Ch 15: Shattered Calm
When Alucard materialized in Integra's office, he found her shouting at someone over the phone. From what she was saying, it seemed that a large group of FREAKS had been discovered in an abandoned apartment building. The first platoon that had been sent was all but wiped out. Two more battalions had been dispatched to the scene to back up the Hellsing soldiers that were still alive. Integra ordered the commander to keep her updated and slammed the phone back into the receiver.
"I want you and Ceras to go with them." Integra demanded. "It looks like we need all the help we can get."
"Orders acknowledged, master" Alucard answered, grinning in anticipation of some action.
Meanwhile, Constance had arrived at the infirmary just as more dead and wounded men were beginning to arrive. Steeling herself for another long night, she began barking orders to the triage nurse as she donned a gown and gloves in preparation to try and save the ones with the gravest wounds.
"Second floor clear, sir." Ceras hitched her cannon higher on her shoulder as she spoke into the microphone of her radio. They had been battling for more than an hour and Ceras could feel the exhaustion pulling at her arms and legs. How much worse it must be for the others, she thought. After all, she was a vampire, which gave her more strength than a mortal human.
"Roger. Move up to the third floor and report the situation, Victoria."
"Yes, sir"
The third floor of the decaying building revealed two of the artificially created vampires a hoard of ghouls, some wearing the uniform of Hellsing soldiers.
"In the name of God!" Ceras shouted as the explosive round from her Halconnen ripped through the center of the group. When the dust cleared, she saw that she had killed one of the FREAKS. She was aiming her second shot when the familiar form of her master appeared through the ceiling. Hanging upside down, he aimed his Jackal at the remaining FREAK and with an insane grin, reduced the trash vampire to dust.
He truly looks like a monster when he is enjoying a battle, Ceras thought as she fired again, eliminating another large group of ghouls. I don't know how anyone could enjoy this. She turned as the sound of footsteps on the stairs grew louder. She saw Captain Bernadotte running up the stairs two at a time. Her eyes widened as she saw the ghoul that had suddenly appeared behind him.
"Pip, look out, behind you! Ceras shouted. The ghoul was close enough that Ceras knew that Pip would not be able to defend himself. She raised her cannon and fired. The round reduced the ghoul to ash, the blast knocking Pip down the stairs. He hit his head on one of the steps and was semi- conscious when Ceras reached him. She hoisted him to his feet with her concern evident in her eyes and helped him out to the waiting transport, leaving her master to have his fun with the few ghouls that remained in the building.
"Understood. Return to headquarters at once." Integra said in response to the news that the building had been cleared. The mission had been successful, but the number of men Hellsing had lost made the victory a hollow one. The honor of the Hellsing family felt like a tremendous weight on her shoulders when she thought of the blood price that their mission had taken and would continue to take so long as the undead roamed the earth.
It was almost sunset the next day when Constance was able to return to her room. She was exhausted, but once again could not sleep. She sat at the desk in her room and laid her head on her crossed arms. Faces kept appearing in her mind, too many faces, the faces of the men she had failed, the ones that had died. Enough, her mind shouted to the endless parade of the dead, No more. She raised her head and looked out the window at the setting sun. She rose from the desk and began to move around the room, her decision made.
Alucard was on his way to the doctor's quarters. Integra had been wanting a report from her for an hour, but the doctor had not answered any of her pages. She had dispatched Walter to fetch the doctor, but for a reason he could not quite explain, Alucard had offered to go instead. When he materialized through the wall that separated the doctor's room from the hall, he was greeting by the sight of the doctor shoving clothes into a large packing box. Constance had been packing hastily for 20 minutes, ignoring the commands of her guide that she still had more to do here and couldn't leave. You cannot force me to stay, her mind said to the guide; find someone else to do your dirty work. Constance was so intent on her desire to leave that she did not notice Alucard watching her.
"Going somewhere, doctor?" The baritone voice behind her caught her attention. She turned to see Alucard standing next to the door, a smirk on his face.
"Damn right, I've had it with this place. I'm going home."
Alucard could tell by the look on the doctor's face that she was determined to leave. Normally, he would not care, but he had an instinctive feeling that her leaving would have dire consequences for all of them.
"I never thought you for a coward." Alucard said. "I guess I was wrong. Very well, then."
The wardrobe door slamming closed with the sound of a gunshot interrupted his statement. Constance strode toward him, her face revealing the rage and hate that she was feeling toward this creature who had insulted her.
"What did you say!? How dare you!" she spluttered, her face barely a foot from Alucard's.
"Why should you be angry at hearing the truth? You are a coward, among other things, if you allow something like this to scare you off."
"Who are you to call me a coward, hiding behind your powers? If you were human like the rest of us, you'd be singing a different tune."
