Come What May

by WriterFreak001

This is my take on what happens after the mid-Season finale.

Title | Come What May

Fandom | Beauty and the Beast (CW)

Description | A one-shot detailing my post-midseason finale fantasy. Based on spoilers, this fanfiction will not happen within the show but it's nice to dream anyway. I hope you like it!

Rating| This fanfiction will be rated M for language, suggested themes and anything else I might throw in it. If anything, read at your own discretion.

POV | Third Person Omniscient

Disclaimer | While CW owns Beauty & the Beast, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.

Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

---

~Beauty & the Beast~

Come What May

Written by: Keiko Fujiwara

No matter how many towels he had pressed against his open-entry wound, the bleeding wouldn't stop flowing out of his body. He didn't have enough strength to overcome the injury on his own but he knew he couldn't risk seeing a doctor either. If anything, he blamed himself. Catherine gave him an opportunity to make things right—to let the police do their work and leave Reynolds be. However, something compelled him to revert back to the beast and aim for his throat! If only he knew what that something was, everything would make more sense. He didn't understand why he beasted out for the second time, but when he did, it was too late. She had shot him and he would never have the chance to make things right ever again.

Catherine would be forever lost to him.

He squeezed his blood out of the washcloth and pressed it against his abdomen. He wanted the pain to end. However, it wasn't the pain of his wound he was aching from. It was the pain of his heart. The second Catherine's bullet pierced his flesh, every single memory he had ever lost flashed before him. All of the missing pieces were finally found and for what?

There was no way Catherine would ever want to share her life with him ever again.

Suddenly, his door opened and he went full-alert. He didn't expect anyone to be coming to see him and knew he wouldn't be in top condition to defend himself if the FBI were the ones who pushed open his door. When he heard footsteps tap against the floor, he looked up and saw Tori staring at him.

When he looked at her, he felt betrayed. If Tori never entered his life, he would never have sided with her motives to kill Reynolds in the first place. He wanted to tell her that everything was her fault—that if she had kept her damn intentions to herself, he wouldn't have lost Catherine's heart. He wouldn't have lost his humanity. He wanted to think Tori was the reason for all of his troubles, but when it really came down to it, she wasn't. He knew she wasn't the reason he lashed out on Catherine's father. He wanted her to be, but she wasn't.

Hell, he wanted to blame Muirfield for all of his troubles, but they weren't at fault either. He was the one who joined the military. He was the one who volunteered for the experiments. He could have said no, but he didn't. For everything, he blamed himself.

"Oh my God!" he heard Tori exclaim as she rushed over to him. "What happened?!"

"It doesn't matter." He mumbled softly. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Perhaps he was better off dead—it would certainly make everyone's life easier.

"Damn straight it does!" Tori replied with rage, "Someone tried to kill you again!" Her eyes glowed a reddish gold as the smell of his blood filled her nostrils. "Don't worry, Vincent," Tori said as she started backing up from him, "I can trace your blood back to where you were shot. I'll figure out who had shot you and then I will kill him! Just stay here and get better!"

As she ran off, Vincent yelled, "Tori! Don—," but it was too late. She was gone. Vincent had to protect her! He had to protect Catherine! He didn't care if she had shot him but he would kill himself if he allowed her to die from his mistakes! Without a second to lose, he walked over to his phone as fast as he could and clumsily dialed JT's number.

As he waited for his best friend to answer his call, he slowly made his way over to his jacket. He needed to get over to Catherine's! He needed to protect her! As his fingers lifted his old dark green jacket off of its hanger, he remembered he needed a failsafe in case his strength, alone, would not be able to stop Tori from hurting Catherine.

"Hello?" he heard JT's voice echo through the phone's speaker as he clumsily searched for a gun or a tranquilizer gun. Things were falling onto the floor and breaking, but he didn't care. He needed to find something that would protect Catherine from Tori. "Hello?" his best friend spoke again.

"JT!" Vincent called out his best friend's name followed by an excruciating cough.

"Vincent? What's going on? What's wrong? You sound like hell."

And he felt like it too. Vincent started to lose his balance so he dropped the phone and grabbed onto the counter's hard surface for support. He winced as he reached down to pick up his phone, but the pain was too great and he collapsed against the floor. As he clutched his abdomen with one hand, he reached for his phone with the other and hissed in pain as he placed it against his ear. "Go…find Catherine…protect her…protect her from Tori…."

Before he could say anymore, his phone fell from his hand and his body went limp. He didn't have a lot of time left.

~Beauty & the Beast~

JT held his phone to his ear as he heard a lot of noises echoing from the other side of the line. "Vincent?" He called out his best friend's name as he heard a loud thud blast into his ear. As he nervously waited for Vincent to answer his phone, he could feel Tess's eyes burning holes into his back. They had decided to wait for Catherine and Gabe, and hopefully Vincent, at his place but no one has come back yet.

Suddenly, he heard Vincent's voice. It was faint but he could have sworn he heard him say something about finding Catherine and protecting her from Tori. "Vincent, what happened? Why do you want me to protect her from Tori?"

No answer.

"Vincent?"

Still, his best friend did not say anything. "Oh crap! Oh Crap! Oh Crap!" JT panicked as he paced a hole into his floor. "This isn't good!"

"What's wrong, JT?" Tess asked, causing him to look at her.

"I think…I think Cat's in danger…from Tori, but I don't think V is in very good shape either." The professor replied. "Oh God! What if something happened to him?! What if he's dying?!"

"Calm down, JT." Tess said as she placed her hand on the biochemist's shoulder. "We don't know that for sure. In any case, I'll go and find Cat and bring her to the houseboat. You go to Vincent and find out what's going on. I suggest you bring whatever medical equipment you have with you in case it is in fact something serious."

"Right." JT nodded as Tess raced out the door. Thinking of his best friend, he quickly assembled all of the medical equipment he could find—most of which belonged to Vincent from the good ole days—and crammed them into the back of his blue Hatchback. Whatever was going on, JT Forbes would be damned if he allowed Vincent to die on him. He has risked his ass for ten years by protecting the former soldier so there was no way Vincent was going to die on his watch. Not this time; not ever.

As fast as he could, he sped to Vincent's place and didn't care if he had gotten fifty red light tickets along the way. Nothing was going to stop him from saving Vincent. The second he arrived at the houseboat, he flew out of his car and raced to the front door before kicking it open. Quickly, he walked four or five steps into its interior and saw Vincent passed out on the floor with lots of blood pooling from his side. "N-n-n-no!" he yelled and ran to his best friend. He may not be a doctor but there were a few things he knew how to do from basic CPR lessons. He carefully twisted Vincent over until he was facing upward. His stomach churned at the amount of blood before him but he wouldn't let that get in his way from saving his best friend.

Quickly, he placed his ear in front of Vincent's mouth and sighed with relief—he was still breathing. The beast must be trying to keep Vincent alive for as long as possible. JT looked around for something—anything—to help him stop the bleeding but, aside from the multiple used towels Vincent had already used, there was nothing.

"Stay with me, buddy!" JT called out to him as he stumbled from Vincent's limp body towards the car. He grabbed everything his arms could carry and dropped them on the floor the moment he stepped back in the boat. He grabbed a clean towel and slipped it underneath his back as he pressed another one against his stomach. "Don't die on me, Vincent! Don't die on me!"

~Beauty & the Beast~

Catherine stared at the wall as tears slid down her nose and dropped onto the pillow underneath her head. It had been at least two hours since she shot Vincent and she hated herself for it. She knew she had to stop him from making the biggest mistake in his life, but she knew she didn't have to shoot him. She could have fired a warning shot, but she didn't. She shot him and now, he would never forgive her for it. Everything was her fault. Everything.

If she knew what her mother was up to all those years ago, she could have stopped Operation Muirfield from ever happening. If she didn't convince Vincent to take one of Gabe's damned pills, he would have been strong enough to avoid being captured by her father. He could have been strong enough to fight Gabe and win without error. Catherine didn't blame Vincent for lashing out on her father—anyone whose life was messed up relentlessly would have done it. Hell, she wanted to do it herself. She just didn't have the lack of morality to do so. However, she knew that if Vincent went through with killing Reynolds, he would be ruined. She didn't want that for him.

And now?

He might have been shot, but he was alive. Even if he would never see her again, he was alive. What more could she ask for?

Out of nowhere, three loud knocks sounding from her front door interrupted her thoughts. Not expecting anybody, she slowly slipped out of bed, slid her feet into her slippers and grabbed her bathrobe. As she walked towards her front door, she pulled her arms through its sleeves and cautiously turned the lock counterclockwise. She turned her silver knob and gradually opened her door to find Tess impatiently waiting for her.

"Damn," she muttered, "You look like hell."

And she felt like it too. "Tess, if you're here to yell at me, I really don't want to hear it right now." She was drained and she didn't think she would ever find light in her life ever again. She had shot the man she loved and, if anything, she had lost his love forever.

"Yell at you?" Tess raised her brow. "Why would I yell at you?" Before Catherine could answer, she walked into her apartment and pulled out her gun, "Tori hasn't been here, has she?"

"What? Why?" Catherine asked as her heart skipped a beat. Perhaps Tori found out it was her who shot Vincent! But would Vincent really let Tori go after her?! Would he?!

