Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Youth and Innocence ❯ chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

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

Youth and Innocence
Chapter 2
Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them.
“It's almost over, ducks,” her governess slid chubby arms over Integra's shoulders as she murmured, “that's the last of them gone.”
Standing on the steps, Integra leaned back into her comfort. The iron security gates closed after the limousine and she let out a sigh. It had turned out all right. She had been forthright and honest with each of them. Now she would have to wait and see how they handled her succession as director of Hellsing and soon to be newest knight. Formalities demanded that she be nominated and paperwork processed. The Knights of the Protestant Order preferred that she be sixteen, but messengers from the palace had assured her that she could assume all the duties immediately. New questions rose in her mind. Did she need to inform the Queen about the new vampire servant? Would she want it… him terminated, like their directive seemed to require?
She mused on those and a million other worries as she was being bustled back inside. Her staff would forgive her daze on this day. Without paying attention, she could hear Mary, her governess since birth, fretting with the others about cleaning up the food left over from tea. “Here now, let's move this to the small room and,” Mary turned to Integra, “Teggy sweet, would a cup of soup do to warm you up? You can eat in the study, if you like. I know you didn't touch even a sweet.”
Integra opened her mouth to rebuke Mary for calling her “Teggy,” a childhood nickname she lost as soon as she went off to boarding school, when a shadow passed by the window outside the dining room and then returned. What was odder than its motion was its density. How does a shadow change opacity?
Mary looked to the window, then back at her, “Miss? Shall I have them bring it here?” Mary followed her eye again. “Would you like me to crack this?” She moved to the window, “There's a chill, but…”
Integra waved her hand. “No, no thank you, Mary. I'll eat here.” She watched her governess organize the foods to stay and go. Once she and the other servants closed the door, Integra turned back to the window. There was no shadow there now. I really should go back to Father's office, she thought, and see to those cases. The cult one bothered her. They seemed to have gotten followers from within the hierarchy of the Church and Father had been working hard at sussing it out before he died. She rubbed her temples. There had been a strange sensation in her head all afternoon, but it was hard to say what it was. She supposed it was exhaustion and grief mixing.
“That was a very touching service,” the voice was very close to her ear. Integra stiffened. “You should consider putting the vicar on your payroll.”
She turned her head toward the slight stirring in the air on her right. “Show yourself!” Her eyes twitched as she tried to make sense out of the shadows.
Alucard hesitated, just a moment, as he wondered what form he should take. He settled on her image of him. The skeletal, white haired corpse appeared in a long black leather suit, leaning languidly on the chair, his mouth only inches from her head. Inwardly he thrilled at the pounding of her heart. “Better?”
“What do you want?” Since he didn't seem likely to move, Integra got up, anything to put distance between his leering face and hers.
“To serve you,” he lied. “I am your willing slave.”
“Servant, you mean.” Integra watched him close his long lashed eyelids, giving her some relief from his harsh red gaze. “Walter said you were my servant,” when he didn't respond or even look at her, she went on, “hard to kill and a great asset to Hellsing.”
He chuckled, eyes still closed. “Indentured servant, then.” He was moderately pleased to hear Walter say that. He watched her shift from foot to foot. Here is a creature I can work with, he thought and let his smile crawl wide.
As much as his gaze disturbed her, Integra was now annoyed he wasn't looking at her. “I expect you to behave.” No response. She leaned against the table behind her. “Look at me when I'm talking to you!” She shivered as he complied, her heart skipping a beat at the predatory look. “Don't hurt people.” She had been thinking about this, about what to say to him.
“As you wish, my Master,” he bowed low to her. “You may find,” he paused as if considering this for the first time, “that to be limiting, for your purposes.” Alucard waited for her to take the bait.
Her brow crumpled as she considered. “I don't want you to hurt the innocent,” she rephrased.
“Understood, but who defines `innocence'? I have read the reports on your desk and I might be of use there. They've got human collaborators. You wouldn't want to tie my hands in pursuit of the vampires involved would you? May I suggest that you direct me not to hurt anyone unless I need to?” He knew she would take it before she nodded and spoke the words. He had many needs and defined them broadly while 'innocence' very narrowly.
”Yes, that will do.” He was still looking at her expectantly, so she added, “Don't hurt anyone unless you need to.” His face lost none of its menace, but she thought she saw a release of some tension in his tall body. His face, when not in a gruesome grin, wasn't as ugly as she'd first thought. She wondered if he'd once been handsome?
