Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing, or any of its characters. Any other characters are my own.
It's a relief. It really is.
To be able to lay down that heavy vest of power, and be at peace. I've always thought that it would be difficult to do so. But now that it has finally come to it, I feel relieved.
'I'm going to fast, aren't I?'
The reporter rearranged his papers, and looked at the elderly lady sitting in front of him. Her face carried many scars, not all of them visible. Her hair had not seen scissors for a quarter of a century, and had gently made its way down to her knees. Her eyes had gone from dark to pale. Her dress was one of expensive fabric, some type of fine silk. She was an impressive sight, even in her current state of old age-weakness. The reported inhaled deeply, and picked up the tape-recorder he had accidentally dropped. As he put it back on the wooden Victorian table, a maid entered the room, carrying a tea-tray.
'Sugar, sir?'
'Yes. Two lumps, please. Oh, and some milk, please.'
The maid turned to her master.
'The usual, madam?'
The old woman nodded.
'Yes, please.'
As the servant left, Integra Wingates Hellsing looked out the window into the garden. The gardener she hired had done his work well, and had given it a very peaceful, yet interesting look. The reporter waited for her to turn her attention back to him. It was considered a privilege to talk to a woman of such high standing, so an apologetic cough would be out of the question. As she awoke from her musings, the reporter turned on the tape-recorder once more.
'Sir Hellsing. The last time I was here, you told me about your first ten years as the head of the Hellsing-organisation. I was wondering, what happened after the Incognito-incident? How did you get out?'
A sharp intake of breath. The reporter got up from his seat.
'Would you like me to call your nurse, Sir Integra?'
'No, thank you. I'm alright. Please, let's continue.'
Another deep breath.
'My miraculous escape has remained a secret until now. But it seems to be the time to let the secret out. It was Alucard who assisted me, as I suppose you already figured out.'
'People thought you had become a Vampire, and escaped alone. But then you started ageing, and that theory was no longer valid.'
Integra grimaced a little at the memory. She had been given the choice that night. She had said no. Whether it was determination or fear of the unknown, she was still not sure.
'We kept the amount of victims to a minimum, that is all that can be said about that. Her Majesty gave me a pardon the next day. The investigation had shown that our organisation were not after the destruction of the Tower. The culprit was found, and executed. Hellsing was restored to the organisation it once was. Only…'
Only, she had not been knighted. She couldn't be knighted. The emotional climate of Great-Britain ruled against it. Hellsing may have been absolved, but the people wouldn't forget. A national monument in ruins,
'You didn't ascent to knight-hood. A grave misfortune that must have been.'
'Yes… yes it was. I was quite mad at the time. I understood, but that did not make me forgive the ones responsible. I lost a lot of good men that day. And I almost lost Walter, who had been like a father to me after my own father died. After that helicopter-crash he was never quite the same.'
And that was putting it mildly. His hearing deteriorated and his heart started giving him serious trouble. He had demented further and further until he died, some thirty years ago. It was one of the toughest moments of her life. Not just because he died, but the way in which he died. Not on the battlefield, but as an old man, whimpering in his bed because the dark frightened him. It had also affected Alucard very much. The two of them had met, long before Integra had even been born. They were old friends, as far as it was possible for a Vampire and a human to be old friends. There was respect between them.
She awoke from her musings, and smiled at the reporter. The poor man was ill at ease when she didn't give a hint of being alive. How adorable.
'After that, there was a lot of rebuilding. At least I still had Alucard and Seras, and the agents who were on leave at the time. Together, we created a new organisation out of the aches of the old one. An organisation that worked more effective, more efficient. We saved lives again.'
'The artificial vampires. What about them?'
'Yes, what about them…indeed. Even our best agents still haven't figured out everything. Except that they originated in Great-Britain, but the chips were produced in Third-World countries to cut the expenses. You know how it is. The FREAK-chips were imported through the office of a foreign administration, and shipped all over England in trucks pretending to distribute food and toys. They were very careful when it came to paperwork, so we had difficulty finding them that way. In the end, it was Seras who stumbled onto one of the trucks by accident, when she was investigating another case.'
There was a short break, as they both sipped their tea. The reporter looked around the room. It had been quite a surprise when he'd entered it for the first time. The paintings, the furniture, the flora. Everything. He had always had the impression that sir Integra was a woman who didn't like all those fancy things, but it seemed he had been wrong. Particularly about the furniture. He had expected something that said 'business', but had stumbled upon 'taste' instead.