"I'll explain in the car. Get dressed, Cat. We're going on a little adventure." Tess replied as she hurriedly pushed her best friend into her bedroom. "Oh, and don't forget your gun and your credentials."

Tess must not know. Why would she know? As Tess gave her some privacy, she stared at her gun—the gun she used to shoot Vincent. Could she ever hold that gun in her hand again without feeling the pain in her heart? Without seeing the pained eyes of her lover as his world came crashing down before him? Could she ever be able to live in peace without thinking of Vincent for every second of every minute for the rest of her days?

"Are you dressed yet?" she heard Tess ask from the hallway. Catherine shook away her thoughts and threw off her pajamas before slipping into a new pair of clothes. She shoved her feet into her boots and flipped her hair from out of her jacket before clipping on her badge and mindlessly grabbing her gun. She placed it into her holster and prayed to God that she wouldn't have to use it again. She couldn't. Not after shooting Vincent.

"Where're we going?" Catherine asked as Tess practically pulled her out of her apartment.

"Less talking, more walking." She quickly replied and dragged Catherine to the stairs. "Elevators are too slow. Your feet work faster." They ran down the steps to the basement-level where Tess's car was waiting in the parking garage. "No sign of Tori." Tess said stoically as she and Catherine hopped into the squad car. Immediately, she locked the doors and the second their seatbelts were safely secured, Tess floored the gas and they raced out of the garage.

"Tess," Catherine said firmly as her best friend sped down the streets of New York City, "we're in the car; what's going on?"

"Vincent called JT. H—"

"He did?!" What did Vincent tell him? Would he think her a traitor too?! "Is h-he all right?"

"Just listen, I wasn't finished." Her best friend snapped coldly. "Anyway, Vincent called…his message was very…cryptic, but—"

"I don't want to hear it, Tess." Catherine shook her head in denial. "I know Vincent is angry with me and I'm sure he told JT what I had done..."

"Wait," Tess suddenly looked at her partner, "What did you do?"

"I shot him…I shot Vincent." Catherine confessed as Tess's eyes travelled back to the road.

"You shot Vincent?!"

"Yes, Tess! I shot him!" Catherine shouted as she reiterated herself. "I shot him because he was going to make the biggest mistake of his life! I shot him with my gun because I was desperate to stop him from killing my dad—from killing Reynolds! That's probably why he sent Tori after me—because he's too shocked to seek out revenge."

Out of nowhere, Tess pulled over to the side of the road and slammed on her brakes. "Please tell me you don't believe that, Cat."

"What? That he sent Tori after me?! Why not, Tess? You didn't see the hurt in his eyes! I ruined any chance I ever had with him the second I pulled that trigger. He probably called JT to tell him what I had done—and to never trust me again."

"Cat, are you listening to yourself?! You're hysterical!" Tess reprimanded.

"Am I?!" Catherine didn't know what to think anymore. "What would you have done, Tess?! Tell me! What would you have done!?" Tears were threatening to fall from Catherine's eyes but her resolve wouldn't allow it. She had to stay strong. She had to.

"First of all," Tess took in a deep breath and closed her eyes as she unbuckled her seatbelt and gave her best friend a much-needed hug. "I wouldn't be blaming myself for what had happened. Second, if I had to shoot my boyfriend for being an ass, he had it coming anyway. But that's beside the point. Cat, underneath that beastly exterior, it's hard to miss that Vincent is crazy for you. Sure, you have had a few rough spots here and there, but maybe he was trying to kill Reynolds in order to protect you."

"If he loved me, Tess, he wouldn't have tried to kill Reynolds. I gave him a warning and told him I wasn't afraid to shoot. He had calmed down, Tess; I could tell I was getting through to him! Then, suddenly, he just…he just flipped his switch and reached for my father's neck! That's when I shot him." Catherine's lip started to quiver, "Maybe…maybe it was just too good of a dream to think that Vincent would return to me. Maybe I was wrong to give him a second chance."

"Don't say that, Cat. Hell, I don't really like the guy, right now, but that doesn't mean he didn't deserve a second chance. Speaking of which," Tess suddenly remembered where she was supposed to take her partner. Without finishing her sentence, Tess quickly merged into traffic and turned on the car's siren.

"Tess, wh-where are we going?"

"Cat, I know you're not going to like me right now, but I'm taking you to Vincent's." Tess replied but didn't remove her eyes from the road. "You can bitch at me later, but just trust me okay?"

"I don't like this, Tess." Catherine said as she crossed her arms.

"I know." Tess nodded. "Oh, and for the record, Vincent didn't call JT to bitch about you. He called JT and told him to protect you from Tori, Catherine. If Vincent hated you, I don't think he would have gone through the trouble of calling JT while he was passing out from the bullet hole you gave him; no offense, you know?"

Catherine's eyes widened. He wanted to protect her? From Tori? "Wait," Catherine turned to look at her partner, "What do you mean by…passing out?"

~Beauty & the Beast~

JT panicked as he continued to press the towel against Vincent's frontal bullet wound. He didn't know how much longer the big guy had left in him. For the past twenty minutes, Vincent had managed to hang on by a thread. His breathing had certainly slowed down quite a bit but as long as he was still breathing, he had a chance for survival. "Come on, Vincent. You've pulled through tougher situations before. How could this be any different?"

JT remembered the first time Vincent returned from overseas. JT was freaked as hell but was super glad his friend was alive—that he hadn't died in action. He remembered how Vincent had always had his back throughout high school and through college. There were a lot of jerks in both schools but Vincent managed to keep those lowlifes away from him. He was bullied in throughout junior high but never told a soul about it. It wasn't until high school when the bullying became physical. The first time he came home with a dark shiner and a busted lip, Vincent found out about it and told him all would be all right when he went to school the next morning. Sure enough, the moment he stepped into the halls of his high school with Vincent Keller, the jerks who had been bullying poor JT for most of his social life finally backed off. Not to mention they all had nice-sized black eyes and busted lips too.

Ever since that moment, JT swore to himself that he would do whatever he could to help Vincent if he ever needed. Saving his life was no exception. He could have sworn he heard his buddy mutter Catherine's name. However, it was so faint; it could have been the wind playing mind tricks on his ears. As JT heard two feet running down the dock, Vincent suddenly lurched forward and opened his amber eyes. His fangs were surfacing too. "Woah there, V." JT said as he tried to push Vincent back down to his back. To his surprise, the beast submerged and Vincent fell backwards—his wound bleeding more than ever. "Dammit." JT muttered and turned when he heard Tess and Cat running into the houseboat.

"How is he?" Tess asked but before JT could answer her, Catherine rushed to Vincent's side.

"He's fading!" she cried out as Vincent's skin color became infinitely paler. "Do something!"

"I've tried everything!" JT exclaimed as he threw his hands up in defense. "He needs a doctor!"

Catherine shook her head violently, "No, if we take him to a hospital, someone might find out about his DNA. We can't have that." She placed his head on her lap as she started pressing her hands against his wound.

"Then what do you want us to do?! Call Gabe and ask him for his evil doctor friend to perform an emergency surgery on the very guy he was planning on dissecting half a year ago?!" JT was out of options.

"That's brilliant!" Tess exclaimed. "Gabe still owes Cat, in my opinion, for trying to kill Vincent last spring. The least he could do is spare a doctor! You two keep Vincent alive—I'll call the DA and tell him to get his ass as well as his friend's ass over here pronto." Tess stated as she walked out of the houseboat to place her call.

"Cat," JT said as he looked at his best friend's girlfriend—or ex-girlfriend—or it's a long story girlfriend—and gulped loudly. "There's a chance he migh—"

"No!" Catherine shook her head, "He's not going to die, JT! He can't!" It would kill her if the love of her life had died from the very bullet she pierced him with. "You hear that, Vincent!?" Catherine shifted her eyes from the professor to the dying man in her arms, "You can't die on me!"

~Beauty & the Beast~

A few hours later…

Eventually, Gabe and his friend, Dr. Anderson, showed up at the houseboat as the rest of the crew did all they could to keep Vincent alive. Upon Gabe's suggestion, Dr. Anderson called for a private ambulance to transport Vincent from the houseboat to the guild in fear of FBI agents showing up and liquidating everything leading to their ties with Muirfield.

Dr. Anderson worked diligently and with JT's aid, he managed to stop the bleeding and sew up Vincent's bullet wounds. As much as Catherine wanted to be with Vincent during his emergency surgery, she didn't know if it was the best thing for him. Gabe and Dr. Anderson thought her presence would cause stress if Vincent were to wake up during the surgery. However, Tess and JT thought otherwise. Once the surgery was done, Gabe, JT and the doctor carefully carried Vincent to his old bedroom, while Catherine and Tess remained at the bar.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and a very pissed Tori Windsor stepped inside. "You!" she growled at Catherine. "You shot him!"

"Make another move towards Cat and I'll shoot you." Tess warned the redheaded beast. "Cat did what she had to do to save him, Tori."

"Vincent was fine as he was!" Tori furrowed her eyebrows and bared her sharp teeth.

