Had it been an hour or only five minutes? To Seras, at least, time seemed to pass much slower in the sub-levels of the basement, which had gone far deeper beneath the mansion than she ever thought possible. The polished interior decorated with expensive furniture and art quickly transformed into something she couldn't even recognize as the manor. Wallpapered walls promptly turned to a deep gray stone that was cool to the touch and covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. The smell of mold hung heavily in the air, making her stomach sick. It was far creepier than she could have ever expected.
As she traveled further down the halls, she could hear a faint conversation, but the walls seemingly absorbed the words and made it nearly impossible to determine what was being said. Seras clutched the medical blood bag and held it close to her chest, straining her ears to listen as she approached. Suddenly, the silence was pierced by a high-pitched screech.
A calm voice echoed, "You're testing my patience." A crisp suit jacket hung loosely against the back of a chair, which sat only a few feet away from a heavy iron door, and the familiar smell of cigar smoke punctuated the air. An unfamiliar symbol had been drawn in chalk encompassed it. However, she could have sworn she'd seen it somewhere before.
Seras peered from behind the open door. There stood the rigid form of Sir Integra, a cigar hanging loosely from her lips; at her feet was a withered, gray mass wriggling in agony. There was a moment's hesitation before quiet chuckling erupted from the mass.
"Ya know, it's funny," he spoke, a withering, shaky quality to his voice that she hadn't expected. "I couldn't give a shit about who paid us to fuck y'all up."
Jan sat upright, a far cry from the loud, boisterous man she had seen tearing through Hellsing's armed forces a month ago. The version of him was just pathetic. His features were gray and sunken; it appeared as though Sir Integra were speaking to a corpse rather than interrogating a living man.
"Then tell me who hired you." She glared down at him, brandishing what Seras could only assume was a stick or paddle.
He laughed again, a fanged smirk weakly climbing up his face. "Fuck y-!" He let out a gagged yelp as Integra laid her foot directly into his windpipe before slumping over and spitting up a little blood, his features losing a bit more color.
"Er- Sir?" Integra whipped her head around, and her eyes softened at the sight of Seras. It was a softness she usually found comfort in but now seemed less endearing as she stood there covered in specks of blood.
"And good evening to you too, Miss Seras." She pointed at the bag. "I see Walter has told you about your new duties."
Seras paused for a moment. "Oh! Right! About that… Are you sure we need to-?"
"Yes," she affirmed, walking toward her and touching her shoulder. "I understand your hesitation, and you should know more than anyone that I'd rather be rid of this thing."
Seras nodded, hesitating before quietly answering, "I do."
After the Valentine Brothers' attack, they grew fond of each other and became close. They confided much into each other, much to her Master's annoyance. Despite her stoic front, Seras knew the carnage left behind by the ghouls, and having to put down the very men she had failed to protect left her feeling fragile and exhausted. Still, she always presented herself with a stony exterior to whatever remaining men there were.
"Then you should also know why it's still here." Integra squeezed her shoulder before retracting her hand. "But we still need information from it before. "I promise, once this thing has lost its use to us, we'll be rid of it. Its remains will be handed over to Sir Penwood for further study, and our hands will forever be cleaned of this monster. This won't last a month or two; you have my word."
Loud cackling filled the room.
"Well, ain't that sweet," Jan laughed, a small amount of life returning to him. "Talkin' like I ain't here; bondin' over the idea of donating my fucked up brain to charity or some shit. Ya know what?" He attempted standing, but his restraints forced him into an awkward hunch.
Integra shot him a hateful glare. "That's enough out of you."
"But it's fuckin' cute that you think you're gonna get shi- OH GODDAMMIT," Jan screeched as he tumbled forward, clutching his sides in pain. Integra had struck him hard in the side. Seras winced.
"I said that's enough out of you!"
–
Sir Integra leaned back in her chair with a groan and pinched the bridge of her nose. Their ground investigation was going far slower than she had expected. Their only lead, The Millennium, had led them to dead end after dead end; Walter had even mentioned the Millennium Falcon, which she had thought was promising for a moment until he clarified it was a prop for a silly space opera.
She'd been down in that dreary dungeon day after day, sometimes interrogating the freak and, other times, releasing all of her pent-up anger on him. She knew he had no loyalties– he had made that much clear, but the bastard refused to speak further. It almost seemed he enjoyed being an obstacle between Sir Integra and the information needed to take this investigation further.
A deep laughter erupted from the room, and the space darkened despite the light from the rising sun that had leaked through the window only seconds earlier. Alucard suddenly appeared before her, and an incredulous smirk plastered across his face.
"Are you troubled," he asked.
"Are you? You're up later than usual, Alucard."
"... So I am." He chuckled softly. "I hadn't assumed much of the weaker vampire, but it seems he's giving you more trouble than I imagined. Why are you keeping him?"
Integra hesitated, giving Alucard her usual stony glance. "For information, of course." She raised a brow as he began laughing once more.
"If you wanted information, you could have asked me, Sir Integra," he growled, amused at her answer. "As the head of Hellsing and my master, you're expected to know my full range of abilities. Surely, you haven't forgotten-"
Integra quickly interrupted, "I haven't forgotten about you're ability to 'drink' the memories of your opponents." She silently shuffled through a few papers on her desk, realizing she hadn't organized and cleaned in months. She had hoped Alucard would have been satisfied with that answer, not that she cared if he was, but she could feel his gaze on her. "It's a human emotion- I couldn't expect a monster like yourself to understand."
"I could try."
She sighed deeply and carefully contemplated her words for a moment. "That freak ate my men and turned them into ghouls. Men with their own lives and families gone in a matter of hours. The day we laid them to rest, a widow sobbed at my feet, begging to know why her husband was killed. She begged to see his face one last time, not knowing the horrors that took her husband's place in that casket."
"They… I need retribution."
Alucard remained silent for a moment, though his expression never changed. "You humans are so interesting."