“Wonderful,” he purred. He reflected on the gullibility of children. “Then there's only the question of my feedings.” He drank in the look of confusion on her pretty face. The glasses did not detract from her beauty; in fact, they enhanced the brilliant blue of her eyes. Alucard decided that the contrasts within and without defined her. Dark skin, light hair, self-doubt and determination, all wrapped up in one appealing package. He would beat her weaknesses out in time but for now, he felt, they gave her charm. Like her predecessors, she thought she could hide fear from him. He gave in to some of the laughter that rose inside him.
“What, um, do you want?” Where is Walter, she really wanted to ask. Couldn't he deal with this? Integra looked about her as the vampire finally moved. He was laughing and walking slowly toward her. She had no weapons if he tried to hurt her. Still, hadn't he taken a bullet for her the night before? She tried to shift away from the table in case she needed to run.
“Walter and a few other agents are disposing of bodies,” he answered, watching her jump. Even if he had no access to her thoughts through their mystical bonds, he could've read the question from her face. That face was finally showing traces of fear. Behind her mask was a thirteen-year-old orphan. “You have no reason to fear me,” he lied. “I am like a puppet, you hold my strings.” He reached for her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. “You have only to tell me to stop.” He had broken her personal space; in fact, he redefined it as his own down in the dungeon when they met. Her skin was charged, tingling where he traced a line along her neck.
Integra empathized suddenly with deer facing a runaway lorry. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out, wanted to move, but found herself paralyzed. Tears began to form in her eyes as self-hatred rose. I've got to be stronger, she thought. He's testing me and I'm failing! Laughter surrounded and invaded her mind as his physical presence disappeared around her. As Integra gave in to tears, the door to the dining room opened.
“Oh, duckie, there there.” Mary set down the tray she'd brought and put her arms around Integra, but wasn't surprised to be fought off. Since her mother died, Integra didn't like being held while she cried. “It's all right, Miss, you've been a brave girl, you're due a good cry.” She led her ward to a chair, letting her put her head on the table, arms hiding her face. “I'll just leave this here then and start a nice bath for when you're done.” Discretion is the better part of valor, Mary thought as she closed the door, leaving Integra to her breakdown.
His prey was whistling softly along with some tune Alucard couldn't recognize. He did appreciate Walter's good pitch. In no hurry, he observed the agent going about his business alone in the small barracks room. Surely Walter could've afforded better by now? A feeling almost like nostalgia gripped Alucard as he watched. He saw not the sixty-year-old man, but the fourteen-year-old boy he had once fought beside… and with. For a vampire, time did nothing to dim such memories. Walter lovingly put away the silver rings and wires he used as primary weapons. As he reached over to pick up needle and thread, Alucard moved to push through the thin walls. A strange pain that reminded him of burning radiated along his shadow self and he was rebuffed. He howled outside the doorway.
“Ah, Lord Alucard,” Walter said dryly as he opened the door, “I thought you might drop by.”
Alucard took solid form. Without thinking about it, he appeared as he had for Integra, an almost wraith-like monster. “Guards? Mystical barriers? What are you playing at Walter?” He noted Walter's surprise at his choice of appearance and began to re-mold it somewhat, then chided himself for caring.
“Have you found your new room? We moved your casket into an old lab you may recognize.” He found his lips twitching up into a smile as Alucard seemed to be the one caught off guard tonight. Since his barrier had apparently done the job, he magnanimously motioned for Alucard to enter. His guest hissed lowly as he passed the symbols Walter had copied onto the door jamb.
“You will renew that once I've gone, Death?” He noticed that Walter left the door cracked open, presumably to keep an escape route.
“More than likely. It's good to know it works,” Walter clicked off the music and gestured for Alucard to take the only chair. Walter sat on the side of his bed and a slight look of annoyance passed his face as the vampire sat down beside him. He was quite certain now that Alucard's face was softer than the death mask he'd first seen in the hall.
“But then I will not be able to protect you in your bed, from…” he batted his long lashes, ”creatures of the night.”
Walter shrugged, ignoring him was the best plan, he thought, as he picked up his mending. Self-sufficiency was Walter's personal credo and he rarely troubled the house servants for a thing, preferring to launder, mend and polish his own belongings.
“Your case goes well?” Alucard tried for a friendly tone.