"You may have thought so, Tori, but you don't know him like I do." Catherine said as she took a step towards her. "Look, I feel horrible for shooting him and the last thing I need right now is another lecture. I was scared that I was going to lose him so I acted quickly."

"By shooting him!?" Tori was beyond pissed. She was ready for the kill.

Catherine saw the tranquilizer gun lying on top of the bar's counter so she strategically walked closer to Tori and threw her hands up in defense, "Tori, you don't want to do this. Think of your father—if Vincent hadn't killed him, he would have been thrown into jail like my father was."

"My father was a powerful man who embraced his beast. I was blind to that before but now I see the light. My father was right to have used his skills in order to rise in society. Vincent may have killed him but his death was very poetic—a beast killed by another beast. Besides, if my father didn't die, my inner beast might not have surfaced. I owe Vincent for helping me find my purpose again." Tori replied as her fangs disappeared. Much to Catherine and Tess's surprise, she smiled and swayed her hips as she walked towards them.

"Like it or not, but I'm going to stay until Vincent is sure to live. You can try and fight me all you want, but we all know who will win."

Tess rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease. You're making me gag."

Tori gave Catherine an evil look and whispered into her ear, "You're dead, Chandler. Just wait."

Before any of the women could say anything else, the guys started making their way downstairs. "You can leave now," JT told Gabe; unaware that Tori had made a grand entrance. "Thanks for your help but we can handle it from here."

"If you think I'm leaving…" Gabe started but stopped when he saw Tori standing between Catherine and Tess. "Tori—what are you doing here?"

"To exact justice." She replied bluntly. "But don't worry; I won't wreak havoc quite yet." She scrunched up her nose and smiled before directing her glare towards Catherine. However, the young cop didn't pay any attention to the redhead; she quickly ran up to Dr. Anderson.

"How is he!?"

"Tonight will be crucial for him. He currently has a fever of 102 and if it doesn't break by morning, he will most likely not survive the day. However, if his fever does break, he is certain to make it. Since Vincent is a delicate situation, it is important that there are no more than two people here. I suggest one should be with him when he wakes up. Blood loss is a serious matter and he could wake up having amnesia; he'll need someone who knows him well enough to reassure him of whom he is and where he is. I also suggest another person be downstairs in case the other person needs help. However, I recommend against having more than two people in this house while he is recovering. Too many people may cause too much stress."

"I'll be the one beside Vincent when he wakes up." Tori sneered, "Perhaps he'll heal faster if I touch him."

"NO!" JT, Tess, Gabe and Catherine yelled simultaneously.

"Tori, not to belittle you or anything," Gabe interjected, "but we don't know how Vincent would react to your presence. In past experience, it hasn't been very great results. The last thing he needs is his beast emerging—he needs rest."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." JT nodded and folded his arms across his chest. "So, you can go now."

"You don't tell me what to do." Tori's eyes started to glow.

"TORI!" Catherine yelled out of anger before the female beast spun around on her heels and bared her claws and fangs at the female cop. "You're pissing me off!" Without warning, Catherine grabbed the tranquilizing gun, aimed it at the she-devil and fired. Tori easily avoided it and growled at Catherine.

"You think you can trick me?!" Tori knocked the tranquilizer gun away from Catherine and grabbed her throat. "I should have killed you the moment I stepped in the door!"

"Too bad you won't get that chance." Catherine replied before a shot was fired. Instantly, Tori fell to the ground and she was knocked unconscious. Catherine nodded towards JT and muttered a 'thanks' as Gabe and Tess dragged her limp, sleeping body into the vault before locking it.

"No problem." JT nodded. "She was starting to piss me off too." When Tess and Gabe returned, Doctor Anderson reiterated his suggestion.

"Two of you, in addition to myself, need to leave so the patient can have some peace and quiet."

"Sounds good to me," Tess replied as she grabbed Gabe's arm. "We'll leave Vincent's recovery to you two. We'll check back in the morning." She smiled at Catherine and JT as she pulled Gabe out the door. The doctor bid farewell to the biochemist and the cop before following his friend out."

When the three disappeared from the door, Catherine looked up at JT. "You go and be with him when he wakes up. He's known you the longest, JT, so he'll probably remember you the easiest." She was hurt but she thought it would be best if she wasn't near Vincent at the moment.

"Shut up and get your ass up there, Cat. You know he's already lost his memory; if anything, he's remembered you more than he has remembered me. I'll be down here if you need anything but don't holler unless he's dead or he wakes up."

"A-are you sure?" Catherine didn't want to impose on JT and Vincent's best friend relationship.

"Go." He folded his arms with determination. "Besides, if he needs some mouth-to-mouth, I think he'd appreciate it more if it came from you rather than from me." The professor laughed but Catherine could tell he was just trying to lighten the mood. His laugh was empty, if anything.

"Okay." She nodded and ran up the stairs as if her life depended on it.

~Beauty & the Beast~

The moment Catherine reached Vincent's door, her heart stopped. What if this was a mistake? What if JT should have been the one to sit by his side and wait for him to wake up? After everything she had done, why would he want to see her? After all, she betrayed him.

Swallowing her insecurities, Catherine twisted the handle and pushed his door open. She took two steps, pivoted on her toes and closed the only barrier between his room and the rest of the home. As much as she wanted to lock it—to give her complete privacy—she knew it would be a bad idea in case things turned from bad to worse. And who knows? Maybe JT would need to come up every once in a while to do some blood sampling.

Slowly, she walked towards his bed and watched him as he fought his fever. His eyes were still closed and he was in pain. His breathing was harsh and quick; his head was turning from side to side as the rest of his body writhed in agony. Everything was painful to watch but she couldn't peel her eyes from him. She could have sworn she heard him mutter her name through his rough breaths, but she dismissed it. For why would he call out her name? Perhaps he was reciting the pains of his heart—the source of his true suffering.

Her nose burned as she approached his bed. She wanted to cry for him but she couldn't. Not yet. She needed to make sure he was going to live before shedding any more tears. She owed him that much.

She circled around the foot of his bed and advanced the left side of his King-sized bed. Oh how long it has been since she had shared his warmth on it. She missed him in every single way, and even if their love is doomed, she couldn't bear the thought of losing him. No one would love her like Vincent had. At least—no one would love her in the same way.

Catherine quietly knelt down beside the bed and bravely placed her hand on top of his. She gently squeezed his hand in her own and pressed her head against the cold, nearly-forgotten green sheets as she waited for her lost love to return to her. "Please," she muttered softly, knowing that if her Vincent was still inside, he would be able to hear her voice. "Please don't die."

Almost instantly, his body stopped moving so rapidly and his breathing slowed down—it was like her voice alone was easing his pain. She gazed at his bandage and then at his face—it was calmer than before. Catherine took this moment of serenity and crawled onto the bed. She knew she was risking her life by being so close to him but she needed him to stay alive. She would risk anything and everything to ensure the forever love of her life survives.

With her hand still squeezing Vincent's, she placed her other hand on his chest and leaned her head against his collarbone. His heartbeat was slow but it was steady. For that, she was grateful. But the question is: how long will his steady heart continue to keep him alive?

She promised herself she wouldn't cry but she could feel tears sliding down her nose and landing on Vincent's chest. She slammed her eyes shut and squeezed his hand a little harder. "Please," she pleaded, begging for him to at least open his eyes, "Please live on…for me." She knew it was a selfish request but she couldn't afford to lose him—he was her life. She knew they would never be together after what she did, but knowing that he would be alive was enough to feed her empty heart. "Please, Vincent," she whispered before placing a kiss against his cold skin, "don't die on me."

Almost instantly, she felt his fingers slip from her grip and slide around her shoulders with his arm holding her against him. Immediately, she lifted her head off of his chest and turned her head to find his weak eyes open. He was staring at her with love—not hate. Without any words spoken, he slowly brought his other hand to her face and brushed her tears away with his thumb. His touch was cold, but she didn't care.

He cupped the side of her face and she leaned into his hand, never removing her gaze from his. "I'm so sorry," she uttered softly as she turned her head slightly to kiss his palm.

"No," he shook his head wearily, "you're not to blame, Catherine. I am." His voice was quiet and weak but she didn't need him speak louder in order to know what he was saying. She heard every syllable.

"But I was the one who pulled the trigger—not you." she reminded him but he still shook his head after her reply.

"That may be so, Catherine," he responded, "but you weren't the one who put his anger before his heart." Before she could say anything, he decided to try and sit up. She helped him scoot backwards and lean his back against the backboard of his bed and nearly jumped away from him when he clutched his side in pain.

"A-are you okay?! I can get JT! He's downstairs!" Catherine exclaimed and started to leave for the door but Vincent grabbed her hand to stop her.

"I'm okay," he assured her. "I just didn't expect the wounds to still hurt as much as it did. But I'm okay." He slowly pulled her back to him, but she wasn't completely convinced. "You don't believe me."

"No, it's not that," she shook her head lightly and covered his hand with both of hers, "It's just…Vincent," she gently touched his bandage before she continued, "remember when you saved me from that explosion?" He nodded. "Well, you were hurt—your neck was cut, and your body didn't heal. I had to treat it in my apartment."

