Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing or any of its related characters or themes.
AN1: Takes place a few years before the first Hellsing OVA, or alternatively, the original first episode. At this time, Walter is still pretty young... barely fifty ;)
AN2: As with all my fanfics, be prepared for some major OOC-ness... I hope to get everyone as in-character as possible, but hey, my mind kinda works like a pinball-machine so THAT doesn't really work out LOL... but also... keep in mind, this fic follows the manga's characterization of Alucard and Walter.
AN3: Garrotte was the easiest comparable weapon for Walter ;P
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How to build Self-Confidence
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The garrotte spanned the length of the target practice field. Each pole was surrounded by one of the steely wires.
Walter, face twisted in concentration and frustration, slightly moved his ring-finger. The garrotte wires attached to his glove vibrated dangerously, the wires pulling taut at the simple action. Several of the poles instantly shattered, where others simply seemed to be shaven.
Impatient with his progress thus far, he finally made the only decision left at that moment: Start over. With a sigh, Walter closed his fist and ripped the cords to the side, instantly demolishing the entire field's worth of target poles.
The butler walked to the intercom and pressed the comm, "Lieutenant, please send in a team to replace the targets… I'll be back within an hour," Walter said and took off his gloves, fully intent of just taking a walk around the mansion to clear his head. He set them aside and brushed through his greying hair, suddenly feeling very aware of just how old he's become.
"Are you alright, Walter?" Alucard's resonating voice resounded from somewhere next to him.
Working the kinks out of his sore hands, Walter merely sighs, "Yes."
The age-old vampire emerges from the wall next to him, most likely coming from the conference room (where he probably was harassing Sir Integra whilst she was trying to conduct a meeting with the Roundtable). He leaned over and grinned when Walter sent him a suspicious look, "What are you doing?" he practically purrs.
With a look to the heavens for strength, Walter finally turns back to the training arena, "See that target in the middle?" he points to the aforementioned target, grimacing internally at the callous indents the garrotte left on his fingers.
"You want to destroy everything except that one?" Alucard floats upwards to sit on the desk that Walter had dropped his gloves on, careful not to sit on top of the butler's beloved weapon.
"We past the point of 'except', I think…" Walter says and abruptly turns and presses the comm again, "Lieutenant, tell your men to mind the positioning of the targets, unless they want to re-dig the entire arena," Walter commands, his voice sounding much firmer and agitated than he hoped for.
"Seems like someone is cranky today…" Alucard grins mockingly, trying to look innocent when Walter glances back at him.
"What if I should help you with practice?" the vampire suggests, sounding eager.
"I highly doubt I will be able to destroy you, Alucard," Walter says, sounding almost as if he's about to pout.
"I thought that was the idea…" Alucard says and grins when Walter catches on, "Besides, this way we can both have some fun."
"Have I ever told you that your ideas of 'fun' is quite sadistic?" Walter says and thinks for a moment before shaking his head, "No… make that masochistic…"
"Don't be so prosaic," Alucard exclaims and jumps off the desk, rolling his wrist around before summoning several shadow pillars around the arena, "How many would you like?"
"As many as you can manage," Walter counters cheekily, strapping on his gloves again.
As hard as Alucard tries to ignore the challenge, not that he ever does, he licks his lips, "As you wish!" he exclaims excitedly and in an instant, more than a thousand shadow pillars spread across the football-sized arena. His form melted within the sea of eyes and a second later he was standing in the middle of the field, "Ready?"
The men who had been carrying replacement targets unto the field suddenly scattered, shouting angrily when their superior failed to see the current predicament the men had found themselves in a middle of.
Walter adjusted his grip in his gloves and shook his hands before releasing the wires, "Try not to move!" he says, knowing exactly what the centuries-old vampire will do.
And, without fail, Alucard started darting left and right, daring the former Master Vampire Hunter to hit him –or, miss him, as it were.
Walter, fully focused on each wire, watching each wire snap each target in sequence, hating the idea of hurting his old friend –although, he knew it wouldn't actually hurt the vampire at all. Whenever Alucard moved to the right, he focused on trouncing the targets on his left and then, when the vampire moved the left, he moved his garrotte wires on the right.
It was intense, training with his old friend. Alucard was never one to make a test easier, an answer more obvious or a lesson less painful. They were only a few minutes into this training session, but Walter was already wiping sweat from his forehead. He hasn't trained like this in years.
With each target gone, Walter's failing confidence started growing again. Trust in his own abilities started to galvanize again.
"You think you can hit all the targets at once, Walter?" Alucard challenges, purposely stoking the internal fires of Walter's self-confident nature.
Before Walter can give an arrogant retort, a hundred Alucard-clone just sprang up next to each of the remaining target poles.
"You don't want to decapitate me, right?" Alucard mocks and all hundred of his clones give Walter the same sneer, "Don't miss."
Walter swallowed down the sick feeling bubbling up his chest, forcing his breathing to even. He tries loosening the cramp working up in his left hand, only to end up cringing unintentionally when the garrotte wires on that side of the field started to tauten. The one shadow-pole shaved dangerously on the side, causing the accompanying Alucard-clone to look over unimpressed, "I won't appreciate being sliced in half, I hope you remember that…"
Oh yes. Walter remembers. Once it happened, only once, and it took Alucard five years to finally stop bugging Walter almost incessantly.
Those were the longest five years Walter has ever experienced.
The late night in-room entertainment (Alucard pretending to be wolf on full moons and then howling half the night through); the early morning wake-up calls (Alucard's chainsaw snoring); the favours (Walter doesn't appreciate dressing up in a French maid outfit –when his own uniform mysteriously disappeared- to serve lunch or dinner to Hellsing patrons).
Walter might be nearing his fifties, but that definitely won't stop Alucard.
And so, Walter takes a few moments to scan each wire on the field, twisting his right hand upwards and his left hand across his chest before finally closing his fists. And, without a miss, each target shattered, leaving only the Alucard~s on the arena. "Well?" Walter says and grins – tired but happy.
Somehow, working with Alucard... Walter was always able to absorb some of Alucard's own self-confidence and make it his own. It probably was just the feeling of gratitude or accomplishment, but this feeling? This elation only happened whenever he worked with Alucard.
The clones disappeared and then, in a blink of the eye, Alucard's standing next to his friend again, "Are you sure you're turning forty-seven in May?"
"Yes. And I expect a chocolate cake… and I'm not baking my own cake this year… again…" Walter warns, smiling warmly at the compliment.
Thanks for reading!