, and your blatant disrespect caused her to take her business elsewhere?  Remember, it's business that allows you to cash that check I give you every week.  You would also do well to remember dear, sweet, Tina."

"I'm sorry Miss Byrne, he's over on the piano..." The brunette politely said as she pointed over in the direction of the upright.  She wanted to add a snide comment about him avoiding his work that allows him to cash his checks, but she didn't.  Instead, she stood there wondering, 'what the hell do women see in this man? He's just awful.  It's the accent isn't it, It's always the accent. I'm not fooled by no smart sounding accent.'  She added at the end trying to convince herself.

Alucard stood up from his playing and met up with Aurora, he gave her a warm smile. "Please forgive Maggie's rudeness.  I had no idea she was jealous of all women that talked with me alone.  Here I thought it was just Integra, since it's only her I take to my bed.  Thoooough,"  He said with a grin as he looked Aurora up and down, "She may just be jealous because of how damn good you're looking today.  If you don't mind me saying so,  You're going to make Billy's jaw hit the floor when he sees you."

He gave a short laugh at himself as he extended his hand towards Aurora, "Also forgive me my rudeness.  It is quite a pleasure seeing you again.  What brings you to my fine establishment?  I must say, I wasn't really expecting to see you again after I made myself look like an angry fool.  I'm very glad to see I was wrong."   He added with smile and warmth to his voice.

She blushed slightly as Alucard complimented her look.  "I hope he likes it.  I'm literally bleeding for his pleasure today.  My feet are dying in these torture traps."  She looked down at her shoes.  

"I want to dance with him tonight, but I'm literally afraid of how bad I'm going to move with him because of my injuries.  There's nothing to be done for it though - I just need to push through the pain."

"As for not expecting me... well, wasn't it you who invited me to visit?  I only came because of your very nice letter.  If you're busy though, I do understand.  I'm sure Integra would enjoy a visit from me..."

Alucard gave a shrug at Aurora's last comment, "If you'd rather visit Integra, it's no skin off my back, I'll call her to let you know you're on your way.  Though I will say, I would have expected a call to let me know to expect you.  So, yes I wasn't expecting you to just appear at my place of business."

He gave the young woman a broad smile, "Speaking of my very nice letter, did you enjoy the present?  I thought you may find some catharsis in shooting the messenger.   I only promised to not be the one to shoot 'em."  Alucard put a strong emphasis on the word I.  "I know, I know... catharsis is purging of emotions through art, but who says killing isn't an art form." 

The man did feel sorry for the woman in front of him.  He gave her a sympathetic look, "If you want we can go out and I can buy you some more comfortable shoes until your date this evening.   He doesn't need to know you weren't wearing those shoes the entire day, or we can just relax here and you can kick your shoes off for a little while."

Aurora hobbled over to a chair and kicked off her shoes and gave a sigh of gratitude.  

"Oh, that's so much better."  She said with a smile.  "And, as for your gift... it was a real shit week.  I can't say I was up to my normal level of artistic drive, so to speak."

She shrugged.

"Though, I do think of my work as art.  Certainly, I've put as much effort into its mastery as I have into dance.  Although, I think I know too few people who see it quite the same way I do."

She chuckled.

"Can I ask you, the last time we met, how did you know about my knives?"

He smiled and laughed as Aurora kicked off her shoes.  "Make yourself at home,  can I get you a drink? Spirits, beer, Coffee or Tea?"

"I am sorry it was such a bad week, and you didn't have your artistic drive.  I hope you find your muse again soon.  But yeah, there are far too people who find our specific sort of work as art." 

He grinned at the question about the knives. "How did I know about your knives?"  His voice put a playful tone to his voice, "Did you not notice mine?"

"I'm afraid I didn't."  She admitted.  "Of course, that was because I was caught off guard by your decision to show your scars."  

Aurora blushed a touch.  