He's been back a little more than a day and already he's getting under my skin, Walter grumbled to himself. He put down the torn shirt, “Slowly would be more like.” Truth was that the moles they'd planted might not be reliable. The whole trip to Scotland had been fishy, was regrettably ill timed and hadn't yielded much new. Walter reached for a cigarette, but Alucard stretched out his hand and the whole pack flew to him.
“These things will kill you, Walter,” he smiled to soften the sting in the statement.
“Something you would like the pleasure of doing instead?” Walter laughed as Alucard inclined his head ever so slightly. As if to prove the monster right, a cough shook Walter's slender frame.
Alucard stood, tossing the pack into Walter's lap. “Your time has passed, old man. We should have had our test of strength twenty years ago.”
Walter shook his head, not daring to look in the beast's face. “I did what I was ordered to.” He was sure he must be beet red.
“Indeed? Whenever you'd like a fair fight-,” He grinned as Walter rose up to shout in his face.
“Fair? I'd like to know what fair is to you!” He'd reached for his gloves before his brain could stop him. The vampire's face was now level to his, younger and almost feminine. So, he's going to play that old card now? Walter dismissed the trick. “When have you ever been fair to me?”
“Careful, Angel of Death,” Alucard reached a hand out to cover Walter's left hand. That was the one you had to watch out for, Alucard remembered, the one he'd flick for momentum before directing the strings with the right. Already there was smoke where one of the wires looped over Walter's knuckle and touched Alucard's flesh.
Walter stepped back, noting, “Where're your gloves?” He watched Alucard mentally change tracks. “Your gloves with the sigil?” His leash was still on, that much was clear from the glowing runic symbols on the back of the vampire's hands, but he didn't like casual contact with living flesh or silver items, hence his special gloves.
Alucard held his pale hands up, inspecting them. The elongated nails began to shift back to normal length and he mentally improved the cuticles the way he liked. Really he hadn't given his appearance enough attention, lost as he was in the joy of moving again. “I'll need weapons, Walter.” It took the humans heart rate a moment to catch on that the potential fight was gone. “You still have the gun?”
Walter smiled despite himself. “Please lie low around here, Alucard. Integra hasn't notified the other agents yet. I hope we'll be meeting tomorrow, but it does depend on the shape she's in.” He opened his mouth to ask about the flicker in the monster's eyes, but decided against. “Your coffin's still in its crate, didn't want to nick it.” Walter chose not to mention that the guys who helped him move it wouldn't have understood, had they known what was inside the box.
Alucard reached out for Walter's face, causing a quick flinch as he caressed the lined cheek. “We'll raise her fine, Walter. With a little training she could be a fine leader. She needs you... trusts you. We can do this together.” He had softened his voice, the pitch just slightly higher than usual, “You don't need to keep dying. Choose to follow me. Age no more.” They say that the eyes are windows to the soul. Alucard gazed into his, burning through to read his spirit.
Walter had to close his eyes, sever the connection. Not sure if he was still capable of standing without Alucard's cold hand, he whispered, “Death holds no fear for me, old friend. I'll serve Hellsing not you.” He swayed slightly, opening his eyes to see nothing but the plain little room around him. He's back, Walter thought as he sat, always testing, pushing the limits. Stifling a thrill that caused his shoulders to shudder, Walter reached for the book he'd used to guard the room, and found it gone.
 
“Miss Hellsing?” Walter tapped at her door again.
“Go away.”
Her governess stood beside Walter and he would've loved to wipe that smug look off of her face. Thoughts of wires and Mary's eyes bulging due to asphyxiation filled his head. Her look said `I told you so' as she had, several times this morning. She advocated giving Integra the week to mourn before starting up her duties and he'd pointed out that the organization didn't work that way. He'd given her the whole of yesterday to lounge about. Lives were on the line. “My lady, this is unacceptable.”
“Who do you think you work for?” Integra threw a pillow at the door as she asked the rhetorical question. “If you value that job, leave me alone!” She hadn't done well on the debate team but she'd learned enough through the years, listening to and arguing with her father and uncle.
Without raising his voice, “Do not threaten me, young lady. I work for the Hellsing Organization and the Royal Order of Protestant Knights who work at the behest of the Queen. You would do well to remember that you work for her as well.” Walter watched Mary turn an ugly shade of pink, presumably in shock that he'd speak to her charge thus. “You have your father's secretary waiting in your office and I have charged your servants with moving your belongings to your father's room. If you would be so kind as to vacate?”
