Authors note: Hello there faithful readers. I hope my tardiness is forgiven and a perhaps a review would be possible? (I need the feedback please.)
Chapter 29
Sir Integra was sitting in the same windowsill that Alucard usually lounged in, gazing out of the window. Staring up at the icy glitter of uncountable stars scattered across the black velvet of night.
Walter was already seated in one of the chairs in front of her desk and they were waiting for the vampires to join them. His relaxed posture belied the strength and lethality that was, as always, just below the surface.
Incredibly, Sir Integra's desk was void of all paperwork and lay bare – something that few people had ever seen. Somehow the absence of everything that constituted the running of the Hellsing organisation was unnerving, bordering on the sinister.
Alucard strolled through the west wall, sans hat and with his hands buried in his pockets. He crooked an eyebrow at his master's position and decided to play a little tit for tat. After all, this was a rare opportunity. Integra felt her servant's arrival, hear a familiar creaking and turned to see him sprawled out in her chair, behind her desk.
"That's my seat."
"I could say the same thing to you." He retorted, leaning back and folding his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes and wondered how long it would take before his master found something to throw at him. She didn't disappoint. Her steel lighter clipped him firmly on his ear and he opened one eye to see her glaring at him. Grinning he vacated the chair and silently they traded places.
Integra had just settled herself when the office door slammed open and Seras appeared, full of apologies for being the last to arrive.
"Never mind that, just get in here and close the door behind you." Came the sharp order.
Seras closed the door, and walked towards the window – intending to stand close to her master. Instead, Integra waved her hand at the vacant chair next to Walter and said in a firm tone:
"Sit down."
She sat down, feeling a little out of place as she was not close to her master; instead she was right in front of her master's master. The last time she had been this close to Sir Integra was the night that they had turned her loose on the late and unlamented Wiggins. She glanced at Alucard for a little support and received a toothy grin that didn't help at all. She looked down at her hands and tried not to fidget as she felt the older woman studying her.
Integra put her elbows on the desk, folded her hands together and rested her chin on the backs of her fingers. She studied each of the people in the room with her and weighed up her options. No matter how she looked at the problems that lay before her, the answer was still the same: it all came down to a matter of trust and loyalty. Her voice was steady and calm as she began to speak.
"As I'm sure you are all aware, due to the last operation, the Hellsing organisation is currently in one of the most vulnerable states that it has ever been in. Our home forces are nearly all out of commission and the threat response teams are only at half capacity."
She let this sink in and then continued.
"Also, by now, the Iscariot organisation is well aware of our situation and is most likely plotting as fast as they can. Should they commit to an act of aggression or should another vampire nest rise – we will fail in our duty to protect church, crown and country. And that is something that I absolutely will not allow – Hellsing does not fail!"
Walter leaned forward slightly and asked:
"If this is a question of troops, then may I ask why Major Ferguson is not present here?"
"Right on the mark as always Walter." She smirked. "I need him to concentrate on getting the soldiers back on their feet and finding others to replenish the ranks. It's what he does best and so I'm leaving him to get on with it."
She smiled at him unexpectedly and said:
"Dear Walter, you have been with me for so long and you have given much to Hellsing, but until we are at full strength - I'm afraid you are going to have to come out of full retirement and once again the Angel of Death must walk these halls."
His eyes widened slightly and then he placed his hand on his heart and bowed his head.
"I am always happy to serve in whatever capacity is required of me."
Integra then turned to Seras and asked:
"You are bound by blood to your master and thus, to me. Are you ready Seras Victoria, to take up the whole of what you are and serve this family?"
For one horrifying moment Seras didn't know what to say and then she mimicked the same action as Walter and said:
"I swear by the life and the blood that I willingly gave, that I will serve you and Hellsing in every way that I can."
Integra nodded, pleased with the mature response and then turned to look towards the window, but Alucard was no longer there. He had already reached his master's side and was waiting on one knee, his hand on his heart.
"Your orders, my master?"
She had heard that deep and vibrant voice deliver those same words many times since she had found him in the basement. He had been her salvation then, and she was placing trust in the bonds formed in that moment. She could feel the bond between them and in it she felt trust, and hope.
Acting on impulse, she reached out and caught his face between her hands – looking him square in the eyes.
