Freedom Chapter 6
By J.L. Pitard
Standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Kohta Hirano and his publishers. I have no stake in them...
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Sir Integral Hellsing did not believe in the healing powers of sleep. Walter was not surprised to see that she had been up and reading for some time when he brought in her morning tea.
"Thank you, Walter," she said absentmindedly as she flipped a page. She wasn't yet fully dressed, but lacked only her cravat and jacket. Her bedroom was almost indistinguishable from her office, except for the presence of her bed and a few personal items. One of them was a picture of her mother and she. Her only memories of her mum were from photos. He remembered sitting on the bed with her as she cried many mornings away when she first took over the Hellsing Organization. The nightmares had almost overwhelmed her young mind, but they had also helped to make her tough. Well, he, Alucard and fighting an untold number of real monsters had helped.
Integra looked up at him from her desk. "What do you make of all this, Walter?"
"Sorry, ma'am?"
"Alucard's strangeness." His eyebrows rose slightly, as if to ask what was strange about vampires behaving strangely. Still, staring down Alucard last night had been a bit out of the ordinary, at least for the last thirty years.
"His report last night was quite dry." She read, "Special agent A reported that he arrived on the scene prior to our troops. Approximately 20 ghouls killed outside and 10 more inside. 1 vampire in area, neutralized. When questioned about information obtained in search, agent indicated there was nothing and exited. "She dropped the paper.
Walter noted that Alucard had not gone into any details of the deaths, something he often relished. Integra or Walter had to reduce the reports to manageable lengths before entering them into the secret records.
She began again, "Special agent B with her unit of mercenaries," she looked at Walter, "engaged approximately 5 ghouls in location 1, 10 waited in ambush at location 2 and were eliminated. 3 vampires engaged in location 3 by special agent B, 2 eliminated. 3 troops reinforced and 1 vampire escaped injured. Approximately 15 ghouls cleansed by unit in location 4. 1 troop lost during engagement prior to extraction of all troops."
"Is he hiding something?" Walter hoped he was wrong. These were routine kills, though. "Or bored by the lack of a good challenge?"
"Yes." She looked out the window. The weather was holding out for mostly sunny, but not particularly warm. Spring was never predictable in England. By fits beautiful, then horrible. She rose to finish dressing. Walter moved to help her with her jacket.
Integra was fanatic about her personal space, except with Walter and Alucard. One because she needed him, and the other because it didn't matter, he would invade her space whether she allowed him to or not.
"How is Seras Victoria? Her troops received a case of beer today and Captain Bernadette reported that she was shaky last night after that vamp gave her a scare."
Walter wasn't sure quite how to answer. Straightening her cross, he settled on, "She is receiving extra training due to that."
"Ah?" Integra, now feeling fully dressed, began to sort through her tea and decide what to nibble on. Eating, like sleeping, was just a necessity to her. If her body didn't demand it, she would go long periods without either.
There was a knock and a young woman moved to Walter to whisper, then exited. Integra chewed her toast while she waited for him to explain.
"Sir, there is a Hellsing officer, who requests to speak with you."
"Bring him to the study." She certainly wouldn't entertain soldiers in her bedroom.
"Of course." Walter left, grateful of the interruption.