Alucard's face hardened as he responded, "I used to be human. And the men who fight for Sir Integra are human as well, but they continue to fight. But you, just look at yourself, running away like a frightened child. Pathetic."
Constance knew that he was speaking truthfully, which only served to anger her further. She looked at the smirk on his face and her rage caused her arm to move as if it had a mind of it's own. Alucard saw the open hand fly toward his face and caught the doctor's wrist. Determined to slap that smug grin off of his face, Constance tried again with the hand that was free. Anticipating her move, Alucard caught the other wrist. He forced both of her hands back down to her sides.
"Let go of me, damn you!" Constance twisted and pulled in an effort to get free, but the hands holding her wrists were like iron bands. After another minute of struggling, Constance gave up trying to get away and look Alucard in the face again.
"You have no idea what I've gone through!" Constance cried. "How many people I have had to watch die after turning into monsters because of your holy crusade! I can't watch another person die like that.I.can't." Tears of pain, rage and frustration were streaming down her face as she tried to explain why she could no longer bear to be part of Hellsing.
Alucard's face softened as he looked into the doctor's face and saw the pain in her eyes. It had been centuries since he had even tried to comfort someone, but he knew the doctor needed release, if only for a while, from the pain she was feeling. He realized that she had taken the pain of the Hellsing house as her own, and being what she was, she could probably feel all of the pain that this house had absorbed in its shadowed past as well as the pain the Hellsing organization continued to cause and bear. He did not know why he felt the urge to help her, but at that point he did not care about the reason. He released her hands and, in one swift motion, bent down and picked her up. He moved to the armchair in the room and sat down with the doctor still in his arms. She did not try to resist, instead, she buried her head in his chest, her tears soaking the front of his suit.
Presently, Alucard could no longer hear the sound of the doctor's sobs. Looking down he saw that her exhaustion had caught up with her and she had fallen sound asleep in his arms. Moving carefully as not to wake her, he stood and carried her to the bed, laying her down gently on top of the blankets. He looked around for another blanket to cover her with as even he could tell that the room was cold. Not finding any, and not wanting to wake her, he took the guns out of the pockets of his long red coat, took off the coat and placed it gently over her. An impulse seized him, causing him to gently brush some stray hairs from her face. He then bent over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.
When Integra asked, Alucard explained that the doctor was ill and had slept through her pages. Integra, feeling on the verge of utter exhaustion herself, did not question the explanation.
When Alucard materialized in Integra's office, he found her shouting at someone over the phone. From what she was saying, it seemed that a large group of FREAKS had been discovered in an abandoned apartment building. The first platoon that had been sent was all but wiped out. Two more battalions had been dispatched to the scene to back up the Hellsing soldiers that were still alive. Integra ordered the commander to keep her updated and slammed the phone back into the receiver.
"I want you and Ceras to go with them." Integra demanded. "It looks like we need all the help we can get."
"Orders acknowledged, master" Alucard answered, grinning in anticipation of some action.
Meanwhile, Constance had arrived at the infirmary just as more dead and wounded men were beginning to arrive. Steeling herself for another long night, she began barking orders to the triage nurse as she donned a gown and gloves in preparation to try and save the ones with the gravest wounds.
"Second floor clear, sir." Ceras hitched her cannon higher on her shoulder as she spoke into the microphone of her radio. They had been battling for more than an hour and Ceras could feel the exhaustion pulling at her arms and legs. How much worse it must be for the others, she thought. After all, she was a vampire, which gave her more strength than a mortal human.
"Roger. Move up to the third floor and report the situation, Victoria."
"Yes, sir"
The third floor of the decaying building revealed two of the artificially created vampires a hoard of ghouls, some wearing the uniform of Hellsing soldiers.
"In the name of God!" Ceras shouted as the explosive round from her Halconnen ripped through the center of the group. When the dust cleared, she saw that she had killed one of the FREAKS. She was aiming her second shot when the familiar form of her master appeared through the ceiling. Hanging upside down, he aimed his Jackal at the remaining FREAK and with an insane grin, reduced the trash vampire to dust.
He truly looks like a monster when he is enjoying a battle, Ceras thought as she fired again, eliminating another large group of ghouls. I don't know how anyone could enjoy this. She turned as the sound of footsteps on the stairs grew louder. She saw Captain Bernadotte running up the stairs two at a time. Her eyes widened as she saw the ghoul that had suddenly appeared behind him.
"Pip, look out, behind you! Ceras shouted. The ghoul was close enough that Ceras knew that Pip would not be able to defend himself. She raised her cannon and fired. The round reduced the ghoul to ash, the blast knocking Pip down the stairs. He hit his head on one of the steps and was semi- conscious when Ceras reached him. She hoisted him to his feet with her concern evident in her eyes and helped him out to the waiting transport, leaving her master to have his fun with the few ghouls that remained in the building.
