Log: Complete

[dark-butler.livejournal.com]

When: January 2nd
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Walter Dornez dark_butler, Integral Hellsing steeldame, and Alucard thekingofpain
Summary: After Walter's judgement, Integral is determined to see him, despite his express desire not to. Alucard brings her to Walter's flat.
Log:

Integral had been waiting for a day, worried sick even with Walter's, Rayne's and Alucard's reassuring messages. Obviously she was concerned about his well being, even if he was a traitor, it was her betrayer. If someone were to punish him, was her and wouldn't enforce something as cruel as torture.

She had forgotten to smoke or lit a cigar anew, expecting Alucard's arrival. When he finally appeared, she grabbed his forearm and held him tightly. "We leave, now." His appearance and the circumstances were secondary.

Gaze shifted down, eyes glancing over the stark white of Integral's gloves against his red coat. Eyelids dropped and he looked up to her, form blurring. White on red no longer, white on white. The smallish girl figure adjusted her hat, "This way, Sir Hellsing."

And with that, they were on the way to Walter's building. Alucard extinguished their scent and aura, leading her to his door. Then put her finger to her lips, kicked the door in and made to pounce Walter to keep him in one place.

Walter sat, absorbed in the labyrinthine tangle of his thoughts. Alucard threatened Rayne. Rayne threatened Pyramid Head. Integral wanted to see him. He was a boy again. He couldn't kill Alucard. He'd go to Hell for nothing. Unless there was no Hell, no Heaven, no anything... no one would suffer then.

His nihilistic train of thought was interrupted by the door slamming open and the attack he'd been expecting since the cracks had first shown themselves after his death was upon him. Maybe he would have appeared sane if Alucard had not chosen that form. Maybe. Instead, his lips peeled back from his newly regrown teeth as he greeted the other vampire with a snarl while he threw himself out of his chair.

It wasn't the first time in her stay inside the City in which Integral had to deal with Alucard's feminine side, but it was never easy. She accepted his… oddities nonetheless and nodded to allow him - her- take charge while she stayed back in silence.

That proved to be a mistake. Alucard's lack of manners and intrusion shocked Integral. Was the element of surprise need to be this way? Was Walter that dangerous to be treated in that violent fashion. She entered, noticing the young looking butler was upset and furious.

"Alucard, this isn't necessary," she pointed out, narrowing her eyes. "Don't harm Walter more than he already is."

Alucard tilted her head, allowing black hair to spill over her shoulder in a rather lolita-esque fashion. Then smiled at Integral, "Yes, Master." And straightened, stopping the near pounce at Walter.

"Hello Angel. Feeling better, I see. Sir Hellsing wished to see you and you know she gets what she wishes for."

Alucard may have stopped, but Walter did not. Maybe he was in London. Maybe he was in the City. Maybe he was in a private Hell of his own making. Wherever he was, it was a battlefield. He dropped into a crouch, a tangle of wires suddenly spinning through the small room. The only indicator that he was aware of anything outside his rage was the fact that none of those wires went anywhere near Integral.

Integral did not fear for her life, even with Walter as traitor. She wasn't, however, foolish to not be aware of the danger. Remaining very still as the wires flew around the room, she shot Alucard a glare. The vampire certainly did not know how to handle his former partner, only enrage him.

"Walter," she addressed in an attempt to reason. "I wanted to see you, Walter. That is all. Alucard, leave us."

Alucard looked to Walter for a moment, caught in the wires and unmoving. With a tilt of his head, he blinked at his former partner in crime. He wanted to kill the other man, to drain him, to scar him, to shake him. To lick his wounds and know that Walter's blood meant he was really, truly sorry.

With a bow of his head, he looked back to Integral, still solemn and ever so well behaved ever since -that- day. "Yes, Sir Hellsing." Then faded to shadows and watched from the walls.

Walter glared at the walls, well aware that Alucard was still there. He could bring the building down around their heads. Maybe that would do it.
And maybe that would just cost countless innocent lives and he and Alucard would crawl from the wreckage and they could fight over the bodies. Integral's among them.

The last thought was the one that brought some light of sanity back to his eyes. A flick of his fingers and the nearly intangible lines of death were gone. Without a word he turned away from Integral and walked into the kitchen to retrieve some of the blood Shizune had so generously brought him.

