Part Four: To Make Arrangements
It was still there…the thick, intense taste of the dhampir's blood still stung in his mouth…the soft, sweet innocence of the boy's human half and the bitter, dark flavour of his vampire side, leaving Alucard undecided as to whether the sensation was pleasurable or revolting.
If anything else it was definitely unique.
Unbeknownst to many vampires, Freak or otherwise, blood sometimes contained the memories of a persons lineage, but only if the emotions of the events were significant enough to leave their mark.
It never worked if trying to find an un-dead's sire, but seeing as how the vampire was Axel's true biological father, Alucard figured there was a chance that there might be something left that he could find. He would have to give the task his full, unrivalled attention and concentration as once blood left it's intended vessel it rapidly lost all links to the past and as he had ingested it, he had even less time.
The calmest area that he could find turned out to be the roof of the Hellsing manor; no one could get up there without an extensive ladder network or magical abilities.
He knew that it would be hard and he wasn't even sure if it would work at all, it might already be too late to extract anything of worth from the red liquid presently occupying his stomach. He hunkered down, pressing his back against a chimney stack and sitting himself on the numbingly cold slates. His coat did little to halt the feel of the freezing plates of stone seeping into his already deathly cold skin.
Closing his eyes and senses to prevent all external distractions he focused on the blood within his body that was not his own.
Somewhere in London, deep underground, somewhere safe and quiet and away from sight and sound, a middle aged woman went about her duties as she had done for years on end.
The cavern was damp; the air thick with moisture, the walls littered with fungus and slime mould as well simple, tribal imagery made of powders and paints from long, long ago.
The woman wore simple attire, sensible shoes and her hair was drawn into a tight bun. She checked the fob watch pinned to her pinafore and then stepped over to a lake of stagnating water.
The surface rolled and small black shapes could be seen within the lake. Angry red eyes glowered at her from the shapes…yet there was tenderness in the evil gaze.
She dipped a finger into the liquid and felt the smooth creatures sliding against her skin.
"We're so close." She said.
Alucard firmly closed his eyes. He had to go back, back as far as it would take him. To the very root of the first memory…the first emotions of Axel's unknown father strong enough to be preserved within the blood.
Fear. That was the very first thing; intense, undeniable fear. He couldn't read why but it was most definitely there. The fear he had discovered was so overpowering that Alucard began to feel his own hands trembling and a sickened sensation fluttering in the pit of his stomach.
Something terrible had happened in the life of Axel's father and it was heralded by pain – stinging pain like that of thousands of tiny hooked claws and the strong scent of…flowers?
"What does it mean?" he whispered to himself and ploughed on through the murky contents.
Misery. That was the only other emotion that had survived the passage of time and it wasn't your average, mundane kind of depression you got from a particularly bad day at work, this was the kind of soul crushing misery that drove the strongest of creatures to insanity and self annihilation.
He had to leave it there. He let go of what he had touched upon before it completely took him over. The emotions faded away and he regained his own self. For a moment he could have sworn that he had felt his mind slipping away and was being replaced by the emotions from the blood. He opened his eyes and saw a thin, bright glow on the horizon.
"Daybreak?" He asked himself. Had he fallen asleep? Or unconscious? It had felt to him as though the blood reading had only spanned a few minute in total but it must have actually taken hours.
Hours, a few short hours of the wretchedness experienced over an eternity.
And still he knew nothing that he could put to use.
The light glared on the glass of his shades as he retreated back into the manor. It was time to rest and reflect until Axel's questioning in a few hours more. His coffin awaited.
Around twelve of that bright, new day a car pulled up into the expansive Hellsing driveway and the two back doors opened to allow the arrival of its passengers; Axel and Linda Jaeger. Though it was only Axel's presence that had been requested, Linda had flatly refused to let him go unless she could go with him and see just what her son had gotten himself into. The plain clothed Hellsing soldier sent to collect the boy had tried to convince her that she really didn't need to come but she had argued her point and had gone so far as to threaten to brain the poor man with the closest blunt object she could find unless he agreed to take her to meet Sir Hellsing as well.