“On whose order? Remember, I give the orders now Walter and I am ordering you to leave.” She stood now, almost wobbling, and stared at the closed door. Yesterday she had only risen long enough to pee and then back to bed with her head under the covers, wallowing in self-pity. “No one gives me orders, Agent Dollnez. Remember that.”
He sighed. This was to be expected with teenagers, but still. “On your Father's orders. Now get up and get working.” Silence from within the room told him that he'd struck the nerve he was seeking.
“Now Integra, dear. I'm sure he means for the best,” Mary tried the door handle again. They both had keys, but she and Walter were trying to let Integra keep some dignity. She'd opposed the idea from the start, really, but once this course of action was decided, Mary felt she had to back the old man up. “Do get up, love. At least to eat something.” They were the only parents the poor girl had left. “The chef's done you up a scrummy little fry up.”
Walter reached for the pack of fags he carried, before remembering that he was trying to quit. If he had to listen to Mary much longer he would quit quitting. Damn that bloody vampire.
There was no sound for a time except for the murmurings of the governess. Then the door opened and Integra, looking both disheveled and humbled asked, “Would you mind asking Mr. Bennett to wait just a few more minutes for me?”
Walter half bowed and kept his smile hidden. “Of course, Miss.”
When she walked into the director's office, she somehow expected to see her father sitting there. He would either be busy and stern, or relaxed and indulgent. She couldn't ever predict which. Instead of his reassuring blue eyes, Integra was greeted by stacks of paper which had grown considerably. Three days of news, dispatches and reports were piled up high. Where would she find the time to sort through all of this? Her despair turned to mild disgust as the doorway to the anteroom opened and Gerald Bennett walked in. He'd always given her the creeps, following her da' all the time with his folders and clipboards always at the ready. Now he looked to her expectantly.
“Dear Miss Integral,” his sibilance created little whistles when he hit the letter `s,' just one more thing to get on her nerves. “You have my deepest sympathies.”
“Thank you, Mr. Bennett.”
“Please, Miss, call me Gerald.” His bushy eyebrows were raised, as though waiting for more from her. When she couldn't think of anything, he went on, “Uh, the first thing I'd like to speak of is the issue of the thank you notes. You have received hundreds of cards and approximately ninety plants and flower arrangements and... nearly forty fruit baskets. We have them listed for you, here, broken down by personal and business relations.” He was rifling through the papers on one clipboard, before switching to a manila folder. “Simple Hellsing cards would be best, of course.” The small man turned to nod at Walter as he joined them. Walter was not the world's tallest man, but compared to Mr. Bennett, he was a giant. “And there's your signature needed on these for the fallen agents, Miss. I have some documents for your records. The police inquiry is closed with a finding of self defense in the death of Richard Hellsing. The sheriff wishes you God speed. However, I'd like to see to a small headstone for your uncle.” His beady eyes watched her.
“Yes, of course,” she glanced at the trashcan which was mercifully empty of family photos, “for appearances.” She sat down, almost lost behind the wall of Hellsing paperwork. Bennett had to come around the desk and hand her several folders. Like most of the Hellsing staff, he favored gloves, but his were customized as he had a few fingers missing. Integra suppressed a shudder, as she always did when he was close.
“Well, I was thinking more to keep his spirit quiet-like, no need for an angry ghost around if you can help it. And here's the report on the current level of agent staffing. I've included photos as you requested, ma'am.” He opened the folder to show her. “The payroll is automatic, but your signature will be required on these expenditures,” more papers, more folders piled up in front of her.
Integra caught Walter's eye as he leaned against the wall opposite her desk. He was trying not to laugh, but she saw his shoulders shake just a touch as one pile of Teletypes began to unroll, jarred loose by a report on this month's budget. “Thank you, Gerald,” she rushed out in one of his few silent moments, “I'll see how much of this I can get through.” She paused to consider the major issue weighing on her mind, considering how close he was to her father. “Are you aware of the… any new… um, an agent?”
Walter coughed, drawing her secretary's attention, “I believe she's referring to the vampire, Gerald.” He watched understanding dawn on the odd fellow's face.