"I remember that." Vincent muttered, "But afterwards, before I killed Zhao, my wound was gone. I guess I never told you but I don't think my healing ability ever left me; I just think the process is slower."

"Then why haven't you healed from your bullet wounds yet?" Catherine asked as she took a step towards him and gazed at his patched-up side. "Wouldn't they have healed by now?"

"Healing occurs when you're white blood cells essentially cover a wound from the inside to block any bacteria from entering the body. However, when the body is bleeding at a fast rate because the injury is too great for the white blood cells to block, the body's life is in jeopardy. That's why doctors must stitch up large wounds—because blood is seeping out too fast for white blood cells to work their magic. However, you and I both know my body is a special case. If my injury was minor, I would have most definitely healed by now. However, because I lost so much blood, along with my white blood cells, I would guess that my body needs to recover the amount of blood I have lost before it can think about repairing any damage." Vincent replied stoically but Catherine almost had no idea what he was saying.

"I guess that makes sense," she replied. He noticed her confusion but decided to dismiss it. It wasn't as important as her presence. He was grateful, if anything, that she was beside him. She climbed back onto the bed and leaned her head against his shoulder as their fingers instantly folded together.

Before any words were said, the door flew open and JT rushed in. "Dude! I heard you screaming! Is everything okay!? Do you need anything?!"

"Water would be nice." Vincent replied, wondering if his best friend even noticed that he was actually conscious.

"Right! Got it! Oh and by the way, I'm glad you're alive. It would suck to have to have to exhume your casket in order to bury our carcass."

"Nice to see you too, JT!" Vincent rolled his eyes as his best friend left to get him some water.

"You should thank him, Vincent." Catherine whispered into his ear, "If not for him, you most likely would not be alive right now. He was the one who found you in your houseboat and did everything he could to keep you alive. You owe him your life."

"Indeed I do." He nodded as JT walked back in.

"Here you go." JT smiled and handed him a large cup of cold water. "But really, V, it's nice to see that you're still alive."

"Thanks man. For everything." Vincent shook JT's hand before taking the glass away from him. He gulped down its entire contents and placed the cup on the table beside him. "I owe you big time."

"That and all of the money building up on your tab." JT smirked. "But whoever pays attention to that stuff anyway?" He picked up the empty cup and started walking backwards. "Anyway, I'll leave you two alone. I'm sure you both have a lot of talking to do. I'll be downstairs if you need me."

The professor turned, walked out of Vincent's bedroom and closed his door. Vincent turned his attention back to Catherine and said, "I'm sorry, Catherine. For everything. I lost sight of who I was and it damaged our relationship in every single way. For the longest time, I was confused of whom I was—I had bits and pieces of my old life with you and I was living a lie in my new life as Reynolds's assassin. I thought I trusted him and that's why I had kept you at a distance. I wanted to trust you, Catherine, but—"

"But you couldn't remember me…at least not completely." Catherine finished for him.

"Yeah…" he nodded, but then quickly added, "But that's different now."

"What do you mean?" she raised her eyebrow as she looked at him with confusion.

"I remember, Catherine. I remember everything."

"E-everything?" she was taken back with surprise. "A-are you positive?"

Vincent nodded. "Yes…I remember the last time I had laid on this bed, I was worried about our relationship. That morning, we had a pregnancy scare and you told me that you were willing to be with me even if we couldn't have any children in our relationship. You told me you didn't need to get married to be happy—but I could sense your disappointment when you realized just how much you would be giving up for us. However, when I told JT about my insecurities, he reassured me that if you wanted out of our relationship, you would have left already. He thought I was way in over my head and believed that if we ever did conceive, we would be able to figure it out—like we've been able to figure everything else out."

Catherine hadn't known about this little memory before. However, she had never told the new Vincent about their pregnancy scare and knew that JT would never have mentioned it to him because it was such a personal matter. So could he really have remembered everything? "What…," she started as she twisted her body to look at him and cup his face, "What…what were the words that you said to me in the cemetery the first time we visited my mother's grave? You know, after you took that serum."

Vincent clamped his hand over hers and smiled, "I told you that if I had the choice to change everything, I wouldn't. I didn't want to choose a life where you weren't in my life."

Catherine could feel more tears fall from her eyes. "You remembered…" she smiled as if a huge burden had been lifted from her chest. All thoughts of letting him go disappeared the moment he pulled her into his strong arms and stared into her tear-filled eyes. She leaned her head against his chest and started crying against him. Everything she had been holding back had been released, and there was nothing she could do to stop her sobs. "I have missed you so much," she mumbled into his wet skin. He rubbed his hands up and down her back to console her as his heart ached from the pain she was feeling.

"I know," he whispered in response, "I missed you too."

She slowly pulled away from him and looked deeply into his sorrow-filled eyes. She didn't need to hear him tell her that he loved her. She could see every loving feeling he had for her embedded within his eyes. Her Vincent was back—that's all that mattered to her.

She combed her fingers through his hair and shivered when his eyes glowed yellow at her touch. He desired her—longed for her. Without thinking, he slid his arms underneath her shirt and pressed his hands against her back. Oh how long she had longed for his hands to caress her with love instead of lust. Catherine felt her shirt rising up but she didn't care. She was with the man she loved.

As he slowly exposed her abdomen, he could feel her soft flesh melting against his own. Her lower belly was gently pressed against his wounds and yet he didn't feel any pain. It was almost like her touch, alone, had erased his physical agony. Vincent's hands glided along Catherine's back and slid over her shoulders, causing her shirt to hang from her neck. She gave him a slight nod and he slipped the material off of her head and tossed it to the floor.

After she felt his fingers unhook her bra and slowly pull it off of her body, she blushed as he stared at her bare chest. It's been a long time since the eyes of her lover memorized her body. He cupped her shoulders and then trailed his large hands towards her neck until he was cupping her face. "I am so in love with you, Catherine Chandler." he whispered softly as if his words were for her ears only. As his hands traveled from her face to the small of her back, she cupped his own face and leaned her forehead against his.

"I love you too." She muttered as she felt his nose caress her own. As her fingers tangled into his mossy hair, she took a chance and pressed her lips against his. As the lovers kissed away their fears and their insecurities, neither Beauty nor Beast noticed the physical change erupting within Vincent's body. His skin was warmer, his strength had returned. He no longer looked like death nor did he feel like death. As his strength was restored, he could feel his body aching for her touch—her love.

Catherine pulled her lips from him and rubbed her nose against his. "You have no idea how long I've wanted this."

"I think I have an idea…" he chuckled. To his surprise, he didn't double over in pain like he thought he would. "Do you mind," he started before giving her a quick kiss, "sliding over so I can check my wound?"

"Oh, sure!" she exclaimed. She couldn't believe how careless she was! She had forgotten about his injury and was just about to…she shook her thoughts away and slid off of him. She lay beside him—on the side that didn't have an injury—and leaned against his breastplate. She watched as he peeled off the front bandage and gasped. "Vincent, you're stitches are gone!" She reached over to touch his newly formed scar and then looked at him. "I thought you lost too much blood to have healed so quickly."

"So did I." he replied. He certainly was baffled. How could he have healed so quickly? Could it have been Catherine? Could she have something to do with his rather quick recovery? "Check my back." He said as he turned over with his supposedly wounded side facing Catherine. She slowly removed his bandage off of his back and placed her fingers against his flesh.

"It's gone too." She replied and added, "All that is left is a scar."

Overjoyed that he was completely healed, Vincent turned back over and trapped his Catherine within his arms. She stared at him and could see the loving desire plastered on his face. He pressed his body against hers and cupped her face. "Catherine," he muttered and she could feel his warm breath brushing against her chin. She noticed how his pupils instantly dilated at the utterance of her name.

"Say no more." She whispered to him as her arms circled around his neck and pulled him in for a very deep and prolonging kiss. She knew they had a lot to talk about but in this moment, all she wanted to do was love the man she had lost the day her father took him away from her.

~Beauty & the Beast~

As disturbed as JT was to the sound coming from Vincent's room, he couldn't help but grin. Things were slowly going back to the way they were and maybe, soon, he can share his place with his best friend again. He looked at his watch and noted the time—Tori should be waking up in a few. He put together a sandwich and poured water into a glass before slowly opening the vault's door. As a safety precaution, he had built a failsafe within the vault when Vincent was still missing. Since he didn't know what state his best friend was going to be in, he had placed a secondary cell door inside the vault so he could still open the steel door if need be.

A few moments after Tori was placed inside the vault, JT had pressed his handy-dandy door switch which releases a secondary door from the ceiling to keep the beast from ripping his head off if she ever came to. The cage-door was installed so JT could bring food into the vault, place it safely inside, and run the hell out before closing the vault and opening the secondary door.

He walked in and placed his sandwich and glass of water on the floor. He started to leave but he noticed she was already awake. "Well, good morning." He tried to play nice.

"When I get out of this cage, you won't be having a very good morning." She replied darkly. "And when Vincent wakes up, he'll realize what's goi—" She stopped when she saw him shaking his head.

"Hate to break it to ya but V is already awake," JT grinned. "You hear what's going on up there?" Tori glared at him as she focused on the noises coming from Vincent's bedroom. Her eyes widened in horror so JT added, "Yeah, I thought you wouldn't like those sounds but face it, Tori, you can hear V's rejection pretty loud and clear. It's obvious he never had feelings for you to begin with."

