A Way Out

by spiritbard

Takes place immediately after the "Kiss", and tries to anticipate how they resolve their problems. My own take on the way the story should unfold. This is the first chapter, others will follow if it is well received. I want to thank you all of the overwhelming response to this, talk about your motivation,lol. Thanks for reading.

1. A way Out

I do not own these characters, mores the pity, and I receive nothing for posting this story aside from instant gratification and the adulation of the masses. More chapters will follow if this is received with pleasure. Rated K…so far.

A WAY OUT

Chapter One

Standing within the circle of Vincent's arms, pressed against the warmth of his chest, her heightened senses taking in the erratic thump of his heart beneath her ear, Catherine felt the world melt away. The sounds of New York faded to a gentle hum of white noise, and there was nothing but him. Only him. The intensity of her love for him, the resounding certainty of reciprocation relaxed her, even with all the obstacles that faced them, eased her into a sense of well being and peace that brought a tender smile to her lips.

She snuggled deeper into the embrace, wanting to laugh out loud, however inappropriate the urge might be. She was joyful, almost giddy and she tightened her arms around his waist pulling him closer yet. " I love you," she whispered again, the taste of the words so long repressed, sweet on her tongue. Like his kiss, or his arms around her, or his strong hand caressing her cheek so gently. Safe, sane, sound…she had never felt anything to rival this, nothing with which to compare it to, a voyager in an undiscovered country.

She felt his breathing hitch at her words.

She leaned back slightly so she could look up into his face, and was delighted with the bemused expression on his mobile features . He had the look of a man who had just narrowly avoided an untimely demise, awe and gratitude and love…it took her breath away to realize he wore that expression for and because of her.

In the back of her mind Catherine was mindful of her wounded sister sleeping a few floors beneath their rooftop idyll. Aware of Tess' suspicion and defection. Cognizant of Evans' frustration, conscious of the Muirfield threat. But it was as if those things belonged to a separate life, a different Catherine Chandler because when she gazed into Vincent's eyes and found a love as profound as her own, nothing else seemed to matter.

But reality insistently pressed against the happiness. So many barriers, so many things waiting in the wings to shred this fragile relationship. She sighed and laid her head sadly against his chest, willing them away, wanting nothing more than to freeze this single moment in time. Vincent, always attuned to her mood, felt the melancholy rise in her and struggled to hold it at bay. He didn't want to let her go, he too recognized the difficulties facing them, but held on stubbornly to this interval, savoring this perfect moment of synchronicity.

They stood that way, suspended in time, until he dropped a resigned kiss on the top of her head and echoed her sigh. "We should talk", he said gently.

Catherine snorted a laugh, and leaned back in his embrace to look at him, "you think?" she replied, her eyes dancing with love and ironic humor.

He grinned in spite of himself, forced himself to look away across the cityscape that stretched out beyond their haven and nodded shortly. "As much as I'd like to just stand here for the rest of eternity holding you in my arms, we should probably work out a few minor details." He glanced back down at her, mesmerized by the emotion mirrored in her eyes, and fought the urge to kiss her again, and again and to keep on kissing her until all those pesky details just went away.

Catherine blew her breath out between pursed lips, " Alright spoilsport, let's talk." She stepped back and he felt suddenly bereft, but let her take his hand and lead him over to an air conditioning unit where they perched side by side. She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder ,loath to break physical contact and whispered," You go first".

"Well," he bent his head until his cheek rested against her soft, dark hair, " First off, I meant what I just said. I am in love with you. I'll never deny that again."

"But?…" she prompted, holding her breath.

He smiled, putting his finger under her chin he tilted her face upward to meet her eyes, " But, nothing," he replied, " I am in love with you, and whatever else comes after, that is immutable fact, carved in stone, as long as we both shall live."

Tears formed in Catherine's eyes and she blinked rapidly to keep them from falling, "Ditto," she whispered.

He grinned at her, " A woman of few words, a novelty to be sure." Catherine wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes, gesturing for him to get on with it. " There does, however, remain the undeniable problems of Muirfield, your sister, your job and the fact that they are all bent on seeing me crucified. Which could make the "for as long as we both shall live" part of that statement, much shorter than either of us would like."

"Killjoy," she said sourly, " But point taken…what shall we do about it?"

He reached down and twined his fingers with hers, pulling her hand to his lips to brush a kiss across her knuckles. He held her eyes, " Well, that's the question isn't it?" When she nodded without reply he asked, "What do YOU think we should do about it?"

" Well…" she said softly, her voice raw with emotion," I'll give up my job, my family and my very life before I let you go now. That much is a given."

His fingers tightened around hers, " Is it Catherine? " he asked gently, "Is that REALLY a given?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation, " It really IS, Vincent." She looked up into his questioning eyes, her own burning with resolve, " Now that I can admit how I feel about you, and I am sure that you feel the same way, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is going to stand between us. Whatever it takes, whatever sacrifice must be made, I will make it. Obviously I want to keep my friends and family safe, and I will do what is necessary to ensure that, short of losing you." She lifted their linked hands and pressed her cheek to the back of his, " I can't lose you. I won't."

"Then I only see one way to go," he replied, "We're going to have to bring them in."

Chapter Two

"Bring them in?" she asked hesitantly, " As in, tell them the truth? Have you lost your mind?"

" So it would seem," he chuckled, " And the very thought of including so many people in the secret is going to give JT apoplexy. But short of turning myself in, I can't think of any other way to have our cake, and eat it too."

Catherine dropped his hand and slid down from the unit to begin pacing in front of him. She gnawed on her thumb nail, shooting glances at him every few seconds as she thought furiously about what he had just suggested. He sat passively, his expression bland, as she muttered to herself in agitation, waiting for her to reach the same obvious conclusion.

She stopped and faced him, eyeing him critically, "There has to be another way," she said shortly.

He shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head questionably, " You have a better idea?"

" No," she said fiercely, " But there has to be one, we just haven't hit on it yet."

" Sooner would be better than later," he replied reasonably.

She scowled at him, shaking her head, " Just give me a moment to think will you? And stop looking at me…I can't think at all when you look at me like that."

A smile tugged at his lips, he was enjoying the effect he had on her, "Like what exactly?"

She gazed at him through narrowed eyes and pointed a shaking finger at him in accusation, " All smug

and smirky, you're not helping…" she trailed off lamely, her heart hammering as he slid gracefully off the unit and approached her. She held her hand up to keep him at bay, "Vincent.." his name fell from her lips like an entreaty.

" Catherine?…" he mocked, his eyes smoldering. But he stopped just short of touching her, though her senses still swam at his nearness, and she was having trouble drawing breath enough to reply.

Squaring her shoulders, she locked her gaze to his, " How can we involve them? Heather already thinks you're the devil incarnate. Tess doesn't trust me anymore, and Evan would like nothing more than to make you the bound and tied centerpiece of his cross-species presentation to the entire scientific community. Not to mention the fact that from tonight on you're going to be the subject of one of the most vengeance driven man hunts in New York history." She spun away from him and walked to the edge of the roof staring dejectedly out across a city she once loved and understood, but which now seemed fraught with a myriad of hidden dangers. She gripped the roof railing angrily until her knuckles were white, and mused silently on the inevitability of her falling in love with THE most complicated man in the history of difficult relationships. Romeo and Juliet?…hah, Shakespeare was purported to know everything about love, but he hadn't known Vincent and herself.

Giving herself a mental shake she turned back to face Vincent, immediately aware of the defeat redolent in his posture and the depth of pain in his eyes. Remorse overtook anger and she went to stand before him, she ducked her head forcing him to look at her and she smiled gently, "That being said, I think your idea has some merit. Heather doesn't know you, if she did I think your image as a demon might be dispelled. Tess' suspicion is rooted in the fact that I have been keeping an impossible secret from her, and Evan?…well, Evan is a reasonably compassionate man, and I think if you were to become a person as opposed to a subject, and he understood what had been done to you to make you what you are, he might prove to be an invaluable ally." He lifted his head and searched her face, hope warring with impossibility. "There's still the matter of Joe's vengeance," she said after a moment, " But I think if we can win one of them over, the rest might fall in line." She lifted her hand to his face and stroked his cheek, " What do you think?" she queried gently.

" I think we should start with Tess," he replied.