Linda quite obviously was not happy about Axel's new arrangement; her scowl explained that. She hadn't bothered to change into anything more formal, she wore plain grey trousers, a pale blue t-shirt, trainers and had her dark brown hair kept out of her face with a white head band. Axel wore the same as before but was minus all of the weaponry and yet again Mishka padded faithfully beside him…which was odd as a husky is a rather independent animal.
Walter was the one who met them at the door with a surprised expression. "…Ms Jaeger…?"
"Do you honestly think I'd let him work out all of this alone?" she asked in a huff. "He couldn't arrange a takeaway without help."
"Mum!" Axel exclaimed. "Hey, I ordered pizza last week, remember?"
"Yes dear, and you forgot the garlic bread."
"Minor details. Don't even like garlic bread that much."
"Plus, I am his mother and have every right to know what the hell he is getting up to especially when it concerns his safety and his very life."
"Mum, do I look five years old!"
"No, but that isn't going to stop me, so be quiet and get used to it."
"Well…" Walter considered what he should do. "Uh…this way please; Director Hellsing is waiting."
Well what else could he do? He couldn't refuse the boys own mother. Just as she had said; the work here at Hellsing could put his life at risk (thought it was a small 'could' as Axel was perfectly capable of taking care of himself). What mother wouldn't want to present at a time such as this?
The mother and son followed Walter up to Integra's office where she had been impatiently waiting; she wanted to get this over and done with as quickly as possible to prevent anything going to wrong. She was hoping to get most of it finished before Alucard realised the boy was here.
As they walked through the door she eyed Linda critically; she could make things difficult. It wasn't that she specifically didn't want the woman there, but it didn't look good when one of her orders wasn't carried out to the letter.
Integra stood up, ready to be the perfect host as she had been so strenuously taught, and greeted them but Linda didn't even giver her time to offer her hand let alone open her mouth.
"Ok, we're here, so tell me what the hell is happening. Last night Axel runs off before he can eat because he says he found a vampire in his shed when he went back to lock up. He says he'll only take a few minutes clearing it up but actually takes three hours. He gets dropped back by some stranger; he has a rip in his head, blood matting his hair and a very dazed pet. He then tells me that he seems to have picked up a job with the Hellsing organisation; an outfit I have heard far too much about from him recently and not all of it good."
Integra was slightly taken aback buck maintained her composure. "I know that this must seem terribly sudden, but please believe me when I say that this is just as much of a surprise to us as it is to you. Walter, would you please have another chair brought in."
"Of course." Walter bowed formally, left and then returned with the requested seat which was placed next to the one that had already been put before the desk. The seats were sat upon and Mishka made good use of the floor.
"The reason this arrangement is taking place," Integra began as soon as her two guests were settled, "is because your son's actions are beginning to draw unwanted attention to the vampire and demon communities and thus putting our secrecy at high risk. The fiasco at the Tower of London was bad enough. I understand his reasons for doing the things he does and so I have offered him a place here so that we may ensure both our safety and his."
"Sounds like a plan." Linda seemed to approve.
"I'm glad that you agree." Integra said earnestly and then turned to Axel. "So, although your mother will want to help in this it is you that will need to make the arrangements with as it is you who will have to live with them."
Axel nodded. "Well what did you have in mind?"
"What time do you actually have? I realise that we will need to arrange your work around your school time and social life."
"I'm at sixth form Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays…oh, and I have no social life."
"Well there's a lie if ever I heard one." Linda scoffed. "Why do you always put yourself down?"
He turned his head. "Mum, there are people that I talk to but I don't have actual friends."
"Well what about Susanna; she's been your friend since nursery."
"Oh…well…we had a…a disagreement."
