DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hellsing or anything affiliated with it. If I did Walter would'nt haved died, boo!
A/N: WOW! Another chapter up already! I'm so glad I had already written this fic out in note form!
OK! I'm going to apologise now. Again, this chapter doesn't have ANY romance and very little humour, and I apologise for that. Originally this chapter was a lot shorter but I genuinly had fun writing it so forgive me. I Promise that after this chapter things start getting good!
On Her Majesty's Orders
Chapter 2
The silence was awkward, very awkward, as Seras Victoria sat in a small cushioned chair in Integra's office. It was a place of dread to her, a herald of mission assignments, her annoying master and of course her boss who she got the distinct impression wanted nothing more but to see her minced alive. Ok maybe not that but she was fairly sure that Integra at least disliked her.
Seras let out a little sigh as she stared around the room, which was still being illuminated by the wall mounted lights as dawn was yet to break. Their pale yellow glow brought warmth to the cool lilac wallpaper that covered the walls of the imposing office, there were display cases all around the edges of the room; they contained books, parchments, swords and all manner of things of an antique or occult nature. Not that Seras could really appreciate any of the fine collections, for she was frozen on her seat, bricking it.
"Where is Sir Integra anyway?" She asked herself. Walter had mysteriously caught up with Seras in the barracks not fifteen minutes ago to inform her that Integra required her. Could it have been something to do with yesterday? She gulped at the thought.
After hearing Seras's story on the 'spice rack incident' Sir Integra was none too pleased with Alucard for unnecessary, and very childish, destruction wrought upon Walter's kitchen. She then promptly assigned Alucard the tedious duty of assessing the men during field exercises for the next two weeks; needless to say profanities were exchanged and Alucared was pissed at her.
"What if he told Sir Integra that I'm still not drinking the blood? Oh god, the last time she threatened to come down on me like 'king kong landing on a kitten', what's she going to do this time!"
At that moment she heard the doors to the office creak open, it could only be Integra.
"Ohgodimsodeadholyshitsomebodysaveme!"
"You're on your own police girl" Was all that replied, with a deep taunting laugh.
"Police Girl?" Seras leapt out of her seat, damn Alucard distracting her. Integra was now standing in front of her, arms folded, cigar in mouth and her usual stern frown plastered across her face.
"Yes Sir?" Seras asked timidly.
"Can you please translate as to what 'Ohgodimsodeadholyshitsomebodysaveme!' was meant to mean?"
"What? What? She can read my mind!? Oh fan fuc-"
"I can hear that too, Police Girl!" She snarled.
"Ohmigosh! Sir, I am so, so sorry! I didn't know!" She pleaded.
"…It's alright Seras… you didn't know" Integra sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, Seras took that as her way of masking frustration. "Please, take a seat."
Seras did as she was told; Integra walked around her desk and sat herself down on her own leather office chair. She took a few last puffs from her cigar before stubbing it out on the crystal ash tray. There was a bit of an awkward moment where the two blondeS simply stared at each other, Integra's dark and calm blue eyes gazed at Seras's eyes which sort of screamed 'Help! I'm locked in a room with a blonde psycho who carries a gun!'.
Integra, despite her resolve, couldn't help but chuckled at the frightened vampire that sat before her. Seras cocked her head to the left, confused, why was Sir Integra laughing at her?
"Don't panic Seras, I haven't summoned you here to scold you." Integra said calmly as he pulled out a ring binder folder from one of her desks many drawers. This brought Seras so much relieve that she nearly fainted, but she was strong enough not to let her emotions show. Integra opened up the file and started thumbing through the pages, her eyes looking over her round spectacles to occasionally glance at Seras, who was watching her intently. Realising that this was probably making the poor girl even more nervous she decided to halt her perusing for a few moments and attack the problem head on.
"How have you been, Seras?"
"Um, Sir?"
"It's a simple enough question. How. Have. You. Been?"
"Um, uhhh…" Seras was fumbling for words, this was the last thing she expected Sir Integra to ask her. Where was the orders? The scolding? The occasional explosions of furious anger? "…Um… ok…I guess?" Ok that was bull, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Apparently Integra caught on too as her eyebrows were arched high into her forhead.