"I've got a thing for scars."  She shrugged.  "Marks on our bodies are stories to be told.  I see scars on someone and I wonder about the stories... and the strength the person who possesses them must have."

She leaned back in her seat.  "That said, I'd appreciate it in the future if you didn't show your scars off in front of Billy and I.  He knows of my inclination and I'm concerned he took my desire to examine yours closer as a statement of some sexual desire for you." 

Aurora winced, she realized then that she might have hurt her new 'friend's' feelings.  "I'm sorry, that wasn't to imply that you aren't an attractive man... just that, I'm quite taken with Billy and you're Integra's.  As those two things are both very true, there never would be a situation wherein I'd be looking at you in that way." 

"Though... I admit some curiosity about your story."

" Sexual desire... wait, what?  I had NOOO idea! That, was never my intention. I would never... not against Tegs... Only trying to prove that I am very well acquainted with pain."  He gave very quick look away when he thought about that car ride, the thought of Billy not being the friend to him that Alucard thought he was, still made the raven-haired man uncomfortable. "Soooo yeah, I will not be doing that with Billy around ever again."  

Alucard couldn't help but warmly laugh though when Aurora was stumbling over her words. "I'm glad to see I"m not the only one who is on the awkward side of the social scale." 

"I will tell you anything and everything you want to know about my story, I have nothing to hide... but I will require a drink."   Alucard walked to the bar and grabbed a bottle of single malt scotch whiskey.   He put the Whiskey, a flask of water, and two glasses on the table by Aurora.   He pulled up a chair, sitting with his chest to the back of the chair and one leg on either side of the back.  He reached for a glass and poured himself a whiskey.  After taking a sip he asked Aurora, casually as he would ask a patron their questions about the hotel, "What would you like to know?

Aurora smiled at Alucard's reaction.  She wasn't sure if it was funny exactly, she didn't feel glad she'd made him uncomfortable, and yet... maybe it was just a little funny that the man didn't know his actions had such reaching consequences.  Did that mean others found her social screw-ups humorous as well?

When Alucard settled in with a drink and offered to tell her anything that she liked, she found herself saying something other than what she had planned.  "So, why are you socially awkward?  I mean, it's not every day I meet someone who describes themselves that way.  I honestly sometimes feel like I might be the only one on the planet who can insert my foot so far into my mouth that I can kick my own ass with it."

She smirked.

"And no, you're not the only one on that side of the scale by a long shot... in fact, it might be fair to put Billy there too which, let me tell you, has led to no end of difficulties and probably funny situations for us.  Funny, of course, if you're NOT us.  I can't say I've been terribly amused when I manage to misstep."  She shakes her head.  

Alucard let out a long sigh, rubbing his fingers along across his eyes.  He sat there a moment, thinking, 'Did she really think I was laughing at her and not just in relief? Is she really just like the others, thinking I'm just inherently bad so she just assumes something negative of my actions?  Why should I care? I shouldn't, so I won't.'

Alucard downed his drink before standing up to spin his chair back around and move it off to the side away from Aurora.  When he did speak, the warmth was gone from his voice, " First, I was not laughing at you, it was out of relief of not being alone. And I am not going to apologize for a natural reaction. I am not saying or thinking you're going to ask for one, I am simply stating from the onset IF you are.... you won't get one."

"So, you want to know why I would call myself socially awkward?  That is a long complicated story."  Alucard paused to pour himself another drink, "Short of it is this. I was raised by bums, sold into slavery, beaten until I ran away, taken in by the Hellsing royal family.  Every step of my life, I've been treated and told that I am evil, bad, a dog, demon, beast.  The only people who looked at me and saw a boy, were an 8yr old Integra and her father."

He took a sip of his drink, "The short version leaves a lot of questions, doesn't it?  So how about the long story?  The earliest years of my life I was raised by a camp of bums who found me in a dumpster as an infant.  All I know of the bitch who birthed me and the man who donated his seed to my creation is that they didn't want me and didn't even care enough to drop me on an orphanage's doorstep. They threw me away."  The man spoke about his past with the same indifference he would if he were talking about the weather. 

