Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Integra's eyes fluttered open. A fire blazed warm and inviting in front of her. She didn't remember how she had gotten to the couch in the den; all she knew was that it was better than being in the cold, wet woods.
She felt like an idiot, running like that. Like she could escape everything. Her father was dead, and she was the head of the Hellsing Organization. No amount of running would change that.
Though it was a bad comparison, she felt a lot like Lucy from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", being shoved into a totally different world from the one she had known. Except instead of a wardrobe, she had fallen into a basement. Being chased by her uncle with a gun. Bent on killing her.
This was a far more realistic Narnia than C.S. Lewis's.
Alucard could almost be compared to Aslan, she thought as she continued her metaphor. Saving her when she needed him the most. Gentle. Kind. But also murderous, evil, unorthodox, eccentric, and all together dangerous. Okay, so her metaphor was a very loose one of Narnia.
She glanced down and saw for the first time the red trench coat wrapped so snugly around her. She unwrapped herself. She was still damp, as was the trench coat.
"Miss Integra, are you all right?" Walter asked worriedly.
"Not a hair out of place," she said chipperly, trying not to worry him, "Is this yours?" She asked, motioning towards the trench coat. He reached for it.
"No; it belongs to Alucard. I'll bring it down to him."
"It's all right. I will," he looked skeptical.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she said sternly. He frowned.
"I'd be careful if I were you," he warned, but didn't try to dissuade her.
She hadn't seen the elusive vampire since that fateful day in the basement. And she couldn't deny it; she was curious about him despite the danger.
She changed her clothes and then proceeded to throw her wet clothes and Alucard's coat into the dryer, unsure of where the red would bleed into her blouse. She risked it, and pulled the coat out as soon as the buzzer went off. She made her way towards the basement, figuring that was the first place to start looking for him.
She started loosing her courage as a shiver coursed up her spin. Heavy footsteps and a silhouette alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone.
"Yes, Master?" His voice was pleasant, careful. He came into the light, but kept his distance.
She held out the coat in offering.
"Walter told me this was yours," she said, keeping the quiver out of her voice.
"It is," he agreed, stepping forward.
She braced herself, just in case, ready to run at the first display of ill intent. He seemed to know this was what she expected from him and moved slowly towards her, not making any sudden movements. She felt almost disrespected by this action. Even if she was nervous, she didn't want to be approached like a wild animal that may startle and flee.
His gloved fingers brushed her bare ones as he took the coat. The feeling was that of frozen carbon; a cold that seemed to burn her skin. He turned away from her.
"Wait!" She cried. He paused. Integra took a deep breath, "I never thanked you, for what you did down there, for me. I would have been dead otherwise and...you could've just let me die. Or worse," she added, remembering him licking her blood off the floor. His white hair. His skeletal body. His wild eyes. His thirsty eyes.
"No, no I couldn't have," he said and turned back towards the basement, "I'll always be on hand, if you need me. Just call; I'll hear you. And get that silly notion of me being Aslan out of your head," he said the last part harshly as he talked over his shoulder. The shadows swallowed him up.
How had he known what she was thinking? And for something so powerful and menacing, why was he so careful with her? Integra shook her head as she walked away. How much authority could she really have over a vampire, anyway?
&
"Integra, lessons come first, and then you can go back to your paperwork," Walter rebuked her gently. Tears of frustration were welling up in her large blue eyes. She needed a break from trying to learn how to run the organization, and she was already behind in her lessons.
"But, Walter, I have to have this done by tomorrow… I think."
"There will be time for that later," he assured her. She sighed in defeat and followed him to the library.
She didn't seem to be listening at all to his speech about the proper usage of the most commonly confused homonyms. She didn't seem to be absorbing any of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and blankly stared at her worksheet of fractions.
"Is something bothering you, Integra?" He asked. She looked him in the eyes.
"Why is it I never see Alucard, even in the later hours?" She asked. Walter frowned.
"Alucard is…well, he's not fond of company. Or most humans or vampires, for that matter. He likes keeping to himself."
"Still, you'd think he'd want to come out of the basement occasionally to stretch his legs or something. I mean, he's not a prisoner," she giggled. Walter pursed his lips.
"Well, that's just the way it's always been, at least in my experience. Alucard stays in the basement unless he's on a mission. It's easier to keep him under wraps that way."
"But he must get lonely, or at least bored!" Integra exclaimed. Walter shook his head.
"Alucard's fine. Now, let's focus on your numerators and denominators, shall we?" Integra reluctantly picked her pencil back up.
"There's another reason, isn't there? Why I don't see him?" Walter hesitated. Integra smirked, knowing that she had caught him. He sighed.
"To be honest, I told him to let you be. You're in a very fragile state right now and Alucard doesn't wear kid gloves for anyone. Besides, he's a life-consuming problem in himself," Maybe that's what I need, Integra thought. Maybe Walter was being too gentle with her. She knew she was no where near ready to be completely in charge and she knew it wouldn't turn out good if she didn't learn quickly enough.
It was late by the time she got back to the office. She already felt overwhelmed by the work. She closed her eyes, wishing for help.
She opened her eyes and screamed. Alucard danced back, trying not to laugh.
"I told you to just call and that I'd be able to hear you," he chided her teasingly.
"I guess I'll have to be more careful with my thoughts," she mused.