"Realllly?" She asked sarcasticly. "So I gather you'd rather not explain to me why your always hiding away in your room and not drinking you blood?"
"Oh! So master Alucard did tell you?" Traitorous, hateful man she thought to herself.
"No he didn't actually. You can spot a blood starved vampire from a mile away."
"I see." Seras bowed her head in shame; she knew she was useless to Integra in this state.
"Seras, you're usless to me in this state". See? "If you don't drink of your own free will I can easily have Alucard force feed you, and given his current mood with you I doubt it will be pleasant." Those words sent sickly shivers down Seras's spine, she'd do anything to avoid that, anything.
"However, I am not going to do that, if I don't have to. I'm not wholly cruel." Seras's head popped back up, she eyed Integra curiously. "Sir?"
Integra took off her spectacles, allowing a few blonde strands to dangle and dance in front of her eyes. Seras could have sworn she saw a flicker of care in those eyes, if only for a moment before dying away again into those deep blue orbs.
"I want to make you a proposition Seras." Integra said in a tone that made it sound far more like an order. "If you drink your blood, I will teach you more about this place, about us here at Hellsing. Would you like that?" Seras nodded at her eagerly, Alucard had pretty much told her nothing about Hellsing.
"Good, now take this." She tossed a blood pack over to Seras. "If you drink at least half of that now, in front of me, we shall continue this little meeting. If not I will send you back to the barracks for an extra two hours of training."
"Making life real easy for me aren't you sir."
"It's what I do, although I'm glad you're giving me a bit of sass instead of your usual frightened response." Seras felt her muscles relax a bit more and she was able to send Integra a weak smile. "Thank you Sir, I'll take that as a compliment."
"Good, now go on. Drink the blood."
Seras looked down at the plastic packet in her hand, as soon as her eyes locked on to the crimson liquid within Seras felt her body react. This was how it always started, her body ached and yearned for the blood but her head, that thick, stupid, stubborn brain of hers would have none of it and send her into mental lockdown. It was so aggravating for her, knowing that she was failing both her masters and herself at doing the one thing that came natural for a vampire. Her hand began to clench into a fist, her fingers threatening to burst through the thin plastic underneath.
"Here, give it to me for a moment." Integra was standing in in front of Seras, one of her slender hands extended. Seras passed her the pack with a huff, infuriated at her inability to drink; she was surprised when she caught a smile on Integra's lips, if only a little one. Integra walked back to her desk and produced a tall crystal glass. She pieced the packet and poured the blood into the glass; tossing the empty packet in the bin, Integra walked back over to the bemused vampire and handed her the glass. "Here, if you smell this it might change your mind." Seras sniffed the blood and was instantly hit with a sensation that could only be described as a combination of hunger and lust.
"This… this is your blood!?"
"Quite. One pint of pure, untainted virgin blood, from a Hellsing no less." Integra had that smile she always got when she knew she had somebody wrapped around her finger. "Now drink!"
Seras didn't need to be told twice, why would she? The smell had permeated every fibre of her being, she felt heat flush through her cheeks, tingling sensations sparked all over her body in waves as her eyes went from beautiful blue to deep crimson. Grabbing the glass firmly with both hands she started to chug the blood down, taking huge gulps of the delicious liquid, savouring the pure ecstasy that was crashing over her body. Little droplets of blood ran down her cheeks and dripped onto her heaving breasts, leaving little red streaks in their wake. Seras wished this moment would never stop, yes! For the first time in weeks she was drinking blood and actually enjoying it, this was perfect!
*CLICK*
"WHAT?"
Seras froze, still holding the glass up to her lips, and looked up at Integra with shattered horror. Her boss was standing there, a childish grin plastered on her face and a phone held firmly in her hand. "Did…did you just take a picture of me?"
"Taken and sent, police girl" Integra chuckled.
"To who?!" Seras squealed, forgetting for an instant who she was yelling at.
Elswhere in the grounds a shadowy figure was gloomily watching soldier after soldier run an assault course when there came a noise.
*BLEEP*
Alucard opened up his phone, saw the picture and then proceeded to curse the heavens.