“Ooooooh. Oh bugger.” Bennett looked between Integra and Walter for a time, finally sitting down in one of the chairs across from the desk, visibly shaken. Integra had to stand to see him. “Well then. Ah. It's been ahhh…” He put a hand to his head, as if to soothe a headache. After nearly a minute, he straightened up his back, “Let's see, we'll need to place the dogs, hmm, horses to be safe,” he began flipping more papers and taking notes. “Yes, I'll get that started, then.”
“The dogs?”
The secretary looked to Walter, willing him to answer her. “There's a connection, Miss Integra, even without the control art restrictions being lifted, he has a link with canines and other animals...” it was clear he'd lost her. “We'll speak about it later.”
Bennett's eyebrows remained low, casting a shadow over his eyes. When he raised them, he looked straight at Integra. “Are you sure, Miss? No disrespect, but… He's not a pet, Miss. He's, you know. I don't need to tell you, do I? Safer with him gone, ma'am.” At her silence he added, “Have you warned the staff as well?” More note taking followed.
“I think this would be best kept as a secret, Gerald. Don't you?”
Both Walter and Bennett looked at her, momentarily startled, before Walter nodded. “He's managed that before, but it depends on how much control you can keep, Integra.”
A dark look passed over the secretary's face, but he kept his own counsel. To change the topic as quickly as she could, Integra moved on, “I need you to coordinate with my governess and schedule tutors starting next week. I'll need to push straight through my studies as rapidly as I can. I had my things sent on from school when I came back, but do see to canceling my tuition for next semester.” This would be hard, but it was the only way she could see to do it. Hellsing would be her life now.
Bennett rose, gripping the side of his chair. “Right away, ma'am.” As Walter opened the door for him, he hissed, “I don't think I can take it, Walter. She doesn't even know about the restrictions!” The two men stopped just outside the door and he went on, still in a whisper, “he'll come for me, I know it. It's all right for you; you're happy you are. Don't bother denying.” The little man allowed no protest and Walter knew it would be in vain. Bennett was a former agent with a limited amount of heightened senses, what some would call ESP. Formerly used for interrogations, he moved to his current position following a serious breakdown. “You all see him as a man; he can appear as such, but to me…” The man stood, holding his head in his hands and Walter resisted the urge to put a hand on his shoulder. “The screaming, it's only bearable when he sleeps!”
“Where would you go?” That was the question the agents often asked each other after a rough mission. No active agent ever had though, except in a body bag.
Gerald must've been thinking about this for a while, possibly since Arthur became sick, because he had a ready answer. “The `family' still travels the tinker routes. Go back to palmistry maybe.”
Walter read the twitching in the small man's eyes and gripped him gently by the shoulder. Still speaking low and calmly, he guided the man out of the waiting room and into the hallway, “We've known each other a long time, haven't we?” The scared look coming across the secretary's face was testament to his empathetic skills. “And in that time, we have both been quite close to the Hellsing family, haven't we? They saved us both, really. So why, may I ask, did you not tell me about Richard's treachery?” Both men knew that to deny it would be futile. Walter's hand was still on Bennett's shoulder, giving the little man a glimpse into the executioner's blank conscience. The blood fled from Bennett's usually ruddy face.
“Between you and that creature, I don't know who's worse,” his throat was tight, raising his pitch unnaturally. Papers shifted in his arms. He wanted to get out of the mansion at all costs, but didn't dare try to run.
Walter cracked a smile and released his grip. “Good. That's what I've always liked about you, Gerald; I can drop the pretense.” He watched the man nod slowly and twist his head to look up at him. “I need to know who his allies were. All of them, here and on the council.” Walter's left hand moved to his pocket, threading one strand of wire between his fingers. “Shall we go to your office?”
 
“Sir Hellsing,” the voice resonated in the room well ahead of the frightening visage. “You've been reading that page for some time.”
“You're not supposed to hurt me,” Integra challenged.
“Have I?” Alucard strove for sincerity in his voice.
Quickly Integra hurried on to the next folder. I don't care how childish it is, she thought, I'm not talking to him. From the edge of her vision, she saw the grin on his face curl up a touch, either he was confused or about to sneer. Tilting his head to one side, the vampire considered her.
Integra was acutely aware of his presence, his stillness. Watching and waiting, like a wolf surveying the herd for weakness. After a time though, her focus improved and the reading went faster. She was startled, therefore, when in mid stretch she saw him. He seemed not to have moved at all, though his eyelids were half down. The red orbs still disconcerted her. “Here now, are you of any use at all?”
