LETTERS FROM HELLSING LX

Seras yelped in terror and dodged behind Dr. Levin who had entered the room with her, just in time to avoid the plasma bag Alucard threw at her head.  It hit the door frame with tremendous force and ruptured, spewing blood everywhere.

"But she burned me with..."  Protested Seras.

"I don't care if she hacks off your arm with pruning shears. Your duty, first and foremost, is to protect her physical well being even at the cost of your own miserable existence.   She is expensive and breakable and she is not, I repeat not ever to be hurled, tossed or bowled like a cricket ball at the bails!  Is that completely understood?"

"Yes master."  She she mumbled petulantly then squeaked and ducked back behind poor Dr. Levin, who was wiping gorey splatter off of his face and looking thoroughly confused, as a second plasma bag flew through the air.


"Now see here."  Sputtered Levin, as he peeled the bag's carcass from the front of his jacket.

"I suggest you step aside Dr."  Said Alucard reaching for another bag.  "Someone's attitude needs adjusting."

"Leave her alone, this is all your fault not hers!" I shouted.  Then it was my turn to squeak as a hand reached out and yanked me to one side just in time.  The plasma bag sailed past just inches from my right ear and hit the bulletin board with a sickening splat.

"Ms. Doyle, I believe we've had this discussion about your temper."  Said Walter as he deftly inserted me behind his back.  "Miss Victoria is more than capable of fighting her own battles.  The sooner she learns to do so, the fewer civilian casualties there will be all round."  He said gesturing towards Dr. Levin.

"Speaking of casualties Walter,"  Said Alucard.  "unless you wish to become one, I suggest you no longer be standing between me and my mouthy, insubordinate little creation."

Walter stared stonily at Alucard.

"Move Walter, I'm suppressing a rebellion here."

"We both know I can't do that Alucard."

"Can't or won't."

 "They are one in the same for me."

"Bit long in the tooth to play Sir Galahad aren't you old man?"

"Perhaps."

"You know better than to step between me and what is mine Walter."

"When in training, she is yours but in these rooms, in this house she is in my care.  I suggest you stand down."

"Do you now?  How, interesting.  And if I refuse?"

"Then we are at an impasse."

"Interesting."  Drawled Alucard.  His body language was absolutely relaxed  but there was a wicked, gleeful glint in his eye.  "However shall we break it?"

"I think perhaps...Stay where you are Ms. Doyle."  Said Walter, thwarting my attempts to step out from behind him.

"Please Walter, this isn't necessary."

"I believe it is."

"No, really.  This is getting out of hand."

"Quiet lab rat, the adults are talking."  Said Alucard.

"But..."

"Don't meddle in things that are not your concern."  He added, waiving off my protest with a casual gesture.  His eyes never left Walter's.  He smiled with insincere politeness.  "Now, where were we?"

"At an impasse as I recall."  Replied Walter in an equally calm and dispassionate tone as if they were simply discussing the weather.

 "Ah, yes."  Purred Alucard.  "I do so enjoy a good impasse Walter don't you?    When the possibility of civil discourse falls away and the only recourse left is the creative and strategic use of brute force.   To strip away at that false patina of the opponents humanity until there remains only the snarling ravenous beast.  That is where you separate the wolf,"  He said indicating himself.  "From the dog."  He flicked his fingers in Walter's direction.  "That,"  He said straightening up from the wall with an evil grin.  "is where you decide who is the alpha."

"That,"  Came a cool voice from the doorway.  "Would be me."  Sir Integra stepped into the lab, gingerly skirting the plasma splatter.  She surveyed the occupants of the room with a critical eye then continued.  "I am in charge.  I am the wolf, the alpha bitch and I am not...pleased."

She looked around the lab once more.  "Walter, I believe I instructed you to prepare the samples for Dr. Levin's arrival, has this been done?"

"No ma'am."  Said Walter.  "My apologies."

She sniffed disdainfully.  "Then perhaps you should do so now?"

