21/05/2013
Title: The Distance
Author: squeezynz
Rating: PG – R(for some chapters)
Pairing: Vincat
Setting: Post S1 finale
Synopsis: Vincent is taken by forces unknown, possibly Muirfield, maybe someone else. Does he have a future? Only time will tell.
Authors Note: After watching series one several times through I just had to write something, and this is the result. I should warn you, I only write epics, so be prepared for a long read. That said, this is done for my own entertainment, to my own tastes and to satisfy my own version of what could happen to my favourite pair. I've tried to be as accurate as possible, but I'm only human so the following disclaimer applies: -
Any and all spelling, grammar, grammatical and punctuation mistakes are entirely my own. Feel free to correct me, but don't hold you breath that I'll action the corrections (unless they are truly horrendous). You should also know that I am a Brit, so any incorrect usage, unwanted 'u's or misplaced 's's are all my own fault, also any mangling of American jargon or incorrect naming of objects/items or places can also be blamed on me being a Brit. That said, I have done my research and you could, if you wanted to, trace the places and routes taken by our heroes across the country. If you know any of those places intimately and I've got something wrong, put it down to artistic license. Any and all mistakes can and will be blamed on my being a Brit, in New Zealand and not in the states. Live with it. Otherwise, enjoy my continuing adventures of Vincat served up with a dash of excitement, a dollop of Beastliness, a line up of villains, and a whole lot of romance. It's what I do best.
Below is the official line on S2 – just for your edification and has nothing to do with my story – at all.
CW Season two blurb -"9:00-10:00 P.M. "Beauty And The Beast"
Detective Catherine Chandler (Kristin Kreuk), shaken to the core over the fact that everything she thought she knew about her life has been a lie, is determined to get answers to the secrets that have been revealed about her family. Cat and Vincent continue to grapple with the desire to be a normal couple while trying to keep a low profile in order to stay one step ahead of the mysterious organization known as Muirfield, now on the hunt for both of them.
now, on with the story...enjoy
Somewhere, as yet unknown.
Pushing against the flat surface he tried to lever himself upright but failed, collapsing back on to the cold tiles, his cheek hitting the floor hard enough to make him grunt in pain. Whatever they had used was powerful and long lasting, his muscles refusing to respond to his commands. His finger tips tingled like pins and needles, the usually ever-present Beast inside him subdued and unhelpful. Gathering his strength he tried again, pushing his hands flat against the unforgiving floor but only managing to roll himself over on to his back, that effort leaving him with bright sparks dancing across his vision, blinding him.
"Subject continues to fight the lingering effects of the tranquilizers, but is unable to do more than draw on minimum muscular responses." The drone of the observer beyond the barricade of his prison washed over his senses.
Mustering his thoughts Vincent moistened his lips before speaking, his voice rough and scratchy.
"Water."
"Subject has asked for water, but made no further effort to move from his prone position."
The voice remained even and uninterested, as if watching someone struggle and ask for a drink was
too minor to be worth the effort. Vincent swallowed and tried again.
"Please...some water."
"Come and get it...if you can." The voice held no more inflection than before but somehow it carried a wealth of menace. Blinking away the sparks still darting around in his vision, Vincent fought the encroaching lethargy, willing his body to respond and throw off the drugs binding him.
What seemed like hours later he managed to get himself on to all fours, his head hanging down as he rested on shaking limbs, hands flat and elbows locked. He felt as weak as an infant, but the image of Catherine reaching up to him, her face stricken, infused his body with an ember of his beastly strength, enough to draw one knee up, enough to raise him slowly upright to stand, albeit swaying on his feet. Over the drumming of his heart he could hear the hated voice continue its monologue.
"Subject has managed to metabolize the drugs much quicker than expected. Note a reminder to increase dosage."
Mindful that he didn't want to end up back on the floor, Vincent slowly turned his head to find the source of his tormentor. The room beyond his prison was eerily empty, only a darkened window breaking up the monotony of the grey walls. Glancing up at the ceiling he could see nothing but a concealed strip light, the cover secured with a metal flange and bolts. It was all horribly familiar. Moving very precisely while his body recovered, Vincent turned to face the darkened window, the bars and room almost a copy of the one Muirfield had taken him to not so long ago. Now he was once more in their clutches, or so he supposed. Who else would go to so much trouble? An image of Catherine swam across his vision again, making him shake his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to remember, he just needed every ounce of concentration to keep himself vertical.