"The bums that kept me, only did because they realized they made a lot more money begging when they had a baby and young child.  When I stopped being, profitable, they sold me to a slaver to work in coal mines during the day and be a house servant in the evenings.  The man, Tate, would beat me. Sometimes for mistakes made, other times just for his own sick pleasure.  More than once it was within an inch of my life."

He swirled the whiskey around in the glass.  "I ran away from the mines to London.  Doing what I had to just to survive. Was pure dumb luck I just happened to duck down the same alley Integra's kidnapper was trying to sell her in.  So her father took me in when I brought her home.  I still don't know why.  I was disobedient, insolent, rude, uncouth..." Alucard gave a thoughtful laugh, "I guess I'm not much better even now. But even in their household, only Integra and Arthur ever treated me as a person.  Walter too, I suppose.  Was never really sure if his politeness was real or just his job."

 "So, what does all this have to do with being socially awkward?  I'm a street kid.  I'm not familiar with kindness, love, or compassion... mostly shown hate, disdain, and at the best indifference.   This leading to me not giving a damn what people think, so I just say and do whatever the people in my life that don't matter to me can go fuck themselves.  So, when I care, actually try to be proper... it just comes out all wrong.  Hell I don't even know if I"m explaining myself that well, but I don't really care.  You asked, I answered the best I could.  Guess I should have been less of an insolent little twat, and paid closer attention to the lessons Arthur was trying to teach me.  But..."His amber eyes sparkled and, a warm genuine smile spread across his face  "I have Integra, she is my heart.  So fuck everyone else.  Her love, is all I need."  Alucard downed the remainder of the drink, setting the glass on the table. 

Aurora listened to Alucard.  She put the weight of her upper body on her forearms and leaned forward towards him.  Her eyes fixated on him as he spoke, alternating between watching his lips move and looking into his eyes.  If his defensive opening and explanation of not needing or wanting to apologize had bothered her, she gave no indication of it.  Instead, she seemed fixated on him and his story.

"Integra is a special person."  She admitted.  "I don't know many women like her.  I have a great deal of admiration for how she handles herself and her business.  She reminds me of my father in some ways.  And based on the shortened version of your own trials... so do you."

Aurora sat up.

"You know, I was raised in a house that always valued honesty above just about everything else.  Even when it wasn't always comfortable or socially proper, my father pushed for us to always be honest.  My mom... well, she plays a lot faster and looser with omission than my father or I try to.  I find that lying generally causes more issues than it solves and as a result, I can be a bit overly blunt with most people and not everyone shares my opinions."

She shrugged.

"I think that's where my awkwardness comes from.  I mean, socially.  Cause, I had a good childhood, generally speaking.  Loving parents and my needs were met.  So really my social awkwardness just comes from this crazy notion that I rather like who I am and believe in my abilities.  People tend to be put off by that, they're much more comfortable with false humility and pretenses of friendship even in the absence of it."

She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I've rambled on." 

She smiled. 

"You play the piano quite well, by the way.  Have you been playing long?  Do you have other hobbies?"

Alucard warmed up immensely at the mere thought of Integra, he couldn't hide his affection for her if he tried.  The smile that spread across his face was that clearly of a man deeply in love, "Yeah Integra is incredible.  I've never met another person, male or female, like her." 

The man listened intently as Aurora spoke, keeping his eyes on hers.  He was still in slight disbelief of finding another individual with eyes similar to his. Alucard switched from leaning his head on his hand, to nearly matching Aurora's positioning as he leaned against the edge of the table before he began to reply to her. 

