Everything Burns

Chapter: 15

Pairing: R&H

Rating: PG

The door flung open and a tall, handsome young man with piercing blue eyes and light brown hair appeared. "What do you want?" he asked.

"To talk." Holly replied. "Please?"

"Forget it!" Benjamin said as he slammed the door in her face.

"Holly." Robert said softly. "Maybe he just needs a little time."

"He's had months!" she replied as she knocked on the bedroom door again. "Benjamin, open this door right now!" she demanded. "Benjamin thinks that since I'm a WSB agent that I know all the worlds secrets including the fact that you were alive."

"But you didn't."

"Try explaining that to him." she challenged. "He's eighteen and he knows it all. He's incredibly stubborn just like his Father."

"I see he's inherited one of my better qualities." Robert joked.

Holly smiled. "We'll talk about that later." she replied. "Benjamin? Benjamin Robert Durban you open this door right now!"

"Durban?" Robert question. "Why not Sutton?"

"Because it's the name that Barry gave him and I never bothered to change it." she told him. "Besides it's better for the boys to use Durban because the connection to me isn't picked up as easily."

"Benjamin, if you don't open this door within the next five seconds I'm going to bust it in." she threatened. "And we both know that I can."

Watching Holly in Mother mode only made him miss their time apart even more. If only he could have seen her with the children when they were little. He never thought of Holly as a soccer Mum before now.

The door to Benjamin's room came flying open, but he remained inside.

"Thank you." Holly replied as she stepped into the bedroom.

Benjamin walked over and sat back down at his desk. "I just didn't want you to break down the door." he told her. "Nice security by the way."

"Well." Holly sighed. "At least you're talking to me."

Robert stepped inside the room behind Holly. Everything was silent for several long, uncomfortable moments. Benjamin just looked at his parents. He had dreamt of this day for so long, he imagined it in his head, but now that it was a reality he didn't know what to do. He was so angry at them for lying to him.

Robert looked at his son intensely. Benjamin looked so much like him, the hair, the eyes and apparently the attitude and stubbornness. He was more than willing to bet that he had a lot of Holly in him as well. He certainly had her accent.

"Benjamin." Holly said softly. "I brought Robert along so that..."

"So that he could play Daddy?" Benjamin interjected. "Sorry, but I'm not interested. You've lied to me for far too long about extremely important things and yet you expect me to just forget about the past and run into your arms so that we can pretend to be a happy family? Well forget it! I don't need you, Mum and I sure as hell don't need him."

"You're being unreasonable." Holly replied. "You don't know the entire story."

"It doesn't matter!" he yelled. "It's too late now I'm all grown up and I'm not interested in your bullshit lies! If you want to play house then why don't you play with Alexander." he suggested. "Maybe the two of you can save Faison's spawn."

"That's enough!" Robert shouted as he moved Holly out of his way. "I'd like to have a few minutes with Benjamin." he said as he turned to face Holly.

She glanced at Benjamin a final time. "Take as much time as you need." she told him as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

"I may not have been around but I'll be damned if I'm going to stand here now and listen this!" Robert yelled. "Your Mother loves you and she would do anything to protect you. How can you disrespect the woman who gave you life? The woman that raised you?"

Benjamin sighed. "You don't know..."

"I do know!" Robert told him. "I know everything that's happened in the past fifteen years. You're running your mouth about something you know nothing about. You have every right to be angry at me for what I've done, but there's no reason to be mad at your Mum, she did nothing but protect you."

"She knew you were alive." he replied.

"No, she didn't." he corrected his son. "I don't work for the WSB. I work for another organization that kept me hidden for years. Even with your Mum's connections there was no way she could have found me or even knew I was alive."

Benjamin looked back and forth between his parents. "Why should I believe anything the two of you say?" he asked with tears in his eyes. "Why?"

"Because we're telling you the truth." Robert replied. "We've both made mistakes in the past but we're here now and even though we can't make up for the past we're more than willing to give things another shot." he said, the tears welling up in his eyes. "If I would have known about you nothing, not even my work, would have kept me away, Benjamin."

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

"I want you to give me a chance." he replied. "I'm about nineteen years too late and I realize that but I refuse to let another child of mine shut me out of their life."

"Robin." Benjamin concluded.

"Yes." he answered.

Benjamin thought back to spending summer vacations with Robin, his 'cousin'. What a beastly little snot she was. Perhaps she got it all from her Mother's side. "Well, I'm nothing like Robin." he assured his Father.

tbc...