“Your orders, my young Master?” He puffed a bit of unneeded air out, somewhere between a growl and a hiss. “What do you command?”
She sat back down and pondered for a second, wary of what she was thinking. Integra tried to plot out how he would see her request. “Come here and tell me what you think of these.” She noted his eyes widen slightly, then contract and the crimson irises seemed to rotate. He moved with languid grace to the desk. Integra almost got up to get away from him, but she wanted to show him no fear.
“I read some of those,” he scoffed, “while you lay sulking.”
“Well harrah for you. You can read English,” she tried to irritate him with her sarcasm, “Did you cause any of these?” He didn't answer right away, making Integra nervous. Alucard looked over some of the newer reports and shook his head. She adopted a scowl to hide her fear, “read the rest and tell me what you think.” She was tempted to give him the whole damned pile of papers, but she pulled off the ones that had been concerning her most. There was a pattern there, she was sure of it, but she couldn't figure out what it all meant. This test of her servant's worth would at least be amusing, at most, well she could hardly hope he'd solve it for her, could she? The vampire stood near, but not touching the desk. Arms folded up across his chest, he seemed to consider a report, then flick a white-gloved finger and a new report took its place. She looked to his face, but his expression didn't change.
“What do you think?” She waited until he was almost through the stack. “There'll be another attack soon? Can you tell where?”
Alucard shrugged his shoulders. “It looks like a standard extortion ring, with ghoul attacks added on.” He looked down at her, not sure if she understood or not.
“Ghouls are made by vampires, and Father believed this lot had allies within the church, though the attacks target individual churches,” she put her pencil to her lips as she thought out loud.
“Perhaps if you follow the money?” He offered. He had seen enough details in the sources to pick out three possible nests, but he needed her to find them, to learn how to find them. Killing off the lower tier vampires was fine, he itched for the action, but what filled him with hope was that there would be a worthy foe at the top. He had given her a direction, and she seemed smart enough to follow it.
Integra took several documents and cleared a space to lay them out. He rearranged them and included one she had overlooked. They were now sharing the space behind the desk, Integra was oblivious in pursuit of the case. Alucard was not. “But we've been there,” she looked up at the creature. Oh dear, she thought as she saw his face up close. Yes, he had once been handsome. “Our agent found nothing, not even a trace.”
“Indeed, your agents often find nothing. This is not one single vampire causing trouble, this is an organization. Very different,” and promising, he thought. “Yet they are breeding their trash unchecked?” He shook his head, “you should sen--” A knock interrupted his word.
“Miss? Your tea?” The family butler's deep voice rumbled as he opened the door to the hallway.
“No! Wait!” Integra turned to Alucard whispering, “you've got to hide.”
He laughed until he found in her mind how seriously she felt the order. He allowed himself to dissipate and merge with the ceiling, but he certainly wouldn't leave. He watched the middle aged butler enter, look around and carry the tray to her desk. She pointed at a small side table when he couldn't find a good spot for the food. “That's fine, Mr. Patel. Thank you,” Integra was grateful to her staff, but she was anxious that he leave, and quickly. She tried to communicate that by sitting down and turning back to her work, but he cleared his throat.
“Ahem, young Miss, I know I've expressed this before, but I would like to again extend my condolences to you on your great loss,” there was more he was going to say, but she cut him off.
“Yes, I am most appreciative, but I do have a lot of work to continue with. Have you seen Mr. Dollnez?”
“No, ma'am, if I hadn't seen him leave two hours ago, I'd have sworn he was in here.” The genteel manner of the butler masked his curiosity.
“He left?”
“Yes ma'am. Mr. Dollnez was accompanying Mr. Bennett on an errand.” The butler looked around again. He began to move to the door, but there was clearly something on his mind. He hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. “I don't mean to pry, Miss, but was someone here with you?”
“No!” Integra stood, also looking around quickly. “There is no one here, as you can see.” She heard soft laughter as her hand swept an arc and she began to panic, but the old man didn't seem to hear it.
“Very well then,” apparently uncomfortable, he stood in the doorway.
“Mr. Patel, would you be so kind as to let Agent Dollnez know that I would like to see him tonight when he returns?” Integra thought the butler looked just a bit happier with a job to do. He nodded and exited, allowing her to exhale. She spoke to the empty room, “I know you're still here. You can come out.”