Chapter Three

Catherine nodded, seeing the sense in his suggestion. Heather was far too fragile to approach at the moment, she was going to need some time and distance before she'd be willing to accept Vincent. Evan had been strange tonight in the morgue, certain that Catherine was holding out on him, and without an explanation as to why was determined to find the answers on his own. He was going to take some careful handling. But Tess?… Catherine thought Vincent might have the right of it. Tess would most likely be the least reactive, and most receptive. She might possibly be the only person at the moment that could be trusted to be discreet. The fact that she was somehow involved with Joe and that Vincent had just killed her lovers brother was a significant stumbling block, but she was the logical choice.

" We're going to have to be completely upfront with her Vincent," Catherine cautioned, " No omissions, no evasions, she's going to have to know the unvarnished truth if we're going to win her loyalty. Are you sure you're prepared for that?" She searched his face seriously, making sure he understood the implications because Tess might NOT be receptive at all, and could very well end their solution before it ever got underway. " She's going to ask pointed, penetrating questions, she's going to be angry and incredulous and she may just call Joe halfway through our explanation and have us both arrested without a single qualm. You do understand that….right? I can't be sure how she is going to react, but if we're really going to do this, she's the best place to start."

Vincent swallowed hard, 10 years of running, hiding and secrecy were about to fall by the wayside so that he and Catherine might possibly have some sort of future together. The thought scared him spit less, but if the upside was the chance to spend just one carefree day with her, to revel in and enjoy what had only just become a real love, the chance was worth the risk. " Yes, I do understand." He replied softly.

Nodding shortly Catherine stepped away from him and began searching through her clothes for her phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked quizzically. "Looking for my phone so I can call Tess," she replied, still patting herself down.

"Now?!" his voice rose an octave, "Catherine, it's three o'clock in the morning, don't you think you should wait for daylight?" Now that she seemed certain of the path, she was determined to bull forward, much to his growing dismay. His new girl was nothing if not proactive.

" No time like the present. Besides, she'll be feeling sympathetic towards me because of Heather, she'll be half asleep so she'll be somewhat befuddled, and if we're going to do this, we had better make a start because tomorrow the entire police force is going to be scouring the city looking for you. If we can win Tess over, she might have some idea how to get us out of this mess."

He gave her a resigned nod, indicating his tacit approval. " Damn," she hissed, "I must have left my phone downstairs, I'll go get it, check on Heather and be right back. You stay here ok?" She gave him a distracted smile, threw her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a brief but passionate kiss, and then exited the roof before he could even draw a breath.

Bemused, with an idiot smile on his face he listened to her descending the stairs two or three at a time until she was out of earshot. Within seconds the reality of what they were about to do crashed over him like a tsunami and he nearly went after her in panic. But the still fresh memory of her in his arms, her lips warm and receptive beneath his own stayed any forward motion. He trusted her, had always trusted her with his life and his secret and if she believed, then he must too. He really had no choice, because from this moment forward, there would be no meaning to his life without her.

But he needed to let JT know what was going on, and he grimaced at the expected reaction from his oldest and most dependable friend. He knew precisely what JT was going to say, but their path was set, and judging by the determined set of Catherine's shoulders and the gleam in her eyes, there would be no going back.

He pulled his burner phone from his coat pocket and sent a short text, " Am fine, working things out with C, will tell all later. V " he could imagine JT grinding a handful of Tums between clenched teeth when he read that, but it couldn't be helped.

He turned towards the sound of the roof door creaking open and watched silently as Catherine approached. She looked worried and uncharacteristically frightened and the Beast immediately growled within him at the unseen threat. She stopped a few inches from him, she was holding her phone and looking at it as though it were a venomous snake. " Catherine?"

She looked up at him, her eyes dark and filled with concern. " I found my phone," she said, stating the obvious, " I had several messages." She handed the offending device to Vincent, crossed her arms protectively over her chest, and moved away to stare out distractedly over the city.

Bemused, he glanced down at the screen and his heart began to race, the first message was from Tess;

"C, new partner and I will be by at 8am, we need to ask some questions, you'll need to have some answers. T"

His throat closed off, making it hard to breathe, he scrolled down, the next message was from Evan:

"Catherine, I know you're hiding something from me. I'm sorry you don't feel you can trust me enough to tell me what it is. But believe me when I tell you, I will find out. And as your friend, I will do what I can to protect you, even if you won't protect yourself. Evan."

He stared at the phone for a moment, then turned his gaze towards Catherine. She was rigid, defensive and worry flowed from her in palpable waves.

He moved over to stand beside her. Silently he groped for her hand and closed his fingers around hers, they were cold and unresponsive.

"Catherine?" his voice was gravelly, his breathing shallow.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered without looking at him.

He pulled her into his arms and crushed her to his chest, as much to reassure himself as to comfort her.

"Survive", was all he could offer her.

Chapter Four

Catherine was frankly in shock. Somewhere in the depths of her mind she had been sure that she would be able to mend the rift with Tess, that she could find a way to earn back her trust and her friendship, and that they would be partners again. It appeared she had been wrong…about many things. Evan too, was like a Pit Bull, not able to let go of his surety about "the creature" he believed to be a danger, especially to her, and his determination to uncover the truth was fast becoming a real problem. She glanced sideways at Vincent and found him with his shoulders hunched and hands plunged deep into his pockets. His head was bowed and his eyes closed and Catherine knew without asking that only the weight of his guilt and his recently professed love, kept him rooted at her side. Otherwise he would have bolted already, and might never have looked back.

Sadness welled up in her, for him, for herself and for the unfairness of their predicament. He deserved better than this, he was a good man, and being close to her put him in more danger than he had ever known. Yes, she had protected him and Alex, but if she hadn't insinuated herself into his life, he probably wouldn't have needed protection. His guilt was needless and misplaced. It was she who should bear that weight, not him. All he had ever done was look out for her and those she cared about, and as a reward he was once again on Muirfields radar, and being hunted by her own precinct.

"You need to go Vincent," she said, though the pain those words caused her made them come out harsh and cold. " You need to get out of New York, get away from me, and run. Run and don't come back here."

His head came up sharply and he stared at her in disbelief, "NO," he hissed, but it sounded more like a question than a statement. " I can't do that," he was shaking his head vehemently," I won't do that. I won't leave you here alone to clean up this mess, to face your friends, your coworkers, and Muirfield on your own. I won't, and I can't really believe you'd ask me to."

Her fear for him became anger, she grabbed his upper arm and spun him to face her, " Damn your nobility. I can handle myself, and Muirfield will have zero interest in me if they know I've sent you packing, and I'll make sure they know. You, me, Tess, Evan, Heather, even JT…we're all in danger if we keep trying to fight the inevitable. This is never going to work…" she indicated the two of them with a trembling hand, and she hoped he couldn't see what it cost her to say those words. Because the very last thing in the world Catherine Chandler wanted, was for him to leave. But worse than his leaving, would be his capture or death…she knew her heart would never survive that… so she pushed. "Your instinct was right Vincent," she said angrily, "You need to walk away. Now, while there is still time."

He was still shaking his head negatively, but his voice had left him. A crushing pain had seized it. His stomach heaved and his heart faltered in his chest. The Beast roared within him, raged against what she was saying. He couldn't walk away from her. Not now, not ever. Never again, it simply wasn't possible.

" I love you Catherine," he whispered because it was all the breath he could muster, " and you love me. You know it's true." His eyes blazed as they locked on hers, daring her to deny her feelings for him.

She laughed then, but the sound was strident and derisive and it made him wince. " Yes," she replied scornfully," I won't deny it. But look where it's gotten us." She gestured angrily around the rooftop, " Stolen, furtive moments on a dark rooftop. In alleys, on fire escapes. And we both know how this will end."

She hated herself for what she was about to say, and the hurt she knew it was going to cause, but it had to be done. She had to make sure he was safe and out of the reach of those that were searching for him. "Or are you willing to destroy us all for the sake of another fantasy?"

His sharp intake of breath told her that she'd struck a nerve and driven the wedge between them effectively.

Suddenly exhausted, she sighed, "Just go Vincent. Gather up whatever you need to survive and get out of New York while you still have the option." Now for the final nail in her coffin, " And if you care about me at all, you'll stay away."

The pain made him close his eyes, which worked in her favor because he didn't see the tears that welled up in hers. Didn't see her reach out in a moment of remorse and indecision, to touch him, to bring him back.

Didn't see her crumbling in upon herself as the realization of what she had just done impressed itself on her soul. Didn't see her break.

He didn't move or speak for a moment, and when he did, it was almost a sob, " This is what you want?"

His eyes still closed she said," It's what has to be."

"That isn't what I asked you," his voice was rough with pain.

"It's all there is," she said quietly.

Without another word, he was gone.

The sun had risen and it was almost 8am, Tess' arrival imminent, before Catherine was able to compose herself enough to return to her flat. It was going to be a very long day.

