Author's note: I do not own Trinity Blood or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge using list alpha. Theme 27: Slide.
Why Can't I?
Esther's words had sparked terror in Abel. It had taken a sheer force of will for him not to immediately run off to find Caterina, but part of him had understood that in order to help her, he needed to know what was going on. So he had waited until Esther could finish delivering her message before tearing off to find Caterina. He had easily been able to surmise that she was the main target of this scheme. The Contra Mundi had been trying to kill Caterina for years, and Abel wasn't about to let them succeed now. The others could take care of the Silent Noise.
Caterina was too important to risk losing. She was the best advocate for peace that they had, and even if there weren't political reasons for protecting her, Abel wouldn't have been able to leave her to face her fate on her own. Caterina was too important to him. She had been the one to give him a place in the world and something to hope for again. Abel honestly didn't know if he would have ever rejoined the rest of the world if it hadn't been for Caterina, and while he was still hurting over Noelle's death, he couldn't lose Caterina too.
He arrived in time to hear Archbishop d'Este threaten Caterina's life. That was enough for Abel to activate his nanomachines. His anger only grew when the illusion was dropped. He wouldn't lose Caterina to Isaak too. He could not lose anyone else to this man. He would not let him near Caterina. He wouldn't let anyone harm her. Abel might not be willing to delve to how deep his feelings for this woman ran, but his protective instincts where in full effect when it came to Caterina.
For once he let his fury overwhelm him and slid into a place where the fight was all he really was aware of. But even in his fury, Abel found that he was unable to kill the man. It was a promise he couldn't break. Even though this time the price for keeping that promise might be high. But the Silent Noise was stopped, and Abel couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. But this whole battle had cost him dearly. Isaak might be defeated for now, unconscious on the concrete floor, but Abel's vision was going dark, and he didn't know what was going to happen next.
Caterina was beside him when he woke. Her hand tightly holding his own. Abel let out a sigh of relief. They were both all right. Caterina looked like she had been crying which made Abel frown. But she smiled at him when she realized he was awake.
"Caterina? You're all right?" Abel squeezed her hand. "That punk didn't hurt you?"
She nodded. "I'm fine. You saved me again."
Then Caterina leaned in and kissed his forehead. "Thank you, Abel."
He smiled back at her. She didn't need to thank him for that, but Caterina would never believe that, so instead he just held her hand a little tighter. She was here with him and she was safe. That was all the thanks he needed.
"You're welcome."