I do not own Hellsing Ultimate or any of the characters.
Old Memories
Angel glanced at Seras as they waited for Integra to arrive and tell the Wild Geese, the mercenaries hired to replace the Hellsing troops, what the job would entail. More specifically, what they were.
"How are you feeling?" Angel asked quietly.
"I'm alright, really," Seras said, smiling. "I've had you to help me, Master, so I'm alright."
Angel smiled, nodding. "Good. You're strong. It took me a very long time to be able to get past something like that so quickly."
Seras shook her head. "I'm not afraid. As long as I have you to protect me, Master, I have no reason to be."
Angel smiled. "Don't give me too much credit, or yourself too little. You did well, as always. We just need to get you a little better at unarmed combat. Or at least a weapon."
My God you people," the Wild Geese's leader, Pip Bernadotte, finally said, ending the mercenaries' complaining. "I don't really know any other way to put this, so here it is. They're going to be paying us to kill monsters."
"They're gonna be paying us to do what?" one of the mercenaries asked, a couple others laughing.
"It's true," Integra said, finally entering the room. "The enemies are immortal creatures who sustain themselves by drinking human blood. Your job, gentlemen, is to fight these monsters with bullets, garlic and holy water. Put a stake through its heart, cut off its head, burn the corpse, scatter the ashes at a crossroads. For further instructions, consult Bram Stoker."
"That's just ridiculous," one merc said.
"Everybody knows there's no such thing as vampires," another said.
"Then everyone is quite mistaken," Integra said. "Or, more accurately, we've helped them maintain a state of blissful ignorance. For over a century, the Hellsing Organization has helped the British Empire, fighting a secret war against the forces of darkness. The vampire in particular." She smiled, pointing at Seras and Angel. "For those of you that still need convincing, I present to you, two genuine vampires."
The mercenaries all stared at them as Seras gave a nervous, shy smile, and Angel mimed tipping a hat in greeting.
"Huh?" Pip asked, standing. "Oh no. Just hold on. You...You are really a vampire?" He scratched his cheek, barely keeping from laughing as Seras blushed slightly at being the focus of attention. "Him I could believe, with those freaky contacts and the bleached hair, but you?"
"Yes, I am," Seras said, before her voice wavered nervously. "Hello." Seras' smile fell as Pip and the mercenaries began to laugh. "I get the feeling they're laughing at me, Sir."
"Then show them something to make them stop, police girl," Integra instructed.
"Right, of course, Sir!" Seras said, snapping her fingers and looking up at Pip. "Come on."
Pip laughed. "if this is supposed to be a vampire, then I'm Frankenstein's monster!"
"You could be with that face," Angel smirked.
"Now that's hurtful," Pip said.
Just then, Seras flicked him in the forehead, drawing blood. He staggered backward and she followed, flicking him three more times before sending him spinning through the air to the rest of the mercenaries.
"Captain!" one of them gasped.
"She's some kind of monster!" Pip gasped.
"No shit, right?" Angel asked, forming a blood scythe and resting it on his shoulder. "Wonder how you could have known that."
"No way!" one of the mercenaries gasped. "He's a freak!"
"Hurtful," Angel said flatly, reabsorbing his scythe.
"No way, you're telling me that little girl really is a vampire?" Pip asked.
"Damn right she is," Alucard's voice echoed as he phased through a wall. "The police girl may be the lowest of the low, but a vampire is still a vampire."
"Be nice to my girl," Angel said. "Just because we're not all a several thousand year old vampire who's had all of time to figure out how to use his powers and grow stronger."
"What a pathetic bunch of sniveling cowards," Alucard said, watching as the mercenaries backed away from him in fear, completely ignoring Angel. "Do you really think they'll be of any use to us?"
"That depends," Angel said. "Are we giving them silver bullets this time?"
"We are," Integra said.
"My deepest apologies, ma'am," Walter said, stepping into the room. "I did try to stop him."
"These men are going to be guarding me while I sleep," Alucard said. "I wanted to take their measure."
