Hellsing: not mine. No money is being made by me from this.
Kampala, Uganda. 1999
xXx
Pip woke up, gasping. That dream again! Always a take off on one central theme—some girl, with blond hair and eyes that were blue one moment, red the next. Blood. Helicopters. Endless training. He put it down to the drugs that Doc was giving him. After all, he'd never seen anything like that. Red eyes. He snorted, and felt at his face. The bandages were still there. He moved his hands around until he had found the end, securely taped down, and started to peel back the tape.
"Sir, I'd really wish you wouldn't. It is too bright outside, and anyways. You're pulling at the wrong one."
"Damn," Pip cursed. He thought he was alone. This was beginning to be annoying, "And when may I take them off, mother?" He mocked. "And, just why are we still in this truck?
"Never, sir, since I will be the one removing them once I am finished fixing Mike's bandages. After all, I can see to remove them correctly. We are still here because all the hospitals are filled with people who are less than pleased with us, and other companies are suffering because of it. I elected to stay here because they will give us supplies, and the rest of the Geese are rotating with guard duty," Doc continued working. It was cramped inside the truck, but, over the past week, he had learned to deal with it. Better to be in a truck, with at least some access to the hospital, than out in that godforsaken backcountry with only what he could carry. "There. Now, captain, let me just make it a touch darker in here, and then I'll take them off."
Pip sat silently, as he heard Doc pulling down tarps. He scowled. Damn those Ugandans. If we hadn't needed the job... He jumped slightly as Doc used a pair of scissors to cut the bandaging material then paused, his hands pressed against Pip's eyes.
Doc kept his hands holding the bandages over Pip's face. "Mike, this isn't going to be a pretty sight. I'd recommend that you turn around." Not waiting to see if the young man had followed his orders, he carefully peeled the bandages away from Pip's face. He sat back as Pip's remaining eye opened and glared at him. He'd forgotten how...impatient...the Captain could get when he was injured. "It isn't as bad as I had thought, sir," Doc calmly stated, reaching over to his box of bandages. "However, I'm going to have to cover up your left eye, if only for the good of morale."
"Damn, sir," Mike breathed, staring at what was once a complete face. "You got real lucky with that one."
Pip continued to glare at Doc as he reached up and felt at his face. His questing fingers felt at his nose, and worked their way over to where his left eye was...had been. He gingerly touched at the space, and felt cotton, dried blood, and skin, puckered into ridges. "And what, exactly, do I look like?" The darkness was soothing, in a way. Pip was able to make out Doc rummaging around in his boxes, and Mike, staring at him in fascination.
Doc sat up. "Here, sir," he said, handing Pip a small mirror. He then resumed searching through his boxes.
Pip raised the mirror, and looked in it. He grimaced. Dried blood circled red, puckered skin and cotton that had been stained blood red. And more tape. Tossing the mirror aside, he turned his attention back to Doc. "And I can leave this truck now? Maybe wash my face off?"
Ignoring Mike's grin, Doc calmly finished pulling tape and gauze pads from boxes before he replied. "If you'll give me a few minutes, sir, then you'll be able to leave and without all that blood on your face. Mike, did you remember a uniform for the Captain?"
Mike, still grinning, handed over a bundle of clothing before lying down on a pallet at the rear of the truck. "Back to base after this, sir?"
"Probably," Pip replied as Doc attacked his face with a gauze pad and sterile water. He hissed as Doc pulled the gauze pad and tape away from his ruined eye.
"Good," Doc mumbled as he leaned closer to Pip's face. "It's healing up nicely." He sat back. "Well, Captain, the good news is that you're healing up nicely, so you won't have to have both eyes bandaged again. The bad news is that you're going to scare off any girl who sees your face." He chuckled, then stopped when he saw Pip glaring at him. "Sorry, sir. Let me just finish rebandaging this. This came for you earlier today, also."
To: Pip Bernadette, Captain, Wild Geese, Kampala, Uganda
From: Walter C. Dornez, Hellsing Organization, London, England
30 July 1999
Dear Sir:
It has come to my attention that you may be looking for employment soon. I believe that it would be possible for us to reach an agreement that would be mutually beneficial.
Recently, Hellsing suffered a severe loss of personnel, and since we are a "black" organization, it would be impossible for us to simply draw men in from the special services as is normally done. However, we have the funds to offer you a significant contract, details of which can be discussed. Your primary mission would be as bodyguards to the head of the organization and as security guards, with additional responsibilities being added as needed.
If interested, please contact me at this address.
Sincerely,
Walter C. Dornez, Hellsing Agency
Pip felt himself smiling. "What do you think, Doc?"
"If we can get them to give us the money, sounds better than to have to patch you all up again."