"For crying out loud, you are so childish sometimes." He mother shook her head.
"So." Integra launched back into speech to catch some wandering attention from the pair of them. "How many days are you willing to work out of the four you have free…we'll discuss holidays as they come."
"Three." He said without a thought. "Day four is for sleeping."
Integra raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, may as well do something useful with myself, eh?" by his expression Integra judged that he didn't really care.
"That should be easy enough. On those days you will be down here. Missions may not always fall on those days in the end but there is generally something to be done and it would be best if you were here all the same. Also, some training may be in order. You may be skilled but there is always room for improvement."
"Sure, whatever."
Linda fidgeted uncomfortably on her chair and Integra got the feeling that there was something she wanted to say.
"Ms Jaeger?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing." She said and absently picked at the neck of her top.
"Is something bothering you?" Integra rephrased the question I the hope that it would call out an answer.
Linda focused on her son and made sure he noticed. "Axel, would you please leave the room for a minute; I'd like a private word with Ms Hellsing."
"Oh god, here it comes; the 'mother' talk, beware, beware." He called out in a false childish ghost voice and wandered off with Mishka in tow and a final 'beware' as he went out the door and closed it firmly behind him.
"He's such a kid." His mother sighed.
Integra was not best pleased with the way Linda seemed to be taking control but could understand it and so let it pass again. "What did you want to say?"
"Thank you, I suppose." Linda said as she pulled off her head band with one hand and brushing her hair back with the fingers of the other.
"And what for, may I ask?"
"For giving Axel this chance; I worry so much about him and what he does, so knowing that he'll be properly supervised and dealt with makes me feel I can have some room to breathe at last. Every time he goes out the door at night I expect to get a phone call room the police saying that he's dead or he's killed an innocent person or someone's discovered what he is and has put him in a lab. I feel better for knowing that he's with people who can understand and help with his…his differences."
"I suppose it must have been hard bringing him up and quite shock to discover he wasn't human."
"You have no idea…though I knew that he wouldn't be totally human."
"You knew what his father was then?"
"Yes…" she gave a small shudder. "I can still remember his eyes, they were blood red…I would have thought that they were contacts but I just knew…I can't explain it any other way."
"You don't need to."
"It's hard enough working out how to raise an average kid, let alone one with special needs. But still, I wouldn't have him any other way. I'll always love him."
"How did you cope with Axel's 'special needs'?" it was an intriguing way of putting it.
"One day at a time, we both learn as we go along." She unconsciously pulled a gold chain necklace out from her t-shirt and began to twist the pendant part between her fingers. Integra caught a glimpse of two very smooth, white, pointed and seemingly enamel covered objects.
"Um…are they what I think they are." She asked, indicating.
"What? Oh…" Linda hadn't realised she had begun to fidget. She opened her hand. Hanging from the delicate chain by two tiny gold loops were two minute lengthened canine teeth. She smiled and looked down at them fondly, cradled in her palm. "Yes. These are Axel's baby fangs. He was so upset when his adult fangs grew through because he had thought that he would get normal teeth…when he was little he wished so hard that he would grow out of his differences. Heh, it was quite funny when these fell out actually; he refused to put them under his pillow because he said that they would scare the tooth fairy away."
Integra couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Axel at even that age worrying about giving the tooth fairy a fright…but then again when you are a young dhampir in a world that expects you to be only a myth it must be hard not to believe things. Linda must have had a tough time telling him there was no Father Christmas.
"Didn't the dentist or doctor ever say anything?"
"No, never. I suppose that's because vampires, in a basic sense, are mythical, magical entities, it doesn't show up in a way that can be scientifically shown…plus, I never allow him to take blood tests, just to make sure. The dentist can be fun though."
"Why's that?" Integra was quite genuinely enjoying the conversation. It wasn't often that she could talk so casually with a normal person about work related matters, i.e. – vampires.