"A master must trust that their servant will do their utmost and at all times, remain loyal."
"And a servant must trust that their master to believe in them and recognise that selfsame loyalty."
She let him go and he rose, choosing to stand next to her instead of returning to his usual window perch. She turned back to Walter, her eyes glinting with anticipation and excitement.
"Walter, I need you to somehow expand your information gathering network in the underground. They are always the first to know when something's not right and we need to know faster than ever. By the time an incident has trickled through official channels, it will be too late to send in just Alucard or Seras."
"I have a few contacts that I could activate." He nodded thoughtfully. "I'm afraid they won't come cheap though."
"Nothing good ever does." She replied wryly. "But information is power and we need everything we can get. Hellsing has to evolve with the times and I fear we have been remiss in this area."
"I'll get to work on it as soon as we're done here."
She nodded and then turned to Alucard.
"As far as Major Ferguson will be concerned, the human patrols of the Hellsing grounds will continue and he will have one or two squads here at the mansion barracks for if and when an emergency arises. I don't want him using them."
He looked at her quizzically and asked sardonically:
"Then what will he be using – harsh language?"
She snorted with amusement and then her gaze turned very serious.
"I want you and Seras to dispatch our unnatural problems. With the larger information network, the two of you will be able to slip and out without the local authorities getting involved. And it is to that end that I am lifting parts of the restrictions on your powers."
Walter sat bolt upright, Seras' eyes were like saucers and Alucard narrowed his eyes and said:
"What parts?"
"You will be able to leave the mansion at will and you will be able to choose the control art system to whatever level you see fit to use to remove the threat. You will not however be able to access your full power; level 0 will remain under my control."
"How will the targets be designated?"
"Walter will have a list of targets drawn up, to be updated daily. How and where you deal with them will be at your discretion – all I require is the normal standards: it gets done fast, you don't get seen and you dispose of all evidence."
"And if there are human elements involved?" he asked carefully.
"If they are on the list, then their demise is imminent." She replied coldly.
"Does that mean he gets to eat people?" asked Seras, who had been silent up until this point.
"Yes, unless you want to eat them first." Integra shrugged. "Perhaps the two of you can flip a coin or something."
She pinned the young vampire with her eyes and said in a dreadful tone.
"This is the true power of the Hellsing organisation, and it is time that we stopped hiding it in the basement. We are charged to protect church, crown and country and we will do just that, using whatever means we have."
Seras was struck by her usage of 'church, crown and country' as it echoed the words that Joshua had uttered right before he shot Tim. She realised that the roots of Hellsing ran far deeper and were much older than she had thought. To her, Hellsing started and ended with her master.
"If you encounter a suspect human that isn't listed, they will be brought back here for questioning. Decisions regarding their fate can be made when we have gathered more information." She added in answer to Alucard's last question.
"And I take it that the troops will be unaware of these arrangements?" asked Walter.
"Something like that, yes." Integra replied blandly. "There may be times that we need forces in more than once place, and we will always need soldiers because Hellsing has human enemies as well as inhuman ones."
She looked around at them, leaned back in her chair and asked calmly:
"Any other questions?"
Walter rose from his seat and gave her one of his wicked half smiles as he reached the door.
"I think I need to go visit the glove-maker."
He vanished into the hallway, planning and scheming all the way to the kitchen where he started to prepare the evening tea.
Seras was still thinking of something to say when her unexpectedly her master turned to her and said:
"Don't you have somewhere to be tonight?"
She gave him a blank look until he sighed loudly and used their connection to jolt her memory of promising to meet Josh if she wasn't too late.
"Oh...yes," she blushed. "Good evening Sir Integra, Master."
She fled the in the same direction as Walter, slamming the door behind her in her haste. Integra watched her go and then reached into her pocket for her cigar case, wondering how the hell she had managed to go for so long without one. Snipping off the end, she reached into her other pocket for her lighter only to find it missing. Remembering that she had hurled it Alucard's head, she turned to start looking for it when it flickered into life before her eyes.
After letting Alucard light her cigar, she leaned back in the chair with her eyes closed and puffed with obvious enjoyment. He took the opportunity to study his master's face and was still looking when her eyes opened and she looked right back at him.
No words were exchanged, but both of them could feel a new strand being woven into their unique bond – a strand of trust.