Alucard pulled up a chair and patiently worked through everything with Integra. His hands were so large, she realized, compared to her child size ones. The pen would all but disappear in the gloves if he held it, the strange pentagram sign she had seen painted on the basement door on each hand. Like a symbol or a trademark of his. He could probably smash a glass in one of them. He could probably smash much harder things than that, things Integra didn't want to imagine. His fingers were long and thin, like a pianist's, gracefully gliding across the paper and pointing while he instructed her what she should do. She spent a great deal on his hands because for one, she was concentrating on her paperwork. But for another, because she was too afraid to look into his face, to see his expressions.
He didn't allow himself to sit too close to her and even when he had to lean into her to show her something, he was careful. It reminded her of what Walter had said; how she was in a fragile state, how Alucard didn't wear kid gloves for anyone. Alucard seemed to agree with the first statement, but while taking the first into consideration he also proved the second false.
She fought against her heavy lids, trying to focus on the mound still having to be done. Alucard glanced at the time on the computer. 12:23.
"It's late," he commented. She said nothing, just kept filling out more papers, "Perhaps you should start getting ready for bed," he hinted again. She shook her head stubbornly.
"I have to get this done," her words were slurred from exhaustion. Alucard pried the pen out of her hands.
"No, you don't. No twelve-year-old is expected to run the world single-handedly. Now, off to bed," Integra fought against him as he gently pulled her out of her seat and led her towards her bedroom.
She shouldn't be so tired, she thought to herself. So utterly exhausted. But all the sleepless nights, all the nightmares waiting to prey on her when she closed her eyes… She woke up most nights muffling a scream with her pillow.
Alucard disappeared as she dressed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth. She collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to cover herself with the blankets.
&
There were dogs barking. Large, massive, wolf-like hunting dogs. She couldn't tell how close they were. The only thing she could think about was running, making it through the woods that grasped at her, trying to beat the lethargy in her legs.
Her uncle's words echoed through the forest, following her no matter how she tried to escape them.
"Where are you? Where are you, my pretty, pretty niece? My lovely little frauline? It won't hurt for long…" She screamed as she fell, two hands jutting out of the ground and grabbing her ankles.
The flashlights' beams fell on her. The hounds barked, snapping their jaws eagerly at her.
"There you are, Integra. Now, that vampire in the basement hasn't had breakfast yet. You should be a dear and offer your blood to him."
She closed her eyes, knowing she was coming to the worst part. When a white-haired vampire would grab her and suck her dry and the dogs would tear what was left of her to pieces. But the barks faded. The sound of her uncle's voice vanished. The grip around her ankles was gone. She opened her eyes.
She was sitting up in a canopy bed in a dark, stone room. Alucard was sitting at the end of the bed, watching her expectantly.
"Such nightmares," he said, shaking his head in mock horror.
"Where am I?" She asked.
"You're in my dream," her eyes widened. He chuckled, "Dreams are very elusive things. You can go in and out of them as you please, if you know how," he glanced around, as though seeing the gothic room from a guest's eyes, "I didn't have enough time to find another one of your dreams to take you to," he apologized.
"I'm just glad you…took me to your dream before the end came," she said, the phrasing strange. She had read about dream traveling in books, but the real thing was a little more…realistic, somehow.
Alucard stared out the window, into a black night, silent.
"Was that vampire supposed to be me?" He asked. Integra shook her head.
"No; it's just the worst possible one my mind could conquer up, I suppose. You're much more handsome and well-mannered than that thing," she assured him and then blushed when she realized how flirtatious that sounded.
He grinned.
"How flattering," he purred, causing her to blush an even deeper red, "Would you like to go somewhere else? I can't imagine you being comfortable in here."
"Where else?" She asked. He shrugged.
"Anywhere you want. Dreams have no boundaries," she considered the possibilities. All the cities of the world, all of the exotic cultures, but really all she wanted right now was somewhere away from anything that reminded her of reality.
"Somewhere peaceful? Like a meadow?" She asked. He leaned back on his arm and watched her, "What?" She asked.
"I can't take you anywhere that hasn't been imagined already. You come up with it; my imagination's a little on the morbid side," She noticed.
She closed her eyes and imagined the perfect meadow. On a hill, overlooking a river. No, a meadow on an island, cut off by a river. With wildflowers and clover and butterflies and rabbits and a lavender sky with sunset pink clouds… She opened to find that all of these things had come true in her little world, as she kneeled in the field. Alucard was beside her, his trench coat and hat off, but he still wore his sunglasses.
"This is wonderful," Integra decided. Alucard pursed his lips.
"Not exactly my style, but well done for a first timer," he complimented. A butterfly landed on his glove and he waved it away.
Now this was a Narnia.
&
She woke up the next morning, feeling more rested than she had since her father's death. She loved the field, and wanted to go back so badly she almost forced herself to fall asleep again. It felt so safe.
She glanced at the clock and shrieked. It was almost eleven in the morning! She never slept in that late! She showered and dressed and hurried to her office.
The files were all stacked in orderly piles instead of the mess that had cluttered the desk last night. She walked over and found a list of clear instructions taped to her computer screen, written in elegant, ancient cursive. It was signed, "Your Beloved Undead Servant".
&
Awwww... I'm a sucker for AlucardxYoungIntegra fluff, even if it's not Alucard's style to be all fatherly and doting. Please review.