CHAPTER FIVE

JT reread the message Catherine had sent him several times in disbelief. This was bad, this was really bad.

" JT, you MUST make Vincent leave the city. Tess has a new partner and they are coming to ask me questions, Evan has gone rogue, and Joe is mobilizing the National Guard to hunt him down. I can't protect him anymore, my credibility is suspect. He has to run, hide and most importantly he must stay away from ME. I hurt him JT, badly, and it broke my heart to do it, but I can't let him get caught. I love him. Take care of him please, and get him OUT. Don't let on that I've told you. He needs to believe the lie. C"

"Very, very bad…"

He sat for a few minutes his mind working furiously. Of course, they had planned for this sort of thing. Well…maybe not this exactly, they had never anticipated Vincent falling in love with a cop. But they had a plan for getting him out of town, and going by Catherine's text, it was time to implement it.

He erased the message from his phone, got up and moved to his computer to begin making arrangements.

While his fingers automatically skipped over the keys, his mind mulled over the enigma of Catherine.

From the start he had resented her, suspected her motives and was terrified for his friend because she was a cop, and everyone she knew was a cop. Not the best circle of friends for a fugitive.

But over time, the risks she took to keep him safe, the injury she sustained to her reputation and even physically, brought him around. Now he genuinely liked and respected her. And he knew she was in love with Vincent, had known long before either of them had admitted it to themselves. That had probably worried him more than anything. Love can make you do stupid things, and Vincent couldn't afford to make stupid mistakes. He had always been careful, but his love for Catherine and his need to take care of her had made him reckless. It had made HER reckless, and this was the result.

An hour later, their preparations made JT pushed himself away from the desk with a sigh and scrubbed at his face tiredly. The plane was chartered, the car arranged and the cabin would be stocked with provisions by the time Vincent arrived. Idaho was about as far away from New York as you could get, and the tiny mountain town he was going to had no cctv cameras, no cell phone coverage and only one over worked sheriff. If he kept his head down and minded his own business, he should be free to move around as he pleased. He might even like it there. But JT doubted that Vincent would like being anywhere Catherine wasn't.

Now all he had to do is convince Vincent to go without letting on that he knew what had transpired between him and Catherine. Easy….not so much.

It was after dawn and JT was beginning to get worried when he heard Vincent come in down below. The slow, labored sound of his friends' tread on the stairs, told him everything he needed to know about Vincent's state of mind. JT adjusted his tactics accordingly and steeled himself for a fight. But he thought it would be a short one, he was pretty sure all the fight had gone out of his oldest friend.

Vincent arrived at the top of the stairs, and when he peeled back the hood on his jacket, JT couldn't help the sharp intake of breath at his friend's appearance. He looked haggard, defeated….broken, it was painful to see. Catherine had done her job well.

"You look like hell," he said matter of factly, " Where have you been?"

Vincent lifted red rimmed eyes to meet JT's belligerent gaze, shrugged and replied quietly, "Breaking up with Catherine."

"That must be some kind of record," JT said unkindly," She was your girlfriend for what?…two hours?"

Vincent's eyes filled with tears, but JT pressed relentlessly," Sorry big guy, but I tried to warn you how this would end. It was Alex all over again, only worse, because she's a cop."

He walked over to Vincent, took his arm and led him to the couch, then pushed him down on it. He gazed down at his friend's bowed head sadly for a moment, then went and got him a glass of water and a sleeping pill. He picked up Vincent's unresponsive hand and pressed both items into it. "Take that," he growled, "You need to sleep for a while, and when you wake up, we need to make a plan for getting you out of New York."

" No," Vincent replied sharply," I'm not leaving."

" .ARE." JT shouted, losing his cool," Last night you killed a police detective's only, beloved brother, never mind the guy was a slime ball. You think you'll ever be able to leave this loft again? Is that what you want? To be a prisoner? HERE? Think man, you have to get out of this city, and you have to do it very, very soon."

"That's what Catherine said too," Vincent's voice faltered as he said her name.

"Well, at least she finally came to HER senses," JT retorted scathingly. "Take your pill and go to sleep," he relented," I'll make the arrangements."

When Vincent nodded and slipped the pill between his lips, JT knew the fight was over and he'd won.

CHAPTER SIX

Catherine was more tired than she could ever remember being . She was drained, cold, empty. Vincent's face, his eyes filled with pain and disbelief , was etched upon her bruised psyche. Floated accusingly within her mind, a constant reminder of what she had done to him. What had needed to be done, she reminded herself pointlessly. That simmering pot of trouble they had always been able to monitor, had now boiled over, and she was helpless to keep him from being burned if he didn't get out of New York. But oh, the cost.

She moved woodenly about her room, her eyes drawn frequently to the window and the fire escape, peeling off her clothing and stumbling into the shower. She only had a short time to get ready for Tess' arrival and the interrogation that was bound to ensue. Briefly, she wondered who her new partner would be. Would Tess have filled them in on her suspicions? Would they double team her? She had to be ready for that eventuality.

Standing under the stream of too hot water, she let the tears flow. Let the sadness, the monstrous pain loose, let it run from her in scalding rivulets. Let the chocking sobs burn her throat raw, let it go until there was nothing left but her resolve. She reached down and cranked the shower lever in the opposite direction until the water was icy, and stood shivering, her face upturned into the stinging spray until she was braced.

Finally she turned the water off, stood dripping and cold, mastering her heartbeat and breathing, desperately trying to regain control of too intense emotions.

It was over and done. He was gone. All that she could do now was try and control the damage. In itself a monumental task, and she needed all her wits about her to achieve that goal.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and studied her reflection critically. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face blanched white, her lips thin and compressed…in fact, she looked like shit. She almost smiled at the brutal self assessment, but didn't have the heart. Instead, she set about to cover the traces of misery, artfully applying makeup, combing out her tangled hair until she felt reasonably certain that she could pass even Tess' shrewd evaluation.

She returned to her room and rifled through her closet, choosing casual and comfortable clothing maintaining the appearance of innocence. She had already called into the precinct last night to take a few days off, ostensibly to be with her sister, but glad now that she didn't have to face the entire office and try to keep her façade in place . Tess' scrutiny was going to be pressure enough.

As ready as she was ever going to be, she briefly stopped in Heather's room to check on her. Her pixie of a sister was still sound asleep, the pills having done their work admirably, and was likely to remain unconscious for some time. Which was a relief. Lying to Tess would be much easier without Heather's intuition at play.

She stroked her sisters unruly hair back from her face, and dropped an absent kiss on her forehead. For all her annoying traits, Catherine loved her sister fiercely.

She pulled Heather's door shut on her way out, and moved off toward the kitchen to make a much needed pot of coffee. Her phone sat on the kitchen counter and the message light was pulsing. She picked it up and scrolled through her messages looking for one in particular. When she saw JT's name she opened the accompanying text, " V safe, arrangements made as per your instructions. Sorry for the way this has turned out. Will call you later with particulars. JT"

Fighting back the tears that again threatened, she sent him a reply, " No need to call. Best if I don't know details. Plausible deniability. Take care and thanks. C"

She erased any message that pertained to Vincent, Alex or JT and took all of their numbers out of her contact list, then she put her phone in the microwave and turned it on. There was a loud bang, a shower of sparks and both the phone and the microwave died an inglorious death. She unplugged the appliance, and with the phone still inside carried it downstairs and dumped it in a trash bin at the end of the block.

She was just entering the front door when Tess' car coasted to a stop in front of the building. Tess got out on the drivers side, looked mildly surprised to see Cat, then schooled her expression into one of professional inscrutability. Cat almost smiled, Tess was rather predictable when in came to her interrogation techniques. She waited for her former partner, holding the door open in invitation, struggling to give the impression of casual acceptance. But when she saw Evan get out of the passenger side of the car, and took in the shiny new detectives badge clipped to his pocket, she nearly lost it.

" Detective Marks?" she forced herself to sound pleasantly surprised, " When did THAT happen?

Evan inclined his head without smiling, " I took the test a few weeks ago, Joe promoted me to the field just last night after…well, after everything went pear shaped." he shrugged uncomfortably, nervously straightening his badge and twitching his tie.

Catherine nodded and indicated the stairwell, " I have fresh coffee brewing, come on up".