"You know, I fully agree with the total honesty mentality.  Lying is, at it's VERY best is only a temporary.  It's like tying a slip knot, does the job for the time being, but one pull is all it takes to unravel.  Best to just be honest from the start, things become exponentially worse when the lie is uncovered.   I too have a tendency to be blunt,  I always tell people if they don't want to hear the truth of things, they shouldn't ask me about it.   And you know what, fuck those people who aren't uncomfortable with you liking who you are and believing in your abilities and skills.  There is nothing crazy about either of those things and the people that think there is... their opinions don't matter.   We only get one life on this earth, let us both not concern ourselves with the opinions of the insignificant."  Alucard laughed at himself, "Now who's the one rambling?" 

He poured himself some water from the pitcher, motioning to both the whiskey and water to Aurora.  "May I pour you something?"

He took a long drink from his glass as he leaned back in his chair again.  "You're lucky to have a family, especially family that loves you. Can you tell me, what is it like, to have a family?"

"And, before I forget, thank you for your comment about my playing, but what do you mean by hobbies?"  The very concept of having a hobby was foreign to him, he understood the definition of the word but that was pretty much the extent of it. 

"I could tell you about Christmas mornings and dinners around the table if you like... I suppose I have a lot of those stories, but I don't know that's what you're asking me for."

Aurora thought about Alucard's question for a long moment.  How did one answer something so simple and yet so infinitely complex as what it was like to have a thing that everyone should have had in life?  How to explain the complexities of loving and hating people at the same time, of not being able to live with or without the same faces day in and out?  They were the axis around which her world was built and yet if you'd never had those things... how could you ever expect to understand?  What might she have been without them?

"Gavin..."  She rarely called her father by his name, but at times when speaking of the complexity of her family, it was important to be specific about whom she was speaking.  "When he decided to he wanted to see what life might be like, sharing it with another person, he asked Isabella something similar."

She furrowed her brow, a faraway look in her amber eyes as she tried to remember the story.

"He believed because of his past, of all the hurt done to him... his body looking much like your own after a childhood no man should have endured... he thought he did not know how to, well, love."

She met Alucard's eyes then.

"I tell you this to frame what he told me later in life about my own origins and where I was blessed to find myself.  Quite simply, it's not that you don't know.  It's that you've forgotten.  Babies are born with this sense of ... need... to love and be loved.  A basic understanding of family.  From the moment they come screaming into the world, babies know their mother and father, their families by scent and sound.  Instinctively a brand new baby, laid on its mother's belly, will squirm it's way to her breast knowing not what it needs ... just that it is theirs and they need it.  The need never really goes away.  Sometimes, however, the mother and father do."

She looked at the floor. 

"I don't really remember my mother, Marie."  She says softly.  "But I have this dream occasionally, about her, I'm sure it must be the memory of my need because I've never known need or want since, so why would I make up some story about a woman I was too young to recall?  Isabella and Gavin, they spared me what might have been a terrible fate by taking me in.  Love is too simple a word to tell you what I feel for them.  Gratitude imperfect utterly."

She shakes her head.

"When my brother, Will, finally was born, for a time, I was sure what I felt would disappear."  She paused.  "Safety.  Security.  That sense that what I need, that thing I'd crawl on my belly over glass and through fire to find, would always be there waiting.  This most basic and primal of sensations, I was sure I was about to lose it with the cries of a perfect child which was wanted and loved before he ever drew breath.  While I..."

She looked towards the window and out at the street and the people passing by.

"Let's just say that Death and I are friends.  It's a long story, probably not something particularly interesting and would sound fairly self-indulging and pathetic... suffice to say, I've had one constant playmate in my life from my first breath until my last."  She looked back to Alucard, "And I know what I would be without my family.  What I'm capable of being... whenever I choose."

She paused.  Images flittered through her mind, moments of unchecked rage and bloodlust that she refused to let completely define her.

"To have a family is to have a need, one you did not realize you had, fulfilled.  Unfortunately, for most people, it is also to have a great vulnerability.  I've accepted Death as my companion & rejected the lie that he is my enemy." 

She shook her head, looking away from Alucard, knowing what she said had to sound mad and wanting to try to explain so she didn't seem such a freak. 