"Ma'am"  Said Walter, stiffly turning on his heel and striding over to the lab table.

I opened my mouth but she flashed me a warning look that had me shutting it right back up again.

 "And you."  She said to Alucard.  "Why is it that I can not seem to leave you alone in a room with others for more than five minutes without some sort of carnage ensuing?"  She sighed.  "At least no one died this time."  She glanced at the blood spattered walls.  "Did they?"

"Alas no, master."

Her mouth twitched a bit but then she fixed him with her narrow glare.  "When I find out what happened here and I will find out what happened, I had better not hear that this was some sort of power play between you and Walter.  We have had this discussion more than once.  While you will always be treated with every courtesy do not forget your place.    I am the master, I say who is in charge.  The house is Walter's, the battlefield is yours.  I will not have my servants holding pissing contests on my rug.   You will learn to deal with it or I will do it for you.  Is that understood?"

"As you say.  You are, for now, the master.   I can not but obey."

She nodded briskly and turned back to me.  "Somehow Doyle,"  She said coldly.  "I just know this is your fault."

"Now just a minute here..."  I began but was interrupted by a small voice which said:

"No ma'am, it's mine."

Sir Integra turned to look at Seras.  "You said something Victoria?"

"Yes ma'am.  I said that it's my fault."

"What is your fault?"

"This."  Said Seras.  "All of this." She waived her arm around the room.  "If I hadn't of panicked when Corrine's tears burned me Walter would not have had to step in to protect her.  Everyone would have been less upset.  The master was right to be angry with me."

"No Seras, "  I cried.  "It's his fault, not yours.  It's him and his stupid games!"

"No Corrine."  Said Seras sadly.  "Don't you see?  He's right.  I am a vampire it doesn't matter the provocation, I can not afford to overreact and I must never raise my hand against a member of this house."  She looked down at her afore mentioned hands and said quietly.  "Especially you."

"But he."  I began but she raised a hand to stop me.

  "No Corrine."  She said firmly.  "There are no excuses.  You are my sister."  A wistful expression crossed her face followed by firm resolve.  "I have a sister and I will die to protect her."

Sir Integra raised an eyebrow.  "Die?"

"Well, again."  She said sheepishly running a hand through her hair.

"Aww, Seras,"  I said choking up a bit. "come here."  She rushed over to hug me then dangled me at arms length.

"You're not going to cry on me again are you?"  She asked suspiciously.

"No."  I snuffled.

Sir Integra gave me a very hopeful look.

"No."  I said with more conviction.

She shrugged.

Pounding steps sounded in the corridor moving toward the lab.  I could just make out Andrew's voice echoing off the walls.  "....won't tell a soul Miss Pringle I swear so call him off!  Please Miss Pringle I swaaaarr!!!"  Andrew had burst through the doorway running at full speed.  Unfortunatly, he had his head turned back towards his pursuit and did not see the mess all over the floor.  He slipped on a particularly gruesome puddle, fell on his behind and skidded to a halt right at Alucard's feet.

He shook his head a couple of times, reached up to brush his hair from his face and just then seemed to notice the blood covering his hand.  "Gah!"  He said.  Then, "Gah!" again even louder as Alucard reached down to lift him up by the front of his shirt.

Alucard sniffed then cocked his head.  "B negative."  He sighed.  "Not really one of my favourites.  Pity."  He winked at Andrew and grinned.

"Glick."  Replied Andrew.

"Alucard," Began Sir Integra but she was cut off by a skull splitting shriek.

Nurse Pringle stood in the doorway, hat askew, eyes round as dinner plates and mouth wide open in a scream.  And what a scream it was.  The noise emanating from her was both piercing and grating and very, very loud.  I am sure dogs across three counties were howling.

Which would explain why she probably didn't respond to Sir Integra's shouted.  "Shut it Pringle, your making our eyes bleed!"

Griffin, who must have been guarding the lab level this evening, charged through the door weapon drawn and blood in his eye.  He stopped short next to nurse Pringle, looked around with a puzzled frown, holstered his gun and clapped a hand over the banshee's mouth.