Tori grabbed ahold of the bars and tried to shake them lose.

"You can try to break that door down as much as you want but it won't falter. Once in place, it is locked down pretty tightly. Only I can release it from the outside of this beast box. If you're hungry, I brought some food. Don't even try to tell me you can't eat with the door down. Believe me, for a scrawny thing like you, your arms will be able to fit through the bars to grab the sandwich and the water." JT smirked as he left a pissed off Tori inside the vault before closing its door and locking it again.

"Now, the question remains: what in the hell are we going to do with her?" he asked himself as he headed for the couch to watch some TV. It was late at night and he did plan on going to bed soon but he wanted to make sure the she-devil didn't try anything rash. He owed it to his best friend to not allow anything or anyone interrupt the events that are going on upstairs.

~Beauty & the Beast~

"I missed this…" Catherine muttered as she interlocked her fingers with Vincent's. It was early in the morning and she and her lover had made most of the long, dark night. She was lying beside him with one arm resting on his chest with her fingers laced with his while her other arm was trapped underneath his broad shoulders. She kissed his shoulder and looked up at him as she waited for him to respond.

He leaned to kiss her before brushing away her sweaty hair from her face. "Me too."

As much as he wanted this fantasy to continue, there were some serious things they needed to discuss, and all had one denominating factor—Tori. "Catherine," Vincent said as he sat up and pulled her along with him. He pulled her into his arms where her back was facing him and hugged her tightly. "I don't know if I had made myself clear earlier but…I want to apologize for you know…kissing Tori."

Catherine turned her head and looked at him. "After what we just did," her mouth was forming a smirk, "you still think I'm worried about that?"

"No…I just wanted you to know that I wasn't kissing her because of that strange…attraction she had over me."

"What did you kiss her for, then?" Catherine frowned and Vincent could understand her confusion.

"Earlier that night, after I…beasted out in front of your dad, he threatened to arrest you if I didn't swear to him that I would let you go. At first I didn't want to leave you, but I also didn't want you to live your life behind bars for being involved in my life and covering up my ass after all of those times." He laced his fingers with hers and started rocking her back and forth. She leaned her head against his shoulder and waited for him to continue.

"Anyway, I sensed your presence as I was talking to Tori so I pretended to give in to her compulsion so I could make you jealous. I know that was a dick move, but—"

"Hey," Catherine cut him off, causing him to turn his head and look at her. "I'm over it, Vincent. Yes, I agree, it was a dumb move on your part and I want you to know that you had broken my heart, but that feeling paled in comparison to the pain I felt after I had shot you. You have no idea how broken I felt because I thought I had lost you forever."

Vincent kissed her shoulder and then her cheek before muttering, "I promise. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know." She smiled and leaned in to give him a short but loving kiss. "I know."

Vincent noticed the sun peaking threw his window and smiled when he realized he had spent the entire night making love to his beauty. "Come on," he said as he picked her up into his arms and walked away from the bed.

"Where are we going?" Catherine asked but she had a good idea where he was taking her.

"The bathroom." He smirked and kicked the door open while carrying her to the large shower space at the back of his bathroom. "I assume the gang will be coming back soon so I think we should clean off and rid of any evidence that could allude to anything."

"Much agreed." Catherine replied as he placed her on her feet and gently tugged her into the shower with him.

~Beauty & the Beast~

"So, did Vincent ever wake up last night?" Tess asked as she and Gabe walked into the guild.

"Yeah…about an hour or so after you guys left." JT replied as he handed Tess a beer. "Want one, Gabe?"

"Nah, I'm good." Gabe replied as he waved his hand to dismiss the drink. "So, since you're in one piece, I can assume Vincent didn't have a freakisode last night."

"You could say that…" JT smirked but didn't elaborate on his thoughts. "V and Cat should be on their way down soon…"

"So Cat stayed with Vincent all night? Maybe there is hope for their relationship after all." Tess sneered as she popped open her beer.

"You could say that again." JT nervously laughed.

"What?" Tess noticed he was keeping something from them. "What do you know that we don't?"

"N-nothing!" JT shook his head as he waved his hands in denial. "Nothing at all!"

"Hey guys!" they heard a very happy Catherine Chandler exclaim as she made her way down the stairs. Followed behind her, very closely behind her, was Vincent. Tess noted how their hands were tangled together and how wet their hairs were. Based on her best friend's level of ecstasy, something went down in that bedroom the night before.

"Good to see that you're alive and kicking, Vincent." Gabe replied. Vincent left Catherine's side and approached him. Without warning, Vincent slammed his fist into Gabe's jaw. Everyone was speechless but they decided to wait to see how things were going to pan out.

"That was for trying to kill me half a year ago." Vincent scowled.

Gabe nodded and wiped the blood off of his lip, "Okay…I admit, I did not expect that punch, but then again, I totally deserved it." The former beast waited for Vincent to strike again but he didn't. Instead, to everyone's surprise, Vincent extended his hand and offered to help Gabe back on his feet. "And I certainly did not expect that either."

Vincent shook his hand and said, "This is for being there for Catherine when I was a dick to her. As much as I hate to admit it, Gabe, you're not that bad of a guy."

"Thanks…I think." Gabe replied, causing everyone to laugh.

As Catherine walked over to talk with Tess and JT, Vincent gripped Gabe's shoulders rather tightly and whispered, "However, Gabe, I can sense your affections for her. If I ever find out or see you making a move on Catherine while she is still with me, I promise you'll find yourself back on the floor and in even more pain."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Gabe replied nervously as Vincent released his shoulders.

"Good. You've been warned." Vincent whispered dangerously before finding his way back to Catherine. He wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her against him. Catherine leaned against him and placed her hands on top of his.

"So I take it you two have made things up?" Tess raised her eyebrow as everyone stared at them.

"You could say that." Catherine laughed as she scrunched up her nose to try to hide her overly happy grin. Vincent pressed his lips against the back of her head before resting his chin slightly above her bangs.

"I hate to burst your bubble," JT sighed as he walked towards the vault, "but what are we going to do with her?" Obviously, he was referring to Tori.

"I vote locking her up." Tess shrugged. "She can't do much harm in jail, can she?"

"As much as I would like to agree, Tess," Gabe interjected, "we would need a non-supernatural reason to book her. We can't just tell the judge that she has a bad temper tantrum and beasts out when she wants her way."

"Damn." Tess snapped her fingers. "Anyone else have any suggestions?"

"I think," Catherine spoke up, "I think we should give her a chance to train under Vincent." Everyone looked at her as she continued. "As much as I don't like her right now, she deserves a second chance just as much as anyone. Like Vincent, she's a victim of Muirfield too—even if her father was the prime experiment."

"I agree with Catherine; though, not only do I think it would be a good thing to train her beast, but what if she's trained in the force as well?" Vincent shrugged but Gabe shook his head.

"Absolutely not. No offense, but unlike you, Tori is sort of rogue. Even if she was taught to control her temper, we can't be for sure that she won't slip up. If someone sees her transform, we could have a lot of trouble on our hands." Gabe replied as he folded his arms.

"Let's just give her the choices and see where that leads us." Catherine said and gave JT the approval to open the vault. "I'll go talk with her."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tess raised her eyebrow. "I mean, she did try to kill you earlier."

"All the more reason why it should be me." Catherine answered in confidence. Vincent released her from his arms and watched her as she walked inside the vault. He couldn't figure out what it was but something was definitely different about Catherine. He could feel it when he was in bed with her and he could sense it as she left his embrace. It was almost as if her entire aura was different—and that maybe, maybe this difference was the reason he had healed so quickly. Catherine slowly approached the vault and could feel everyone looking at her. When she was inside, Tori glared at her and growled. "JT," she turned around to look at her friend, "Close the door. I need to show Tori that she can trust me."

"But—"

"Close it." she wouldn't hear no for an answer.

"Right." JT nodded and closed the door before Vincent could stop him. Good. She turned back around and faced the redheaded beast.

"Now it's just you and me." Catherine smiled as she bent down and balanced her weight on her ankles.

"What makes you think closing that door will do you any favors?" Tori asked as she stood to her feet, not wanting to feel lower to Catherine.

"Because no one will be able to hear us in here." Catherine replied and rose to her feet as well. She crossed her arms and confidently said, "Tori, we're going to give you a few options and based on what you pick, your life will be spared."

"If you think I'm going to consent to being locked up in this space forever, you've got another thing coming." Tori threatened.

"Just hear me out: your first option is simple; you behave like the Daddy's Girl you were born to be and undertake training lessons from Vincent AND from me. You will learn how to hone your beast from Vincent and I will teach you how to fight. You'll need to learn combat skills in case your beast suddenly decides to take a vacation or if it gets taken away from you. Vincent can only train you in the beast side of things; I, however, can show you how to fight without having to rely on your beast's strength all of the time. Trust me, the more you fight with your own strength, the better fighter you'll be as a beast."

"And what's my other option?"

