Disclaimer: Even though Hellsing is extremely amazing and has awesome characters, I unfortunately don't own it. Pity...
What would life have been like if certain events hadn't happened, if you could have prevented them? Would it just eventually happen later on in life or never at all? If you had been strong enough, just been a little faster, smarter, could you have stopped it? I asked myself these questions every night as I stared at the filthy ceiling of my barracks while laying on the thinly stuffed mattresses issued to lowly soldiers, such as myself. I served under the iron fist of Sir Integra Hellsing, Ice Queen of the Hellsing Organization. I've never really met her personally, but you don't have to know her to feel her tight leash on your Hellsing branded collar.
I'm originally from America. So if you had told me five years ago that I would eventually be living in the great UK, I would have called you crazy. I came to Hellsing without choice. Apparently, I couldn't be let loose to wander in public, I know too much. Seen too much. I've seen things that are left untold in news stories and in the process, I learned a secret I was never meant to know: vampires exist.
And I hate them.
I want every last one of them burned until their ashes cover every corner of the earth. They don't deserve to be. Not after what I have seen. Not after what happens on the receiving end of a midnight snack or the sudden sadistic need to take someone's life. Vampires have no souls, only pure evil twists inside of them, becoming devils in a visible form. And every last one of them needs to be damned to the very depths of hell they spawn from.
"Fillis!"
My head snapped to the right to see Lieutenant Fogner heading my direction. What did I do now? Whenever Fogner yells like this it means either I did something wrong or there was a mission. The latter seemed highly unlikely, seeing as it was almost time for lights out. So I must have done or been blamed for some mishap or something. Sighing and with deliberate slowness, I jumped down from my bunk and stood at attention.
"Sir?" I asked, looking at a spot just above his left ear as he stopped right in front of me.
Lieutenant Fogner stood there for several awkward seconds, his fist propped on his hips as he glared intently at me. Yup, I definitely did something wrong.
"General Louis wants to see you this instant, so you better hurry your girly ass over there!" he yelled as spit flew from his lips, giving me a late night shower.
"Yes, sir!" I yelled back, closing my eyes against the onslaught of moisture and earning myself a mean glare.
He turned away, and marched back to where he came from, muttering something about 'damn, arrogant Americans...'
Well this is unusual... Usually Fogner is the one dishing out punishments like they're delectable pastries. I must have really done something to be noticed by the higher ups and probably not in the right way.
"What the hell was that all about?"
I glanced down at Ann Silva, a woman blessed with vibrant orange hair and a slender build. From her position on the lower bunk, she peered around my legs at the retreating back of the Lieutenant with a great look of confusion.
"Couldn't tell ya," I said, reaching up and grabbing my uniform jacket. "But I will once I get back."
"Don't worry, love. I'm sure it's just some misunderstanding," she called as I walked towards the barracks exit, swinging my jacket on," Maybe Jackson is blaming you for his missing socks again!"
I chuckled as I closed the door and crossed the courtyard to the opposite building. Always the optimist, Ann never thought ill of any situation. Even if Buckingham Palace was bombed and the bubonic plague was suddenly running rapid again, all she would say is," Well, at least the Queen still lives." Brits and their royalty... Ever since I had came to England, Ann had tried her best to adjust me to the life of a "Brit". I quickly picked up on the slangs and also learned very fast what happens when you drive on the right side of the road instead of the left. But when she suggested I get rid of my American accent, I put my foot down. I reminded her that I had no say in where I lived and if people couldn't deal with my speech and me being an American woman, it wasn't my problem.
Shaking my head and mentally shoving away thoughts of home, I reached the building and threw the door to the General's quarters open. Ah, air conditioning! It was the middle of July and the heat was rising to dangerous temperatures, filling the medical unit with more sick than injured. Normal grunts didn't have the luxury of a constantly cooled atmosphere, so I quickly took advantage of the short time I had to be in this building.
"Sergeant Fillis?"
A lanky private suddenly jumped in front of me. He was new, you could tell just by looking at him. His hair cut was fresh, and his uniform was starched stiff. But this wasn't what gave it away. It was his eyes, the innocence they held. There was no steel, no guard against the dark secrets of this underground organization. He looked openly and with no precaution. But give him a couple weeks, and his eyes would look like the rest of us. Hard or dead.
As the private took an awkward attention, he saluted me and in the process almost poked out his eye. Raising an eyebrow, I nodded in acknowledgment.
"I'm here on the General's orders to escort you, ma'am," the words tumbling out of his mouth so fast I almost missed everything.
"Escort?" I asked. Now I'm really confused... Here I thought I had been blamed for some harmless prank and now I have an escort?
"Yes, ma'am. Didn't Sergeant Jackson tell you?"
My thoughts and expression immediately darkened. "No, he did not," I practically growled.
Eric Jackson. That name makes me want to punch a wall... or the private's face, whatever suits me at the moment. Ever since I came to this hell hole, him and I have been at each other's necks. Training, missions, who got to go to the bathroom first; you name it and we've probably fought over it. It's not like I enjoyed fighting, I really don't care much for competition. It's really the matter of him being an egotistical windbag that made me want to punch in his boy-band face.
