Disclaimer: I claim no right upon Hellsing or any of its characters.
F R E E B I R D
( chapter two )
Walter was silent during the drive back to the Hellsing manor, he looked into the rearview mirror and watched Integral stare out of the window, deep in thought. The news Dr. Rose told her wasn't pleasing, but it did forewarn them of the future. All in all, it had been a productive trip and the results could have been much worse.
'We're home.'
Integral got out of the car without waiting for her butler to open the door for her.
'Are you hungry?' he asked. The sun was directly overhead.
'No,' she replied flatly, 'but I'll eat anyways.'
Integral was at her father's desk when Walter came into the office with her lunch. The young girl thanked him quietly, dismissing him, before nibbling on a sandwich and staring at the paperwork on her desk. Her thought were far away.
Several minutes later, Walter silently turned the knob of the door and peeked inside. Half of her food lay on the tray, and she had resorted to staring at the Hellsing grounds, thinking. She stood in the filtered light of the window; small specks of dust floated around her and settled onto her clothes. It seemed she had been there forever.
He closed the door without a sound. She noticed.
The following month nothing happened. Then the month after that. Then the one after that. Integral became more comfortable in her role as leader of Hellsing and soon she would have the organization running the way she saw fit, the place would be working under her own style of efficiency.
Walter took her to the doctor when she commanded it. They no longer went to Dr. Rose after the initial checkup; they now went to Dr. Trevalian, a family friend and one who didn't intimidate Integral with a cool smile on his face like the woman had.
'How are you doing, Sir Hellsing?' the doctor asked, sitting opposite her while Walter patiently waited on the side.
'Better, doctor,' she answered truthfully.
'Do you feel any problems yet? Have you had your period this month?'
'No. It's been four months since menarche.'
He nodded. 'I see.'
They talked about her work, about her stress level and what she could do to ease the tension in her body. The good doctor recommended a regular sleeping pattern and a change in diet, perhaps more nutrients for someone still growing. Integral agree with most of his suggestions, but refused the curfew.
'My work requires I stay up late, doctor.' Integral didn't delve into further explanation, but the physician understood her meaning. What the Hellsing organization represented was no secret to him; he had been Arthur Hellsing's physician as well.
'I still place the importance of adequate rest. We can start with the change in diet.'
'Understood,' Walter butted in, nodding towards both of them and crossing his arms across his body. 'We'll commence with the diet immediately.'
When the time was done, Integral stood up from her chair and smiled kindly at the doctor, thanking him. He smiled back, the crow's feet around his eyes crinkling a bit in happiness, and the girl shone just a little brighter.
Alucard didn't know where the next hospital was. Much, if not all of London had been destroyed through his doing and with his master in immediate pain he opened all his senses for a trace of the nearest human. What he saw would not please Integral.
'Does Britiain live?' she inquired. He shook his head, tightened his grip on her, and continued their flight through the dark city and away from the sun.
Integral closed her eyes and focused on her body. She breathed deeply, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. Her fingers kneaded her stomach gently and the clinching of her insides eased somewhat.
So few. So few people remained.
The vampire couldn't sense anyone left alive, not even a child. They were all torn limbs and charred skin as he sped through the rubble and sniffed for the scent of living blood. But what he could smell was Integral. She was bleeding, internally and externally. It wasn't her battle wounds that solely bothered him, but the soiled clothing between her pant legs as well. Master shouldn't have started her menstruation now, she was losing too much blood and the nutrients lost should have been reabsorbed into her body for strength.
He turned sharply to the right, whipping Integral's head to the side and colliding with his jacket in the process, as if she were lightheaded.
'What are you thinking about, Alucard?' she asked softly, her blue eyes watching his face carefully. Whether he knew it or not, his features had returned to those of Vlad Dracul, the war lord of centuries ago. Did he intend to make the change? What had caused it? It felt as if she were being held by a stranger.
'Don't talk, Integra,' he nudged without looking down at her, 'focus your strength towards yourself.'
And so she did.
Time slowed down and her heart beat quieted down to a murmur as she remained in his arms. The pain wasn't as sharp now, but the pressure of her vampire's embrace served to remind her of her untreated injuries, but that was dulling as well. The contractions between her legs continued with less intensity, and Integral was glad that of all the people to care for her, it was Alucard.