"Isolation." Catherine replied coldly. "We can't lock you up without causing too much attention but we can drop you somewhere in the Arctic or in some deserted island where you'll have to depend on your beast's skills to keep you alive. Take your pick but if I were you, I would at least think things over first. You do seem like the savage-type so maybe tropical rain forests are your perfect match."

Tori smiled. "You really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you." She took one step towards Catherine and added, "I don't need to decide what I want to do. As much as I love the idea of isolation and all, I would rather like to stay closer to home. You know how that is."

"I figured you would say that." Catherine replied daringly. "Which is why you will be on constant house arrest. Upon my request, Gabe will rent out a penthouse for you to live in. You will be constantly monitored—your ankle will have a tracking bracelet on at all times. JT made one during the summer for a different purpose but trust me, the thought of you wearing it is more entertaining. If you even try to take it off, it will send electroshocks through your body and it will be a very painful experience. You will wear it throughout the course of your training.

"As long as you are within ten feet of the signal device, the electric current will not go off either. With that being said, JT has created three signal devices; one for the place where we will be training you, another for your penthouse and the other for the car we will use to transport you from your place to the training area. If you even try to kill anyone or force Vincent to rely on his beast, I promise you will be in a world of hurt."

Tori folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "You've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

"I did. The night you kissed my boyfriend pissed me off and I wanted to figure out a painless way to keep you away from him. In many ways, you're toxic to Vincent and I won't have him lose his humanity again. That's when I thought of the homing device and realize that you would be a much better candidate for that invention than anyone else." Catherine replied stoically. "Do we have a deal?"

"Does it look like I have a choice?" Tori glared at Catherine.

"Not really, but I'll give you some time to think it over."

"I don't need time. Just give me the damn bracelet. It's not like I have anything better to do in life." Tori rolled her eyes. "Just curious, what will happen once I'm finished with Beast & Combat 101?"

"Depending on whether or not we can trust you, we may remove the bracelet. No offence, Tori, but my trust these days is running thin. You know how that is." Catherine smirked as she motioned JT to open the door. The instant it opened, Vincent raced to the entrance and saw both women staring at each other with their arms crossed over their bodies. If looks could kill.

"JT will open up the second door so he can put on your bracelet. You try anything," Catherine's eyes narrowed, "you'll be sorry."

"I'll bet." Tori muttered, knowing both Vincent and Catherine overheard her. The couple left Tori to her cell and she couldn't help but wonder what was different about the female cop. The last time she spoke with Catherine, she could sense a world of insecurities locked inside her heart. She still sensed that same Catherine when she first entered the guild the night before. However, when Catherine walked into the vault, Tori couldn't sense a single worry on her. She was stronger and there was just something different about her. In fact, she could have sworn she sensed another presence in the vault while Catherine was giving her the Do or Die speech.

Could it be that she's…

No…that's impossible.

Isn't it? But what else would explain Catherine's sudden mood swing? Perhaps Catherine's confidence was all a part of her after-sex glow. Tori wasn't sure what exactly was going on with Catherine but she was going to find out.

~Beauty & the Beast~

"You want me to release the beast yet?" JT asked Catherine but she shook her head.

"Not yet. I've been thinking about the training option and I don't think we should train her without some sort of collateral." Catherine replied, causing everyone to look at her.

"What do you have in mind?" Tess asked, liking this new and improved Cat.

"Think about it—what is more important to Tori than anything?" Catherine replied and could have sworn Gabe coughed out Vincent's name but she dismissed it. "Her freedom. Tori's father essentially locked her in his home and had his guards following her wherever she went. Even when she wasn't with his guards, she was being tracked. That being said," Catherine paused as she walked over and picked up the forgotten house arrest anklet JT had designed months before, "Tori longs for her freedom more than anything. However, we all know she can't be trusted—not while she still needs to hone her beast. That's why I suggest we put this on her."

"I hate to say this, Cat, but don't you think she would easily be able to rip off that thing in seconds?" Tess raised her eyebrow but JT shook his head.

"No." he replied, "That's not possible. I designed that bracelet as a homing device for Vincent while he was captured. No offence, dude."

"None taken." Vincent quickly replied as he walked over to Catherine to examine the device.

"As I was saying, I designed it for a beast. She could try to rip it off but she will fail. The device is designed to send an electric current through the user's body if he or she ever tried to pull it off or smash it off."

"How will it know what she's trying to do?" Vincent asked as he stared at the anklet out of interest.

"Easy, she wears the cuffs I designed to go with it. If the cuffs are within six inches of the anklet, a shock will be released. It's not painful enough to kill but definitely painful enough to stun her." He grinned at his invention.

"That's great and all," Gabe replied, "But how will she be able to tie her shoes or even put them on for that matter?"

JT smiled even wider. "It's a smart anklet."

"Come again?" Gabe raised his eyebrow. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"That's because I invented it. While it does detect the bracelets, it also has an eye. The eye is linked to a camera which feeds to my phone and to my computers. If the eye and the bracelets are within six inches of each other, it will send a warning signal to both my computer and to my phone. If I think she's trying to break the thing or take it off, I'll press a button and bam! It will electrocute her—in a safe way of course."

"Of course…" Gabe repeated. "And what if she's naked? Will you be seeing that as well?" Before JT could answer, both Tess and Cat smacked Gabe in his shoulders, causing him to defend himself. "What!? It was a fair question!"

"The camera only faces out, so unless she stands in front of a full body mirror, then no. I won't. And before you even ask the question," JT replied as he saw Gabe open his mouth, "No, I wouldn't be able to see her having sex either. Not that she would want to be having sex with anyone while wearing these accessories. Besides, people think she's dead so I don't think sex will be a problem."

"The world thought Vincent was dead, and look how that turned out." Gabe said as he pointed to Vincent and Catherine.

"Vincent's a different case. He never had to be on house arrest. Tori, on the other hand," Catherine said, "won't have any access to the outside world until her training is done. Tess and I can go shopping for her if she needs it so that's covered. Look, we can discuss the specifics later, but for now, let's just get those bracelets on her and get her out of here. Gabe," Catherine looked at her boss, "You can rent her out a penthouse, can't you?"

"I'll do better than that," Gabe replied, "she can live in the guest suite within my own penthouse. That way, we don't have to worry about her losing control and killing off the cleaning lady."

"Sounds good to me." Catherine replied. Before she could tell JT to open the vault, Vincent pulled her away from everyone with a concerned face. "What's wrong, Vincent?"

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked as he felt her head for a fever.

"Yes, why?" she asked, confused.

"You just seem…different, that's all." He replied honestly. Catherine noticed something too, though she wouldn't admit it. She felt strength coursing through her veins for the first time in months. The last time she had felt something so powerful was when was in her father's guest room and kissing the bejeezus out of him. Every moment she was with Vincent since their intimate night in the houseboat made her feel so powerful—like she could do anything. She first thought it was the sex that made her feel invincible but even during the times they didn't have sex, she felt like she was at the top of her game—at times, she even felt like she was a different person. Other than the strength coursing through her, physically, she didn't feel different.

Then again, a few days ago, she remembered running to the bathroom almost immediately after breakfast but that couldn't be related to her overflow of energy, could it? "Trust me, Vincent," she smiled as she cupped his face, "I feel fine. In fact, I feel better than fine."

Quickly, she kissed him to reassure just how fine she felt and then pulled back to tell JT to open up the vault. "Okay, but let me put those things on Tori. If she lashes out, I don't want her to hurt you, all right?"

"Okay." Catherine nodded and showed him how to open and close them. "Once they're locked on her, JT will press a button which will essentially destroy the unlocking function. Then, the only way to remove those devices from her is by machine."

"Sounds good to me." Vincent replied with a smile before kissing her again. He then walked into the vault and advanced towards Tori.

"Did Catherine get tired of me already?" Tori asked but Vincent didn't laugh at her silly remark.

"Don't think this semi-reprieve will patch things up between us, Tori." Vincent replied. "You knew you make my beast react in weird ways and you took advantage of that. I'm only training you because Catherine thinks you deserve a second chance. I do too but isolation would have suited you better. However, since I don't want any more bodies to fall on my account—or yours—I will train you to control your beast."

"I see," Tori smirked, "Because Catherine doesn't want me to touch you, she offered to train me in combat. That sneaky bitch."

"Watch it." Vincent glared at her before demanding her to slip her right ankle between the bars. He locked the ankle bracelet around her ankle and then told her to slip her wrists through the bars as well. Next, he locked the wrist bracelets on her wrists and gave JT the 'go' signal to destroy the unlocking function. "Before I release you, I just want to make some things clear: whatever fantasy you have of us being together, destroy it. I'm with Catherine forever and always. Even if she kicks me out of her life, I will never be with you or with anyone else—Catherine is my happiness and no one can come between that. Understood?"

"Not even someone who can wipe away your memories of her?" Tori asked, touching a huge nerve. Vincent's eyes flared with anger and he bared his teeth. Tori did the same.

"That will never happen again." Vincent replied through his fangs. "One more thing," he said as he calmed his inner beast down, "if you even try to hurt Catherine for shooting me or for any other reason, I won't hesitate in killing you."