"You see, I've watched Death walk through the lives of so many people, taking people who were needed by others.  And in the wake of Death's passing, the people left behind are less - many times, they are soon to die not long after.  They get careless or, and few like to admit this, they are looking for Death to return so they might join him.  It's rare that folks have the fortitude to push forward after losing something as basic to them as blood or air... family, for many people, is just that.  As basic a need as blood and air."

She shrugged.

"I decided long ago that while Death could either be viewed as a thief in the night, taking the things I need and thusly must be fought... or he is simply put: an old friend come again to visit.  He brings with him a reminder of those who went before but also an end to suffering and pain, an end to injustice and hate.  He is the coda on life, to which the truly innocent and blessed have danced."

She looked back to the man across from her. 

"I was saved by Isabella and Gavin, but I am not ignorant of what my fate should have been.  It was their love and compassion, their kindness and mercy, their generosity which caused me to learn what I needed in this life and saved me from either being nothing more than a very deadly tool to be used by monsters worse than me ... or another victim, crushed on the unfeeling gears of life.  A family gives me shape.  A family gives me an identity.  A family gives me purpose.  To have a family is to be needed.  And to need."

She tilted her head to the side slightly, "It sounds to me that Integra and her father were very much your family in this life... that her goodness and all the things you admire about her, gives your form some shape and your deeds purpose.  If you ever think you don't know what family is... take yourself somewhere, alone, and sit in the silence.  Imagine what your world will be without her.  Really let yourself feel it.  If it doesn't bother or scare you, keep trying because it will... eventually.  And when it does, don't look at the pain.  Look behind it.  The thing that caused the pain, not the reason for lose, but what you will lack... what you will mourn, THAT is your need.  And, I think, it's my greatest power and greatest weakness all at once - as mad as it sounds... to me, THAT is what it is like to have a family."

She lowered her voice and blushed slightly, realizing how silly she must sound.

Alucard, and silently listened to everything Aurora had to say.   He had no idea the concept or idea of a family could be something so utterly complex.  His hand rubbed along the back of his neck as his mind just pondered over everything.  He'd never thought of Integra as family, but clearly family was more than just blood relations.    Even as all her words hit him, the phrase "Imagine what your world would be without her." lingered in his thoughts. 

 He gave a heavy sigh at that thought.  He looked up at her, noticing the slight blush on her face. "You have no reason to be blushing, think I understand everything you have said.  You've spoken very well. "  

Alucard took the second glass and poured Aurora water from the pitcher.  "I had never thought to consider anyone that wasn't a blood relation as family. You see Lord Arthur, he was a teacher and a mentor.  I had a great amount of respect for the man.   He didn't take me in to be part of the family, business family or otherwise.  I was a servant of the Hellsing household, I worked where ever help was needed. I tended the gardens, chopped wood, tended to the animals, worked on the automobiles." He thought on the memory and laughed, "Which I was not very good at.  I also helped in the kitchens, now THAT I had a surprising knack for.  I'm a pretty damn good cook.   Mostly though, Arthur used me as Integra's protection when she went out.  Stronger than his hired guards, even as a boy, and more loyal.  I'm not saying he didn't care, Arthur cared for all the workers on the Estate.  Though..." 

Alucard slouched a bit in the chair, placing the back of his head to the back of the chair and thoughtfully sighing. "...maybe he did. Maybe, there was a sort of love there.  I just never saw it.  Hell, I never knew Integra loved me until she flat out told me.  Ya know.." He said, turning his head to look over at Aurora, "Of course you don't, Integra doesn't even know, Arthur's last words to me, after telling me he knew how I felt about Integra that he could see it in the stolen looks... he gave me his blessing saying 'I'd have been proud to call you my son'"

A brief warm smile passed over his lips as he said that.  Alucard missed Arthur, so many times he could have used the old man's wisdom and guidance in his current life.  The smile faded when Aurora's words of 'Imagine what your world would be without her"  passed through his thoughts again.  He sat back up, refilling his glass, and taking a drink.