'Admiring my furniture, sir?'
The reported startled, and looked at Integra apologetically.
'It is not what I expected. It's…different.'
'It is. I suppose I went without for such along time, that I learned to appreciate this type of Victorian furniture. It has a warmth and yet a refinement that I admire greatly.'
'Without?'
'Style, sir. I missed that. I had a lot of things, land, a spacious mansion, but no good furniture. Now, I have no land, no spacious mansion, but good furniture. A good trade, don't you think?'
The reporter grinned.
'I suppose so, yes. Do you think about Hellsing often?'
'It has been on my mind more than usual lately. I left it in capable hands, so there's really nothing to worry about.'
'Yes, your choice of a successor was a bit controversial. People were offended by it.'
'Since when has that mattered to the Organisation. We do our jobs. Seras is an excellent Commander, and she will not forsake her duty. I trust her completely. She has become a proud, strong woman and an example to all our soldiers. Vampire or not.'
Plus, she reminded Integra a lot of herself. Of her own struggle to come to terms with her fate, with who she was. She had come down hard on Seras in the beginning, but only to make her a stronger person. Someone worthy of the gift she had been given. She had proven herself worthy more then once since then.
'And Alucard?'
Integra looked up from her cup.
'What about Alucard? He's still around, if that's what you mean.'
'Yes, but you are without an heir. If you die, Alucard will be free to go his own way. And then what?'
That had been very difficult for her to digest. She couldn't have children. She was physically incapable of having children. Her body had given her everything, except the one thing she really wanted, and needed. That had been a very desperate time for her. She had thought of all the alternatives she could think of. But in the end, none of them worked for her. She would produce no heir for the Hellsing-empire to turn it's head to when things got rough. She thought of her father. The pressure of producing an heir had seemed so light on him. But then again, he had her. He had an heir, even though she was a woman. A woman with dysfunctional ovaries.
Alucard had kept her company during that difficult time. He hadn't said much, but his presence was enough to give her some peace of mind. She remembered falling asleep in his arms once. When she woke up the next morning, he was still there. He hadn't moved. Later on, she figured that was because she hadn't ordered him to bring her to bed. But now she wasn't sure. There had been a lot of mental fencing between them over the years, but he had always treated her as his master.
Not that night, though.
He had saved her when she needed to be saved.
'True. Alucard will be without a master…'
'What will happen then?'
The reporter asked this question more to himself then to anyone else. In all honesty, sir Integra's answer caused a little unease. Alucard was the most powerful being of his time, and probably any other. And freedom is a powerful aphrodisiac to the madman. What kind of a future was man looking forward too?
'Let's leave that to fate, shall we? No need to get depressed. It is impossible to tell what will happen in the future. So do not worry, sir. What must happen, will happen in due time.'
'Thank you, sir Integra, for your time. It is greatly appreciated. I will send you a draft of the interview tomorrow. Feel free to adapt whatever needs adapting. Good evening, sir Integra.'
He kissed her hand.
'Good evening, sir, and God bless you and yours.'
'The same to you, sir Integra.'
After the reporter had left, sir Integra summoned her maid. She ordered her dinner. This evening, dinner was formed by a nice asparagus-soup. Ah, yes, this was the time for asparagus. The warmth of spring floated through an open window, reminding Integra of a kitten she had played with once. Until its mother had taken it back to her nest again.
Except the soup, there was roast chicken, some fresh peas with a nice pepper-sauce, and old-fashioned apple pie for dessert. When she was done, Integra sat out in the garden amongst the rosebushes for a while, until it was too dark to see properly. Even with her glasses, Integra's vision was getting blurrier by the day.
As she got ready for bed, she felt her muscles ache as she put on her nightgown. Damn you, you old corpse! She thought to herself, as she lay her head down on the fluffy pillow.
'I gave you a choice. I will give you the same choice again, every night…'
'Alucard…'
'Every night. Until you will say yes.'
'Please don't do this to yourself.'
'I can feel your decay, Integra. Are you sure you don't suffer needlessly?'
'I have made my choice.'
'The choice of mortality. You chose death.'
'I chose life. You cannot blame me for choosing life, Alucard.'
'True. But you also chose solitude, when you could've had…'
'Please don't say it…'
'You are strong. But your strength will be your downfall. Yet I would not have it otherwise. My master till the end.'
Here rests sir Integra Wingates HellsingLeader of the Protestant Knights' Organisation Hellsing
May her soul find the peace she never had in life