"Every time Axel goes up there the dentist wants to file his canines down, he say's they're too sharp and will cut his tongue. Axel isn't too keen on the idea. He tells the dentist that it's because he thinks they look cool and have never caused him trouble but it's really because he doesn't see the point in trying to fool himself by hiding what he is. He used to get bullied about his teeth in primary school and because he has a habit of growling when he's bored. He does that even now; he doesn't realise until it's pointed out."
"Why did you send him out if all you wanted to say was thank you?"
"Because he would have gotten embarrassed and he doesn't need to know how much I worry; he has enough on his plate as it is."
After a few more minutes of pointless chatter, Axel was called back in to polish off the arrangement.
It was eventually agreed that Saturday would be his day off and that he would stay over at the Hellsing house Sunday to Monday as he was working both days in succession there. Integra had said that he could take the Sunday off so he would never have to spend two days in a row working for her but he had said that he might well be needed as vampires were not religiously inclined creatures and did not rest on the Sabbath day…if anything they became more active as if to spite god and the faithful people that hunted them.
At this point Linda said her goodbyes and was taken home along with Mishka as the rest of the day was 'business matters', what with it being Wednesday and his first full and proper day at Hellsing. There were some things to prepare…as well as Hunters and hearts to talk about.
Integra shuffled papers about her desk until she found the photo and the report she was looking for; the ones she had shown Alucard the previous night. Oh…Alucard…he had wanted to be there, hadn't he…
"Axel, do you mind if Alucard is present as this may well concern him as well as you to a degree."
"Whatever, just keep him out of my head and don't let him touch me. If he does I'll go spare and furniture will get broken."
"Yes, of course. Alucard!"
An invisible blast of cold air announced that he had arrived. "Hello, dhampir."
"Hello, shit-for-brains."
"Well, there's nice." Alucard said as he crossed the room and seated himself in the chair that Linda had left.
"Any closer and I'll skin you." Axel refused to look at him and fixed his gaze firmly on his new boss. "You were going to ask something?"
"Yes." she passed over the report and photo she had been holding. "Does this mean anything to you?"
"Hnh, it has something to do with the Freaks; I know that much, if that's any help to you."
"Unfortunately we already knew that. Is there anything else at all that you know. When you left that Freak female in the mausoleum meeting place not so long ago it seemed that you must have known something more."
"That was the whole point; it was to make these new gang-Freaks think that I'm on to them…I figured that if they thought I knew something vital they would panic and slip up in some way. Turns out that they're a little too organised for that."
"Also, Hellsing cleared the mausoleum before that meeting could take place." Integra told him.
"Oh…shit." He looked rather annoyed. "Never mind then. No bloody wonder they didn't seem to care."
Alucard frowned. "You are holding back on something." He said. He had been trying to read Axel's mind but just as the last time the dhampir's repressed instincts were getting in the way. It was extremely annoying as he was so used to the people around him having their minds wide open and their thoughts easily accessible. Like with the blood reading, Alucard could only grasp a few odd hints of what was going on in the big picture of the boy's brain; a few strong emotions that were too glaringly obvious to be concealed.
Axel's head whipped around and shot him a look of contempt so cold it could have frozen alcohol "Try to dive in my head one more time and I swear I'm gonna stick my boot so far up your arse you'll be burping leather."
"I must say that you use some quite inventive threats. Although you use them far too frequently; use them less and they would have more impact." Alucard advised with the return of his grin. Axel was quite fun to annoy, and it didn't take a lot, and Integra couldn't blame him because he hadn't strictly done anything 'wrong' this time. All he had done was pick up on some stray emotions that had passed his way. He hadn't done any invading. "But that aside; what are you not telling us." He tilted his head down to look at Axel over the top of his shades.
"It's nothing really…just something that I noticed…it's like the gang-Freaks have been brainwashed or something…they don't act like vampires at all."
"Really?" Integra asked. No one in Hellsing had managed to get near enough to them to notice something like that. They knew of them but not about them.
