Catherine leaned against her car, holding her head. Now that the adrenaline rush was over, she realized that her ears were still ringing from the explosion. A part of her wished she had Vincent's super-hearing now so that she could eavesdrop on his conversation with Alex. It could not have been more than a couple of minutes that she had left the two. The look on Alex's face. The pain in Vincent's voice at her reaction. Catherine had not been able to resist touching him, stroking his arm ever so slightly as she had turned to leave him with Alex. He had hurt her by rejecting her, yes – but it still broke her heart to see him so vulnerable.
While thinking about what to do with the three bodies in the woods, Catherine had started moving back in the direction of Vincent. They could not risk simply leaving them, trusting Muirfield to clean up after themselves. They had to find their car and burn them in it to get rid of Vincent's DNA on the two agents that he had taken out. As Catherine stepped out from behind a tree, she caught a glimpse of Alex leaving. She decided to simply wait for Vincent to turn towards her. His keen senses must have told him she was there but it was obvious that he needed some time to compose himself. Finally, he turned and let out an audible sigh. He briefly looked at her but then lowered his gaze. Catherine spoke first: "I think we need to burn the bodies – in case someone finds them before Muirfield and they find your DNA on them." Vincent nodded and then said in a flat, tired voice: "I'll do that, their car is about half a mile down the road. You go and wait in the car for me. It's freezing and you're shivering." He was right, Catherine realized: she had been shivering and the ringing in her ears had started to give her a migraine, too.
Slowly warming up, Catherine waited for Vincent in the car, wishing that there was phone reception in this godforsaken place so that she could call JT and tell him that they were OK. Because they were OK, for now. 'OK' as in 'alive.' Catherine slightly jumped when Vincent approached her side of the car. She lowered the window and asked: "Done? Can we go now?" "I can make walk back if you don't want to have me in your car," he said, avoiding her eyes. "Vincent! Don't be silly… get in, please!" she answered, shaking her head. "Come on, let's go! We need to get somewhere where we have reception and call JT. He's worried sick, OK?"
They drove in silence for at least forty minutes. Catherine cast Vincent an occasional glance but the road was pitch dark and between her headache, the ringing in her ears and a general feeling of exhaustion she definitely needed to keep her eyes on the road. A couple of times, she could hear him exhale more loudly than usual and once she could not help but grab his hand and squeeze it tight for a couple of seconds. He didn't react but let her. She withdrew her hand. What was going on in his head? Catherine didn't dare ask – she did not want to cause him more pain by forcing him to talk about what had just happened. And she wasn't sure she could handle him pouring his heart out to her over his feelings for Alex.
Deep down Catherine felt partly responsible for the mess that these last few weeks of her life had become. She had pushed Vincent away at her father's wedding. She had told him that Alex was a wreck after catching a glimpse of him at the hospital, knowing that he would probably go to Alex to set things straight. Which he did and which in turn upset Alex's stalker so much that he tried to kill her. Which led to that kiss between two lovers reunited. And then, when Vincent tried to argue that things between them hadn't changed, she had repeatedly pushed him away and into Alex's arms. She had been so torn between wanting to give Vincent the space to figure things out and her irrational fear of losing him forever. When she had finally mustered up enough courage to tell him that she wanted to be with him, he had already been caught up in this fantasy of a normal life away from Muirfield, a life where he could be the old Vinnie Keller. She thought he had chosen that life and Alex over her which was why she had backed off again, gone cold turkey. But why had Vincent come to see her in the park? It didn't make sense. Had he been trying to keep both Alex and her in his life? Why? He had been such an ass; and she had been afraid and distant and unclear about what she wanted. A lot of this was his fault, no doubt, but she hadn't helped the situation, either, had she?
Catherine swallowed hard as she felt Vincent's left hand grab onto her right arm. "Catherine? Your heart is beating like crazy… What's going on?" "Oh, nothing. I'm just beating myself up about things – and trying to get my head around stuff. Sorry! I'll try and calm down," she said in a whisper. She could tell he was staring at her. "See, much better," she said when she felt her heartbeat slowing about a minute or so later. Vincent didn't answer. To keep herself busy, she plugged her cell phone into the handsfree car kit. When the hell were they going to get cell phone reception?
Catherine was relieved when a short while later her cell phone started beeping repeatedly. She didn't bother checking who had texted her during the last few hours but immediately called JT. He picked up half way through the first ring. "Catherine! Thank God. Are you OK? Are you both OK? I was so wor-" "We're fine, JT, all three of us. Calm down! Thank God there were only three guys from Muirfield so Vincent and I managed to take them out." JT was clearly relieved and started chuckling: "So did they have their clothes on when you got there?" Vincent shot Catherine a surprised glance. "Yeah, they did… and thanks, by the way: Vincent is sitting right next to me! I'm driving him home so don't go anywhere, OK?" "And Alex?" "Long story, man" said Vincent in a quiet voice. "I'll explain when I get home, OK?" Catherine was relieved that she didn't have to hear any more details about Alex at the moment. She was about to hang up when she remembered the situation with Evan: "Hey, JT! How did it go with Evan?" "Don't ask," he grumbled. "I don't know what to do… really!"
