"Life"

I do not own CW's Beauty and the Beast or any of the characters.

Chapter 1 - Prologue – Late July 2013

Evan sat in a wooden chair by the window of his favourite café. The Italian theme and décor was fairly authentic, reminding him of the semester he had spent in Rome. The café was in his neighbourhood, just down the block and around the corner from his third floor walk-up apartment.

It was Sunday and the early morning summer sunlight managed to filter through the surrounding buildings and stream in through the window. A half-finished cappuccino sat at Evan's elbow. An almond biscotti sat untouched on a saucer at the far edge of the table. His laptop was sitting open in front of him. The page was blank and untitled and the cursor seemed to be blinking at him in an accusatory manner. He was struggling to start his paper on cross-species DNA.

The tabletop was strewn with papers and books, as many as he could carry from his apartment. He had been shut away in his flat for the past two days and felt it was time to venture out. The hiss of the espresso machine was particularly soothing to him, as was the clink of silverware on cups and plates around the café. The din in the room washed over him, helping rather than hindering his progress.

Evan held an orange highlighter in his hand. The cap was off and he was sucking on the end of it. Occasionally, he would remove it from his mouth and score passages from his bound copy of the Journal of American Genetics. He almost felt like a student again.

The empty chair across the table from him scraped across the floor as someone moved it. Evan looked up, expecting to be asked for the chair. Instead, his ex-girlfriend, Claire, gave him a tight smile as she sat down. She didn't ask for permission.

"Claire," Evan said, his accent clipped.

"Evan," Claire acknowledge with a slight tip of her head. She motioned one of the waiters over and ordered an espresso.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, slightly annoyed. "We broke up last week, remember?"

"Relax," she said, lifting a long-fingered hand. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and adjusted the silk scarf at her neck. She rolled her eyes. "I am not here to get you back, if that's what you're wondering. I'm here on a more official capacity, shall we say. How's your research going?"

"Fine," he bit out. Evan gestured with his hand towards the stacks of papers and spiral bound notebooks surrounding him. "I'd actually like to get back to it, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," she said, accepting her espresso from the waiter. It came in a tiny white cup on an equally pristine saucer. A square of dark chocolate accompanied it, resting on the saucer. Claire unwrapped the chocolate and popped it into her mouth.

"Claire, what do you want?" Evan sighed. He ran his hands through his hair. He just wanted to be left alone so he could finish reading the article. He wanted to get something down on paper before he had to go back to work in the morning.

"I told the people I work for about you. About your work," she said, lazily.

"You did what?" he asked, giving her his full attention. He was starting to remember all of the reasons he broke up with her. "Why would you do that?"

"Let's just say that my…company is extremely interested in the field of genetics. They are particularly intrigued with your work on cross-species DNA. Combining human DNA and animal DNA is the wave of the future. Or, so I've been told," she said breezily, waving her hand in the air.

Evan stared at her in shock. His brain was having a hard time processing the words that were coming out of her mouth. "How do you know?"

"How do I know what?" she asked. Claire picked up her espresso and downed it in one swallow. She licked her lips when she was finished.

"About my research, about cross-species DNA, about any of it?" he demanded.

"Well, I may have peeked at your research," she confessed, her eyes wide and innocent. "And I may have taken a few photos of it."

"You what?" he raised his voice. His research was password protected and secure. Several patrons in the café turned to look at them. Evan lowered his voice. "You what?"

"I looked at your research. I mean, you have to admit, 'Catherine' isn't a very original password. It didn't take much for me to figure it out. It was like you were begging me to look." Claire toyed with her spoon, running it slowly around the rim of her empty cup. She caught the waiter's eye and ordered another espresso.

"Fine," Evan exhaled. There was clearly more to his ex than he had originally thought. "Why are you here?"

"I have an offer. From my boss."

"Not interested," Evan snapped. He looked back at the journal folded in his hands. He stared at the words blankly, not taking anything in.

"Hear me out. They'd like you to come onboard. You'll be granted unrestricted access to our state-of-the-art lab, resources far beyond the scope of the NYPD," here Claire scoffed, barely covering her contempt for local law enforcement, "and an almost unlimited budget. You will get so much further with your work with our help."

"I already have a job, thanks." Evan was hoping this would be the end of it.

"Evan, I'm not suggesting that you quit your job. This offer would be an additional posting. It's very important that you keep your ME job. This would just be a way for you to continue your research on the side. We want to see you succeed," Claire paused and accepted her second espresso from the waiter.

"Why?"

"Let's call it scientific curiosity. Any discoveries you make will impact positively on the company and on the field of genetics. You are an incredibly intelligent man. My superiors said that what you have achieved in this field using only an ill-equipped police lab is amazing," she said, flattering him. "Imagine what you could do with our labs. Our resources. Our people. Think about it."

Evan stared at his blank laptop screen. The flashing cursor continued to mock him. He clenched his jaw and didn't look at Claire.

"You could be responsible for capturing the cross-species creature. You would be a hero. I imagine that might get Catherine's attention." Claire reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a white card. "By the way, this creature…it's not going to stop attacking people. Imagine if Catherine was the first detective on the scene and the creature was still there. What do you think would happen to her then?"

Evan's vision clouded with thoughts of Catherine being mauled by this...thing. The thought of slash marks marring her beautiful skin was too much for him to bear. He imagined her beautiful eyes, unseeing and fixed in death. He shuddered and took the card from Claire.

"Call them. They are looking forward to hearing from you," said Claire. She pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. She reached over, picked up her cup and drained her second espresso. "Trust me, they want what you want. What's the worst that could happen?"

Evan fingered the card and turned it over. It was made from incredibly thick and luxurious card stock. Typed in the centre of the rectangle was a ten-digit phone number. There were no names on the card. "What's your company called?"

"Muirfield."

A/N – Chapter 1 will start on Catherine's 30th birthday at a party thrown for her by Heather (a year after the events of "Saturn Returns" – 1x05). Everything up to and including the events in "Bridesmaid Up!" (1x09) have occurred before this story starts. I have then veered from canon and jumped several months into the future, assuming the status quo in the intervening months. Catherine and Vincent have not kissed and they aren't together as a couple yet. They have remained extremely flirty and close (as in "Bridesmaid Up!").

There is no Alex in this story. Joe's brother Darius didn't make an appearance and therefore wasn't killed by Vincent. Catherine and Tess are still partners and friends. There is no Gabe Lowen, no task force and no 'trigger happy' cops. No one other than Catherine and JT knows about Vincent at this point. The warehouse has not been destroyed and Vincent is not on the run.

Evan is not dead in this story. I planned it out well before the events of "Heart of Darkness" (1x18). He did date Claire, but he didn't discover her in his lab. As a result, they dated for several months before he broke up with her. Evan and JT never worked together.

Please note that this story is rated "M" for scenes of violence, torture, medical experimentation, sex/sensuality and other scenes of a graphic and realistic nature.

I apologize for the delay between finishing "Resolutions" and posting this story. My computer crashed. Twice. It's been difficult to do any work for the last while. Hopefully, all of that is behind me now and we can proceed with "Life" as planned.

Enjoy and let me know what you think. xA