(this won't be a long story, probably one or two more chapters if that)
It had definitely heard him coming. While the cell was locked and warded, heavy door firmly shut, the only viewing port latched and barred, the growling was still audible in the corridor outside. An angry, violent sound, promising a slow and painful death. He'd been warned that the creature was out of control and dangerous, but the few encounters he'd had with him, Alucard had been icily controlled and calm, if clearly angry. Well, as a prisoner, he couldn't blame the vampire for his anger, but this?
Those growls and the snarls interspersed didn't sound like they could come from the coldly logical and proud monster he'd met before.
Father was away, and would be away another few days. As a Hellsing, even should Alucard have broken free of most of the controls, he'd still be safe. The most basic, primary, fundamental locks on the creature's actions prevented him from retaliating against the Hellsings. And so, with the vampire so violent and unmanageable, it was his duty to bring it back under control; he was the only one in the entire household that could.
Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, the young man confidently pulled the door open and stepped into the monster's lair.
-v-v-
Again? Another one? Enraged and defensive, knowing what was coming and ready to fight it with every fiber of his being, Alucard snarled his defiance at the dark shape looming in the doorway. They never came close enough for him to reach them, but he'd never stop trying and, eventually, one would come too close. The dark shape in the doorway shifted, and despite himself the vampire flinched, waiting for the impact...that never came. The form never moved, and it was only one, not the handful of his abusers that had come previously. It was silent, too small to be Van Helsing himself, but too large to be a child.
And it wasn't moving towards him, though the sharp beam of lantern light caused him to flinch, eyes clenched shut against the painful brightness. His ears still worked, and he heard no footsteps. His body, stretched along the stone floor, registered no vibrations as the man walked towards him.
Something had changed. Having no reason to expect it to be for the better, and all the experience in the last months telling him it would only be worse, Alucard hissed a warning, bracing himself for whatever was going to happen next.
-v-v-
Dangerous? The vampire hadn't even risen, had barely lifted its head to watch him. Alucard certainly SOUNDED dangerous and there was no doubt the vampire wanted to attack him...but it wasn't. It was barely moving, lying unexpectedly filthy and tattered against the back wall, fangs bared in menace, hissing.
He had expected to find the vampire pacing angrily the length of its chains, perhaps leaning against the wall, glaring. Had Alucard truly lost control, even lunging at the end of the chain to attack him wouldn't have surprised him. But this?
The vampire had to be bluffing. It was far too proud and arrogant to be so reduced willingly, to sham such pitiful weakness. Even now, it had ceased its hissing, the head tracking him blindly, eyes tightly clenched shut against the light of the lantern. Striding forward confidently, he strode to the vampire's side, kneeling. Behind him, the door slowly swung closed, its own weight pulling it shut with a gentle click. With some privacy, now, he intended to determine what had driven the vampire to such rage and disabled it so. Had Alucard fought his bonds so fiercely that he'd injured himself?
-v-v-
Patience...patience... The form moved closer. The identity wasn't visible, not yet, barely seen through blurry light-blind eyes...but the man was closer. Almost close enough... NOW! With a lunge, speed so fast he'd be a blur to a human's eyes, Alucard launched himself at his prey. The fools, one had finally, finally come within reach! Bindings or not, he would have his revenge!
The flash of pain and the shock that propelled him backwards, slamming him into the rock wall, was entirely unexpected. It was all he could do to stare blindly at nothing and pant, stunned mind piecing together what had occurred. Was it Master? No...not bulky enough. Master was oversized, this one was not. Mind spinning, confused, it took effort to piece together what had happened.
He'd tried to bite a Hellsing, not a mere victim. Not Abraham. His son? He'd seen a son a few times. Not yet a man, but not a child, still growing. Had this boy-man come to taunt him? Teeth snapped together in impotent rage, but he was helpless.
Abraham he'd yield to. Not willingly, no, but the man had defeated him in fair fight, had bested him thoroughly. Abraham had earned the right to the title Master, though begrudingly bestowed. He loathed his servitude to that human, but the man had earned his respect. Cold and powerful, but not cruel. Demanding, but not of anything beyond the vampire's abilities. His time with the man had not been pleasant, but not unbearable.
