Title: Watchful
Rating: T
Pairing: Catherine/Vincent
Summary: Four times he watches Catherine and the one time she catches him.
AN: Some of these scenes we have witnessed, others are from my imagination. Drabble-ish. Trying to be better about this whole NaNoWrMo thing.
1. In the woods
The night was too quiet when she exited the bar; shoulders slumped in exhaustion, but her steps light. Even from the edge of the woods, he had clear sight lines of the parking lot and incoming road. His senses twitched, both the beast that ran on instinct and the military-trained brained that analyzed the situation. Something was not right here but with no further inputs, all he could do is watch.
It was the resounding empty click of the engine that pulled his sense from watchful to alert. Even a dead battery didn't sound like that. The crackle of her phone reaching out tingled across the edges of his awareness, her voice a garbled murmur.
The next minutes came in a rush, sound and light being filtered, the smell of exhaust, gun powder and then the metal tang of blood. It all hurtled through him until the beast took control on the first wave of adrenaline. The primal parts of him responding to the situation before his rational brain could react. His muscles bunching and power surging through his system as he rolled and pulled her with him under the cover of branches. Their eyes caught for one split second and beneath the fear, something blazed in her eyes, something he couldn't shake. The knowledge that he would see her again.
2. By the grave
Even in the rain, people had crowded under the tent until they spilled over, hunching under umbrellas. The priest raising his voice to be heard over the rain and out to the farthest ears. It was the last Paternoster that reached Vincent's ears from the shelter of the mausoleum. He could see her there in the front row, stark black highlighting a rail thin body. Her hair slick with the rain, a long fall of darkness down her back. It must be her sister that huddled under her arm. The features similar but rounded with youth on the younger daughter. The face that still haunted his sleep was dry, her dark eyes blank but it was the tiniest quiver of her chin that belied the calm of her features. Over it all was the faintest click clack of rosary beads passing through cold fingers that he wouldn't forget.
3. Upon promotion
The roof of the neighboring building didn't provide for the best vantage point but it was a close as he dared to get. The last partier had left and from the light spilling from her bathroom, he could see the party debris scattered down the hall. Catherine was curled, all knees and elbows, on the sill of her window. Cupped in her hand was the badge declaring her rank of detective. The faint yellow light catching the metal and making it shine. He knew it weighed heavy in her slender hands. Vincent watched as a smile broke over her face until her cheeks pinked with the grin and laughter bubbled out. He knew tequila hovered over her breath but the giggle that gurgled out wasn't born of alcohol. He knew that feeling, remembered it from when he could first write M.D. after his name. It seemed such a long time ago and those feelings so removed from who he was now. He envied her those feelings even as he mirrored her grin, if only for a moment.
4. At the party
The wide glass walls gave him constant views of her, no matter which way he looked. He wanted to catch her eyes when she stared out, across the darkness into the city. He wanted her to know he was there but the distance blurred him to a vague ridge. He watched as she nursed a single glass of champagne, the bubbles bursting and warming in her hands. She would smile as she was included in the nuptial congratulations but her smile never even approached her eyes. The growl that broke the quiet of the evening was due to the unknown man's hand drifting dangerously low on her back. Jealousy, was that what the feeling now surging through? It had been so long, so very long since he'd felt anything close to jealousy. Instead he watched as she circled in the arms of a stranger and then offered polite if vacant smiles to more strangers. He'd seen her true smile and held that feeling close knowing none of the sparkling figures in that party would see it.
5. One warm night
Vincent had just landed softly on the landing of her fire escape, fingers curling around the window sill when his nostrils flared at the scent pouring through the window. The air was heavy with wet and warmth and the scent he'd come to know was Catherine. Time seemed to slow as the door to her bathroom swung open. The towel only covered from her chest to mid-thigh leaving long expanses of skin to his eyes. In her hands another towel dried her hair and she was humming some song until her eyes unexpectedly swung up to his. Her feet had unconsciously carried her over to within reach of the window. The beast within him shifted at the familiar smell of her, the way she moved with so little to hide her from his eyes and the shock in her eyes.
If asked, he would say it was the beast that had him sliding through the window until he could stand before her. His eyes tracked a bead of water as it slid down her neck and into the dark valley between her breasts. It was the beast that lifted a hand to follow the track of water off one bare shoulder. But it wasn't just the beast stirring in him that saw her eyes darken and widen with something near to desire. And when her feet carried her through the remaining inches so she was forced to look up into his eyes, the memory of her eyes from the first moment they met was eclipsed by this one. And it was the man not the beast that slid a hand behind her neck and let his lips touch hers for the slowest second then two. He could hear and see her heartbeat thrumming in her neck. Vincent let his thumb stroke over the hammering pulse in her throat before backing his way out the window. She caught his eyes this time and smiled before he disappeared into the night.