Alucard allowed his upper body to materialize from the ceiling, long silvery hair falling gently to the floor. “Am I to be your secret little pet?” His voice managed to indicate both disapproval and amusement, exactly as he felt.
“Yes, well no, but just not yet, I don't want to scare anyone. You look, well no offense, but you look scary.” Integra watched him flip himself into the room, his hair like a living thing, reforming behind him.
“Walter's been disposing of a body, my Master.” He smiled a cruel grin that caused Integra to review her earlier thought about him. There was nothing handsome in that horrid face, nothing like she'd imagined a vampire would look. Alucard pulled through her mind to find a more pleasing visage and filed it away.
“Oh, I thought he took care of that,” she tried to ignore his leer. “Now, what were you saying before?”
“You should send me to the last location. I'll get results for you.” Alucard's lips curled up at her laughter.
“I'm sorry, ” she waved her hand in front of her mouth, “it's just that it's such an obvious trick.”
“I'm glad I could amuse you,” he said sourly. “There is no need for me to trick you into letting me out. I assure you, I can move about with some freedom.”
“Oh, I thought, with the...” she gestured on the back of her hands. Walter came through the anteroom doorway just in time, saving her from having to show her ignorance.
“My lady,” he said and nodded his head to Alucard. “I bear both good and bad news.” He placed a folder on Integral's desk.
“What is this?” She picked up the papers.
“That is the good news, ma'am. I have a list of people who were involved with your uncle's attempt on your life.” He tapped the table with one finger, “and estimations of their level of involvement.”
“Oh,” Integra looked at the length of the report. “This looks bad. If this is the good news, where is the bad?”
“Unfortunately, your secretary has decided to terminate his contract,” he avoided Alucard's eyes. Had he looked, he would've seen something akin to pride there.
“Oh? But that's good news. I never liked Mr. Bennett, but don't people usually give two week's notice?” She looked over the desk as Alucard flopped into a chair, holding his sides with laughter. “I was hoping he'd...” her voice trailed as she looked at the vampire.
“Dear Angel, you are the best!” He ran his long tongue along sharp teeth, “I only wish you'd invited me!”
“What's he on about, Uncle Walter?” She caught the pained look on Walter's face. It was only there for an instant before he looked his old self again.
“Nothing child. Isn't it time you started on your dinner?” He put his hand on her shoulder, pointing her toward the full tray.
“I would've loved to liquefy that mind. How did you do it?” He delighted in the man's discomfort. The girl poured herself a cup, trying to ignore the beast.
Under his breath, Walter said, “quickly.”
Laughter and the sound of a cup breaking rang through the room as Alucard left, amused at the look of understanding that Integra was focusing on Walter. “Did you just...”
Walter was one of the few people ever to effectively fool both the Interpol and MI-5 polygraph teams. Hellsing loaned him out to each organization for assistance training their interrogations teams once upon a time. He was never able to fool Alucard, but no human could. Still, he had a half second to decide his response to Integra. “Yes.” The truth was what she deserved if she was to be his boss for however many years he had left of service. “Gerald held too many of your family's secrets to be allowed to leave and he felt he couldn't stay, not with Alucard here.” He saw her white face and for once questioned when the time would come for him to fall on his own sword. There was no dishonor in how Bennett left, no begging or pleading. It was a good death.
“That's murder,” she stepped back, her voice leaving no mistake about how she felt. “In my name?”
“Yes, you must understand, that's what I am, what I have been trained to do and what I have done for this family and this organization for over forty years.” He was secure in what he was, what he had become: judge, jury and executioner for all enemies of Hellsing. Walter no longer shied from targets just because they had pulses. This child would rein him in? The young leader was standing, a new look in her eyes. He tried to identify it and settled on wariness.
“You will never murder another human,” she paused to consider Alucard's words from the other night. She didn't want to tie her own hands, “without my knowledge and consent.”
“Agreed,” Walter withheld the sigh of relief he felt. It wouldn't do to let her see how deeply he cared.
“How is this handled? The police?”
Walter shook his head. “When one becomes an agent, one ceases to exist. His death is an inside concern only. His apartment is owned by your family and he left a note for the rest of the agents.”
In a way, thought Integra, I am master to two monsters. She shivered and turned to the work at hand. “Walter, I was looking over some papers with Alucard and he suggested going back to one of the sites again. Can you discuss this with him and go along? I'd like a report on his behavior in the field.”
His smile gave away his thoughts. “My pleasure, Miss.”