A big thank you to my reviewers: KuroNeko513, Magpies and Pie, fandelivres, misaki, and NightlyRowenTree! Thank you to everyone who added this story to their alert/favorite list too!
The school year is going to start soon (at least, for me), meaning updates will be less frequent.
Please read, review, and enjoy! : )
I do not own Hellsing.
Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Amelia walked down the hall with the Captain by her side and Doc leading. The path they were traveling seemed vaguely familiar, but it wasn't until they stepped in to the hangar that she realized why. The injuries from her fight with Zorin not easily forgotten, she paused at the entrance, for a few seconds panicking that she was going to do battle again.
But the doctor continued walking towards the double doors on the opposite side of the hangar. The lights were out, suggesting the large space was not in use, and for the first time in several days, Amelia was surrounded by natural light, its golden morning rays shining in through the windows on her right.
The Captain stopped to glance back at her, and realizing that she was still standing motionless at the door, she scurried to catch up. Are we going outside? A fragment of hope pulsed through her being, along with a surge of energy.
When they had reached the double doors, Doc moved to a panel on the wall, flipping up its protective plastic covering and pulling down on a lever. With a squeal the large doors began to slide apart.
Amelia exhaled in wonder. There was an expanse of grass around her, growing for about a mile before hitting a wall of leafy trees; if a runway had once existed, it was completely overgrown. Over the treetops on her left she could make out the frosted white tip of a mountain peak, glistening in the morning sunlight. The air was warm and heavy with humidity, but pleasant when the breeze blew. It was nothing like the cold and snowy winters she was accustomed to.
Amelia felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she enjoyed the view. But the smile only held until she remembered her companions, and she turned to the doctor suspiciously, wondering why she had been escorted outside.
"The forecast called for sunshine," said Doc, "so I thought we'd spend some time outside today." Suspecting an ulterior motive, Amelia remained silent. "You may sit down anywhere you like, unless you'd prefer to stand." Doc continued, returning her stare and gesturing to the ground around them. "I just want you to stay out here for now." He turned and walked back inside, reappearing a minute later with a folding chair tucked under one arm. Spreading out the legs on level ground, he sat himself down, keeping the clipboard in his lap.
The Captain remained standing, watching Amelia to see what she would do.
Still doubtful about Doc's request, she walked about twenty steps away from the men before dropping to the ground, cross-legged. There was not much to do, and she was less inclined to do anything with people watching, so she kept her back to her observers. For a while she pulled at the individual blades of grass by her legs, flicking away bugs that came too close.
As the sun ascended higher in the sky, she drew her attention away from the earth and to the clouds, watching their shapes contort and scatter on the wind. Leaning back in the grass, her thoughts began to drift. It was peaceful listening to the wind blow through the trees, and her eyelids lowered as sleep threatened to overcome her caution.
I should do this more often, Amelia mused, squinting as the light grew stronger. When I get out… She closed her eyes, a small frown appearing. I will get out. They can't keep me locked up forever.
And then – rather late – came the realization that she was out of her cage. What am I doing? I should be running!
Opening her eyes, she was momentarily blinded by the sun, whose rays had sneaked between the trees to wash over her. No, wait. I have to think about this. The Captain's behind me, somewhere. I've seen for myself that he can run fast… through a forest… at night. Her hand twitched towards her stomach. I don't know if I'd have any chance at outrunning him across an empty field, or anywhere for that matter.
She rolled onto her side, her back to the sun. How can I slip away? I don't know what's beyond this forest. I don't know where I am. Someplace where it's warm around winter; but there are snowcapped mountains. If only she had paid more attention in her geography lessons.
"Are you feeling tired, Miss Harker?" Doc's voice interrupted her thinking, producing a slight echo in the clearing.
"A little," Amelia mumbled before thinking that the doctor probably couldn't hear her from such a distance. She repeated her answer, louder, and sat up.
Freedom seemed closer, but still out of reach. Knowing this made her antsy, and although she didn't mean to show it, her actions betrayed her. She returned to pulling at the grass, constantly looking around as if she were expecting someone to appear out of the forest, her shoulders heaving with the occasional sigh.
After five minutes, Doc made verbal note of this. "Did you get an adequate amount of sleep last night?"
Amelia shook her head after a moment's hesitation. The dream of death and fire had haunted her, fueling nightmares and waking her every other hour. "Bad dreams." She muttered.
The silence returned, but lasted briefly.
"Take a walk, Miss Harker." The order made Amelia look up from the grass she was pulling, and she wondered whether she had heard right. "Your restlessness is an indication to me that you could do with some exercise. Do a few laps around the clearing or climb a tree; something that requires exertion."
She hadn't jogged in over a week, and didn't want to lose the stamina she had built up jogging through the woods back home; it might help her at some point.