"Sleep is for the weak," Angel said. "Just pull all-day-ers like me."
"You are an idiot," Alucard said. "Any vampire who chooses to sleep four hours a day just to spend time in the sun is an fool."
Angel shrugged. "Some of us like to remember what it was like to be human."
"Now that introductions are over," Walter produced a letter from seemingly thin air and offered it to Integra, "a most unusual letter arrived in the post today."
"What sort of letter?" Integra asked, taking it and reading the envelope. "From Vatican Special Operations Division Thirteen. The Iscariot organization! Enrico Maxwell!"
"Joy," Angel grumbled. "Anderson, round two. Try not to lose so humiliatingly this time, Alucard."
"If I had been serious, I'd have destroyed him," Alucard said.
"And yet, you were the one who ended up missing a head," Angel said. "As I said, try not to lose so humiliatingly this time."
Alucard narrowed his eyes, then grinned. "Don't worry, my son. I'll give you a proper lesson in how to slaughter Catholics."
"Son?" Pip asked.
"It annoys me, so he calls me it," Angel grumbled. "Let's just get this shit over with. If I have to deal with him, I'd rather do it before I eat, that way I don't work up a second appetite."
"Yes, God forbid you feed twice in a day," Alucard said.
"He forbids I feed at all," Angel said. "But not eating would be suicide, so that's out of the question."
He walked out of the room, Seras following behind him and Alucard at his side.
Angel tapped the table in silence, mulling over what Integra had told him. Nazis survived World War Two and began to create an army of vampires and ghouls to take over the world. The Catholic church helped. Now, there was a target on Alucard's back.
"What do you recommend we do about what I've told you?" Integra asked. "You seem to have keen instincts for hunting."
"I recommend we don't go hunting," Angel said.
"Excuse me?" Integra asked.
"Allow me to rephrase," Angel said. "We should go fishing instead. Millennium wants Alucard, so let's string him up as bait and throw him out to sea. Then, we can see who takes a bite, and we can see what Alucard gets when he bites back."
Integra considered for a moment before nodding. "We'll send him to South America. That's where the Vatican sent the surviving Nazis, so it's the best place to start. And you and Seras will be going with him."
Angel nodded. "How soon?"
"Tomorrow," Integra said.
"Then I should try to get an actual rest in before we leave," Angel said. "Alucard had a point when he said staying up twenty hours a day every day is stupid."
"I've told you that before, but you never listen," Integra said.
Angel shrugged. "What can I say? I'm American."
Integra sighed, nodding. "Have a good rest. And good hunting. I'll go and inform Alucard where we're sending him."
Angel nodded and left, heading back to his room to sleep.
He opened his eyes and groaned, raising a hand to his neck. There was nothing there. It had to have been a nightmare. His sister wouldn't have bitten him. Or had a mouthful of fangs. He opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. He was tired. So tired. It was always exhausting to be awake now. He couldn't possibly have long left before his disease claimed him. To think that it all started as blood cancer, then became a cocktail of diseases and conditions. He wasn't even sure how.
He sighed, pulling himself from his thoughts, and looked to the side, only to frown. Normally, it would be his girlfriend, Grace, seated at his side. She had been there for the two months he'd been in the hospital already without leaving except to go to the bathroom. Now, however, it was his sister Amanda seated there, watching him with a strange expression he couldn't understand at all.
"Where's Grace?" he asked, frowning when he noticed that his voice was even and steady, when normally it would be frail and raspy from his endless case of strep throat.
"She's dead," Amanda said gently, her brother's throat closing off instantly, his eyes burning with tears.
"She's...what?" he squeaked.
"She died sometime the day before yesterday," Amanda said. "But, it's okay. Her dying means that you get to live. So, it doesn't matter that she died. Because now you can be with someone else instead. Someone who'll never leave like she did."
Hs brow's furrowed. "What do you...This isn't...a funny joke."
"It's not a joke," Amanda said, standing, except Angel noticed something was off as she spoke this time, he just couldn't tell what. "Grace is dead, and now you're free to find someone who won't abandon you."