Those five flights were like walking the green mile for Catherine, she could feel Tess and Evans' eyes boring into her back as she led them up to the flat. She opened the door and let them precede her into the kitchen. Her back to them, she closed the door and sucked a strengthening breath into her tortured lungs. Then turned to face them, she brushed past Evan and took a cup from the dish drainer waving it questionably in the air. They both nodded acceptance to the silent invitation. An encouraging sign, they were both of them off center and unsure of how to proceed, that could work to her advantage. "Go have a seat," she ordered casually, and relaxed marginally when they sat in their usual places.

"So…" she said as she passed the cups around, "What's this all about?" She sat across from them and met their gazes unflinchingly, feigning curiosity.

"How's Heather?" Tess asked without preamble.

"She's still asleep," Cat replied after a short hesitation, she tilted her head considering," But I think she'll be ok. After all, she didn't really know Darius very long, or indeed, very well," she gazed at them over the rim of her cup pointedly," and she's resilient," she continued," so I think in time she'll be alright."

Tess nodded absently, and Cat could tell that her reference to not knowing Darius very well, had struck a chord.

Evan, obviously not yet comfortable with his new role leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers. Glancing quickly at Tess, and receiving an almost imperceptible nod of approval, he cleared his throat and spoke for the first time since leaving the car. " Tell us what happened at the club last night Cat".

"ok," she replied, taking a moment to gather her thoughts, " After the argument I had with Heather at the office, I got worried when I couldn't find her at the party, and she wouldn't answer her phone," Smiling with just the right amount of chagrin she continued," She can be a little impulsive and erratic, so I tracked her using the precinct cctv coverage. I saw that she and Darius had gone to one of Darius' clubs, so I followed her to try and talk some sense into her and apologize."

Tess arched one eyebrow skeptically, but Catherine continued as if she hadn't noticed, " We talked, well…shouted…I told her that if it was a choice between her and the "Ass", of course I chose her, and then she indicated that he was in the club. She encouraged me to break it off with him then and there, and that is exactly what happened."

"Then what?" asked Evan.

"Then he left, and I left, I came home and was getting ready for bed when Heather called…and you know the rest."

Catherine was worried about admitting that Vincent had been in the club, afraid that Evan and Tess would make the connection between Vincent and the vigilante attacks. But there was no way around it, she HAD to be forthright. Besides, Heather had seen him and was sure to mention that he had been there. Any omission of that fact was sure to raise a red flag.

" Don't you find it odd that he followed you to the club Cat," Evan pressed, she could see he was connecting the dots.

She shrugged nonchalantly, " No, not really. He was lurking by my car when I left the precinct. I told him I was going to the club to talk to Heather. After our disastrous dinner date the other night, I'm pretty sure he knew what was coming and was trying to initiate a preemptive strike. He failed, he took it like a man, and he left. End of story."

" You don't seem too torn up about it," Tess interjected, scrutinizing her friend and former partner shrewdly.

"Well…" Catherine paused considering, " I liked him, and I didn't like being issued ultimatums by my friends and family," she gazed pointedly at Tess until she had the grace to shift her gaze away guiltily," But on the other hand, there was something not quite right about him, and when it came down to it, I didn't know HIM all that well either, so the choice wasn't all that difficult."

Tess looked back at her mildly surprised, but Cat could tell she bought it. She met Evans' gaze steadily, his penetrating and doubtful, but he glanced at Tess, who grimaced and shrugged, and Cat knew the interview was over.

Tess set her coffee cup down on the table, and stood up with a sigh. She met Cat's eye and nodded shortly, " Give my best to Heather," she said. Cat smiled and assured her that she would. "When are you back at the precinct?"

" A couple of days I suppose, I want to be around for Heather," she replied keeping it simple. Evan and Tess both inclined their heads like identical little robot cops, told her to take care and left without another word.

Catherine saw them out, then turned trembling with her back to the door. All the tension released and she shuddered with reaction. But she had gotten through it, and had done a fine job of it if she said so herself. She knew they were both still suspicious, but she hadn't made a single misstep and felt like she had averted at least one catastrophe today.

She was exhausted and after checking on Heather again, decided she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed, pull the covers up over her head and sleep for a year. As she was getting undressed she paused at the window, placing her palm against the glass she whispered…." I love you" . Then she got into bed and embraced sweet oblivion for at least a few hours.

CHAPTER SEVEN

"We'll be landing in McCall in about five minutes Mr. Kelton," the pilot raised his voice to be heard over the sound of the engine. Vincent gave a short nod of acknowledgement, and gingerly slid the photo he had been staring at for the past 6 hours, back into the pocket of his back pack. Mr Kelton was JT's invention, as was the beautifully made prosthetic piece he had applied to Vincent's scar to cover it. Contacts and hair coloring had completed the transformation, and Vance Kelton had been born.

Vincent glanced out the small window at the tiny town of McCall, Idaho while the pilot circled for the last time and descended towards the short tarmac and landing. Under different circumstances, Vincent would have been entranced by the beauty of the scenery. The wide, clear blue waters of the lake, the sea of Ponderosa pine, the pristine snow covered peaks…but considering his reason for being here, he regarded it as nothing more than another bolt hole hiding place.

The ground rose up quickly to meet them, the plane bumped once, twice and then rolled to a stop just short of the single corrugated tin hanger just beyond the run way. The pilot switched off his engine and turned in his seat to face Vincent. He gestured towards the hangar, where a silver Jeep sat in the shadows. "Your car is right there Mr. Kelton, inside are your maps and the rest of the gear Mr. Harris arranged for you."

Mr. Harris, another invention, supposedly this vacationing execs PA, had thought of everything.

"Thanks," Vincent replied, making an effort to be gracious," You gave me a smooth ride, I'll make sure to include your company in my recommendation." The pilot grinned , delighted by the prospect of further business, and insisted on hauling Vincent's nominal luggage to the Jeep and stowing it. With another grin and a jaunty salute he wished Vincent a pleasant stay and returned to finish buttoning up his plane.

Gazing around morosely, Vincent unlocked the car and climbed behind the wheel. JT had rented a cabin in a place called New Meadows, population around 500 people. Vincent snorted, there were over 500 people within a 4 block radius of the loft in New York, he didn't figure on traffic noise keeping him awake at night.

The directions JT had given him were pretty straightforward, and he guessed he might as well make his way to the cabin and get settled in. He started the engine, drove out to the highway and headed north. He was supposed to meet someone named Geoff McCarthy in New Meadows to obtain the key to the cabin and while he made the short drive to New Meadows, he patted his pockets for the contact number JT had given him. He arrived in New Meadows a very short time later and located a gas station with a pay phone. Dropping his change into the slot, he dialed the number and listened to the old fashioned ring. A male voice came on the line, "This is Geoff."

"Hi Geoff, this is Vance Kelton, my assistant made arrangements with you to pick up a key for the cabin I rented?"

"Oh right,' recognition was swift," Sure Mr. Kelton, if you tell me where you are I can meet you."

Vincent glanced around, locating the name and street number of the station and repeated it to Geoff who replied that he was less than five minutes away and would be with him in a jiffy.

It seemed like Vincent had no sooner walked back to the Jeep before a bright blue pick up truck swung into the lot. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, maybe some grizzled old prospector perhaps, a Gabby Hayes look alike, but that certainly wasn't what exited the truck. Geoff McCarthy was easily 6'4" and 280 pounds of lean, mean ex Marine. His arms were decorated with the Marine corps emblem and the words "Semper Fi" and Vincent immediately felt a prickle of wariness. He walked across the blacktop towards the truck, his hand extended. Geoff appraised him fleetingly, then took his hand in a firm grip. "Mr. Kelton I presume", he smiled toothily and Vincent retuned the smile with one of his own. "Pleasure," he replied.

They crossed to the Jeep exchanging banal pleasantries, and Geoff handed him a key. " The cabin is all ready for you," he said easily, " It has all the comforts. The cupboards and the fridge are stocked. The heat is propane, as is the hot water, but the tank is massive so you should be alright. Plus there's a wood stove and a fireplace just in case. There's satellite tv and internet if you're so inclined," he paused speculatively," But Mr. Harris indicated that you were coming up here to write a book and do some fishing, so I don't suppose that'll be too important. Which is good because it goes down a lot. There's an old rotary phone, and Mr. Harris has your number."

He grinned, " Oh…" he patted his clothing for a second," and here's my number if you need anything while you're here," he handed Vincent a card that said "McCarthy Outfitters", " or if you just want some company, or a beer , or to know where the Brookies are laying."

"Thanks," Vincent replied vaguely, " I'll keep that in mind."

Geoff's eyes narrowed slightly, and his smile dimmed a bit, but he extended his hand again and Vincent took it casually.

