Alone No Longer

Stand By Your Man

Sabine had disappeared down the long hallway by the time Walter stumbled from the Captain's cell. Bracing his forearm against the wall, he closed his eyes while the soldier engaged the lock behind him.

"Scary bastard, inn' he?"

He turned his head to study the guard and recognized him as one of the men incapacitated during the Captain's initial assault. He had suffered a broken nose, if Walter remembered correctly.

Did he assume that a master vampire hunter would be afraid of one restrained werewolf?

Walter, The Angel of Death, who's single purpose in life was the extermination of the greatest Midian known to man.

"On your guard, Soldier."

"Yes Sir!"

The guard saluted as he pushed away from the wall to follow Sabine. It was better for the grunts of Hellsing to doubt his courage, than for the organization to question the real reason he was shaken to his core.

Sabine sensed Walter's sullen presence as she marched through Hellsing manor, but didn't stop to give him a piece of her mind. There was only one suitable target for her outrage, and it wasn't the hired help.

"Do you really think he put an end to the Major's life?"

Walter whispered the question when she paused to scent the air. She spared him a passing glance before spinning on her heels to continue her search. The smell of cigars and expensive cologne drew near.

"I cannot say for certain. I only know what I saw with my own two eyes. You haven't believed me before, so why would you now?"

During her interrogation, Sabine tried to explain what she remembered about the escape from Millennium. The machine oil smeared over Hans' mouth and chest. The scorching heat from his dog tags before she snapped the runes in half. She didn't understand anything about binding rituals or how closely tied Hans was to the Major's life.

No matter how many pictures Sir Hellsing had thrown in her face, none of the markings seemed familiar. It was all gibberish to her.

Walter remained silent as she stormed down the final corridor. So lost in his own thoughts, that he failed to recognize where she was headed until it was too late. He reached for her shoulder, but she turned and stuffed the bundled werewolf pup into his open arms.

Sabine winked. A feral grin spread across her face while he struggled to balance the unexpected weight of the infant.

"Hold him for me, please. I won't be but a moment."

A young woman seated beside the set of double doors snapped to attention when Sabine approached. She stepped around her tiny workstation and raised her arms in an attempt to block her path.

"I'm sorry Madam, but Sir Hellsing is in a very important meeting right now. You will have to wait until-"

Sabine narrowed her eyes and lengthened her stride. She was all too familiar with the timid set of the secretary's shoulders. Women like her passed through the cabaret a dime a dozen, but they never lasted long. They were weak. Easily broken, like Lydie... like Inge.

Her smile stretched to reveal her fangs as she pushed past the startled secretary.

"Out of the way, la petite fille. What I have to say to your boss will not take long."

(little girl)

Sabine slammed open the double doors with enough force to send them crashing against the opposite side of the wall.