"Well done Griffin ." Drawled Sir Integra.  "Our eardrums owe you a debt of gratitude."

"Any time ma'am."  Said Griffin looking down at nurse Pringle and smirking.  He hissed slightly and pulled his hand from her mouth, then smiled and gently kissed the deep bite marks on his palm.

Nurse Pringle growled then humphed and began straightening out her hat.

Alucard chuckled and gently lowered Andrew to his feet.  "Ah,"  He said.  "Young love."

Andrew blanched and sank down onto a stool.

Griffin smiled lazily and idlely scratched  his cheek while glancing round the room again. He squinted at the bloody bulletin board and stiffened.  "Shi-ooot."  He swore softly.  "Zelig is going to go totally freakin mental when he sees this."

   

LETTERS FROM HELLSING LIX

I bent down to look into the eyepiece.

"Oh"  I said.  Then, more softly. "Oh."

I was looking at a slide quite similar to the first with the notable exception of a blurry area in the upper right hand corner as if someone had smudged the lens.  As I watched, the blurry section expanded and flowed out over the sample.  As it spread, it seemed to be coating those horrible "spinners" with a shiny, opalescent film.

Thus hindered, the spinning of the pathogens slowed, then stopped.  Their scythe-like protrusions shrinking back into their bodies as if attempting to escape from the coating, squeezing themselves smaller and smaller until they resembled tiny glass beads glinting in the bloodstream.

 The shredded white blood cells appeared to be healing themselves, gathering their tattered remnants together then surrounding and absorbing the now disarmed and tiny pathogens at a leisurely pace.  The few remaining red blood cells began to plump up and grow bigger turning a healthy bright red, shiny and full of life.  Soon not a single spinner, alive or dead, remained.

Words failed me so I settled on saying "Oh."  one last time, feeling a bit of a moron but my head was spinning with the implications of what I'd just seen. I gripped the the table with my free hand to steady  myself.   "I'm doing that?"  I asked pressing the hand still holding my iPod against my chest.  I looked up from the microscope and tapped the iPod against my chest nervously.  "My tears are doing that?"

Three heads nodded in unison.

A thrill of joy shot with terror ran through me.  My tears had done that?  I touched my cheek thoughtfully.

"But how?"  I asked with a bit of a tremor.

I should be over the moon happy right now but...  But I could speak telepathically to vampires.  I healed faster than I should.  When I sang, I made others feel my emotions not to mention tap into, even blow up, electronic equipment.  And now, when I cried, my tears burned vampire flesh, killed the deadly pathogens they mutated from their blood.  Cold, cruel, vampire blood.  Some of which ran through my veins.  What was I becoming?  What was Alucard turning me into?

Not dead.  Not undead.  Not necessarily human.

Alucard chortled smugly through my mind.  "That's right Angel."  He sent. "I may not be remaking you in my own image but I am remaking you."  Aloud he said.  "Love."

"What?"  Asked Sir Integra.

"Love."  He repeated.

"I don't understand."  She said.

"Of course not."  He smirked.  "We are, after all, talking about love."

 "Oh as if you possibly could."  

"Ah my dear master, that is where you are wrong.  I may be incapable of love but that does not mean I do not understand how to manipulate it.  I need not feel an emotion to wield its power in others.  And love, for humans anyway, is a very powerful emotion."

 "So she blubbers love all over people and this will cure a vampire bite?"  She sneered. 

"So cynical."  He tsked.  "Your own God used love to create the world yet you fail to believe that I could use love to de-construct a molecular fragment?  I am distressed by your lack of faith."     

She snorted.  "I doubt it.  Now tell me how does this love-fest work?"