" Well…enjoy your stay," Geoff offered, then pointed up the road, " Left at mile marker 17, then about 12 miles up the dirt road. Cabin's on the right, back in a grove of Aspen, can't miss it."

"Thanks Geoff," Vincent replied feeling a bit churlish, " See you around I expect."

"I expect," Geoff chuckled, glancing back over his shoulder as he walked towards his truck, " Small town."

"That it is," Vincent mumbled under his breath as he climbed back into the Jeep and headed up the road.

It took him about a half hour to get to the cabin, and he was glad he had a rig with 4 wheel drive as he bounced along. The road was rutted and washboardy, and piled high with snow that didn't look like it'd been driven on all winter. " Geez, JT," he groused " Could you have chosen a MORE remote place?" But upon reflection, he was pleased to be so far away from everything and everyone. The downside was that he'd have a LOT of time to think, but even that might be good for him. Not like he had a choice anyway, he sighed, and he was pretty sure what subject would occupy his thoughts.

After the way they had left things, he was unprepared for how much he missed her. Even when he hadn't been able to be near her, just knowing she was in the city somewhere close by, had brought him comfort.

He had stared at her photo the entire flight across the country, memorizing every line, every highlight in her hair, the way her eyes shone as she looked up at him. It had made him ache with longing, and he was afraid that would never ease.

He found it strange that he had been prepared to leave the city with Alex only weeks ago, had been ready to put it and Catherine behind him and move on, and until this very moment he hadn't given Alex a single thought. But Catherine was on his mind at all times.

He glanced down at the odometer, realizing he had come almost 12 miles, then noticed a mailbox a ways up on the right. Pulling into the long drive he was somewhat surprised at what awaited him. The cabin wasn't very big, maybe 2 bedrooms, but it was beautiful. Large Cedar logs seated snugly together, a wide porch and huge river rock chimney. There was a big leanto shed out back filled to overflowing with firewood, and the cabin was surrounded on all sides by Quaking Aspen and towering Ponderosa Pines. A split rail fence ran along the drive and back into the trees, curving around to embrace what he imagined, was a pretty green field in the spring. The atmosphere was idyllic, and had his heart not been a dead thing in his chest, he might have been thrilled to be here.

He got out of the car and walked toward the cabin, taking in the deafening silence , noticing the countless animal tracks in the snow. A weary smile played on his lips for a moment, realizing he would probably wake up most mornings to deer and elk in the yard. For a bolt hole, this wasn't bad. He went up the deep stairs and unlocked the door, walked across the flagstone entry and into the living room which was dominated by a massive fireplace. The back wall was nothing but glass, probably not very energy efficient, but certainly beautiful, and the view was spectacular.

He quickly found the thermostat and turned up the heat, then went back out to the car and retrieved his few belongings. Hauling them up the narrow stairs to the bedroom, he took in his surroundings. He dumped his luggage on the bed, grabbed the laptop JT had provided him with, and went back downstairs to locate the internet connection. JT would be waiting to hear from him.

He set up the laptop in the kitchen, plugged it in and booted up. Opening his email, he smiled to find a message from JT. " Let me know when you get in. Hope you like it J."

"A smiley face JT?" he chuckled, "What a dork".

He sent a short message and waited to see if JT was online and would answer immediately. He hated to admit it, but he missed his friend already. The mail icon came up almost at once, the message read, " Go to Skype."

Vincent clicked on the icon and waited for JT to answer, when his friends face appeared on the screen Vincent immediately knew something was wrong.

"JT?" he said, suddenly very frightened. "What's going on?"

"Ok…Vince," JT ran his hands over his scalp distractedly, " You gotta promise me you won't freak out."

"Just spit it out JT, what's happened?"

JT looked stricken, and he paused for a few seconds as if debating whether he was going to actually tell Vincent what the problem was.

The Beast growled in his chest and he swore," JT!"

"Ok…Ok," JT's face fell and his shoulders slumped in defeat, " I'm going to tell you but I want your promise you'll stay where you are, at least for the time being." He stared through the connection at Vincent, waiting.

"Alright, I promise…now tell me."

" It's Catherine…Vincent, she's been shot, she's in a coma and they aren't sure if she's going to pull through."

Vincent stared at the screen in uncomprehending horror, speechless, unable to move while JT babbled out the details," Those guys…the ones from the alley…they traced Heather back to Catherine, they knew she might be able to identify them so they went to Catherine's apartment to finish her off. Instead they came up against her. God Vince, that woman is as gritty as they come. She took all of them out, but a stray bullet caught her above the right eye, there's some brain damage, but it was a small caliber bullet and it went through a wall and door before it hit her so she survived. At least for now."

JT paused, watched his friend for a reaction and was terrified when he didn't show one, he continued quickly, " You can't come back Vince, you simply can't. The hospital and Catherine's' apartment are crawling with cops, like ants on a hill. There's no way you'd get anywhere near her. You have to stay where you are. I give you my solemn promise I'll keep you updated on her condition, day and night, any word and you'll get it immediately. Vince? " JT waited for a response, very afraid that Vincent was going to break the promise he had just made. "VINCENT KELLER," he shouted into the screen in frustration, " You answer me right now Godammit. Don't you even think about it, do you hear me? Vin…"

Vincent reached down and severed the connection only seconds before the Beast emerged.

Chapter Eight

Catherine was startled from her sleep by Heathers' scream and the sounds of a scuffle coming from the other room. A door slammed shut, male voices raised in anger, and Heathers' continued screams brought her fully awake and to her feet in seconds. Quietly she removed her service pistol from the nightstand drawer and calmly checked the clip to make sure it was fully loaded, then glided silently to her bedroom door and peeked around the jamb quickly to assess the situation. Heather had obviously made it to her room, and by the sound of it had shoved every piece of furniture within, up against the door. "Good girl Heath," she smiled grimly. There were three men in the flat, two in the hallway trying to get Heathers' door opened, and one in the living room, apparently standing guard. All three appeared to be armed.

Catherine could hear Heathers' frantic voice babbling about intruders and giving her address, it was clear she'd had the presence of mind to grab her phone. Considering Catherine had microwaved hers only a few hours ago, that was a good thing. It was obvious they hadn't yet figured out that Catherine was in the flat, which gave her a distinct advantage in the situation. There were however three of them, and she was going to have to be damn accurate. She needed to take out the two in the hallway first, they were closest and the main threat, so she leaned around the jam once more, took quick aim and fired.

Catherine held the precinct trophy for firearm accuracy, so it was no surprise she brought the first guy down with one clean shot to the throat, but the second man spun and began to fire immediately, and was quickly joined by the third. Catherine dodged back into her room, shouted at Heather to get on the floor and to tell the cops to get a move on, and swung back into the doorway to fire again. Her second shot took the third guy high on the left and knocked him groaning back into the living room, where he sprawled on the floor in a growing pool of his own blood.

The second man, a bald, squint eyed little weasel realized he was alone now, and without cover boldly stood up and came racing towards her firing wildly, Catherine took aim and her last bullet found its mark, dropping him in his tracks. Unfortunately, as he fell, his finger spasmed and he got off three more rounds before he hit the floor dead. One of which hit the stainless steel light fixture in the hall ceiling, ricocheted, plowed through Catherine's' bedroom wall, splintered her doorframe, and hit her above the right eye.

Catherine had barely a second to register the shock before everything went dark and silent.

It grew preternaturally quiet in the flat quite suddenly and Heather wasn't sure what scared her more, the gunfire or the silence. She sat rigid with fear for a moment, then whimpered , "Cat?" There was no answer and she screamed, "Cat?!", still nothing and now she was terrified. She could hear sirens approaching now, but was too frightened to stand until she realized she could climb out onto the fire escape. She bolted for the window and pried it open, flinging herself out onto the iron platform. She peered down just as the first cop cars screeched to a halt in the street below. "Help!" she sobbed as the cops began to pour from their patrol cars, "We need an ambulance, apartment 503...HURRY!" Heather sidled along the narrow fire escape until she could peer into Catherine's' bedroom window, and what she saw made her start screaming all over again.

Ten minutes later Heather sat on the stoop of their building wrapped in an emergency blanket, and watched silently as a gurney carrying her sister was wheeled quickly down the steps and into the waiting ambulance. Her head was swathed in bandages, and there was blood all down the front of her My Little Pony PJ's. The pajamas had been a Christmas gag gift from Heather, but Catherine had loved them and wore them all the time. Heather was pretty sure she'd never look at another My Little Pony item without wanting to throw up.