"Can I jog through the forest?" Her right hand began to twist the hem of her shirt, and with the sunlight reflecting in Doc's lenses, she could not look at him directly. She was aware of how untrustworthy she appeared, but tried anyway. "I won't do anything…"
Doc gave a careful nod after some consideration. "If you would rather run around in the forest than in the field here, I will allow it." His resigned tone became strict, carrying a warning. "There is a stream that flows further back in the woods, and I recommend that you do not cross it. I will know if you do. There is a dirt path parallel with the stream that you can use. When you're tired, turn around and follow it back here."
Amelia nodded once before heading for the trees. A furtive glance revealed that the Captain was not following her, and despite feeling another surge of hope, she wasn't sure if it was an advantage or something she needed to worry about.
Watching Amelia disappear into the forest, Doc wiped the sweat forming on his brow. Murmuring about how hot it was, he pulled a small device from his pocket, the majority of its surface taken up by a screen. The red marker was slowly moving away from the blue one on the screen, heading for the thin line of blue that represented the stream.
"It seems she's not running yet." The doctor remarked after a couple of minutes, pulling at the collar of his shirt as he watched the red dot move. He hadn't bothered to tell the girl about the small chip he had surgically implanted at the back of her neck following her fight with Zorin. It was a requirement for everyone in Millennium to have one, excluding himself and the Major, and with Amelia's importance, they couldn't afford to lose track of her.
Doc stood up, putting down his clipboard. "I'm going to find an umbrella; this weather is nearly unbearable."
The doctor came back with an umbrella leaning on his shoulder, unopened. His attention was transfixed on the device in his palm. He made his way towards the Captain, his steps slow and balance off without minding the ground in front of him.
The Captain leaned over when Doc stopped next to him, curious as to what had caught his interest. Two green markers had appeared near the top of the screen, moving along the length of the stream.
Doc scowled. "I told him not to send out any patrols on this side today." If Amelia continued on her current path, she was bound to run in to them. Their encounter could be a problem, but…
"Don't interfere yet." Doc said when the Captain shuffled beside him, though he did not take his eyes off the screen. "This could still work out."
For a few more minutes they watched the red and the two greens come closer, and then Amelia stopped. The green marks representing lower ranking soldiers approached her, and for a short time, they did not move.
Doc bit down on one of his gloved fingers, oblivious to the red drops that started leaking from it. "Come on," he whispered.
The red marker suddenly darted away from the greens. Amelia was running. And then the soldiers were chasing, their markers picking up speed as they moved across the screen. Doc's eyes lit up in excitement as he watched Amelia's marker, her speed much faster than the average person's as she ran through the forest. But the soldiers were not falling behind.
"They must be among the handful I experimented with before She dried up. Go!" He waved an urgent hand at the Captain. It was clear from Amelia's movements that she had no idea where she was heading. She could run into the patrols on the opposite side of the base.
Turning on his heel, the Captain's figure blurred as he shot into the forest, a white mist-like aura swirling around him.
A slight bounce in his step, Doc walked back to the folding chair, shaking flecks of blood from his finger tip. He picked up his clipboard, putting the monitor back in his pocket and letting the umbrella drop to the grass.
Two loud cracks pierced the quiet morning air, and he tensed, looking in the direction of the noise.
"Her picture was in – don't they read the bloody weekly reports?" He hissed incredulously. "What do we print them for if no one reads them?"
The dirt path was barely wide enough for two people to walk shoulder to shoulder and could hardly be called a road with all the weeds and grass poking up along it, but Amelia had the suspicion that it was meant to look insignificant to a passerby. Dipping her hand into the fast flowing stream, she yanked it back out. Freezing cold. It was probably a mix of rain water and snow melt from the mountain.
For now she would heed Doc's warning to not cross the water, at least until she was farther from Doc and the Captain and maybe at a spot where the stream was narrower and the rocks less slippery. She was still bent over the stream when she heard voices above the rush of the water.
For a couple of seconds Amelia held still, trying to locate the source of the noise. From the left, she decided, crouching low and scampering back to the trees. When she had found a wide trunk to hide behind, she straightened, prepared to run if it was necessary.
The voices grew louder, and she peeked around the trunk, glimpsing two men in faded green uniforms with bags in their hands. They were dressed more like mechanics than soldiers, but when they spoke it was in German, and so Amelia stayed in her hiding spot.
A twig snapped and she started, glancing behind. Maybe the Captain is following me? Seeing nothing, she went back to listening for the two men.
It was quiet now.
Did they pass? She leaned around the opposite side of the tree and saw only the bags occupying the path. Where did they go? On the alert, she turned around to find one of the uniformed men standing less than two meters away. He was not smiling, and when he spoke his tone was questioning. Able to pick up a couple words and guessing what he was asking, she answered as best she could.