"Yeah. They don't even seem to be interested in blood." Axel said as he waved the photo he had been handed theatrically.
"Freaks not interested in blood?" Integra just had to air her surprise.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"And you think they were…what…brainwashed?" Can you even do that? Brainwash the un-dead?
"Well what else?"
"How exactly do you know that they acted different, though? How would you be able to tell unless you actually knew one of them?"
"I sort of did at the time. I was using this Freak the other week to try and do some info gathering for me. I promised him I'd let him live if he did me a favour…fat chance…anyways, I told him to try and get in with the gang-Freaks-"
"We tend to call them 'Hunters'."
"Whatever…I sent him off on his way and then figured I'd follow him just to check he wouldn't try to weasel out. He found the gang-Fr…err…Hunters, or should I say they found him and then they grabbed the little bastard and dragged him away kicking and screaming. I lost sight of them and then the next time I see my little Freak he's out in one of the hunting parties and was repeating what had been done to him to other Freaks with the other Hunters as though he had been doing it all his life. Un-life. I can't think of any other explanation except brainwashing. I confronted him and he didn't even remember me. I killed him; his chip is in a jar in my shed somewhere. I was hoping there would be something different about it or something else nice and obvious but as there wasn't so brainwashing is all I can come up with to explain it."
"It's a place to start." Integra sighed. She had really been hoping for a breakthrough and that he had been able to discover more than they. "Is there anything you would like to add or ask, Alucard?"
The vampire pushed his shades back up the bridge of his nose with the index and middle fingers of one hand. "No." he said simply.
"Do you have any questions, Axel?"
"Uh…do I have to wear a uniform? It's just that I'm comfortable in this lot; this is what I usually wear when I go out and I just wouldn't feel right in a military getup."
"The uniform I think we can negate but you will be required to at least wear the Hellsing crest if only to ensure others that you are one of us."
"Sure. I just don't want to dress like a soldier when I'm only playing at war games for the sake of my sanity. So…what am I supposed to be doing now?"
"At some point you'll need to talk to a man about a real gun; the weapons you have may have served you well but they are neither reliable nor efficient enough. A spear gun was never designed for out-of-water use and crow bars usually only come under the 'spur of the moment' and the 'all there was to hand' weapon categories."
He shrugged. "Gets the job done…and anyway, I told you; I hunt and kill to let off aggression and instinct so the more physical a fight is the better it is for me. I only ever use the spear gun to slow the evil buggers' down, not to finish them off."
"Ah…" she'd forgotten about that…this was going to be a little harder that she had originally thought. Damn Alucard for forcing this to happen so fast. The whole point of the proud Hellsing organisation was to eradicate the hellish threats to queen, country and human kind in general, thus making speed and thoroughness their top priority. Axel was a different story altogether; he needed the thrill of the chase and the brutal passion of the bloody kill to satisfy his unholy desires and keep his inner demons at bay. It was such a pity that he hated Alucard so much; they probably could have gotten along famously. She was just going to have to see how things turned out and take each day as it came.
She took the photograph back and slotted it into the file it belonged with. "I feel that some weapons training is in order before any real work can begin."
"Training? Hey, I'm fine on the weapons handling front." He made a finger-gun with his right hand and pretended to aim at Alucard. "You just point and click. Like taking a picture. Simple. Same as the spear gun"
"It isn't that easy." Alucard sniffed; he hated people who over simplified what he had been perfecting over so many years.
"Works for me, shame you find it so difficult after waving those pistols around for so long."
Integra gave an inward prayer. This was only the first day, so how was she going to control the vampire and the dhampir from here on out? she got the distinct and uncomfortable feeling that it was going to be like having two spoilt children around…with Alucard possibly being the worst of the two…and she just hoped that the perpetual good natured happiness that Seras managed to push into every situation could keep the peace between them even if Axel wasn't overly keen on the whole idea.