Tess sat next to Heather, her arm around her shoulders, murmuring gently in her ear about how tough Cat was, how brave and strong and how she was going to come through this like the champ she was. But there were tears streaming unchecked down Tess' face, and Evan, on his phone at the foot of the stairs looked like someone had punched him in the gut. They wouldn't even let Heather ride with her sister in the ambulance, but Tess and Evan had promised to get her there as soon as they could get a few answers about who the dead guys in the apartment were.

Heather hadn't been much help, she'd been mostly hysterical and hyperventilating until they rolled over the little guy in the hallway with a bullet hole dead center between his eyes. She'd recognized him instantly as the man in the alley last night where Darius had been killed.

It was then that she realized that her sister was probably going to die because of her, that the dead men in the apartment had come after her to make sure there were no witnesses to Darius' murder. It was her, Heather they had been after and Catherine was collateral damage. Her sister might die, because she tried to protect her. If they'd thought she was hysterical before, it was nothing compared to what happened when she figured that out.

Tess had stopped speaking, and paused to wipe her face with the sleeve of her shirt. Just as well, because Heather had no idea what she'd been saying anyway, all she wanted now was to get to the hospital. She gazed down at Tess for a minute, then her eyes swung jerkily toward Evan and she whispered, "Can we go now? Please?"

Evan immediately said goodbye to whoever he was talking to and waved her down the stairs, hurried to the closest squad car and held the door open for her. "C'mon Tess," he said, his voice rough with tears of his own," Let's go." Tess nodded, and sprang down the stairs and into the backseat as Evan got behind the wheel. He flipped on the siren, glanced once worriedly at Heather, and peeled out making a bee line for County General.

The emergency room doors slid open silently as the paramedics wheeled Catherine's gurney into the building. There was a flurry of activity, orders shouted and instantly obeyed, trauma teams summoned, surgeons paged all while the gurney rolled down the hallway towards the operating room. They gently lifted Catherine onto the operating table, and a trauma nurse cut away her bloody pajamas, for just a moment wondering about the childish pattern on them before her training kicked in. Outside the door, three surgeons stood in a tight huddle looking at xrays and conferring before coming into the room to scrub up.

One surgeon broke from the group and walked slowly back to the waiting room that seemed to be overflowing with plain clothes detectives and uniformed officers. He spied a waifish young woman, wrapped in an emergency blanket and correctly assessed that she was kin. He made his way over to her and asked gently, "Are you Miss Chandler?" Heather nodded fearfully and whispered," Heather, Heather Chandler, yes. Is she?…." she couldn't finish the sentence and Tess, Evan and several of Catherine's fellow officers closed ranks protectively around her. "No," he assured her, "she hasn't passed, but she's in very critical condition at the moment. We're about to take her into surgery to see if we can remove the bullet and reduce the swelling on her brain, until that has been accomplished we can't give you any sort of reasonable prognosis." he gazed at her sympathetically and continued," If you have any other family, I would suggest you call them. But we're going to do everything humanly possible to make sure she survives…alright Miss Chandler?" Heather nodded, then backed away, groping for a chair before she fell down and embarrassed herself.

The doctor turned away and headed back towards the operating room, Heather watched his retreating back with tears streaming down her face, mumbling, "My fault…all my fault," over and over.

Chapter Nine

Vincent/ the Beast barely had the presence of mind to get out of the cabin before his rage took over. Slamming out through the front door, nearly tearing it from the frame, he stumbled down the stairs and stood knee deep in the snow impotently looking for something to vent his fury on.

He was in the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles from where he needed to be, and his beating heart and reason for living, was dying, while he stood helplessly in the Idaho wilderness.

Roaring with pain, his anguish pushed him towards the woods. He raced across the snowy ground into the trees, flinging himself headlong through the thick underbrush he simply ran until he was brought up short by a wide expanse of river in his path. Panting, he slid to a stop, a bestial howl working its way up from his gut to burst from his throat in a wail of torment, "CATHERINE!"

He dropped to his knees, his clawed hands gripping his skull tightly, trying desperately to keep his head from exploding with grief, he sobbed her name again, softer this time, like a benediction, like a prayer…."Catherine?"

He fell forward, his hands sinking up to the elbows in the soft snow, on all fours like the beast he was, he cried and prayed and cried some more, begging God, pleading with him…"please," he whispered, "please show mercy…"

He hadn't thought there could be anything more painful than his break up with Catherine…but he was wrong. This…oh this was much worse. The word unendurable danced in his mind, partnering with agonizing and did a stomping two step through his chest. He groaned beneath it, writhed and jittered, curled into a fetal position and screamed like a wounded rabbit.

He was breaking and he couldn't stop it.

Then suddenly, he grew still. His mind sharpened and clarified. He shook his head, grunting with the effort.

"control Keller," he growled, "Gain control". He shook his head again, willing himself back to Vincent Keller. Icy, he exerted his will. He stood in one fluid movement, his resolve steely. Slowly he reverted until Vincent Keller, his face streaked with tears, stood in the silent wood and made a solemn vow. "I'm not going to let you die Catherine," he promised, " I'm coming for you."

Then he turned and made his way back to the cabin.

The phone was ringing as he came through the door, he walked to it purposefully and lifted the receiver from the cradle. "JT?"

"Jesus Vincent, where have you been," JT was shouting and Vincent held the receiver away from his ear, "Volume JT, volume, sensitive hearing remember?"

"Yeah, yeah…whatever…where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for an hour."

"I beasted out" he replied.

JT snorted,"Yeah, I kinda figured…did you kill anyone?"

" A couple of trees, not much else I could damage out here. Listen JT, I'm coming back. Now. Today."

"No, Vincent, you promised.. I told you…'

"JT? Shut up and listen to me."

Silence.

"Are you listening?"

"Yeah."

"I'm driving to Boise, I want you to get me on the first flight out of here going east, then on any consecutive flights you have to to get me to New York by tonight…do you understand?"

Silence.

"You know what you'll be coming back to….right?"

"I don't care JT, do you understand me?"

"Yeah, I understand."

"You'll do it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Sure, but I'm coming back with, or without your help, even if I have to hijack a plane."

Resigned sigh, then more silence.

"Your ticket will be waiting at the airport."

"Thanks JT, you're a good friend."

"Yeah, for a little while longer anyway…I'll meet you at this end. See you tonight."

CHAPTER TEN

Vincent didn't waste any time now that he'd made his decision. He gathered up his things threw them in the car, locked up the cabin and headed back into town. Geoff McCarthy was going to have questions about why he was leaving so soon, so as he drove he tried to come up with a cover story. Funny how lies came so hard to a guy who had to lie to stay alive. Damn, he was so tired of all the deceit and hiding and he was so very angry. He should have been there for Catherine, he NEEDED to be there for her. Not because she couldn't take care of herself, he chuckled, she was anything but a helpless female. But because whatever live connection he had to real life, was routed through her. She was his ground, his gravity, all that kept him from spinning off weightless into a dark void. She was everything, she was the ONLY thing.

He reached New Meadows a lot quicker than he'd anticipated, and still hadn't figured out what to say to Geoff when he pulled into the gas station he'd only just left a couple hours ago. But he wasn't going to waste anymore time, so he dropped his change in the phone and dialed the number.

Geoff answered on the second ring.

"Hey Geoff," he said," It's Vance, look something's come up and I have to get back to New York immediately, I'll need to drop off the cabin key. Can you meet me?"

There was a slight, puzzled pause but then Geoff replied," Yeah sure, where are you?"

" Same place I picked it up."

"Ok, I'll see you in a minute."

Again, it seemed like only seconds before Geoff's pick up rolled into the lot and the big man climbed out .

He walked across the pavement, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets, his eyes fixed on Vincent's face.

"Short visit," he offered by way of greeting, extending his hand.

"Yeah," Vincent replied with an ironic smile," Probably one of my shorter." Shaking his hand briefly.

" Some emergency come up?" Geoff was a lot more shrewd than his appearance would suggest.

"Yeah," Vincent dropped his gaze, his voice wavered a bit ," Yeah, someone I love has been injured and I need to get home."

" Wow," Geoff said, his demeanor suddenly changing from suspicion to concern," I'm sorry man, is there anything I can do to help?"

Vincent looked up at him with an ironic, but grateful smile and replied," Only if you can fly."

Geoff's eyes lit up and his big toothy grin took over his face," Well…as a matter of fact, I can."

Vincent stared at him, not understanding. Geoff laughed at his expression and explained.

"Remember that big hanger when you landed in McCall?" Vincent nodded, hope suddenly blooming inside.

