Walter lay in the bed listening to the storm raging outside and watching lightning dimly light his room through the thick curtains. His body was beyond tired, but his mind refused to let him sleep. A smile slowly spread across his lips as he remembered a night much like this one several years ago.
He tossed and turned for what seemed like hours while the rain beat against his window. No matter how hard he worked himself through the day he could never sleep at night and the storm wasn't helping matters any. A clap of thunder echoed through the room, but he heard something else as well. A squeak perhaps? He listened intently for a moment and the soft shuffle of feet over carpet slowly making their way to his room reached his ears. Another clap of thunder vibrated the walls and a muffled shriek had him at his bedroom door before he had time to think.
He jerked the door open to find a pair of terrified blue eyes starring back up at him. Clad in only her gown with a teddy bear clutched tightly to her chest she looked exactly like the child she was instead of the owner of the Hellsing organization. Neither said a word as they stared at each other till another loud clap of thunder caused the small girl to shriek and throw her arms around his waist. He sighed and gently picked her up as he walked back to his bed and sat down on the side. He sat her in his lap and reached up to carefully brush her hair away from her face.
"It's just thunder."
"I know…"
Her voice was trembling slightly from trying to keep from crying he assumed.
"It's nothing to be afraid of."
"I'm not afraid!"
Her brave front quickly faded when the thunder echoed through the room once more. Walter looked down at her with her face pressed against his chest and her hands covering her ears. He smiled and laid back on the bed with her, pulling the cover over her as she settled against his chest.
"I'll never let anything happen to you, I promise."
She smiled and closed her eyes as she drifted off to sleep, the storm long forgotten.
Walter sat up and picked the slightly ragged looking teddy bear up from the nightstand. It was surprising how many years ago that had been and only stood to remind him how old he was. She only came back to his room once after that. Now he almost wished she hadn't out grew her fear of storms. It was nice to feel wanted for something more than cleaning or taking down another vampire. A soft knock on the door drew his attention away from his thoughts and was more than a little surprised to see that very same set of blue eyes looking back at him when the door opened. She smiled and walked over to sit beside him on the bed.
"I got scared."
He gave her an amused smile and set the stuffed bear back on the nightstand before turning his attention back to her.
"Scared, hm? And what do you want me to do about it?"
"Can I sleep with you?"
He started to protest but he really didn't see the harm in letting her stay with him. Alucard would be the only one that might know and he knew the vampire wouldn't say anything to cause Integral any more stress than what she already has to deal with. Without saying a word he pulled the covers back for her and laid back down himself after she had settled. He couldn't help but smile when she wrapped an arm around her waist and tucked her head under his chin. He wrapped his arms around her and slowly rubbed her back. Integral smiled and snuggled closer to him as she closed her eyes. Her words were barely a mumble as she drifted off to sleep.
"I love you, Walter."