Anger raced through him. How dare she insult Grace? Especially when Grace was dead.
"She didn't abandon me!" he snapped. "If...If you're being honest...then she didn't abandon me, she died!"
"Yes she dead," Amanda nodded. "But it was quick. She didn't suffer much."
He stopped, eyes widening slowly. There was no way. Right? He had to be wrong.
"How do you know it was quick?" Angel asked lowly.
Amanda watched him for a moment before grinning, exposing her pointed fangs to him. His hand flew to his neck, eyes going wide.
"I had to find someone to feed on in order to make the change official, and I wanted her out of the way of our love," Amanda said. "Two birds with one stone, right? I think I did pretty well. And I made sure to kill her quick, so she wasn't hurt. So now, not only do you get to live since you're a vampire too, but now we can finally be together."
"Finally...be..."
The gears in his brain were working, but they were meshing. Everything was just free-spinning. His sister had killed his girlfriend. His sister wanted to be his girlfriend. His sister killed him to save his life. He was dead. He was a monster. His girlfriend was dead. His sister was a murderer. He was going to Hell. His sister killed his girlfriend and loved him. He was a vampire, and his sister loved him, and his sister killed his girlfriend, and he was a vampire, and he was dead and...
Round and round his thoughts spun. He couldn't make sense of it. Every thought felt so disconnected and bizarre. Like random, meaningless trivia facts about things you didn't know existed. Like if someone told the average American that Gohan was a only half Saiyan. The average American would have no idea who Gohan was, or what a Saiyan was, and so the trivia fact would be meaningless. This was how his thoughts felt. At least, until they managed to arrange themselves in a proper order. His sister killed his girlfriend because she loved him. His sister was jealous. His sister killed him to save his life. He was a vampire. His sister turned him into a vampire. He was a monster. He was going to Hell. It's all Amanda's fault.
Before he had even fully processed the train of thoughts, fury had flooded his body and taken control. His eyes burned, his whole body felt wrong, and he roared in rage as he leapt off the bed, drilling a fist into his sister's face and sending her crashing through the door into the hallway, Angel pinning her to the floor. Corpses lined the hallway. Nurses, doctors, patients. His sister grinned as he saw them, then punched him, sending him flying. He bounced once before she reached him, punching him down into the floor.
"THIS IS THE THANKS I GET!?" Amanda exploded. "I SAVED YOUR LIFE AND MADE IT SO WE COULD BE TOGETHER, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!?"
"Fuck you!" He seethed.
Weapon. He needed a weapon. Something to hit her with. Suddenly, he felt a weight settle in his right hand, heavier above it, and closed his hand around it, swinging it hard. A short, red, metal rod collided with the side of her head, caving in her skull and spraying blood. And then suddenly he was above her, slamming the rod into her again and again. Over and over. Rage flooded his body constantly as he swung, and swung, and swung.
And then it was over. His body had stopped and was under his control again, and he was staring at the pool of blood and bits of meat and bone that used to be her skull. He'd killed her. He'd murdered his sister.
"Well done," a deep, calm, slightly distorted voice off to his left said. "For something like you to kill a true vampire is impressive, as is that ability of yours."
He looked over, staring at a man with long black hair, orange-lensed sunglasses, a wide-brimmed red had, a red trench coat, and black clothes beneath it. His eyes fell to his sister again, tears beginning to fall. He killed her. He killed his sister.
"Are you crying?" the man asked. "Over her? She killed everyone in this hospital. There's no reason to cry over her."
"She was my sister," Angel said.
"Ah, so you're the one she wanted to save," the man nodded. "When she convinced me to turn her, this isn't the result I expected. I wasn't really surprised she went insane and started killing, since I could taste her insanity in her blood, but I wasn't expecting you to kill her. I was expecting to do that myself."
"You're..." his throat closed off as what the man had set settled in his mind.
This man was a vampire. This man turned his sister so that she could turn him.
"Kill me," Angel whimpered, looking up at the man pleadingly. "Please kill me!"