"Not too long ago, hell, almost right after I'd gotten Integra back. I had the painful realization of imagining my world without her in it.  Knowing the binding for my humanity would be gone, the warmth, the hope,  the only light the perpetual darkness of my existence..." He paused, taking another drink, "Suddenly being gone.  It's cold, it is absolutely terrifying.  I honestly don't know what would become of me without her."

"Do you remember me mentioning my old slaver, Tate?  That filth, somehow crawled himself up out of the gutter the Hellsing family put him in.  When he found out Integra and I were both working in the same area he was, he fucking took her. He sent me, and the Don, a letter.   I knew first hand what that man had done to me, what he was capable of.  I was forced then and there to imagine my world without her.  The man wanted me back, he still saw me as his possession.  The choice was easy, I made the trade. I knew I'd be walking to my death... and I knew it would hurt Integra, but she still has people who love her.  She has Don Mastrosimone... she'd come to have the doctor, you, countless others here I'm sure. It would have taken a while, but she would have made it though. " 

He finished off his drink.

"Oh, that's where the vast majority of these came from. If you were curious, if not I guess I still told you."  He motioned to his chest and arms, implying the scars she'd seen before.

Alucard leaned in, staring into Aurora's eyes for a moment. "They really are beautiful, like staring into a sunset... I've never noticed that in my own eyes, when looking into a mirror.   Did you ever face any ignorant form of hate for your eyes?  I have my whole life, I still do.  People say I'm a monster or Satan himself, just because of how different my eyes are."

Aurora nodded and softly spoke, "When I was a girl I was bullied at school a lot.  My strange eyes were just one of many reasons.  When I got older and started being around wise guys, it was more about where I come from.  Salvatore Luciano, killed my mother Marie Lucania.  They called him The Devil and ... despite trying to make a name for myself on the backs of my own deeds, there are people who are still are inclined to call me the Devils Daughter."

She shrugged.

"The eyes ... I guess they don't help with that,  Isabella always compared them to the fierce eyes of the lioness.  She's the one who first told me I was like one.  I have always been fond of that."

She smiled softly for a moment but the smile faded as she recalled another comment about her eyes.

"Once I had this one guy out in Vegas tell me that my eyes are like this because of my mother's blood.  Said that my eyes must have turned this way after my father butchered her.  That seed carries the sins of the father and that ... I'm monster." 

She shook her head.

"Well, jokes on him cause I've never been one for lying to others ... let alone myself.  Truth is, I am - when the need arises, a monster.  And to prove the point, I put that bastard in a shallow hole out in the desert."

She sighed.

"Billy has yet to see that side of my life yet.  I'm not sure how well he's going to handle hearing someone call me a demon, or monster, or daughter of the devil when he thinks of me as his Angel."  She said the last word with some significance as if the word itself were dear to her in some way.

"Funny thing is, looking at your eyes, I kinda was thinking the same thing... they're pretty.  In the right light, they're terrifying, but the fire is too.  In the right context, it saves lives, warms homes, lights a path, and purifies - of course, in the wrong context it's deadly.  It's all a matter of perspective.  Maybe the same can be said of us as well?  That, depending on how you come across us, we are as lovely or terrifying a beast as eyes in our faces?"

Alucard sighed, "People are ass holes" he mumbled to himself as he heard Aurora speak of her own hardships.   He wondered why people were so utterly terrified and hateful of things that fit outside their comfortable little idea of normal. It angered him that people had treated her similarly to how they do him. 

Though he softly chuckled at the thought of how Billy would react to hearing Aurora being called monster or demon. 

