The next morning, all was quiet in Hellsing head quarters as Integra ate her breakfast. Walter stood by, ever vigilant and attentive to her needs, each party acting as if nothing at all had happened. She frowned as she sipped her tea, remembering the previous evening and wondering what had possessed the man to act in such a way. She had never known Walter to act on his emotions. Like her, he was normally in complete control. Yet his kiss had been quick and almost frightened, something completely unbefitting the butler. Silence was broken as she finished her tea and turned icy eyes in his direction.
"Walter..."
He bowed slightly as he addressed her, waiting for her beck and call.
"Yes Sir Hellsing?"
She took a deep breath as she spoke. In her mind, she was asking him a thousand questions.
"I'll take lunch in my office this after noon."
And though that was all she said, he could sense the uneasiness in her demeanor.
"Yes Sir."
He bowed again, and like his mistress, he too had a thousand thoughts running through his head. Neither of them spoke again for some time, until Walter's mind settled to a normal pace.
"What would you desire for lunch Sir?"
She thought about this and gave a smug grin.
"Anything you wish to prepare."
She knew this would confuse him and he was indeed at quite a loss as to how exactly he was supposed to answer this. He knew what she liked and disliked, but if she wasn't in the mood for a particular flavor that day, would he have to make a second lunch to appease her?
"Understood."
And this was all he was able to say as he wracked his brain to come up with something she'd likely approve of. Just as she knew it would, it turned his thoughts to something other than herself. She stood with a rare smile after she finished her breakfast and headed into the study as Walter headed off to the kitchen. This just might take him quite a bit more time to prepare. Passing a mirror he stopped for a short moment with a sigh. He hoped that she'd never figure out what he was going through at the moment. He was after all, much too old for her.
His age didn't bother him so much as the thought that he'd practically raised her himself. He was sure she'd never return his new feelings, so he began to work on suppressing them. It was useless to even humor himself with fantasies as that would only warp his view of her. He continued to the kitchen swiftly, and for the rest of the day, he succeeded in keeping her romantically out of his thoughts.

Quite the opposite of Walter, Integra couldn't quite focus wholly on anything. She kept going over a million times in her head as to why Walter may have kissed her, in what he assumed to be her sleep. She'd woken with the sound of his foot steps, having trained herself to wake upon hearing such things. There had never been any invasions of the house since the day she'd officially become the owner, but that day had changed her perspective on everything and every one.

At lunch, she thought again to make his tasks difficult, though for whatever reason unknown to herself, she couldn't bring herself to speak more than one or two words to the man. Again he stood by vigilantly awaiting her next order. She noted that he was much more composed than he had been before. She hoped that he couldn't see through her hard as glass exterior to see the inner turmoil he'd caused in her. Was there cause for alarm? Could he be trusted without Alucard? What were his motives? Why had he left so quickly? Had something else interrupted him? Was she in any danger of her trusted and beloved Walter? These and more were the questions flying around her mind as she ate her lunch. What had started this in the first place? She began to think back over the past few days and frowned as she realized what he'd meant when he said it wasn't her activities that worried him.

Two days previous

"Sir Integra? What do you desire for lunch today?"
She had been quite a bit distant that day, contemplating something the queen had said to her.
"Nothing today. I'm not hungry."
Walter had tried to protest, but she still refused food.

Later that evening, before dinner, Integra was up on a ladder in the study trying to find a book. When she reached for it however, she lost her footing and fell, cutting her arm on the last step. The fall alone winded her, and she cringed at the rather deep cut spilling quite a large amount of blood. Not something life threatening, but enough to give her a dizzy spell. Alucard was there immediately in concern. He helped her to bandage her arm, but before she could say anything about it, he had licked the wound clean several times before doing so. Walter had just entered the room out of breath, having run from all the way downstairs when he heard the loud thud of her hitting the floor the first time. She stood quickly, pulling away from the vampire, half afraid, and half angry for doing something like that without her permission. However, an empty stomach combined with blood loss and the shock of what her vampire servant had done, proved to be just a little too much to handle standing so quickly and before she knew what had happened, she opened her eyes to see Walter's near terrified face.
"Integra?"
it had been some years since he'd called her that, so she knew he must have been seriously worried if he had put aside formalities. That should have been the first clue that there was something more to Walter's intentions.

"Walter, what happened? How did I get here?"
She had found herself in her bed with the man sitting beside her, and Alucard waiting just outside the door. She distinctly remembered the glair her butler gave as Alucard answered her.
"You lost consciousness for a short time."
He was of course, calm as ever about the whole situation and Walter didn't seem to approve. As he spoke, the look on his face was a mix of scorn and fear.
"I brought you to your room after making sure you were alright."
He gave a pointed glance to Alucard who grinned before entering the room fully.
"Walter."
Integra spoke softly, feeling a little dizzy still.
"I'd like to speak to Alucard alone. Please bring me a cup of tea."
He grudgingly nodded and left.
"Yes sir."

Present day

She looked up at Walter again.
"Walter..."
She waited for him to address her before speaking.
"Yes Sir Hellsing?"
She gave him the same pointed glance he'd given Alucard that day.
"A few days ago, you made an error in judgment."
He gave her a confused look for a moment before remembering what she was speaking of.
"I apologize."
He bowed slightly but she wasn't satisfied.
"Further more, Alucard did nothing wrong. He simply startled me. However, if in the future he does something wrong, I will be the one to correct him, is that clear?"
He again nodded.
"Yes Sir Helling."
She pushed her empty plate aside and lifted her papers again.
"You may go. I desire fish tonight for dinner."
He took up the plate and bowed again before leaving. Once he was out of the room, she stood from her desk and went to the window. This was going to require much more thought. She just hoped she was over reacting.

After dinner Integra again went through the motions of getting ready for bed. This time she was particularly tired after trying so hard to concentrate on a single piece of paper, and went straight to bed without reading. A short time after she had fallen asleep, Walter again entered her room. The chimes of the clock matched his foot steps. He had duties to perform in her room before he went to bed himself, but she'd noticed them done before she fell asleep, so what was he doing back? He'd told himself, he was just checking on her. His mind had made up some disturbing sound to give him an excuse to do this.

A quick glance around the spacious chamber told him that indeed it was his imagination. He was a bit paranoid without Alucard to guard the house...or at least that was the lie he told himself to justify creating a noise that might indicate a reason for entering her room so late at night. When had he gotten so complicated? He started to leave but he caught a glimpse of her in the moonlight and couldn't take his eyes off her. He stared at her for the longest while, not breathing as his feet dragged him nearer her side. Before he could stop himself, he was sitting beside her. This time when he pressed his lips to hers, he stayed just a bit longer than before. But like before, he practically tripped in his need for a quick escape. What was wrong with him? He couldn't think rationally at the moment. He slid down the wall just outside the door and let his heart settle before going to his own room.

Inside the room, Intera was again staring at the ceiling in heavy thought. What in the world was going on? New questions had begun to form in her mind. She was scared, angry, and most of all, horribly confused. She loved Walter, but not in the way he seemed to love her. What was she to do? She resolved in her mind to confront him the next day.