Was is really safe to put a military bullet firing weapon in the boy's hands? He was dangerous enough with the make-shift armoury that he already possessed so would it just be like pouring petrol on flames?
"Ms Hellsing?" Axel asked.
"Sir." Alucard corrected.
When Integra looked at Axel his eyes seemed very distant. Even though he always looked as though he was looking into you rather than at you, this time she got the feeling that even though his eyes were tracked in her direction he was actually seeing nothing at all. "Yes?"
"You've heard my purpose for death and destruction so now tell me yours; why do you, a human, hunt those that live in the shadows?"
For a moment she was slightly dumbfounded. "What kind of question is that to ask when you answered it yourself only yesterday; my duty is to protect humanity from monsters and to eradicate them all like the vermin that they are…present company excepted, of course."
Axel suddenly burst out laughing as though she had said the funniest thing he had heard all year.
"What's so amusing?"
"That's your reason for doing it but what is the purpose? My reason is that I hate vampires and also want to keep people safe but the purpose is to keep me out of madness."
"I told you; to protect-"
He cut her off. "They can do that themselves if they have to. I mean your personal purpose, what purpose does it serve you? Humans are selfish creatures to the core no matter what front they put up; so what is in it for you? It's not for your own protection because it's your actions that cause hell spawn to come to you. If you had led an ignorant life you would die an old woman never having laid eye on so much as an imp."
"This is ridiculous." She snapped. "What in god's name are you talking about?" The far away look was now replaced by a stare almost ophidian in its intensity and she did indeed feel like a rabbit mesmerised by a snake. The room seemed to shrink even more than it already had and this time it wasn't Alucard as the focus point.
"Is it the power?" Axel rose from his seat and began to lean over the desk. He heard Alucard draw and level one of his guns at him but ignored it. "Do you need to be in control? Do you hunger for the feeling of having lives of others hanging in the balance from your every order and whim? Do you enjoy it? Are these your games; do they make you feel good?"
"Sit down, Jaeger; that is an order."
"Dominatrix. Do you have any idea how close to a vampire it makes you? Come on; admit it." Axel grinned. The grin was then choked away as he was snatched up roughly by the back of his collar, hauled from the desk and tossed to the floor by Alucard. This time it was the dark metalled Jackal that was aimed straight at his head rather than the Casull. Alucard did not have the same strange humour about him that he had had before and he too could feel the change in the air that seemed to signify a growing power in Axel. Although he wanted to be able to see it he could not have Integra in danger. It was fine when Axel aimed his hatred at him but not at her.
"I do not like the way you are talking to my Master." He warned.
The dhampir sat up but didn't say anything more. He closed one eye and peered at the ceiling with the other. He then seemed to whisper to himself…he seemed to reach a conclusion, both eyes opened and tracked back to Integra. "Sorry." He said simply. "Sometimes I just forget myself. I promise not to let that happen again…it usually only happens when I'm stressed anyway…it's probably him that set me off, I get all tense around vampires." He jerked his thumb at Alucard.
Integra motioned for Alucard to lower the weapon and though he did he silently refused to holster it or to take his finger off the trigger.
"Right, perhaps it's time we started you on that training. Alucard, take him down to the test range and put him in with the rest of the new squad. We'll see how good his aim is and if he can handle a real gun."
Axel got to his feet and then followed Alucard out of the door.
Out in the hall, just as the office door clicked closed behind them Alucard's sensitive hearing caught a whisper from his master.
"Alucard, keep an eye on Jaeger but don't interfere unless he becomes too dangerous for others to handle."
Of course, Master, it would be a pleasure.
To be continued…
Author's Note – Well, that's Chap 4 done with. Let me know if it's worth the effort of continuing. Please. (Insert puppy eyes here). Hopefully I will have the will to continue and I'm sorry the updates take so long. I wish I had more to say…I hope you'll carry on enjoying this fic…I have plans for it. Just hang in there.