*Not every Hellsing is suitable to control Alucard...and when they falter, Bad Things Happen.*

Neglect

Alucard was stewing. There was no better word for it. He was unhappy, angry, frustrated, lonely, disappointed, vengeful, and more, all rolled into one. He'd been too upset for weeks to eat properly, he hadn't wanted to see anyone and had stayed hidden, and it had been months since he'd had ANY Hellsing blood.

And his Master had not noticed.

It had been nearly a year since his Master had bothered to speak with him outside of missions and directives. It hadn't been done maliciously, more of a sort of benign neglect, the totally unsubstantiated belief that the vampire would tell him if Alucard needed anything. The fool had clearly never bothered to read the journals and notes Abraham had been careful to prepare for future Masters of the Monster.

Alucard had not willingly bowed his neck to the yoke of a human master to be IGNORED. He'd waited, he'd given him time to notice that something was amiss, he'd been patient, he'd realized this was not Abraham and that the same level of affection and concern might be missing.

But this was too much.

And now, the arrogant fop was SUMMONING him. It was probably to command him to hunt another vampire, but Alucard held out a small but definite hope that instead, his Master wanted to know why he hadn't been eating propertly, why he was so silent, where he had been.

Swirling into the office through the wall, Alucard noticed instead the two officers for the human troops, armed and ready, and a map out on Abrahams-no, Victor's-desk. Victor opened his mouth, ready to command Alucard, oblivious to the anger and pain Alucard was not bothering to hide.

Instead of a quiet nod, his order, whatever it had been, earned a growl.

Alucard SNARLED at the man, eyes glowing, and for the first time in years, he FLEXED their bonds. Weakened by neglect, by a lack of Hellsing blood, his power fueled by anger, and with an inexperienced Master, those bonds CRACKED. He could FEEL them fracturing, the spells weakening, threatening to break entirely.

Victor gasped, leaning back in his chair, horrified eyes on the monster now stalking slowly and deliberately towards him. Its hair was waving, the eyes were glowing, burning bright with rage, and the mouth was all teeth.

Victor was a Hellsing. Son of Beatrice, grandson of Abraham. He'd been around Alucard often as a child, had ridden the beast like a pony, been rocked to sleep by it as a fussing infant. Alucard had been family, how could he turn on him like this?

He would find that answer out later. He was a Hellsing, and he WOULD NOT allow the vampire to rebel, to break away. The "how" would come later. For now, he called on his mental reserves, his own force of will, and slammed it into the bond that connected him and the monster. His body rose from the chair, fists clenched on the desk, his own eyes blazing in anger as he fought back, FORCING the beast to do his bidding. The bonds seemed to creak in his mind, he could feel them chipping, flaking away, but he pushed back, with the stubborn backbone and fierce mind of a true Hellsing.

The bond reformed.

Hissing, the monster backed away, subservient again, vanishing through the wall.

Coated with sweat, gasping as though he'd just raced across the estate, Victor slowly composed himself.

Blood. He'd forgotten to feed the monster his blood for...oh, God. He didn't even remember the last time. And that had allowed the spell to weaken, and his monster to rebel, to show his true colors, his evil and predatory nature.

Shuddering, Victor knew he'd have to bring the beast his own blood, strengthen the bond again, force it back into obedience.

In his mind, the sounds of the bond snapping and shattering echoed, the blazing and bloodthirsty visage of the monster as it stalked towards him, his own death written in its eyes.

x x x x x x

Within a month, Victor was passing leadership of Hellsing on to a cousin.

x x x x x x

In the dungeons far below them, red eyes glowed.