He pretended to look hurt but complied.  "It's quite simple actually.  As you know, it is the initiation of blood lust, not the vampire's saliva itself,  that triggers the mutation.  The saliva acting more as a medium for storage and delivery.  My blood blood runs through the Angel's veins which means the potential trigger lies within her as well.  Just one of many gifts I have given her."  He smiled at my involuntary shiver and continued.  "It was a mere matter of altering her hormones and brain chemistry to activate the trigger during certain heightened emotional states but instead of mutating a pathogen she generates antigens and instead of saliva I used her tears." He spread his hands as if he has just explained he obvious.

"Those 'certain' emotional states being?"

"Love."

"Back to that are we?"

"Of course."

 "But why?  Wouldn't it be easier to have made negative emotions the trigger?  It would certainly be easier to generate the tears."

"No, tears of pain or self pity are just that, tears but tears born of love, these hold power.  Power that I can manipulate, power that I can use.  Besides,"  He said smiling smugly.  "What challenge is there in making sadness the trigger?  Pain and sorrow are all to easy.  I never do easy."

"Hmmm."  She said sceptically.  "I still don't see you voluntarily doing positive emotions, regardless of the challenge."

"He's not."  I said.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's part of the deal isn't it?  Part of the bargain that was made that night?"

"There may have been a few ground rules, yes."

"Ha!"

"But I gladly accepted the challenge.  Just think,"  He sent cutting off my triumph.  "How much sweeter it will be to crush your spirit using your own capacity to love against you and do not doubt me Angel, I will."

I narrowed my eyes but refused to look away.

"You say production of the antigen is triggered by heightened positive emotions?"  Asked Walter.

"Yes."  Confirmed Alucard.

This would explain the first instance this evening when Ms.  Doyle expressed her happiness over her gift earlier but..."

"Joy."  Corrected Alucard.

"I beg your pardon?"  Asked Walter.

"She was experiencing joy."

"Very well then, I understand then how the trigger might have activated when Ms. Doyle expressed joy but this would not explain why the antigens were still present in her tears after Ms. Victoria was injured and we had brought them both to the laboratory.   Do the antigens continue to be produced for a period even after the emotion has ceased?"

No, it is quite transient."

"Then how is it there were antigens still present in the samples that were taken after Miss Victoria's unfortunate reaction in the bedroom.  Surely Ms. Doyle was not experiencing any positive emotions after being hurled against a wall?"

"In fact she was.  He tears were not for herself but for the Police girl.  She was crying for Seras' pain."

"So her concern over Miss Victoria..."

"No, not concern."

"Compassion then."

"No, no!  Not 'compassion', empathy."

"Are the semantics so important then?"

"They are vital.  The difference between life and death."  Alucard turned to me shaking his head.  "Poor Walter, he just does not understand but how can he?  He is rarely happy and I doubt he has ever experienced joy. He is noble enough to understand compassion but hasn't the humanity to experience empathy.  No Angel, of the occupants of this room, I fear you alone are able to feel true joy or empathy because you alone have the capacity to love."

Sir Integra opened her mouth to object but Alucard held up a finger.  "Unselfishly."  She frowned and compressed her lips but said nothing.

"No dear master, do not frown.  I have handed you the key to your self imposed prison.  No more ghouls wearing the Hellsing badge.  No more fear of turning.  No more having to shoot your own men."  He locked gazes with her.  "We may be heartless you and I but we can rejoice in your triumph.  You faith in me has led to this."

 Her eyes blazed with an almost unholy ferver.

Walter frowned slightly but quickly smoothed it over.  "This is a major breakthrough."  He agreed.

"Even now,"  Said Alucard gesturing to me.  "The Angel is not certain whether to yell at me for calling you heartless or cry over Walter's never feeling joy."

Sir Integra looked over at me her eyes still glowing with that intense light.  "Cry."  She said emphatically.

I snorted derisively and sent a mental apology to Alucard for doubting his 'heartless' comment.

He chuckled quietly and said.  "I am occasionally truthful, when it suits my purpose."

"What is that supposed to mean?"  Asked Sir Integra as she continued to glower at me.  "And why isn't she crying?"