To: Walter C. Dornez
Hellsing Organization, London, England
5 August 1999
Dear Mr. Dornez,
We gladly accept your offer of employment. It is requested that we be met at the Port of Bristol on 12 August with several large trucks and transport for 90 men. Further details of our contract can be worked out then.
Sincerely,
Captain Pip Bernadette, Wild Geese
xXx
Pip lit a cigarette and leaned over the ship's rail. Staring out over the water, he thought back on his latest dream.
It was that girl again, the one with the odd eyes. She smiled at him, showing canines that were slightly elongated and pointed. "You, Captain," she had said, "I challenge you." She then proceeded to throw him all over the room, right in front of his men. After that, it had all gone weird. He was lying on the floor, and she was leaning over him, but now all her teeth were pointed and sharp—just like a shark. She whispered something to him, and then bit him on the neck. Hard. After a few seconds, it even stopped hurting, and he closed his eyes and let feelings of pleasure wash over him. Finally, she lifted her head and melted into a large black puddle filled with eyes, all laughing at him. He drifted, surrounded by all those eyes, each one laughing at his plight. That was when he woke up.
"Merde," Pip muttered. Dreams like that. He flicked his now burnt out cigarette over the side and lit another. Rubbing at the bandage over his left eye, he started to head back to his quarters, only to stop. Sitting down against a crate, he started thinking. I wonder if all these dreams are related to our next job. They started, hmmm, right before I got that letter from London. Only got worse after I accepted. It was hard, seeing one's dream girl quite literally in one's dreams. She is rather a bit of a dish. But I don't know who she is, her name, what she's like... Pip shook his head.
"Those things will kill you, sir," Doc sat down next to Pip. "But then again, considering our profession, cancer does seem to be the way to go. You're up late."
Pip grunted. "Couldn't sleep." And he didn't want to sleep, come to think of it.
"I've stuff for that, if you'd like." Doc took a sip of coffee, then turned to look at his Captain. "The men think that something's off with you. Haven't had a good drink with them in days, and rumor has it that you're instead choosing to drink yourself into oblivion each night. So tell me, what's wrong with you?"
"Bad dreams," Pip forced out. "No, not bad dreams exactly. Just really disturbing."
"About what? C'mon, Captain, I've known you for years. Not much can shock me, and sometimes talking about it helps." Doc shifted, leaning back against the crate and bracing himself against the sway of the ship.
"If you weren't my second in command, Lieutenant..." Pip grumbled, then took a drag of his cigarette. "It's a girl."
Doc choked. "A girl? Captain, the sun must be setting in the east! I've never known you to get worked up about a girl before!"
Pip scowled.
"I'm sorry, sir. But it isn't much of a secret that you've never had any really serious relationships before. What else happens in these dreams of yours?"
"It starts out just fine," said Pip softly, "just me and her, doing nothing really. Training, sitting, nothing, and it's all well and good. But then things...change. Rather unpleasantly at first. She's either sucking my blood, or sticking her hand into my chest and ripping out my heart. And by then there are all these eyes, just watching and laughing. That's when I usually wake up, when I'm surrounded by a bunch of red eyes and this weird blackness."
"Huh," Doc took a large drink from his cup. "Really can't do anything about dreams, and I can see why you wouldn't want to sleep, if that's what they all end up like. Only thing that I can recommend is to keep active and try to tire yourself out a bit more than you have. Do some training exercises with the men, don't isolate yourself so much." He grinned. "What does she look like?"
"Blond, blue eyes that sometimes are red," Pip drew a figure with his hands in the air. "Always wearing this short little mini and a really tight top, too. Fair hand with a gun. Got one that's twice as tall as she is. Wonder how she carries it. Muscles would have trouble carrying that gun, never mind firing it."
Doc laughed, and clapped Pip on the back. "Go back to sleep, Captain. I'll give you some vitamins to take," he ignored Pip's grumble about how he wasn't an old man, thank you very much, and so he didn't need any vitamins, "and you just enjoy being visited in your dreams by a lovely little lady who can probably outshoot you. And next time, try taking control, eh?" He winked, and stood. "Good night, Captain. And hey, when we arrive we'll work on getting you a proper eye patch so that you don't have to go around with bandages all the time."
Pip stood too. "Thanks, Doc. And hey...your mother called. She wants to know why you aren't writing her." He laughed, and headed towards his quarters, feeling better than he had an hour ago.
Timeline-wise, this is taking place right around the time of Luke and Yan Valentine's attack on Hellsing, and slightly after. Begging pardon for character confusion, at this point in time "Doc" refers to the head medic with the Wild Geese, and "Captain" is Pip. If anybody seems too OOC, please tell me and I'll fix 'em.