"Well," said Catherine, smiling a wicked smile despite herself as a thought crossed her mind, "what time is he supposed to present Vincent's DNA to those Genetics people?" Vincent's head shot up: "What?" "Yes, man, he's trying to get some astronomical grant money to study you. Too bad that Muirfield are going to take him out before he even gets to spend a dollar… Here's me hoping they won't find out about our collaboration. Oh well… To sum up, dude, you picked the best time ever to go off frolicking in the woods, leaving the rest of us to fight your battles…" Vincent muttered something under his breath, and Catherine was pretty sure he was cussing.
"So, JT, focus. Presentation. What time tomorrow?" she insisted. "At eleven, why?" "Hmmm, I was just thinking that maybe, just maybe, if I went there and distracted Evan, by – let say—having wild sex with him, he might miss his presentation… One way of averting the danger of exposure, at least for the time being… What do you think?" Catherine hadn't really meant to say what she did until she had actually said the words and she didn't fail to notice that Vincent drew a sharp breath as soon as he heard the words 'wild sex'. JT seemed flabbergasted, too. "What? How?" "Well, boys" said Catherine, "does a woman not have the right to pimp herself out for a good cause?" JT started chuckling and, out of the corner of her eye, Catherine could have sworn that she saw the faintest sign of a smile on Vincent's face. "Not funny," he growled under his breath. Catherine was relieved: he sounded more like himself again. But she was confused at the same time: his dream of being able to escape his life had just been shattered and, yes, Vincent was clearly shaken by the way Alex had reacted to his 'PTSD' – but he seemed awfully calm for someone who had just lost the love of his life. She should know: she had lost Vincent and it hurt so much she sometimes had to remind herself to breathe. "Well," she said, "a lot of stuff has happened these last few weeks that I don't find funny, either." "OK, that's my cue, then, guys," interjected JT.
Catherine's phone continued beeping several more times – Tess and Heather must have been trying to reach her repeatedly. "Sorry, worried girlfriends," she whispered, switching the phone off. She did not want to call them in case they'd refer to Vincent by his new nickname, 'ass.' But why was she still protecting him, after everything that had happened? Oh boy, she was still hanging on, wasn't she? But she could not be his second choice! She would not let him back in! She could not let him back in, because she had to protect herself, damn it! "Catherine, your heart rate…" Vincent said in a worried voice. "To hell with my heart rate," said Catherine. "You know, it's so annoying that you can read me like a book – racing pulse, dilated pupils, sweatiness of my palms, whatnot… while I always have to guess what's happening inside you," she said, more forcefully than she had intended.
Vincent was quiet for a while and Catherine's pulse slowed again. Then he said: "You know, I was trying to explain to you what was going on inside me – I felt so guilty towards Alex for leaving her without even saying goodbye ten years ago. And I swear, I only wanted to make it right." Catherine decided to let him talk. "I don't know what I was thinking – I let myself get sucked into a fantasy. And it's not like JT and you were not trying to make me see the dangers of it… but I don't know, I just felt that I owed it to her, and to him… the Vinnie Keller that I used to be… and it would have been a way to give all of us a better life." "All of us?" Catherine snapped. "What do you mean by that?" "Look, if I had gone away with Alex, JT could have had his life back, lived a normal life, with Sarah perhaps, buy a house, raise a family, concentrate on his career, be happy and worry about himself and his family instead of me and Genetics committees and stuff… And you, you could stop lying to your friends and family – and have a life, a real life!" Vincent's voice trailed off. Catherine's pulse had increased again but Vincent didn't say anything about it this time. "Oh, I see!" Catherine snapped. "So this was your idea of a happy ending for all involved, then? Wow, I'm sorry I didn't get that before – it would have saved me a lot of heartache!" "Catherine…" Vincent begged, "I…" He didn't finish his sentence.
They drove the rest of the way back to the warehouse in complete silence. Vincent put his hand on Catherine's arm before leaving the car and, trying to catch her eyes, whispered: "I don't know how to thank you… for coming after me today, and for fighting at my side… I…" Catherine avoided his eyes and said: "What else was I supposed to do? Let them kill you or capture you? I really didn't have a choice, did I?" "Well, actually, you did. But I'm glad you were there with me…" Vincent said. "It's OK, Vincent. It really is. Bye for now. Take care." Catherine said, finally meeting his gaze. She could see him swallow. She turned away from him and in a flash, he was out of the car. She looked at Vincent in the rear mirror as he faced her car. She couldn't read the expression on his face. The last thing she saw was JT storming out of the warehouse and Vincent slowly turning towards his friend. She drew a sigh of relief. Vincent was safe. For now.