With that, she watched him turn around and leave the vault. She saw him give JT the okay to open the secondary door, and to her surprise, he didn't go to Catherine. He walked to the back—he was probably going to use the restroom. How convenient. Much to her dismay; however, Catherine followed him.

She hated Catherine for giving her the third degree about being a vigilante when she turns around and shoots the man she loves without giving him a fair trial. Tori believed Vincent was blind to Catherine's betrayal and she needed to set things straight. The moment the lifted, she muttered, "At least I would be free," and raced out of the vault and headed for the back room Catherine disappeared to.

She stopped when she saw Tess pull out her gun so an idea came over her. When Tess pulled the trigger, Tori easily deflected the bullet with one of her wristbands. The bullet grazed it and it broke off. "Uh-oh." JT mumbled, "That's a problem." The other bracelet fell off immediately and so did the anklet. Deactivating one deactivated the others.

Tory then kicked one of the couches towards JT, Tess and Gabe and managed to trap them against the wall. She took Tess's gun away from her and smashed it against the wall before doing the same thing to JT's tranquilizer and Gabe's gun as well. To make sure they wouldn't push the couch away with their hands, she picked up the other couch and stacked it on top of the other one to keep them pinned to the wall. She didn't plan on killing them but she wanted them to sit back and watch the show.

Suddenly, Vincent makes an appearance and bares his claws and fangs at Tori. He was certainly protecting his own, that was for sure. Tori tried to move one way, he blocked her. She moved the other way and he did the same thing. He was her superior; she knew that. So there was one thing she could do to get what she wanted—she had to outsmart him.

Tori had more control over her beast than everyone thought. She knew how to summon it and when to put it away. To everyone's surprise, her beast disappeared and she fell to the floor.

"Tori!" he suddenly exclaimed as he reverted to his normal side. He felt her head and noted that there wasn't a fever. "I think she overused her beast…"

"Dude, it's a trap." JT replied. "Other than fuguing out, you never P.O.'ed after a major beastisode. Be careful, V. She's probably playing you."

"No…I think she really needs help. Catherine," he called for his girlfriend to come forth. He pulled open one of her eyes and noted they were dilated. "She needs some water—her pupils are dilated."

JT rolled his eyes and said, "Dude, her pupils are dilated because she's planning something. This is an act. You need to be worried about Catherine's safety—not the she-devil's welfare. Think about it, she can't outrun you or outduke you; she can only outsmart you!"

"Oh, would you just shut up!" Tori exclaimed as she opened her eyes and kicked Vincent in the face with her heel. He doubled over in pain as his hands covered his eye from the impact. "Looks like fighting would be hard with only one good eye." She flipped backwards and landed on feet as she grabbed him by the collar and threw him towards the other three. "Well, that was easy."

Catherine finally came running in to see what the whole commotion was about and when she found Vincent fly across the room and crash into JT, Tess and Gabe, she narrowed her eyes at Tori. "You."

"Me." Tori smirked. "Look, your offer was a nice gesture, truly, but I had other things in mind. Killing you for starters." Tori advanced towards Catherine in full beast mode and aimed a kick to Catherine's face. However, the young female cop easily avoided by blocking Tori's power-kick with the back of her hand. Catherine then centered a kick of her own against Tori's abdomen.

"You may be a beast, Tori, but you don't know a thing about black belt karate, do you? I bet Daddy Dearest never allowed you to take any sort of self-defense lessons because he always had his army to protect you." Catherine replied as her foot shoved Tori to the ground. The she-beast skidded across the floor but she immediately stood back up and wiped the blood off of her face.

"I may not be great at karate but I know a few things when it comes to street fighting." Tori spat. She circled around Catherine and grabbed her neck from behind. However, Catherine jabbed her foot into Tori's knee, causing Tori to release her neck. She then spun over and kicked the red-head in the cheek before shoving her down. Catherine Chandler was certainly on fire and the more she and Tori fought, the more she seemed to get stronger.

Vincent finally managed to regain his sight again and just as he was about to run his hand through Tori's chest cavity and rip out her heart, JT told him to stop.

"Are you kidding me?! Catherine's fighting a beast, JT! She can't—"

"Are you even watching the fight?!" Gabe interjected, "Catherine is whooping Tori's ass!" Vincent looked over to his girlfriend and noticed how well she fought against Tori. Her fighting skills were flawless next to Tori's and at every attack; Catherine had a stronger, counterattack. "Talk about a cat fight of the century!"

"Something's off about Cat, Vincent." Tess added, "I've been her partner for nearly six years and I have never seen her fight this hard and for this long without getting winded. She's not even breaking a sweat!"

"If you want to intervene, go right ahead; just release us first." JT said, hoping Vincent would do just that.

"Fine." He nodded and pulled the couches away from them. Just as Vincent approached Catherine and Tori, something strange happened to both females. Not only did Tori's power suddenly increase but so did Catherine's. And what was even weirder? He could have sworn he saw her eyes glow a deep gold like his does when he's beasted out. Is she even aware of her physical change?

Suddenly, Tori backed off when she noticed Catherine's eyes. "What the-?!"

"Finally scared you off?" Catherine asked as she balled her hands into fists to defend herself in case Tori was to attack again. "

"You're eyes are glowing?!" Tori exclaimed. "But you're…you're human! How is that possible?!"

Catherine had no idea what Tori was saying. She thought it was just a ploy—that Tori was simply trying to make her turn around to look at a mirror so she could run her hand through her chest cavity. That was notgoing to happen. Vincent suddenly took this opportunity to block the female beast from his mate. "I told you what would happen if you tried to attack Catherine." His eyes shifted from brown to gold in seconds and he flashed his teeth and claws at her.

Tori immediately beasted out in response to Vincent's transformation and also bared her teeth and claws. Vincent wasted no time and grabbed her neck like he had grabbed Reynolds's. He squeezed hard enough for her to cough and beg for air. He could do it—he had every advantage against her.

But then, when his other hand went for the kill, he saw Reynolds in his hand and not Tori. He saw Reynolds and he remembered what had happened when he last tried to kill someone. Suddenly, he saw the defeated look in her eyes, causing him to release Tori's neck and fall to his knees. He couldn't go through with it. For as heartless as Tori was, she was still more human than himself. Tori was a victim—she didn't choose to be born with corrupted DNA. She deserved to have a chance to live her life like Catherine had given him when she had first walked into his life.

"Kill me." Tori pleaded. "Just get it over with!"

Vincent looked at her and could tell she was in pain—emotional pain. She had the look that he once had—loneliness and despair. "No." his voice echoed throughout the bar.

Catherine walked over to Vincent, her eyes back to normal, and she knelt down beside him. At first, she didn't understand why Vincent had stopped killing Tori. Then, when she noticed her pain as well, she immediately understood. "Tori," she placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder and said every word that was going through Vincent's mind; "You don't deserve to die. No one does—no matter how much evil they have done in the world. As for trying to kill me, I'll let that slide this once. This life—this beast life—isn't fair to you and you were ambushed with it. I understand that you only thought it was natural to embrace it, but you don't have to in order to live a life. Tori, train with us; you'll be able to master your beast without having to rely on it all of the time. Also, you may find someone out there who would accept you for who you are—you owe it to that special person to protect him by gaining control. Vincent had to learn everything the hard way; he didn't have a mentor. But you would. You're not alone in this, Tori. I promise."

Tori looked at Catherine, and for the first time, it wasn't a death glare or look of annoyance. It was a genuine look of hope. "Promise?"

Catherine nodded. "I do. And, if you promise never to try and kill me again, you won't have to wear the homing device. You can live freely and you won't have to feel trapped as long as you consent to making an effort to controlling your beast. Do you think you can do that?"

Tori bit her lip for a moment and then nodded before bowing her head apologetically. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you guys. I guess…I guess I was just lost and confused. I really didn't know what to do. How will you ever forgive me?"

"For starters," Catherine smiled as she stood up and pulled Tori up with her, "You can stop bowing…that's a bit creepy. Now, do you think you can suffer a ride with Gabe down to his place for the night until he can rent your own place out?"

Tori nodded again but didn't say anything.

"And that's my cue." Gabe said before heading toward the door. "Tori, I promise I won't bite. Let's let the destined couple be and go to a bar to drown our sorrows." When everyone looked at him and waved his hands in defense, "I'm kidding! But seriously, we'll go by a store on the way home and buy two large tubs of ice cream. You cool with that?"

"Ice cream sounds good." Tori smiled. "Thanks." As she walked away from Tess, JT, Catherine and Vincent, she stopped once more and turned around. "Again, sorry…I guess I'll be seeing you guys around?"

"Yeah." Catherine smiled. "We'll be in touch."

Tori disappeared from the door and everyone sighed. "Phew! I thought that would never end!" JT threw his arms into the air.

"Damn straight!" Tess replied. "Pour me a double, by the way. I think I'm going to need it. My head is already reeling."

"Amen to that." JT nodded as he pulled out two glasses from the bar. "V, Cat! You want anything?!"

"Nah," Vincent said as he and Catherine both shook their heads. "Though, I think I'm going to take a very long shower…to help clear my head."

"You do that," JT replied. "However, before you disappear with him, Cat, I would like to take a blood sample from you." He disappeared from the bar for a few minutes before returning with a syringe in hand. "I noticed your eyes were glowing the moment Tori shouted something about it. I want to find out why."