Looking down at himself he noted that everything he'd been wearing had been replaced, his bare feet poking out of grey track-pants teamed with a similarly grey t-shirt. As he catalogued himself he realised the pants and shirt were all he had on; nothing underneath. Mentally shrugging, Vincent turned his attention back to what was going on internally. Without showing anything outwardly he tried to find his Beast, his muscles flexing as he tested and sought, wanting more than ever to feel the burn, his attention back to what was going on internally. Without showing anything outwardly he tried to find his Beast, his muscles flexing as he tested and sought, wanting more than ever to feel the burn, the red heat that was like a second skin he could draw on when needed. Since attaining a measure of control, he considered it – if not a blessing – as no longer a curse, more like a layer of armour to call on in desperate situations. An image of Catherine on the ground; unconscious, made him bare his teeth, a tickle of heat presaging a sudden flooding of fire throughout his body – the Beast was back.
As much as he wanted a normal life, this had been normal for the last ten years and now he revelled in it, his growing anger feeding the Beast, getting stronger with each second. Catherine had made the decision for him, for them both and now there was no going back. Feeling the energy and power of the Beast well up inside him, Vincent slowly raised his head to stare, eyes glowing gold, at the darkened window, at the faceless men hiding behind the screen. He could feel his body start to change, his muscles bunching and stretching his clothing, his skin tightening, fingers flexing as nails turned into claws, his lips drawing back into a snarling grimace in preparation for roaring his defiance at his enemies.
A door opened, and as quickly as the heat as risen Vincent made it subside, a measure of his control meaning that the man who entered saw only Vincent as his normal self, the Beast no longer evident.
The man, of medium height and solidly built, walked over and stood several feet from the bars, as if on an invisible line just out of Vincent's reach. Silently the two men measured and weighed each other, the older casting a shrewd eye over Vincent's physique before meeting him eye to eye.
Vincent was the first to speak. "Why aren't I dead?"
A wry smile tilted the older man's lips for a second. "You should be, and probably will be, but not today."
"The last time this happened I was slated for dissection."
The man raised an eyebrow. "Clumsy. I would suppose he wanted to see your reaction to that likelihood."
Vincent let the Beast out for a second, his eyes glowing gold in a brief demonstration. The other man watched closely, giving a nod when Vincent quickly reverted to himself.
"Yes. You are different. Quite different, in point of fact."
"Different from what?"
The man ignored his question. "I wonder if it is purely a time factor, or if something else has triggered this ability. Ten years is a long time to remain dormant, and then to suddenly evolve in the space of a year is quite remarkable."
Vincent remained mute, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what the man was getting at. It would seem that all his efforts to remain underground and undetectable had been for nought. His enemies had known all along where he was and his situation. They had been waiting for something to set off the chain of events, had been watching ever since Catherine had come back into his life.
He groaned inwardly. The older man seemed to see his thoughts.
"Yes, you were extremely naïve to think we didn't know exactly where you were. We could have taken you at any time over these past years, but it didn't serve our purpose to do so."
"Why now?" Vincent growled.
"Because now you are worth studying. You have evolved to a stage we can use, can test."
Vincent suddenly stepped closer to the bar, the man taking an involuntary step back despite the barrier between them.
"I won't be your lab rat. You might as well kill me now."
"And give up the chance of ever seeing Detective Chandler ever again?"
Vincent checked and drew in a deep breath. His guts twisted as his feelings for Catherine flooded through him leaving him tense, a muscle flexing along his jaw the only indication of his turmoil. It was enough.
"Yes, I was sure that would provoke a reaction." The older man let his gaze wander over Vincent's features, lingering briefly on the scar running down one side. "Is the man that made that still alive?"
"No."
"Pity. We had a great deal invested in that project." The man shook his head. "Such a waste."
Vincent felt his Beast start to rise to the surface. "Good men died in that project."
"Men who, unlike you, had no control over themselves. They were truly beasts...at the end."
"They were guinea pigs, we had no idea..."
The man held up a hand to interrupt him. "You knew what you were doing. It was all spelt out very clearly.
"Even your own doctors didn't know what was going to happen! The side effects..."
"Of course, you were quite friendly with Doctor Chandler, weren't you? The man interrupted. "You were her favourite. Being a doctor yourself you had a unique perspective on what was happening. It was one of the reasons we recruited you into that unit."
Vincent stared at the man mutely. It was true that Vanessa Chandler has spent more time with him than the other grunts, had answered his questions as fully as she could from what he remembered of that time. It was because of her compassion and her getting him out of the country and back to the states that had forged the bond between them, and why Vincent has taken on the role of protector. In that he had ultimately failed Vanessa, but since her death he had never failed her daughter. For ten years he'd been her unrecognised and unseen guardian. He'd told Catherine he'd only checked in on her on her birthday, but that hadn't been the whole truth. If he'd told her the full truth she would have viewed him as the worst kind of stalker, his guardianship unlooked for and unwanted in the ten years before they met again. Even now, despite everything they'd shared, he shied away from telling her it all, his need to protect her from the ugliness of reality as strong as ever.