"Well, inside that hangar is a McDonnell/Douglas MD-11 cargo plane, one of the fastest long range planes on the market," he grinned, "Well, 30 years ago it was, but she's in cherry condition just the same. And she belongs to me. "

He tilted his head and regarded Vincent with a knowing smile," So..do you need a lift to New York, or what?"

"Are you serious?" Vincent asked softly.

"Hell yeah," Geoff replied enthusiastically," She's been cooped up in that hangar for a year, and she needs to stretch her wings. Not to mention the fact that winter is a pretty slow time for outfitters, so I've got nothing better to do. Plus we can be in the air in about 90 minutes, which is a lot less time than it'd take you to drive into Boise for a commercial flight, if you could even GET one today. And, I've never been to New York, so here's the deal, you pay for the gas and buy me a hot dog at one of those street vendors when we land, and I'll give you ride right up to the hospital doors. How's that sound?"

Vincent's eyes misted a bit and he replied," Sounds like more than I could ever repay."

Geoff, seeing the emotion on his face looked away discreetly and huffed, "Hell man, you'd be doing me a favor, I'm bored out of my gourd up here this time of year."

He looked back at Vincent, "So…what do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Vincent reined his emotions in roughly, extended his hand gratefully to wring Geoff's and replied," We have a deal. Let me give JT…Mr. Harris, a call and let him know and we can be off."

"OK," Geoff said," I'll run back to my place, grab my stuff and let the folks know where I'm going, then I'll be back. Give me 15 minutes?"

" Sounds great," Vincent replied, " And Geoff?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

The big man grinned happily, "Hey, no problem. See you in a few."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

True to his word, Geoff was back in under 15 minutes with a duffle bag and a clipboard in hand. He locked up his truck and told Vincent that he'd arranged to have the Jeep picked up at the hangar and returned, and he'd already called in his flight plan, so after they gassed up and ran the preflight check, they'd be good to go.

Vincent could only shake his head in amazement. God had apparently been listening in the woods, because Geoff couldn't have come from anywhere else. Geoff looked at him with a quizzical smile," What?"

Vincent returned his smile and replied, " Nothing really, I'm just not used to my luck being so good."

Geoff grinned shyly at the veiled compliment and said," Hell man, when a door closes, somewhere a window opens…there's ALWAYS a way out."

Vincent could only nod, his throat was too tight for words. He indicated the Jeep and Geoff chuckled, "Yeah man, let's do this thing."

It was only a 15 minute ride to the airfield, and wasting no time, Geoff went directly into the office. When he came back, he handed Vincent a key and said, "Bring the gear and follow me, you can store the stuff while Pete and I," he indicated a man in coveralls that had followed him out of the office, " do our preflight."

Geoff was a model of efficiency, and his goofy red neck demeanor belied a no nonsense, down to business side that seemed to be taken for granted by others. This guy definitely was more than he seemed. It only took him 30 minutes to get the plane ready. "Ok Vance," he said," Back up out of the way, I'm gonna roll her out on to the tarmac." He climbed into the plane and started the engines, rolling the big plane out of the hangar. Once outside he left the engines running and dropped the stairs so Vincent could board. He'd taken off his jacket and his muscular arms were covered in colorful Marine tattoos. He noticed Vincent's interest and smiled," 1st Battalion, 1st marines, s-4...I was trained to fly there," he said pointing at a diamond shaped emblem on his right arm, " Afghanistan, 2000-2002, BooYah."

Vincent nodded in understanding, he'd had dealings with several 1st/1st marines during his time in Afghanistan, they were tough, honest fighters. "BooYah,' he echoed out of habit, then was sorry he had because Geoff's face split in another wide grin and he laughed," A brother from another mother."

Vincent shook his head, "Army actually, but I was there too."

Geoff gave him a penetrating look, his smile fading, "yeah man, well, it's a long flight. We can swap war stories later. Let's get gone."

He backed up the stairs so Vincent could get on and headed for the cockpit. Glancing back over his shoulder, his face solemn now he said," Come ride up front with me man."

Vincent climbed into the copilots seat and strapped himself in as Geoff settled his head set in place,' McCall tower," he grinned," Euphemistically speaking…this is Bravo 443 prepared for take off, do I have permission to fly? Over"

"Bravo 443, please taxi out on the only damn runway we have and get the hell out of here, over."

"Thank you McCall tower…we're gone" he turned to Vincent still grinning, "Hang on to your butt."

It was clear that Geoff was an accomplished pilot and Vincent felt completely at ease with him at the controls, so he sat back to enjoy the ride. They were airborne in seconds and Geoff brought the big plane around and pointed them in the right direction, making altitude adjustments, conferring with the ground on cross and tailwinds and making mock captains announcements to his non existent passengers. Vincent was liking his new friend more with every passing second.

Finally they reached cruising altitude and Geoff put the plane on autopilot. He pulled off his headset and swung sideways in his seat to look at Vincent. He didn't say anything for a minute, though it was clear he was about to and Vincent met his eye steadily, expectantly.

Geoff glanced down, then back up and said," Look Vance…I'm gonna say something here and if you want to tell me to mind my own business, then I will cause I'm not one to pry and there'll be no hard feelings. But clearly you have a story, I'm a good listener, and it's a long flight. And…well…frankly, if you don't mind me saying so, I get the feeling you could use a friend, and well…I've decided I like you, and I wouldn't mind the job if it's on offer."

Vincent gazed at Geoff for a minute, not sure exactly how to respond. New Yorkers generally weren't so open and friendly, and as secretive as his life had been for the last ten years, he obviously had some trust issues. But there was something so genuine, so honest about this guy that Vincent opened his mouth and suddenly, the truth just poured out. He talked for an hour, he told Geoff everything. He talked about his brothers, about the army, about Muirfield, about JT, about Catherine and about who and what he was. Vincent was pretty sure he had told Geoff things no one else knew, not even JT. He told him about the experiments, about the Beast, about being hunted and about being the hunter. He told him that of course he didn't have any friends because anyone that got close to him ended up dead. He warned Geoff that now that Vincent had told him, HIS life could be in danger. He told him what his REAL name was.

He talked until his throat was raw and there were no more words to say, then he sat with his head bowed and for just a moment experienced what it was like to not have a secret.

For the longest time Geoff didn't respond but when he did, Vincent was glad he had trusted him.

" Wow, I wasn't wrong when I said I thought you had a story. And I sure wasn't wrong when I said I thought you could use a friend. Have you ever told anyone else what you just told me?"

"JT, and Catherine…and now you," Vincent admitted quietly.

"You've been carrying that around for ten years and have only told 3 people? Man, if I ever need a secret kept, I'll know who to tell."

"You believe me then?" Vincent asked incredulously.

"Hell yeah," Geoff said immediately, " You know, I didn't want to interrupt you because it seemed like you just needed to get it all out, but this isn't the first time I've heard of Muirfield."

Vincent could only gape at Geoff open mouthed. Geoff nodded sagely, "Yeah man, I'm serious.

There was a unit on base, some special ops jarheads and a few Seals that were involved in some experiment. I didn't personally know any of the guys involved, but I'd heard the scuttlebutt about some company called Muirfield that was doing "enhancements", six million dollar man type stuff. All I was sure of was when the guys went in, we never saw them again. We all figured they were advanced units and had shipped out, but after what you just told me, I have to wonder if they didn't end up dead or on the run just like you."

"This could mean real trouble for you Geoff, I mean…dead in a back alley kind of trouble…you know?" Vincent didn't want to lose his new friend by scaring him off, but he certainly didn't want to lose him by killing him off either.

Geoff threw back his head and laughed out loud, then shot Vincent an amused look, " Vincent my friend," he chortled, " Do you get the impression that I'm a guy that can't handle himself?"

Vincent shook his head, " No man, I have no doubt that in any ordinary situation, with any ordinary enemy, there's nobody in world I'd feel more comfortable having my back. But these aren't normal enemies. They have no qualms about taking out your family or friends. And they don't come at you head on. They sidle up to you sideways. These people are snakes and they look at me like I'm a mess that needs to be cleaned up.

I've opened a big can of worms on you Geoff, and if you're a wise man, as soon as you drop me on the tarmac, you'll turn this plane around and head back for Idaho and forget you ever met me."

Geoff considered Vincent's words quietly for a few seconds, then turned to him with a menacing grin and replied," Well you know Vincent, my daddy always said it was a good thing I was big, cause I was never gonna be very smart. Let's just see how this all plays out shall we? Now, how bought you go grab us a couple of sodas out of that cooler back there, and let's talk about your girl."