The man stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head. "I won't kill you. But if you join the organization I work for, you might die. We hunt vampires, so there may be someone who kills you down the line."
Angel stared at the man for a long moment before nodding. Maybe he was right. Hopefully he was right. He wanted to die. Needed to die. But he couldn't commit suicide. That would be a one-way ticket to Hell. Assuming he still had an alternative.
"Before we go, you need to drink your sister's blood," the man said. "All of it."
"What?" Angel gasped, staring at him.
"It'll turn you into a true vampire," the man said. "And it'll stop your body from rotting away instead. If you were to die because of that, it wouldn't be too different from suicide, would it, Christian?"
Angel's eyes widened. Would it? But then, if he drank blood, especially by choice, he'd be a true monster. Surely that, before all else, would stop him from going to Heaven. He stared at his sister's body for a long while in silence. Finally, someone else stepped into the room, a young girl with long blonde hair, tan skin, and a strict, impatient expression.
"What are you waiting for?" the girl asked. "Don't forget, the monster you just killed murdered and ate your girlfriend for no more a reason than jealousy."
Angel's eyes widened slightly before anger blossomed in him again. That was true. She'd killed Grace. Grace had been her first kill. So it was fitting that she be his first, right?
"Of for God's sake!" the girl snapped impatiently. "Just drink the blood and be done with it! Starving yourself is suicide, but at least you can pray for forgiveness for murder!"
Angel stared at her for a moment before turning back to his sister. After another moment, he grimaced, then bit into her neck.
Angel stirred, opening his eyes and staring up at Seras. Worry colored her entire face, but when he opened his eyes, she relaxed, sighing heavily.
"Are you alright?" Seras asked. "I sensed something was wrong."
"Just a very old dream," Angel said, sitting up from his coffin. "The day I was turned."
Seras hesitated, but apparently decided not to ask. Angel smiled gratefully, but then sighed, beginning the story. Seras listened with rapt attention while he spoke, her reactions exactly matching what he expected. Surprise that his sister was a murderer, sympathetic rage at her killing his girlfriend, revulsion at her being in love with him, sympathy at him having killed her, anger at Alucard and Integra forcing him to drink his sister's blood.
Finally, the story ended and both fell silent for a time.
"I'm sorry," Seras said. "Your past...it makes my experience being turned seem almost normal. And on top of that, I've been too afraid to drink blood, but you did it the same day you were turned, even though you were afraid that doing so would bar you from Heaven. I've been acting like a spoiled little girl ever since you turned me, and I never properly thanked you."
"You don't need to," Angel said. "Alucard may not care about his humanity because he was a monster before he was a vampire, but I remember what it was like to be human. Being turned into a vampire and choosing to give up you humanity is complicated. You will never feel like you need to do anything if you're not ready. I'll never rush you, or pressure you. I'm happy enough just being able to have you around."
Seras smiled, hugging him. "Thank you, Master."
Angel hugged her back, smiling and closing his eyes as he held her tightly. He would never make the same mistake twice. He would never allow her to be hurt. He would never experience that pain again.
"There's so much pain in this world," Seras said. "So much suffering. You've suffered enough, Master. So, as your loyal servant, no matter what happens, I promise to always shield you from pain. And if I ever fail at that, then I'll return the pain to whoever or whatever hurt you tenfold. I'll destroy the entire world for you, if you ask me to."
Angel pulled back, raising an eyebrow at her. "Not that I'm complaining about you being unquestioningly loyal, but since when did you become so violent, or protective? And isn't it my place to protect you from pain?"
Seras smiled and shrugged. "Ever since you turned me, any time I feel worried, or afraid, or sad, you're there to comfort me. So now, I promise to do the same for you. And the master isn't supposed to protect the servant. It's suppose to be the master who's protected."
Angel chuckled. "How about this, then. From now on, no matter what we face, or what happens, we face it together, always."
Seras smile and nodded. "Yes sir, my master!"
Angel chuckled. They'd just sworn to do exactly what they'd already been doing. But, she seemed happy, so he supposed that was good enough.
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