The man continued, unaware of Vincent's introspection. "We were unprepared when she managed to get you both back to the states. That took some impressive string pulling, even for such a resourceful woman as Vanessa."
Vincent remained silent, his gaze focused on the mans chest rather than his face. A thought was starting to chase itself around his head, the pieces of a particular puzzle starting to come together and create an unsavoury whole.
"You seem to have admired Doctor Chandler," The man said, " and now you are in a relationship with her daughter."
That brought Vincent's head up, his eyes meeting the mans with the Beast barely leashed showing through.
"Yes, we know about you and...Catherine Chandler. We even know that she had a scare recently. We were sorry to hear she wasn't pregnant after all."
This time Vincent didn't bother to leash the Beast and gave full vent to his rage, roaring his defiance and reaching for the man, who leapt back several feet, avoiding the swipe of Vincent's claws by mere inches. As quickly as his rage had flared, it died away, Vincent shaking his head to clear it of the Beast's influence, his body reverting back to normal in the time it took to exhale.
The man watched in silent awe, his previous first hand experience of the cross-species transformation limited to the bits and pieces animated in their labs. The young man in front of him was leaps and bounds beyond whatever they'd managed to replicate so far, his physiology a perfect meld of human and beast, able to be controlled at will. It was the culmination of their plans all those years ago, and that went so horribly wrong. Here was what they had always been hoping for. Half man half beast, a weapon so far unseen and unobtainable despite repeated attempts. So much more than they had hoped for when the plan to grab Gabe had first been implemented. At first he'd been astounded to see the two elusive experiments together, their primary objective to capture Gabe, not realising that Gabe had been several jumps ahead of them in contacting Vincent to harvest his specialised dna. Seeing the two fighting below, he'd made a snap decision of who to shoot and who to capture. Despite Gabe having the upper hand, it was Vincent that drew his attention. This was quite possibly their best chance to study and eventually replicate what had been done before. With Gabe about to spear Vincent he'd given the order and taken an irrevocable step towards a more certain future for the whole project. The man in the cage was a chance to finally get it right.
"I think we can find a better use for you than merely taking you apart to see how you tick."
"Whatever you think you can make me do, I won't do it." Vincent stated flatly. Turning his back he paced to the back wall of the cell, his fists slowly clenching at his side.
"Not even if it could mean seeing Catherine again?" the man taunted, moving forward to see Vincent's reaction, bringing him imprudently within reach of the bars. In a flash of movement Vincent was there, his arm outstretched in full Beast mode, the man now flattened against the bars, feet barely touching the floor and his throat being squeezed relentlessly. It had all happened faster than anyone could react to, Vincent snarling his rage into the man's contorted face, teeth bared and eyes glowing gold.
The crash of a door announced reinforcements, Vincent feeling the prick of darts against his skin but not willing to give up his hold just yet. It took three darts before his grip loosened enough for them to free the man, Vincent succumbing once more and slumping to the floor unconscious, while his tormentor collapsed clutching his at his bruised throat and gasping for air.
Shrugging off his helpers, the man staggered to his feet and slowly approached the bars, the others standing at a respectful distance, their guns trained unerring on the prone body inside the cage. In a voice hoarse from nearly having his windpipe crushed, the man rasped out several orders. In short order the cage was opened and the body inside dragged unceremoniously out of the room to another along the corridor, there to be strapped securely on to a gurney before being transported deeper into the building.
Massaging his sore neck, the man watched the security team enter the elevator. Beside him another man glanced uneasily between the two until the metal doors shut, then he turned to the older man.
"Why lab two and not one? I thought he was due to be dissected?"
"Always so ready with the knife, Gregory. This one is different. This one is what we've been looking for, the success that has so far eluded us. Vincent Keller is the real deal, what this project originally set out to achieve a decade ago. I'm not about to carve up a prime specimen. Far from it, I intend to use that young man as the breeding stock for our next battalion of super soldiers." He clapped the other man on the shoulder. "The Chimera Project is going to be restarted, this time with a viable source for everything to come. You could say that Vincent Keller is our genesis."
"If you say so, Sir. Will he co-operate?"
The older man laughed briefly before dissolving into coughing. When this passed he smiled broadly at his companion. "Of course he won't co-operate, but every man has a weakness, and a simple inducement will keep him under control better than any cage, drugs or chains ever could."
"Inducement?"
"The young woman you were so keen to shoot, Gregory...my daughter. Catherine is the key to our Beast, for an assurance of her safety I think our Mr. Keller will do what ever we ask."
The two men continued on down the corridor, passing by the elevator doors where a light continued to blink steadily, indicating ever increasing numbers on a panel above them as it carried its unwilling burden to a level far underground.