"The doctor wanted me to take a walk out here." She spoke slowly, hating how her voice quivered despite her efforts to keep it calm. The other man was not visible, giving her reason to worry. As she slid one foot back, her shoulder hit something.
The man who had snuck up behind her grabbed her wrist. "You're English?" He sneered in a thick accent, the scar under his left eye twisting horribly from the expression.
"Yes." Amelia moved so that she was not stuck between the two men, her gaze darting from one to the other as she tugged on her captured arm. "Please, let –"
"No reason to get excited," the man with the scar chuckled while his eyes drifted over her figure. "In a hurry to get somewhere?" He released her wrist, only to clutch the front of her shirt and pull her closer. "Where we come from, the loser waves the white cloth. You planning to surrender to us?" He laughed, taking his attention away from her when his partner spoke.
And that was when Amelia struck. Using all her strength she jerked away from her captor, the fabric of her shirt tearing, but the man not relinquishing his grip. Her action caught his attention though. He grabbed her left arm as it moved, but not before she managed to clamp the fingers of her left hand around his right hand, which still held a fist full of her garment. In one swift move she brought her free hand against the outside of his left elbow, a disgusting crack issuing from the joint. The scarred man screamed something in German as he let go of her to clutch at the protruding bones.
The other man reached for Amelia but she spun away, avoiding his fingers by inches. Although the sight of the damage she inflicted made her stomach heave, she could not afford to falter now. Grateful that she had been lent shoes for her outing, she ran further into the forest, the men giving chase seconds later.
Her best chance was to lose them in the woods, but even as she made sudden turns and passed through areas where roots snaked around her ankles and branches scratched at her head, the men stayed close behind. In her head she repeated her wishes like a prayer, that her legs move faster or the men lose their energy. But already her body felt lighter than it usually did, and as her pace increased, she became aware of how the trees whipped by. How fast am I running?
Gunshots sounded, startling her from the thought. Men with guns were chasing her through a forest. It was all painfully familiar.
A tree in front of her splintered, and she flinched away from it, one foot slipping in the grass. The bullets may have missed their mark, but it was enough. Regaining her footing cost precious seconds, lessening the distance between her and the men. Foolishly looking back to see how close they were, she realized that it was nearly impossible for them to miss if they shot at her again.
And they did shoot, about two seconds later.
Her breath hitched at the sound of bullets burying into flesh, and she skidded to a stop, clutching at her stomach. But there was no pain. She pulled her hands away and saw no blood. I wasn't shot. Amelia turned around, confused.
The Captain stood between her and the men with his back to her. Strange white tendrils of vapor clung to the left side of his body, slowly diffusing in the air.
The men were standing at attention, the one who had first spoken to Amelia now speaking in rapid German. A particularly rude-sounding comment was added by the man with the scar as he gestured to his arm.
With the Captain's attention on the men, Amelia thought she may be able to quietly sneak away; but as soon as she took a step, his head swiveled in her direction. Swallowing heavily, she stopped moving.
After another minute of the uninjured man talking or asking questions and getting a nod or head shake in response, the men departed, scar face glaring Amelia's way until he was blocked by trees.
The Captain turned to her. It could have been her imagination, but she thought she sensed something like anger radiating from the silent man. Regardless of whether her feeling was right, or whether the emotion was directed at her or the men, she was suddenly afraid of standing in the Captain's company.
"I tried to explain, about the doctor, and the man with the scar grabbed me," she said, the words coming out breathless as she stared down at the large rip in her t-shirt. At least her undershirt was intact. "I-I-I didn't mean to…His arm…He wouldn't let go."
The Captain stepped forward and Amelia retreated. Her gaze slipped from his face to his uniform, where there were two bullet holes, one in his left arm and another in his side. "You-you're bleeding." Her voice was nearly inaudible, and her eyes shifted from his face to the blood, hoping her actions would get her comment across.
How can he act so calm with those injuries? Is he on drugs? Giving the holes a cursory glance, he shook his head.
"But, but…"
He pushed up his sleeve. There was no puncture wound – there wasn't even any blood on his arm.
Amelia inched forward with the wariness that she would approach a snake with, anticipating a strike. The blood stain on the Captain's side was not expanding either. "You can regenerate?"
The man gave a curt nod and pulled his sleeve down.
Amelia still didn't know if the Captain had been following her, but now that he had made his appearance, she was sure they would be returning to the doctor. Her escape would have to wait.
The Captain cocked his head to the side, his gaze remaining on the tear in her shirt for a few seconds before his eyes lifted to meet hers.
"I-it's just a rip," she squeaked, blood rushing to her face as she turning away from him to double check that there really was nothing being revealed.