I focused back on the boy private who had begun to sweat from anxiety as he watched my mood turn black.
"Lead the way," I ordered, no longer having the patience to be nice.
"Yes, ma'am!"
We walked in silence, giving an occasional greeting to passing officers until we reached our destination on the second floor. Opening the door, the private stepped back to let me pass and in his haste, tripped over his own untied boot. I rolled my eyes and went inside, happy to be rid of this bumbling fool.
"Sergeant Fillis. I'm glad you finally decided to make an appearance."
My eyes fell upon General Louis, a well aged man of sixty-five and balding. I'm sure if he hadn't joined Hellsing, he would be a kind and loving grandfather anyone would have dreamed to have. But years of eradicating vampires and slaughtering ghouls had hardened him into a man of experience and discipline. I walked forward and discreetly took in the room. It was a conference room, used to plan and observe missions. In the center was a large table with half a dozen chairs around it. Four them were already filled. On one side was General Louis and a man I recognized as Commander Ferguson sitting on his right. The other side had Captain Freddric who I only knew from passings. And on his left, lounging smugly, was Jackson. My insides writhed with loathing and I immediately turned my attention back on the General, not wanting to look at the pretty boy. I stood stiff as I came the table and gave a salute.
"Forgive me, sir. I had no knowledge of this meeting."
The General frowned and then looked at Jackson, light dancing off the bald portion of his head.
"Jackson, did you not carry out my orders?" he spoke sharply and, to my pleasure, the arrogant smirk that had once plastered Jackson's chiseled features vanished.
"Well, sir.. I assumed that, well..." The scowl on General Louis's face deepened at Jackson's failure to form a suitable answer. The other men in the room shift uncomfortably as I mentally chuckle.
"Sergeant! I asked, did or did you not carry out my orders to inform Sergeant Fillis of this meeting?"
"No, sir," he practically hissed through gritted teeth. Jackson's face was a tomato red and he threw a hateful glance my way. I made no attempt to hide the amusement in my eyes at his very "unfortunate" predicament. Oh, was hell going to haunt me now! More than likely, Jackson would pin this failure on me in some demented way for his incompetence. He would succeed in nothing more than him taking one more step closer to me personally sending him to his grave.
Right now, he didn't dare try anything. Nor would I under the scrutiny of the General's gaze. You only got on the General's bad side if you tried to pull the wool over his eyes and not do as he commands. I didn't envy Jackson's current position.
"Next time," General Louis said slowly, staring holes into Jackson," When I give you a command, you execute it immediately. Understood, Sergeant?"
"Yes, sir," said Jackson, fiddling with the edge of the table, avoiding all eyes.
"Sergeant Fillis, please take a seat and we'll fill you in on what you missed," he pointed to the empty seat next to Jackson and I unwillingly took it. I looked around again and found it odd that Lieutenant Fogner, my commanding officer, wasn't present. Perhaps that is why he had been in such a foul mood...
"Now," began General Louis, looking at me," we received a message from Sir Hellsing that she has a special matter for us that needs to be investigated immediately. As to the details of the matter, I know only that it involves the Liberi of Obscurum."
I raised my eyebrows. The Liberi of Obscurum or Children of Darkness, were England's version of the Italian Mafia or the Japanese Yakuza, except they were all vampires. You would think they'd come up with a more original name instead of just putting it in a different language. But even though their name was absolutely ridiculous, they were dangerous. For years, they had been able to stay under the Hellsing's radar, though we knew they were there. They just hadn't done anything horrific enough to give us an excuse to go after them. So why the sudden interest?
"May I ask as to why the lack of details?" I questioned carefully, not wanting to join Jackson on the General's black list.
"Well, I am not the one overseeing this mission," he said, leaning back in his chair and glancing at the clock on the wall. "Sir Hellsing is addressing us personally. And you're lucky she didn't arrive before you."
Hellsing herself... This was no ordinary mission. Hellsing never spoke to anyone but the leaders which would only be General Louis. Something wasn't right. Perhaps I could speak to Walter after this...
"Sir, permission to speak?"
I gave Jackson a suspicious look as he spoke and wasn't the only one to do so. The General looked uncertainly at him, as if he wasn't going to grant him his request as further punishment for his previous actions.
"You may," he finally said, giving him a warning look.
"Why are Sergeant Fillis and I present at this meeting?" he asked. I flashed him a fierce look as my name passed from his lips. How dare he lump me together with him! He ignored my death glare and continued. "Seeing as this is a very important mission, shouldn't only important people, such as yourself, be here?"
Kiss-ass. Now that the puppy had been properly scolded for peeing on the carpet, it was trying to apologize by licking the master's hand.
"Sir Hellsing requested that I organize a team of leaders that could deal with targets such as these in a... secret manner."