"Oh. Okay." Catherine nodded. "Wait! She was serious?!"

"Yeah." Everyone replied.

"Let's not forget your killer moves!" Tess added. "Damn, I wouldn't want to be pissing you off; those moves were tight! I knew you were a beast in fighting, girl, but seriously; how did you learn to fight like that?"

"Uhhhh adrenaline rush?" Catherine shrugged. She really had no idea why she felt so…powerful. She had theories but she was pretty sure her theories were longshots and most likely incorrect.

"Something tells me it's a little more than that." JT replied. "Anyway, you two go and enjoy some tub-time. We'll clean up down here."

"We will?" Tess raised her eyebrow.

~Beauty & the Beast~

The moment the water finished filling up the tub, Vincent picked up a very naked Catherine and carried her in with him. He was glad they could finally relax, knowing that the whole Tori issue was finally resolved. He knew that there were going to be more problems down the road but Problemo Cien was over and done with.

He lay down on top of Catherine and pulled her to his lips as he felt the water splash against him. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and coiled her legs around his hips. Everything was back to the way they used to be and he couldn't be happier. He finally found his memory and was back in his home with the women he loved.

"Can you promise me nothing will change between us?" Catherine asked him, causing Vincent to stop kissing her neck and look into her eyes. "Can you?"

He knew this conversation was going to come about sometime so he might as well say what he had rehearsed the day she had asked him to move to Denver with her. He sat up in the tub and, because her legs were still firmly wrapped around his waist, she moved up with him. He cupped her face and then kissed her before spilling his heart out. "Catherine, remember when you showed up at my place and presented those fake IDs?"

"You mean when I asked you to move to Denver with me?"

"Yes," he nodded with a smile, "Anyway, our plan was for me to remain human and for us to go to Denver and live a happy life. However, you and I both know that was not what happened. Our plans had changed because I was a hunted man. And, as I've said before, I will always be a hunted man. Now, more than ever." She nodded in response but waited for him to continue.

"What I'm trying to say is…our plans will always be changing depending on what happens around us—or even to us. If you are adamant about our relationship and truly want my—a beast—in your life, you have to understand the risks."

"I already do, Vincent. Losing you…that day when you were captured…that was a risk. Shooting you, yesterday, was a risk I had to take in order to protect our relationship. If anything, I understand the risks and, I promise, I am willing to do whatever it takes to protect us."

Vincent took her hands in his and kissed them. "I can't promise you that nothing will change for us, Catherine. However, I can promise that whatever these changes are, I will always love you and cherish you as a husband would his wife."

Catherine smiled and kissed him fervidly. "You didn't let me finish," he laughed when she pulled away. She pressed her palms against his and bit her bottom lip, urging him to continue. "Catherine," he muttered, "if, in some other world, you and I were able to marry, would you take my hand?"

Catherine nodded and felt tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "If, Vincent, if in some other world, we were to marry, I would." She smiled and could feel her nose burning. She bit her lip and then added, "I would accept your hand in marriage, Vincent."

"And if…" he replied before standing up, removing himself from her, racing out of the bathroom only to return with something clutched into his hand, "And if that world were to be our future…someday…some year, would you marry me?" He opened his hand and presented a beautiful diamond ring attached to a silver chain. She bit her lip and nodded yes a thousand times as tears finally began to fall. "This ring belonged to my mother…. I had JT get it resized while we were on our normal date those many months ago. I know it's been quite a while since then, but it was kind of hard to find the right opportunity." He smirked and Catherine couldn't help but laugh as her nose scrunched up when she smiled. "So, until the day we say I do," he paused, "Catherine Elizabeth Chandler, would you do me the honor in wearing this ring around your neck to symbolize the love we share and the life we'll forever have?"

"Yes," she cried with joy as she stood up and pulled him in for a kiss. He kissed her with just as much passion before pulling away so he could see her face as he clasped the necklace around her neck.

"No one, outside this house, can know about this." Vincent warned as he pointed to the ring. "The less people who know, the better. You understand that, right?"

"I do."

"And you understand that no one will be able to see a ring on your finger for as long as I am hunted, right?"

"Vincent," Catherine smiled, "I told you once before: I don't need a rock on my finger to be happy."

Vincent smirked, "I know…but that doesn't deter the fact that I wanted you to have one in secret." Catherine looked at her engagement ring and then back at her fiancé. After everything that had happened to them, she knew nothing could ruin the love they had for one another—not even a gunshot wound.

She leaned in to kiss him once more after whispering, "You know what? I do like certain changes."

"I thought you would." He laughed before leaning in to kiss her. She jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around him as he ran them from the bathroom to his bed. He kissed her passionately as their hearts, minds and souls melted together and became one element—one body. The more he saw the love of his life wearing the ring around her neck, which hung low between her breasts, the more he fell in love with the possibility—the eventuality of being married to Catherine Chandler.

Suddenly, he stopped moving against her, causing her to frown. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer for a few seconds and then he said, "JT…He's on his way up here…and he's walking pretty fast." Almost immediately, Vincent and Catherine jumped off of the bed, pulled the covers down, climbed back on it and grabbed the covers to hide their very naked bodies. Catherine gave Vincent a side hug but remained low enough to wear the sheets covered her chest along with the rest of her body

"And three…two…one." Vincent said as the door flew open and JT came running into the room.

"You are NOT going to believe this!" JT exclaimed, not caring that he had walked in on a very intimate moment between his best friend and his lover.

"And you couldn't have knocked or even left a message on the cell?" Vincent raised his eyebrow and folded his arms against his chest. "What gives?!"

"Dude, don't get pissed at me just yet! I've got some great news!" JT smiled and quickly continued, "I tested out Catherine's blood sample and BAM! I figured out why she is having mini beastisodes!"

"And that couldn't wait until later…like when we were downstairs and DRESSED?" Vincent was peeved, wishing the professor would just get to the damned point.

"Not at all!" he smiled and Tess suddenly came in.

"JT, don't just stand there, tell them the big news." Tess stated as she walked over to Catherine and gave her a hug.

"Guys, seriously," Catherine was seriously as confused as Vincent. "What's going on?"

JT calmed down and said, "Cat, the reason your eyes were glowing earlier is actually quite simple. You've got a little mutant growing in that belly of yours."

Vincent and Catherine blinked simultaneously. "What did you say?" Vincent thought he heard what JT had said but he wanted to be sure his ears weren't playing any tricks on him.

"I said: Cat ha—"

"Just cut to the chase, JT." Tess interjected, "Just tell her she's two months pregnant!"

"I'm what?!" Catherine eyes widened as wide as Vincent's.

"You heard us." JT and Tess said together before quickly leaving the room so the two could have time alone to process the information.

"Did we?" Vincent asked out loud and Catherine nodded.

"Yup, I think we heard them loud and clear."

She blinked again and then jumped when Vincent shouted, "Holy smokes, Catherine! You're pregnant!" He immediately turned around and cupped her face in his hands before pulling her in for a deep kiss.

When he pulled away, she was still processing the information. "I'm pregnant? As in…pregnant? W-what did we do wrong?" she asked out loud, fearing Vincent wasn't happy about it.

"What do you mean wrong?" Vincent asked, confused. "I thought you wanted a baby."

"I do…but…" her voice faded. How could she be pregnant if they haven't been rolling around in the sheets (excluding the night and minutes before) since…two months ago? Her eyes widened. The boathouse! She's been pregnant all this time?! Instantly, she shot a glance at Vincent, "You're not mad?"

"Of course not! Why would I be?"

"Because, when we had that scare…you…weren't really happy about even the possibility." Catherine reminded him.

Vincent leaned over her and cupped her face. "Catherine, I admit, the thought of you being pregnant with my child scared me…hell, it scares me now, but I almost lost you when I was memory-wiped. I'm not sure how I would have felt if you happened to be pregnant back then, Catherine, but I'm not going to live my life in fear anymore. I lost you once; I'm not losing you again, Catherine. Fate brought us back together—and, through experience; it has a funny way of working things out." He placed his hand on her abdomen and to his surprise; he could actually the baby's heart beating. "This baby symbolizes fate, Catherine. You were right—we're meant to be. Our child is proof of that."

"You think so?" Catherine could feel tears sliding down her face.

Vincent nodded. "I know so." He leaned down and kissed her in celebration of their unborn child. "By the way," Vincent smirked as he pulled back from Catherine as a thought came to his mind.

"What?"

"We should probably come up with some fake proposal story...because when we do get married, our child and/or future will want to know how I proposed to you." He suddenly smirked, "And I don't feel comfortable in scarring them by telling them how I proposed to you in the bathtub after a few rounds o-"

"Oh just shut up and let me kiss you." Catherine laughed and pulled his lips back to hers. Neither Beauty or Beast knew what lay ahead for them nor did they know what troubles awaited their child when he or she grows up in the world. However, no matter what trials lay ahead, they would face them together.

Forever.

Come what may.

Fin.

~Beauty & the Beast~

---

Keiko Fujiwara: Never thought it would turn out to be this long but let me know what you thought about this one shot! :)