She struggled to keep her eyes open, surveying the blurred landscape of her homeland and registering the carnage that had ruined London. The further they delved into the city, the darker it became. Black fog and gray soot coated everything from the bodies on the ground to the toppled buildings. It was surreal to imagine that a few weeks ago; this place had been alive with people just like her.
How was England to repair itself?
Where was the Queen?
Although he did not physically look down at her, Alucard's other eyes watched his master. Even now, in his safekeeping, she refused to listen and sleep. He felt the pull of her thoughts swirling like a mist, wondering about the safety of her people, the order of the Queen, and her vampire's health, all in that order.
I told you to think about yourself, he reprimanded.
You told me to focus my strength, she replied, feeling close to fainting. And this is how I fight.
It was true. There was a certain peace and sorrow in her facial expression that he had not seen in months; nay, perhaps years. As if she knew what was to come and both feared and anticipated it.
'Do you see anything, Alucard?'
The vampire stretched out his tendrils a little more, inhaling the smells of the dead world around him.
'Yes, Master. I do.'
Tightening his hold, he submerged himself completely into the shadows and whisked them away from the conscious world. There in the black pit of his mind, Alucard reached out with one tendril for the remains of human life.
There were several white ribbons floating in the distance, calling for each other. The vampire's left arm dissolved into a tentacle and he flung towards the ribbons, wrapping them in his grip. Reforming the appendage back into his hand, Alucard pulled hard, dragging both Integral and himself straight to the ribbons before hauling them back up into the living world.
What did you do just now?
He answered her truthfully.
Now you know what it's like inside of me.
They materialized in a parking lot. It looked like it had been bombed (it probably was, Integral thought). Cars were overturned in the ditch, the cement was cracked and parts of it had sunken into the ground.
Alucard turned around and there it was: a hospital - St. Mary's Hospital.
'My god, look at it. The whole left wing's collapsed.'
'Sir, just fill out these forms before we can admit anyone,' a woman urged him, trying to catch up to his long strides as he pushed his way through the hospital and to the main foyer. There were more dead bodies lying around here than living ones; and the remaining humans struggled wearily by dragging their corpses away to prevent an outbreak.
'Don't be stupid, woman. I don't have time for this,' he bellowed. There was no crowd here, and she expected him to fill paperwork? He glared at her and the woman quailed under his red eyes, almost dropping the pen in her hand.
'A name – just a name then.'
He indicated towards the woman he was carrying, she had been silent during this exchange and now spoke.
'I'm Sir Integral Hellsing, under orders of Her Majesty. The war is over.'
'Sir – you, uh – you wait here.' The nurse stuttered before returning to the gurney and instructing her fellow colleagues on the woman's condition. She was in better condition than the other people they had seen, but the man who brought her in insisted that she be taken care of immediately. Or else.
It was a good thing too. The woman couldn't even stand up anymore and her blood pressure was dangerously low.
The strange man frightened her, his eyes were so wild and she was almost tempted to throw him out of the building after he yelled at one of the nurses. However, he had come with good intentions (Save her, he commanded the staff) and for that, she was grateful.
Alucard, Integral called out to him. She didn't want to be left alone.
I shall wait for you, Master, he answered her. I'll be near.
And Integral Hellsing was whisked away.
Through the window, Alucard saw the shimmer of pink in the sky. The sun – it had finally come. The vampire narrowed his eyes and put a hand across his brow, shielding him from the growing light. Curly hair brushed against the back of his gloves. Strange, it was supposed to be straight. Touching his face, Alucard was surprised to feel the beard around his chin.
I'm Vlad Dracul again.
The Undead King had survived another war. Dracula had finally won.
Alucard lowered his arms down to his sides. He was watching the sun rise. He hated the light, and yet, here he was, watching the world wake up from a deep coma.
And at that moment, a nurse adjusted the oxygen mark on Integral's face, making sure it was secure. Elsie, a nurse who had seen Alucard burst through the doors with his master in his arms, watched the young woman close her eyes before falling asleep.