"I sent it to Alucard." Integra finally replied, "My servant had foolishly bet that I could not persuade you to drink blood tonight." She sounded scarily like Alucard when she laughed like that. Then again Sir Integra laughing was a rare thing indeed. Seras simply looked at her with horror and disbelief.
Alucard could have sworn he felt the temperature drop a few degrees.
Integra had enjoyed her morning with Seras Victoria far more than she had anticipated; it was nearly 11am when Walter had returned to practically drag Seras back to her room for the day, and to be honest she was a little deflated to see her go. Gods she couldn't remember the last time she laughed like that, or behaved that childishly for that matter. Yes it had been a good day so far, and on top of it all Alucard had to spend another two weeks 'babysitting' (as he called it) the soldiers, as it was the price for losing their little wager. Things were looking good for today.
A small brass clock sat on the right hand edge of Integra's desk; it was a small and intricate example of beautiful craftsmanship, rays of light bounced of it as the polished brass reflected the morning sun. As the clock struck twelve o'clock it's little bell chimed to alert Sir Integra of the time. Walter would be arriving any minute now with one of his deliciously well prepared lunches, and after her long tutoring session with Seras Integra was surprisingly hungry.
The session had gone swimmingly, after Seras had recovered from the shock of seeing her master actually crack a joke they began in earnest. Integra had first explained to Seras that she could hear her thoughts because of the psychic link that the vampire had with her master, who in turn had a link to Integra, it was the blood contract that bound their psyches together. Then the pair practiced a bit of mind reading so that Seras could learn how to protect her thoughts from Integra, it didn't take long, to Integra's delight Seras was a fast learner.
They then quickly moved on to history and Integra explained the origins of Hellsing. She took quiet pleasure watching Seras stare at her, oogley eyed as if she were a five year old listening to a fairy tale. Integra told Seras in great detail about her ancestor, Abraham Van Hellsing, and his struggles to build up the organisation to what it is today, a proud and noble establishment. She briefly glossed over the subject of Alucard's capture and how the vampire was tamed; she did not linger on these subjects for too long because she knew the bitter resentment Alucard still held for his former captor and master, feeling he'd rather not see his fledgling educated on these facts just yet. Seras protested, of course, but Integra suggested that it would be best for the fledgling to ask her master on the facts herself rather than hear it from another party; secretly it was also because Integra, despite her good relationship with her servant, had not yet been made privy to all of the facts herself.
They then discussed her father's lengthily reign over Hellsing, his brother Arthur's betrayal and attempted murder of Integra, which lead to her discovery of Alucard in the dungeons that fateful day. Seras was a perfect student throughout the whole time, although she stirred very little Integra could sense that every scrap of information was being absorbed into the blonde vampire's mind.
After running her mouth dry of words Integra then allowed Seras to ask any questions. Some were very intelligent which made Integra a little proud of the woman; some were very silly which made her laugh, and one caught her completely off guard. The vampire has asked Integra how she was; the question had caught Integra off guard so she asked Seras to repeat the question.
"Well, um, you were kind enough to ask me how I was doing. So, um why not return the favour. Aside from Walter I never see you speak more than a few sentences to anyone else around here, even the soldiers." It was clear that Seras was unsure if this was an appropriate question to ask. On any other day Integra would have scowled at the person asking, but not this time, there was a genuine concern In Seras's eyes that betrayed her lingering human emotions.
"Do you think there is something to be concerned about, Police Girl?" She had asked in a more business like tone, talking about Seras was one thing but Integra took her own none too lightly.
"Well, I'm not sure if it's my heightened senses kicking in or if it's just female intuition…" Integra cocked a brow, "But you've got this aura of dread about you, more than normal that is, like something's gnawing at your mind." Impressive.
"You're senses do not betray you Seras, see what happens when you drink blood? It's only been two hours but you've already regained much of your strength." Integra half scolded, "Yes something is bothering me, but it is not your concern." She had not yet read the Queen's mysterious letter.
Not a few moments later Walter had arrived to beckon Seras back to her chambers. The vampire bade a friendly farewell to her master, who responded in kind, and then she was gone and Integra was alone with her thoughts
Snapping back to reality Integra cursed herself for daydreaming for so long. The timing however was pleasingly perfect as at that very moment Walter entered the room, silver tray in hand which no doubt held some wonderful delight for lunch. Integra felt her stomach grumble with anticipation and smiled at the butler as her approached.