Ah, I see. Jackson and I in the same room wasn't an accident, it meant covert operations. I felt a small tinge of excitement go through me. About bloody time they started getting my team and I doing something! We've done nothing but normal grunt work and it was wearing on our patience. Sure killing ghouls over and over again can prove to have its uses (like seeing how many ways you could hold your gun and still be able to hit dead on) but it was boring. We weren't trained for such trivial slaughtering. No, we were meant for something more finesse.
The room had fallen silent as I sat in deep thought and soon a soft click resounded through the room, indicating a door knob being turned. We all immediately stood and faced the door in typical army fashion. It was opened by Walter who then held the door open for a tall and rather unfeminine looking woman but I really couldn't say much, I wasn't exactly the perfect model of feminine myself. Her long blonde hair swayed back and forth as she walked around the conference table.
"Good evening, gentlemen," she greeted, as she stopped in front of the last empty seat and scanned the room's occupants. Her bright eyes studied each of the men and then rested on me.
"And lady," she added.
To my relief, I had been prepared for this and was glad I didn't cower under her stare. Hellsing lived up to everything I had expected her to be. She had a strong aura about her, one that fully stated she wasn't one to joke around much. Pity, with her job I'm sure a good laugh would do her some good once in a while. Her stance was wide, suggesting power. Power that she was all too used to having. Don't get me wrong, I respected her as my boss but there was certain flaws I couldn't see past. Flaws involving a certain vampire and his fledgling.
I couldn't believe this woman had a bloodsucker for a slave and, better yet, a frequently used agent for the dispatching of monsters too overpowering for humans. I thanked my lucky stars I hadn't worked with the creep yet. But I had a bad feeling that, with the sudden appearance of Integra Hellsing in my life, the psycho wasn't far behind.
So as she continued to look at me, studying me, I looked back with an equally stern expression. Her eyes narrowed slightly in an expression I couldn't read very well. It was a mixture of suspicion and slight surprise, probably because I wasn't backing down and kissing the ground she walked on.
"Please be seated," she ordered, finally looking away and sitting. As I sat, I stole a glance at Walter. One end of his mouth was slightly turned up into a smirk and he shook his head slightly in amusement at me.
"Now, all of you are probably wondering as to why I have called this meeting and why it involves you specifically," she began, pulling out a small cigar case and taking out one of the two cancer sticks that where in it. I crinkled my nose in distaste as Walter extracted a lighter and lit her cigar, because for some reason unknown to me she was unable to do so herself.
A few slow puffs later she continued," This mission demands the most utmost secrecy and cannot be carried out by normal everyday soldiers. Walter."
The butler traveled around the table depositing a manila folder in front of each us. I quickly opened it and took out the photos that were there. They were pictures of a large warehouse far out in the middle of farmland. The warehouse was nondescript from the outside but once I moved to the photos on the inside I was taken aback. I looked up at Hellsing to see if this pictures were really legit and found her giving me an unwavering gaze.
"These were taken approximately two hours ago when Alucard was sent to dispatch a vampire who was hidden inside this warehouse. He killed the vampire without trouble but he found this in the process."
No wonder the warehouse was covered in nothing but blood, that Hellsing vampire had caused it. However, he did not cause all of it. There were rows and rows of medical work tables with naked bodies strapped to them. Tubes protruded out of their arms and necks leading to medical bags filled half way with blood. The bodies of the humans held many badly stitched up cuts, looking like possible evidence of experimentation of some sort. Dry blood layered the warehouse along with the fresh blood.
"What was the vampire doing to these people?" asked Captain Freddric in a hushed voice, his face looking both shocked and disgusted.
"We do not know. But we do know what will happen if those IVs are to be removed. Alucard did so on one person and they immediately turned into a ghoul. We came to a conclusion that the stitched up cuts have something to do with them turning. Perhaps to prevent us from getting any information on who did this to them," Hellsing rolled her cigar between her thumb and forefinger, then continued," Fortunately for us, we were able to find leads on one particular group. Liberi of Obscurum.
"And this is why I need you," she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, lacing her hands together.
"I need you to investigate and find all you can about the Liberi but inconspicuously. I fear there may be some of these vampires in high places, even so far as parliament."
"Sergeant Jackson here is our intelligence gathering unit. He will begin immediate investigation after this meeting," said General Louis, speaking up for the first time since the meeting began and gestured towards Jackson. With this, Jackson took it as a sign to speak.
"I guarantee you, Sir Hellsing. We will find all we can on the Liberi and report first thing to you," he said, giving Hellsing a charming smile which made me pinch the bridge of my nose in annoyance. Is there ever a day that he is not bootlicking?
"And what it is that you do, Sergeant?"
I looked up suddenly as I was addressed by Hellsing. There was a spark of interest in her eyes, she was truly curious. I looked at the General, uncertain as to if I should answer it truthfully or not. He took a deep breath and then nodded. I turned back to Hellsing.
"I do your dirty work."
A/N Alright, so how was that for a first chapter? I didn't want to throw to much at you and make you all confuzzled. That wouldn't be good... Well I hope you enjoyed! Please review if you can :)
BTW, was anyone else disappointed with the ending of Hellsing? (for those who have read all of the manga)