The Man That You Are
Spoilers – set after "Tough Love", but not directly after, maybe a day or so later, I'm side stepping the Heather issue for now, assume what you like about that little pickle it doesn't really come into this story.
Cat waited nervously, a sick feeling in her stomach. She hated that she had to be the one to tell him.
"Is it safe to come in?" his warm voice called from the ledge outside her bedroom.
"Sure is," she answered awkwardly. "I'm alone," she added.
"So you needed to see me?" Vincent asked with a suggestive grin. His tone was hopeful, flirty. It made Cat feel even worse.
"Vincent I have news about Alex, it's not good, maybe you should sit down," Catherine began tenderly.
The shock registered on his face like a punch, the impact rippling through his body. Adrenaline soared and he had to fight to control himself. "This is my fault," he began.
Catherine could see him starting to turn. She put one calming hand on his shoulder and another on his cheek, "It's not your fault. None of this is your fault. Muirfield did this, not you."
"I shouldn't have brought her into this. I shouldn't have brought you into this. Everyone I love is in danger; it's only a matter of time until you're all dead. Who's next, you? JT?" Vincent shook with shock and danger.
"Alex wasn't one of us, she didn't have experience dealing with Muirfield."
"Like JT could defend himself if it really came down to it? We've been lucky so far but our luck is going to run out eventually…. Maybe I should just leave, or better yet turn myself in, end this madness."
The hurt and fear on his face was easy to read. This wasn't just about Alex. Vincent was worried he was going to lose all of them, that all of their blood would be on his hands.
"No one is going anywhere." Catherine insisted, "Alex was alone when they got to her, this shows we're safer sticking together. We're a team, you, me, and JT. We've got each other's backs. That's the way we're going to survive this. If there is one thing I've learned as a cop it's the importance of having a good partnership." She tried not to think about Tess when she said that. She missed having that kind of loyalty at work, she wasn't about to lose it in her personal life as well. "I'm not going to lose you."
Her conviction, her certainty, and the strength of her love soothed him, the beast inside him quietened and the man was able to take control. Tears poured down his cheeks.
"I couldn't live with myself if I lost you," he admitted in a choked up voice.
"Me either, so let's make sure that doesn't happen. Lay low, stay at the loft, for me. Play the Xbox, help JT work on a cure."
"I can't, I hate it there. Catherine… I feel like a leaper, like I'm contagious. I feel like I'm exactly what Muirfield think I am, a mutant. And that's what I am, isn't it?" Vincent ended bitterly.
"Some of your genes have mutated, but you are not a mutant, any more than someone in a wheelchair is a cripple, you're more than your condition."
"You're comparing my problem to a disability?"
"No… Yes, yes I am. You're a doctor; you remember treating people with disabilities. What did you tell them?"
"Focus on what you can do not on what you can't do. Be more than the diagnosis. Be a person with a wheelchair not a person who is in a wheelchair," Vincent admitted reluctantly.
"Right, so your mutation is your wheelchair, you can't get rid of it, so you just have to accept it, but you're more than that. You're Vincent Keller, you're smart and loyal and kind and… beautiful," she added the last one with an especially long look and a slightly nervous smile. She'd complimented him on his suit when he'd come to the wedding, but she'd never specifically told him he was attractive.
Vincent smiled playfully, nervously, "You think I'm beautiful?"
"You heard me," Catherine grinned, punching him playfully on the shoulder.
"I'm a horrible person," Vincent admitted guilty.
"Why's that?" Catherine asked, focused.
"You just told me about Alex – and I'm upset – I'm shattered she's gone, and I should be out there trying to get revenge, but I'm standing here looking at you…. and I just want to kiss you," he confessed.
Cat smiled, "I feel guilty too but there is no revenge against Muirfield, not right now, we care about each other, they don't, we kill ten of them they just send tend more and probably get ourselves killed in the process. Alex didn't want that, she wanted you to have the best life you could. She wanted you to move on, I know it kind of blew me away too when she said it. I kind of wanted to hate her but she was special."
"She was, and she was right, we have to make the most of the lives that we've got, neither of us know how much time we might have left," Vincent responded solemnly, but his hands moved to Catherine's waist and his head bent towards her and she knew that he was going to be okay. He was right, they didn't know how much time they might have together, but every moment counted and she was done with denying what she wanted.
Disclaimer: Still not my characters or story or anything really, but I love them so please let me play with them occasionally because a week is just too long to wait for more Vin/Cat.
A/N: Thanks heaps for the reviews of "The Cowardly Lion" what do you think of this bit? Too much same same or just right? I don't want to end *every* story with them kissing but it was either that or send Vincent off on an angry rampage, and damn it Cat needs some loving.