"Good afternoon Sir Integra" He smiled, "Are you ready to take lunch?"
"Is Alucard a dick?"
"Quite. I'll take that as a yes." Walter liked to see it when Integra allowed her immaturity to slip through. He felt that his master had almost forgotten that she was only two years into her twenties. Walking over to Integra's desk Walter deposited the silver tray which carried a pot of tea, a teacup and a covered plate of food. He revealed it, to Integra's delight, as her favourite meal, pasta cabonara. Within moments she was merrily tucking into the meal with surprising speed that made the butler chuckle.
"I thought you could do with a bit of cheering up, I see you've yet to read the Queen's letter." He pointed to the envelope which was poking out from Integra's blazer pocket. Integra did not answer him for several moments, savouring her delicious meal before her nerves could stall her appetite. Eventually she gulped down a mouthful of creamy pasta to answer his question.
"No I haven't read it…" The last time she gave me a letter…
"Is there any particular reason why you're stalling on reading it?" Walter asked, trying to coax the response he knew was coming.
"You know the reason, Walter." She sighed, "Every time I receive one of these it's bad news, really bad news. The first time she wrote was to tell me that my father was dying of cancer, and the last time was when I was in hospital with pneumonia and Commander Davies had been killed, three years ago." She inwardly hated herself for being so cowardly, to be afraid of… of a fucking letter, a little bit of shredded tree folded up and wrinkled. Pathetic.
Walter's right eye gave a slight twitch before, in a most out of character move, he leaned in quickly and swiped the letter from Integra's pocket, causing Integra to choke on the pasta she'd resumed eating.
"Walter!" She exclaimed before falling silent under his rare, but still intimidating, glare.
"Forgive me, but your stubbornness sometimes gets the better of you." In an instant his frown had been replaced by his usual jovial expression, "No allow me to relieve you of this burden?" He motioned to the letter.
Integra sat there, pouting for a few moments before a whisper of a word escaped her lips
"…fine."
There was a quick tear, paper was deposited in a bin and Walter stood before his master, triumphantly holding out the letter before him. He gave his monocle a quick polish before setting to the task of reading the message, silently to himself in case it did indeed contain dire news. However within moments that fear had been diminished. Dire news? Oh how the mighty have fallen Integra.
The butler snickered from behind the letter, Integra could not see his face but the sound he made instilled even more fear in her heart that before. What the devil could Her Majesty have written to warrant that response? Oh god she's not trying to marry me to someone? I'm being set up on a blind date! BY THE QUEEN!
"WHO IS HE?" She screamed, absolutely startling poor Walter who nearly tore the letter in two.
"W-who is who?" He squeaked, frightened.
"Um, ehhh… nothing, ahem. Please continue, I was… jumping to stupid conclusions."
Unsure exactly of what Integra meant, Walter simply cast her an odd look before his face disappeared behind the letter again.
The silence was horrible, broken only by the occasional suppressed laugh on Walter's part. Integra couldn't stand it, she shoved a cigar in her mouth and lit it, puffing out billows of smoke furiously. Her puffing slowed to almost a complete stop when Walter had completed perusing the letter. His head appeared from above the paper with a grin, a big, cheeky, Alucard-like grin.
"Walter. Please tell me what's so funny?" She asked, trying to sound as serious as possible to mask her fear. The hell was in that letter, Walter has NEVER looked at me like that before. That look would even give Alucard a run for his money!
"Oh trust me, sir" He handed offered her the letter, grin widening "You will want to read this for yourself." Oh god! It IS a blind date?!
She snatched the letter from Walter and began to read furiously.
… She's ordering me to what?
… WHAT?
…oh… sweet lord…if that woman were here now I'd kiss her.
A/N: There you go. See? No romance and very little humour like I said. But I really wanted to get the build up to the main part of the fic just right and that required a bit of scene setting. I hope you at least weren't bored to death. I PROMISE that the chapters that follow will be a lot more lighter, funnier, interesting and full of fluff and love and all that kinda crap! :3 Hope youre enjoying it so far, feel free to R&R :D
P.S Trying to keep the characters from getting too OOC with this fic at the moment but that may change later.