Serving House Beneviento

10

"Donna! Angie! Please! I want to get back to work again on the garden and the greenhouse!" I pleaded with the stubborn ladies of the Beneviento manor. They shook their heads and I frowned. Donna crossed her arms and glared me down. "Donna, please!"

"The answer is no. It has only been a week since you came home. Give yourself a few more days and then I will happily let you go and do your projects." Her stern tone was something she almost never used. Almost. I groaned as she took me in her arms and held my gently. She placed a gentle kiss on top of my forehead. "Please? I just want to be positive that you're better." I huffed yet nodded.

"Alright," I relented.

"I know you are going stir crazy here, Caiden. I know that." Donna tried to sympathize. I slowly nodded. Her small smile grew as she watched me. "Would you like to watch a film or two? We haven't done that in a while and I have quite a few that you have not seen yet." I nodded. What else was I supposed to do? All the chores were done! I was a few days ahead! "Are you joining?" We turned to Angie and she shook her head.

"I have a gossip appointment," she admitted as she walked out of the room. Donna grabbed my hands moments later and pulled me toward the downstairs. I trailed behind her and into the film room. Donna picked out a DVD as I shut the lights off and sat down. She sat down close beside me as the film started.

As the film played, Donna played with the sleeves of my shirt. Her hand ran up and down my arm as she became captivated with the screen. I leaned against the couch as she laid her head on my lap and we watched. I could not concentrate for anything. I felt irritation stir deep inside as the film went on. My hands absentmindedly ran through her hair as my mind wandered. There was so much I wanted to do, to know, to be apart of. Not only was I wanting to do the projects again, but I also wanted to know when the next mission was. There was a new player on the field, and I wanted to take her on. I wanted that vengeance for my friends. Not only that, but she also posed a threat to Donna and Angie. That would never stand in my book.

"You look very deep in thought." Donna drew me out of my thoughts as I stared down at her. Her brow furrowed as she brought a hand up and stroked my cheek. "A penny for your thoughts?" I leaned into her touch.

"Just thinking," I mumbled.

"About?"

"I want to get back out and irradicate that Cathleen." Her hand stopped as the words growled out of me. She let it drop and it laid on my arm. Her hand gripped at my sleeve as a slight frown cracked on her face. "I don't know how to explain it. It was doable. If we were only on even ground, I could have taken her. I...god just the thought of her getting anywhere near the manor angers me so much. Just the thought of her getting near you or Angie upsets me to no end."

"I don't like the thought of you going back out there," Donna said just barely above a whisper. I looked down at her and her eye looked away from me. Discomfort fell across her face.

"What do you mean?"

"I...w-well..." She quieted down as she looked at me. "I thought you died, Caiden." My body turned rigid as she spoke. She drew herself up and sat on my lap. Her hands trailed across my shoulders and anchored against them. "You were so pale and no matter what I said, you didn't wake up." The discomfort turned into something akin to fear by the way her face scrunched up and eye squeezed shut. She shook on my lap and her head fell to my shoulder. "I had never felt so lost and afraid. If it weren't for Elena telling me you were alive, I would have stormed Moreau with an entire army. Whether I died or not, it would not have mattered. You weren't there. You were...you were...god I thought..." She shook her head against my shoulder. "I have never felt so enraged. When others left, killing them, and waiting for another person was not that hard. Yes it hurt, but it wasn't hard. Losing you...that was unbearable. Even if only it were a thought for a few seconds. I'm sorry if I seem more protective of you, but I don't think you understand the thin string that holds me together will snap the moment you ever decide to leave, or die from something I could have prevented." When her face came back into you, it was an expression that I never saw before. A cold stare and calm face stared back at me. "I never want that. I've lost enough people in my life to know that loosing you may be my breaking point." Shivers ran down my spine. The stare faded back into her usual warmth as she smiled, and her hand cupped my cheek. "I know you want to get back in the fight, but please let me protect you for a little while longer."