Integral followed him wordlessly first and always keeping space between them. She also appreciated the need of distance and company without physical contact. She watched him as he retrieved his blood and waited. "Are you feeling better, Walter?" she asked, knowing that question was of generic interest but inquiring.

Walter poured the blood out into a glass and turned to face Integral, leaning against one of the counters in this kitchen that did not gather dust only because of his fastidiousness. She was taller than he. That felt wrong. Deeply wrong.

"I am healed," he finally answered, keeping his tone on the chill side of neutral. His cold demeanor hid the clamor in his mind of Leave, just leave, just leave me alone!

Integral was also uncomfortable with Walter's young appearance but did not show it. Had him as a young man was shocking and now a teenager. She felt like trying to reason with a child. Alucard and Seras offered her vast experience in that subject. A child angry with the world and with a huge guilt complex. "I heard about the silver coins," she started, her voice was gentler than usual. The issue was delicate. "They project a negative connotation about Judas, in my opinion. The coins were never important, just a price he took for the sake of his Master."

Walter's face, already closed, became as graven as a statue's. "Let's avoid the small talk, shall we? He broke my hands, pulled my fangs, cut my throat, eviscerated me, force fed me those thirty coins, hung me by my own wires, pierced my heart, and left me to bleed out like a slaughtered animal. Now we have covered the pleasantries. Are we done here?"

Integral remained unmoved by the details of the torture. "You are trying to push me away," she said, realizing suddenly what this all was about. Unconsciously, Walter refrained from hurting her. The episode earlier had proved that point. "Judas did not kill himself for his crime, but his guilt. When in reality, he had been the most faithful, the apostle who thought more about his Master's mission."

"Learning sympathy for the Iscariots?" Walter drained his glass and turned away to wash it. "We have nothing to discuss, Integral. Did our attempt at pleasantly taking tea not show you that?"

Integral wasn't dissuaded by his cutting comments. She was used to that type of aggressiveness and worse from her political rivals. "Oh yes, it was very enlightening. The focus of your violent behaviour is Alucard that was clear during that meeting and this one. Why?" She sought to know his reasons. Had Alucard hurt him in a way she had been hidden? It wasn't surprising. His entire existence was unknown to her from young age.

She didn't understand. He would do nothing to soften her stand toward him. She had to think him an utter traitor. She had to have what it took to give the orders she had/would. If that was her future, he would not change it.

He slammed his glass down on the counter, the fragile vessel shattering and sending shards skittering across the countertop. Part of him was aghast at himself, part of him told him to go farther, to rage. Instead, he marshaled his strength, forced himself to turn and look at her, eyes glowing with banked rage. "You want to know why." He took a step closer. "Because Hellsing is nothing. I have no need to have loyalty to nothing. I sold my soul for power and I don't give a damn how it affects you. Now you know. Now leave."

Integral did not move a muscle. She imagined that, if were these other circumstances where she could not reflex upon his words and behaviour, if she had not known the implications of the punishment, Walter's words would hurt her - wound her in a way she would wish to remove the pain from her life. However, his speech was met with nothing more than skepticism.

"If Hellsing is nothing," Integral said, spreading her arms. "You could have easily killed me. I am Hellsing. Go ahead, remove what is nothing from this world, Walter. Alucard shan't interfere. Crucify your former Master if you are truly Judas."

Walter's eyes narrowed, and for a moment, a fleeting instant, what flashed across his face was pure murder. For that moment, he could have done as Integral said. Then that tiny voice of reason that was quieter and quieter reminded him that she wouldn't stay dead.

He turned away and began to clean up the glass on his counter. "Get out. You aren't my master."

Integral sighed, reminding herself he had just been attacked and would be for the best she didn't press him yet. "Very well, Walter. But listen me carefully," she said while walking towards the exit of the kitchen. "Unless you solve your mental instability, you can't face the monster who defeated you. In your previous visit, when you did not have such issues, he was the one at the end of your wires." She recalled Walter slicing that creature during the first curses the City had graced them with. "Fare well, Angel of Death.

"Yes Angel, farewell," Girlycard looked solemn as he reappeared, clad in white with a fuzzy hat. "Shall we leave now, Master?" And followed her out, taking his normal form once the door had closed.

Walter watched them both leave, already knowing that Alucard had violated his bedroom while he and Integral had their little "chat." Once they were out the door, he went to see if the damage to his door was reparable. Damned vampire.