"For whoever is foolish enough to say that to you in front of the Don, I hope for their sake they are more than an arm's length away.  I KNOW how Integra reacts, hell she's mad when I make fun of it and call myself a monster.  Because, like you, I know I can be one if need be. Integra hates it though.  She's never seen me as such, not even when I nearly beat her kidnapper to death with my own two hands.  Or, after I did beat her uncle to death.   So yeah, knowing her reactions to hearing others call me that... I don't want to imagine what Billy's might be, of hearing someone call you those names."

Alucard gave Aurora a smile,

"I don't think lovely or pretty are words that have ever been used to describe me.  Thank you.  Though you are right, I think if people actually gave me a fair chance they'd see I'm a decent enough person,  albeit a bit of a sarcastic asshole..."

Margrette gave a laugh from behind a partition, "YOU? You're an utter asshole.  Trying to convince this new little tart that you're some decent human being, you're not even human.  Not with them eyes you ain't.   You only trickin fools with that smart accent too."

Alucard stood up, gave a polite nod to Aurora, "If you'll excuse me."

The man walked up to his desk clerk and pinned her against the wall, his eyes flickering and glowing with innate anger.  He looked deep into Margrette's eyes, to the point she almost felt like he was trying to burn her very soul.  "How fucking dare you talk to or about my guest in that way.  I will show you mercy this one time because of your obvious show of ignorance as to just WHO this beautiful woman behind me is."

Alucard tilted his head in the opposite direction, his neck loudly cracking as he did. "Now, what you will do is you will call up Alice to work the front desk.  You will go home, and you will go AS soon as you are done with this.  Tomorrow I will decide if you even still have a job. This is a courtesy I am giving you, for if she decides to hunt you down and carve you up like a Christmas ham,  I will not stop her.  Hell, I may just join her on that hunt.  Are we clear?"

"P...p...perfectly so, sir."  the desk clerk stammered out before she rushed to make the call to Alice, then ran out the door.  Only a moment later was the maid Alice behind the counter manning the desk.  She gave a smile and wave to Alucard and Aurora, then went about doing her work.

Alucard sat back down, rubbing his fingers against his temples, "I am SO sorry for Maggie, she really is quite good at her job.  You know, when she isn't being such an insolent little wench.  I know her life outside here is hell, so I am trying to give her a chance to right it.  But some days, like today, I wouldn't mind burying her in a shallow grave in the desert." 

Alucard looked at the whiskey but decided against drinking any more of it.

"Is this what I am like?  Is this how people feel when dealing with me?  Good lord, no wonder so many people hate me!"  Alucard said with a laugh, before shaking his head, "I'm sorry, but where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?"

Aurora's back went rigid when she realized the old woman had been listening in on them.  It bothered her more when the woman dared call her a tart, of all things!  When Alucard went to handle it, however, she resolved to let it go.  The man was handling his underlings and who was she to interfere.

She listened, though she tried not to be obvious about it.  When he returned she gave him a polite smile as he made his apologies for the rude woman's behavior.

"Thank you for speaking to her and for your apology on her behalf.  As for where we were, ironically I think we were just talking about the general asshole type nature of humanity."  She smirked.

"Of course, to be honest, I really should probably get going.  I've got a lot yet to do today, including meeting with Integra before seeing Billy tonight.  Though I've loved our chat today and I'd like to do it again sometime if you're not opposed?"

"Yes, of course.  I apologize for keeping you here for so long miss Byrne."

He gave an embarrassed rub to the back of his neck, hoping it was indeed the time and not his employee's behavior that is having her leave so quickly.

"Would you like me to call Tegs after you leave?"  

He gave a warm smile to Aurora.

"I would not be opposed to it at all. It would be my pleasure to meet up with you and talk like this again, my Twin Iris.  May I escort you back to your car?"   

He gave a slight bow, still looking Aurora in her eyes, the soft smile still across his lips as he offered her his hand.

"You may."  She said with a smile allowing him to take her by the hand and lead her to her car.  Visiting with Alucard had been far more pleasant than Integra and Billy made it seem like it would be.  She definitely would do it again soon.