"Understood. Return to headquarters at once." Integra said in response to the news that the building had been cleared. The mission had been successful, but the number of men Hellsing had lost made the victory a hollow one. The honor of the Hellsing family felt like a tremendous weight on her shoulders when she thought of the blood price that their mission had taken and would continue to take so long as the undead roamed the earth.
It was almost sunset the next day when Constance was able to return to her room. She was exhausted, but once again could not sleep. She sat at the desk in her room and laid her head on her crossed arms. Faces kept appearing in her mind, too many faces, the faces of the men she had failed, the ones that had died. Enough, her mind shouted to the endless parade of the dead, No more. She raised her head and looked out the window at the setting sun. She rose from the desk and began to move around the room, her decision made.
Alucard was on his way to the doctor's quarters. Integra had been wanting a report from her for an hour, but the doctor had not answered any of her pages. She had dispatched Walter to fetch the doctor, but for a reason he could not quite explain, Alucard had offered to go instead. When he materialized through the wall that separated the doctor's room from the hall, he was greeting by the sight of the doctor shoving clothes into a large packing box. Constance had been packing hastily for 20 minutes, ignoring the commands of her guide that she still had more to do here and couldn't leave. You cannot force me to stay, her mind said to the guide; find someone else to do your dirty work. Constance was so intent on her desire to leave that she did not notice Alucard watching her.
"Going somewhere, doctor?" The baritone voice behind her caught her attention. She turned to see Alucard standing next to the door, a smirk on his face.
"Damn right, I've had it with this place. I'm going home."
Alucard could tell by the look on the doctor's face that she was determined to leave. Normally, he would not care, but he had an instinctive feeling that her leaving would have dire consequences for all of them.
"I never thought you for a coward." Alucard said. "I guess I was wrong. Very well, then."
The wardrobe door slamming closed with the sound of a gunshot interrupted his statement. Constance strode toward him, her face revealing the rage and hate that she was feeling toward this creature who had insulted her.
"What did you say!? How dare you!" she spluttered, her face barely a foot from Alucard's.
"Why should you be angry at hearing the truth? You are a coward, among other things, if you allow something like this to scare you off."
"Who are you to call me a coward, hiding behind your powers? If you were human like the rest of us, you'd be singing a different tune."
Alucard's face hardened as he responded, "I used to be human. And the men who fight for Sir Integra are human as well, but they continue to fight. But you, just look at yourself, running away like a frightened child. Pathetic."
Constance knew that he was speaking truthfully, which only served to anger her further. She looked at the smirk on his face and her rage caused her arm to move as if it had a mind of it's own. Alucard saw the open hand fly toward his face and caught the doctor's wrist. Determined to slap that smug grin off of his face, Constance tried again with the hand that was free. Anticipating her move, Alucard caught the other wrist. He forced both of her hands back down to her sides.
"Let go of me, damn you!" Constance twisted and pulled in an effort to get free, but the hands holding her wrists were like iron bands. After another minute of struggling, Constance gave up trying to get away and look Alucard in the face again.
"You have no idea what I've gone through!" Constance cried. "How many people I have had to watch die after turning into monsters because of your holy crusade! I can't watch another person die like that.I.can't." Tears of pain, rage and frustration were streaming down her face as she tried to explain why she could no longer bear to be part of Hellsing.
Alucard's face softened as he looked into the doctor's face and saw the pain in her eyes. It had been centuries since he had even tried to comfort someone, but he knew the doctor needed release, if only for a while, from the pain she was feeling. He realized that she had taken the pain of the Hellsing house as her own, and being what she was, she could probably feel all of the pain that this house had absorbed in its shadowed past as well as the pain the Hellsing organization continued to cause and bear. He did not know why he felt the urge to help her, but at that point he did not care about the reason. He released her hands and, in one swift motion, bent down and picked her up. He moved to the armchair in the room and sat down with the doctor still in his arms. She did not try to resist, instead, she buried her head in his chest, her tears soaking the front of his suit.
Presently, Alucard could no longer hear the sound of the doctor's sobs. Looking down he saw that her exhaustion had caught up with her and she had fallen sound asleep in his arms. Moving carefully as not to wake her, he stood and carried her to the bed, laying her down gently on top of the blankets. He looked around for another blanket to cover her with as even he could tell that the room was cold. Not finding any, and not wanting to wake her, he took the guns out of the pockets of his long red coat, took off the coat and placed it gently over her. An impulse seized him, causing him to gently brush some stray hairs from her face. He then bent over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.
When Integra asked, Alucard explained that the doctor was ill and had slept through her pages. Integra, feeling on the verge of utter exhaustion herself, did not question the explanation.