I crossed my arms and glowered right back.  "It means you need to work on your people skills."


Alucard grinned widely and I swear I saw Walter's mouth twitch slightly with amusement.

Sir Integra blinked once then said drily. "Not really part of my job description."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

She turned to Walter.  "Make her cry."

"Ma'am?"

She glance disgustedly at Alucard then added.  "But in a positive way."

Walter tilted his head and looked at me. "Perhaps,"  He said soberly. "a sad story involving a puppy?  Or, I could tune the radio to a country and western station."  


I pressed my hand to my mouth to hold the giggles in but several escaped out around my fingers.


"No!"  She shouted.  "We're going in the wrong direction."

That did it.  I burst out laughing stumbling back to collapse onto a lab stool.  I laughed so hard tears began leaking out of my eyes.

Relief flooded through me.  Who cared if Alucard's blood ran through my veins?  He, himself had said I was still capable of love.  As far as I was concerned that made me human enough, sod anyone who said otherwise. And if Alucard's blood gave me the ability to save others from the vampires curse, well that was a blessing, something to be grateful for not feared.   As the weight of this evening's events lifted from my shoulders, I felt the tears begin to flow in earnest, tracing a hot, stinging path down my cheeks.  I didn't try to stop them this time.  I just laughed and let them go.


"Ah ha!"  Cried Sir Integra triumphantly then she leapt forward to hold me down while Walter deftly employed several pipettes to catch the tears streaming down my face.

 I tried to protest but the situation was just so ridiculous and when Alucard shook his head and said "Humans!" in a disgusted voice it only made me laugh harder.  Even Sir Integra was grinning albeit in a very disturbing manner.


Finally, the lack of oxygen forced me to wind down.  Sir Integra released me at my gasped "Please." and I sat quietly hiccuping a bit as Walter sopped up the last of my tears.

"I must confess Ms. Doyle,"  He said, handing me a handkerchief to dry my cheeks.  "That while I have made many people cry over the years, this was quite the most novel."

I grinned weakly up at him then wobbled my glance over to Sir Integra.  She stood a couple of feet away watching Walter place the last of the pipettes into a plastic bin.  Her face once again an emotionless mask.  Well, so much for that.  Warm and fuzzy moments just do not last long around here.

As soon as Walter sealed the lid, she turned her blank stare on Alucard.  "Will these work?'

He looked up from a bag of plasma he had been idly toying with and said in a bored tone.  "They won't be as strong as the first samples but they should do for your initial testing."

"Hmmm."  She said drumming her fingers on the table top.  "We shall have to work on getting more."  She narrowed her eyes sizing up her project.  I squirmed a bit.  "Best keep her hydrated.  Walter please make sure she drinks plenty of water."

"Of course ma'am."  Said Walter who was already handing me a glass.

"Very good."  She said.  She pulled pulled out a cigar and glanced at the lab equipment then up at the digital clock on the bulletin board.  "Dr. Levin will be here shortly.  Prep the slides and have a demonstration set to go within fifteen minutes. I shall return in ten."

"Very good ma'am."  Said Walter.

She nodded the, placing the cigar in her mouth and pulling out a lighter, turned on her heel and exited the room. 

Walter looked pointedly at my still full glass.

I sighed resigned to my fate of a chronically full bladder.  I took a sip.  "I still don't see why you had to wait this long to tell us about this." I grumped at Alucard.  I rubbed the aching spot between my eyes then tossed the pills Walter pressed into my hand into my mouth and washed them down with more water. "Seras was hurt and Walter and I could been killed."

"Bah!"  Said Alucard disgustedly.  "Are you still blathering on about that?  I make you into a medical miracle and you sit there whining over my methodology?  You are a pig headed, ungrateful little worm.  I often why I  even bother with you."  He paused mid-sneer then said.  "You are right about one thing however...  You stupid, useless twit!  HOW DARE YOU THROW YOUR SISTER ACROSS THE ROOM LIKE THAT!!!"  He roared as Seras bounced into the lab.