And then Abraham had left, and the handful of people who knew of Alucard's existence had come to toy with him, taunt him. Men he could not respect, was not allowed to harm. But, then again, he was also expected to guard Abraham's property...a label he unfortunately bore himself. That loophole had allowed him the slightest opportunity to attack, threaten, defend himself against those fools.
But not against a Hellsing. And now this boy-man had come, and he could only lie there in impotent rage.
-v-v-
The abortive strike had left the vampire crumpled against the wall, his face twisted in anger, but unmoving. Leaning over the vampire, Arthur could see the glint of rage in its eyes, but it didn't try to attack again. Alucard was no fool, and wouldn't waste energy on something so futile. Moving quickly and firmly, the vampire was rolled onto his back, limbs straightened, inspected...and what was found was not good.
Alucard was severely underweight. He'd been slender to the point of scrawny the times Arthur had seen him before, but now the vampire looked nearly emaciated. The dirt and filth and dried blood on Alucard made it difficult to spot any additional damage, but...it was a vampire. Generally speaking, any problems could be repaired by providing blood. Ignoring the angry, faint hisses, Arthur rose and left the vampire. Blood was kept on ice in the adjoining room, and it was only a moment before he was leaning back over the prone form of the vampire, holding the lip of the bottle to its mouth.
-v-v-
Blood? Yes! The little fool at least had the intelligence to feed him before tormenting him again. Weak as he was, it wouldn't have taken much more to send him into a sleep, and he'd have remained that way unless and until blood was provided. Sleeping, he had no way of knowing what was happening to him, to his body, what was being done, how much time had passed. The blood would prevent that, and Alucard sucked it down greedily.
He had been injured worse before. He'd been starved to a near-skeleton. This was the first time in his entire existence where he'd been badly injured, starved, and prevented from caring for himself. Discomfiting, and he drank eagerly, unwilling to be such helpless prey.
The penalty for his meal was quick to announce itself. The hunger and anger had helped cloak the degree of pain he was experiencing, and as both faded...it flared into agony.
-v-v-
The rapid, silent swallowing had changed as Alucard drank the second bottle. The vampire was gasping slightly, jaw trembling, face twisted in pain, not anger. Frowning, Arthur started him on a third bottle. Alucard received one a night; the vampire had already had a double ration and was well onto a third with no signs of slowing down. Restocking the blood supply could wait; if Alucard drank every bottle, well, Arthur would just have to harvest and store more. Father had taught him to draw blood years ago and much of the blood in those bottles had probably been collected by him already! It wasn't the blood causing this reaction, he knew it was safe and clean...so why was Alucard starting to thrash weakly and cry?
Third bottle empty, Arthur began a closer inspection of the shaking monster. It was so unlike the Alucard he knew, to show any sort of emotion or reaction, but fear, pain, or anger was activating the body in front of him. The vampire's expression told him which it was...pain. Teeth were bared but clenched, brow furrowed, face pulled tight. He'd seen that look on the faces of his father's patients when a broken bone was set or something equally painful was occuring. What could have hurt him so?
A few minutes of inspection and Arthur gave up. It was simply too dark in the room, the vampire far too filthy, for him to locate any sort of injury. At best, he was fairly certain the limbs weren't broken. Crouching, he lifted the bony vampire with a grunt, then left the room with Alucard draped across his arms and hanging partly over his shoulder. It wasn't a graceful carry but the damned monster was so tall it was really the only way to move him about. At least he wasn't heavy.
And a bath in the bright gas-lights of the bathing room would help him determine what had been done. Frowning as he carried the dead weight of the vampire up the stairs, he ignored the startled stares and jumpy reactions of the men he passed. Noted them, realized that the vampire's acquiesent behavior surprised them, and that they expected the vampire to attack them, but ignored it for now.
He had a vampire to repair. His duty as a Hellsing and to his father was to keep his father's prized possession functional, and he'd do exactly that.