(yep, this is a short one, but I wanted to get SOMETHING posted tonight! thanks for the reviews, it was good to know that people were reading and enjoying it, so I'll continue with this instead of moving on to a different one.)

It was entirely unexpected, and angering, too. Dammit, the vampire was a tool and a research subject, not some sort of companion! Abraham had walked into the infirmary to visit with the soldiers and check on their recoveries, something he took pride in being able to do as a doctor. He wouldn't have been too surprised to see Alucard by Jason and Sam, as the vampire hadn't been downstairs earlier in the evening.

What was entirely unacceptable was Alucard quietly teaching one of the soldiers how to play poker with yet another poker game going on directly behind it! Yet there he was, casually sitting cross-legged at the foot of a bed, one of the newer lads, arm in a sling, in front of him, explaining what a flush was and how it compared to a straight, complete with an analysis of the odds that had the lad looking a bit pole-axed. What was even worse was that another soldier was blatantly eavesdropping, his newspaper lying forgotten in his lap as he watched the vampiric tutor patiently describing scoring, bidding, and counting cards. Four of his soldiers were sitting and playing a rather noisy game of cards, one was reading nearly within arms-reach of his vampire, and a sixth was sitting nearly touching it as it explained poker.

Dammit, Alucard was NOT a human, was NOT a friend! A pet, for Jason and Sam, he could accept. When they talked about the beast playing cards and interacting with them he should have stepped in immediately and stopped it. Now, the beast would be manipulating them into "friendship" and "trust" and culturing a protective attitude, entirely and utterly inappropriate. This was the same monster that had eaten Frank less than a fortnight earlier, now calmly discussing games with the men! At least their previous behavior with it had kept it in line, made it remember its place...he shuddered to think how uncooperative and arrogant the beast might become with this sort of encouragement.

One of the men closest to the door saw Abraham standing in it, and called a cheerful greeting, obviously not correctly interpreting the expression Abraham knew had to be on his face. He was gratified to see Alucard's face pop up and suddenly go very, very still; the beast still knew its place, good. Well, it was at the other side of the room, he'd get to it eventually. Turning, he smiled at the man that had greeted him. William was laid up with a broken back. Not paralyzed, which was excellent news, but still the spines of the vertebrae had been crushed and snapped, ribs cracked. It would be a long time before he could move about again, and he'd never be anything but a stooped and crippled man. But he was a LIVING stooped and crippled man, and could still fire a gun; Abraham hoped he'd stay with them.

On down the row he went. Several of the men were too heavily medicated to respond or even be aware of his presence, others greeted him happily and were glad to update him on their progress and inquire as to how long stitches would be in, how their bones were mending, and if he could get them some more things to do. Yes, he'd bring in the backgammon game. Yes, he'd get more newspapers and magazines. No, he was not bringing in the Victrola, it would keep too many men awake that should be resting. No, he would not be bringing in any ladies. He almost mentioned that they did have the vampire, after all, but stopped himself; they might take offense at that, seeing as the damn beast was getting chummy with them!

Well, at least it was functional. He'd been certain that all the men about him were going to be dead at the last hunt. They'd been caught scattered, with soldiers poorly arranged and unable to shoot to defend their comrades without hitting them, in the dark without enough lighting, and entirely and utterly off-guard. The only thing that saved them was the vampire he'd tamed and trained to hunt, and that had been a near thing. The beast had been entirely ineffectual until the very end, and its refusal or inability to do as commanded had cost several of his men their lives or their health. He had the guilt of having the men poorly arranged, making them easy prey for the vampire, but had Alucard done his job at all, they'd never have faced that sort of danger to begin with! He'd have to pry the beast away from his men, but he supposed it was worth it to have Alucard back to an acceptably functional level.

Finally, he reached the last little cluster of men, chatting with them and checking on them. Alucard, he ignored, but he noticed that the vampire was sitting very still, eyes looking down, exactly as he'd been instructed and as had been beaten into him.

"It seems as though the vampire has recovered. Thank you, Jason, Sam." He nodded to both of them, as they looked surprised. Alucard shivered slightly, but stayed still, eyes lowered. "Alucard, return to the room in the basement. I will be down to verify your recovery shortly, stay in the room." The vampire swallowed noisily, but managed a choked, "Yes Master," before easing off the bed, then rapidly skittering out of the infirmary. Well, with him gone, the men wouldn't be somehow "bonding" with that monster again! Perhaps it was time to remind them of what they were truly dealing with.

"I regret taking away your poker teacher, but it is a monster, and despite training and taming, not very predictable. Now that it's recovered, I'll be keeping the vampire away from the men for much of the time. We don't need another Frank." A few surprised glances between them; as he'd expected, they'd been very off-guard with the monster, assuming its current behavior was its normal behavior! And they had forgotten what had happened to Frank, or at least not considered it, as they dealt with the vampire now. "As I'm not certain what triggered his collapse, I'm reducing overall contact for now. I can't exactly pawn it off on Jason every time there is a repeat of this, nor can we risk having him non-functioning on the next hunt. He may not decide to start doing his job at all, rather than 'merely' waiting far too late to begin."

A few of them looked ready to argue, but his logic was sound and after some more idle chat and asking about things they wanted or needed, Abraham was able to take his leave. Now to deal with that damned vampire.