CHAPTER TWELVE

Catherine had been in surgery for 5 hours, and the crowd in the waiting room had thinned out. Now it was only Heather, who flatly refused to leave, Catherine's father, Brooke, Tess and Evan. Joe had only just left, promising to come back in the morning. A uniformed officer stood guard right outside the operating room, and there were several others posted throughout the hospital. Since the investigation was ongoing, and the forensic lab was still gathering evidence from the apartment, it was only prudent to keep watch over Catherine.

Everyone was exhausted, especially Heather, but she wasn't about to close her eyes until she was sure her sister was going to live. Evan, Tess and Joe had spent several hours talking with her trying to convince her that what had happened to Catherine had not been her fault. But until the doctors came out of that room with good news, she wasn't having any of it. Her life had become one giant "IF". If she hadn't left the party, if she hadn't gotten involved with Darius, if she hadn't gone looking for him at the club, if she'd kept her big mouth shut about her sister being a cop…if. if. If. Strangely, her biggest regret was that she had been so adamant about Catherine breaking it off with a guy she was clearly drawn to, especially considering how poorly she had chosen.

Darius had seemed like such a great guy, but the evidence was mounting that he had been involved in some pretty shady stuff, and had ended up dead because of it. Joe was still keeping Darius up on that pedestal, and was determined that the "vigilante" would pay for what had happened to his brother. But as Heather sat in that waiting room and let her mind wander, bits and pieces of that night were reemerging, and the picture that was forming didn't cast Darius in a very favorable light.

The door to the operating room suddenly hissed open, and three surgeons in scrubs emerged talking among themselves. They all pulled their masks off and the one that had spoken to Heather all those hours ago, gestured towards the waiting room. One of the other doctors nodded, spoke quietly for another minute and then he and the third doctor turned left and out of sight, while the last one made his way toward the family.

He shook hands with Catherine's dad and Brooke, nodded at Tess and Evan, and gave Heather a gentle smile.

"Well," he said, "She survived the surgery, and we managed to remove the bullet, or rather the fragments of the bullet that struck her. Actually, that was what took so long, the bullet had broken into six separate pieces and we had to hunt them all down and repair the damage they had done to her ocular nerve, her skull and parts of her brain. There was a lot of bleeding, and some nerve damage, but we're fairly confident that we've repaired all of that. The problem at the moment is that there is a lot of swelling, so we've had to remove a portion of the skull and leave the brain exposed to give it a chance for reduction. She's going to be in a sterile ICU unit until that can happen. We've induced a coma to keep her still, and at this point we can't tell if there will be any permanent loss of brain function." He paused to let them absorb what he had just told them and give them the opportunity to ask questions, but judging by the stunned silence, he may as well finish. " We can't really offer you a prognosis… honestly there isn't any way to tell at this point if she'll come out of this the person you knew 8 hours ago. But I'll say this, she's one tough customer, and personally, I think she's going to make it. I suggest you all go home now, you can't see her and even if you could, she wouldn't know you were there. We'll keep you informed as to her condition."

He gazed at them all sympathetically, wishing he'd had better news, then bid them a good night, received their thanks and left them in peace.

No one spoke for a long time, then Heather's father touched her gently on the arm, " Come on sweetheart, we'll take you home."

Heather looked up at him in terror and he said soothingly, " To OUR place honey, we'll take you home to our place."

Relieved, she nodded gratefully and stood up to follow them out. She hugged Tess and Evan, ordered them to go home too, and let her dad lead her out.

Tess stood gazing down the hall towards the operating room for a moment, then turned to Evan," You're a good guy Ev, and I think you're going to be a fine detective, but if Catherine makes it out of this and is able to come back to work?….well, I want my partner back, I hope you understand?"

Following her gaze Evan nodded and replied, " If she makes it out of this, you might have to flip me for her."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

When Vincent had regained his seat and they were both nursing sodas, Geoff said," So?…tell me about Catherine, and be specific, I haven't had a girlfriend for a long time so I'm gonna date vicariously through you for a few minutes. And judging by the way your eyes light up and your voice goes all soft and whispery when you even mention her name, she's something special?"

Vincent was pretty sure he was blushing, and Geoff roared a laugh. "C'mon man," he chuckled, " You know you're dying to talk about her."

Vincent nodded," Well, I told you about her mom, and how we initially met. I think I really fell in love with her that first night in the woods. I kept tabs on her for nine years. Watched her graduate from college, watched her switch jobs a couple of times until she settled on law enforcement. Just watched her…you know, from a distance but because I knew Muirfield was aware of her, I stayed pretty close."

Geoff nodded and rolled his hand at the wrist to keep him talking. "When she finally became…aware of me, she was like a rat terrier, worrying a bone. I tried for a while to scare her off, intimidate her…but she just kept coming back, asking questions, demanding answers. Then, well she was there when I beasted out and she didn't run. She was so damned calm and accepting. All the fight just went out of me. I couldn't ignore her, and what I was feeling for her, so I let her in. JT was furious, I mean…she's a cop. But she kept covering for me, getting me out of situations, jeopardized her life and her career to help me."

Vincent paused, a tender smile of remembrance curled on his lips, " and subtly, things began to change between us. I began to get vibes that she had feelings for me, and it scared the hell out of me Geoff. She's so beautiful, in every way that matters. She's strong and independent. She's smart and funny and determined. Perfect…she's simply perfect."

Geoff rolled his eyes at that, and Vincent laughed, "Yeah I know, that sounds so cheesy, but if you ever get the chance to meet her, you'll see what I mean. "

"You have a picture of her?" Geoff asked curiously.

"As a matter of fact," Vincent sprang up and went to the back of the plane, rummaged through the pockets of his backpack and came back carrying a photo. He handed it to Geoff and sat back down.

Geoff studied her likeness for a moment, then turned to Vincent a low whistle issuing between his teeth," Wow man…she's a beauty." He glanced back down at the photo, examined it more closely, took in the body language and the way she was looking at Vincent, and the way he was looking at her. There was no mistaking the love, it practically dominated the flat surface of the still. Jumping right off the photo and closing his throat with emotion. No one had ever looked at him that way, and he was envious.

"Beauty and the Beast…" he said softly, glanced at Vincent apologetically," sorry man, but that's just f'ing tragic."

Vincent nodded, pulling the photo from Geoff's fingers and staring down at it," Yeah…it is. The night before I left New York, the night I stopped Joe's brother from killing her sister, I went to her place to tell her it was over, that I was walking away. I just couldn't handle being the reason her world was crumbling around her. Putting her sisters life in danger, losing her her partner…the guilt was just too much, so I was going to break it off, for her own good. But she wouldn't let me go. She told me she loved me, that she didn't care about the dangers…then I kissed her….I shouldn't have Geoff..I should have been stronger, been the better man. I should have walked away, but the minute my lips touched hers, I was a goner."

He gave a soft self deprecating laugh, " She's mesmerizing, and I just didn't have the strength to resist her."

He glanced up and was surprised to see that Geoff had tears in his eyes. The big man brushed them away with the back of his hand, and gave Vincent a watery sort of smile. " Well….I'm in my friend. I don't give a rats behind what dangers this might mean. You might not know it to look at me, but I'm a freaking die hard romantic and I'll be damned if I'll let some black ops shitheads ruin the best love story I've ever heard."

Vincent gaped at him, and then laughed out loud," You're a marshmallow," he chuckled, " A big soft gooey marshmallow."

"You got that right," Geoff grinned back," and you ever spill that secret and this StayPuft marshmallow man will kick your beasty ass all over the Big Apple…capiche'?"

Vincent smiled, "Capiche', he replied.

" So the way I see it, we have to figure out a plan to get you into the hospital, past her suspicious sister, her Rottweiller ex partner and the entire NYPD…right?"

Vincent nodded.

"Well then, we better put our thinking caps on, 'cause we only have four hours to solve the impossible."

He grinned and stretched his fist towards Vincent for a knuckle bump, " Easy peasy, Japanesy."

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Tess and Evan had left the hospital and gone straight back to the precinct, by tacit agreement, they had decided to keep up the pressure on those working the Chandler case so they could make sure Catherine and Heather would be safe. They poured over reports, phone logs, fingerprint and DNA analysis' .

They ran names and known associates and by 2 am had gotten warrants issued and had as many as 12 men cooling their heels in lock up.

The picture that emerged was grim. Darius had enjoyed living far beyond his means, subscribing to the notion that you had to spend money to make money. Unfortunately, the money he was spending had belonged to some very bad men, and they wanted it back. He had been late on his payments and they had cornered him at the club.

They applied pressure to one of the men in holding who had been in the inner circle, and the story he told them was that the little bald weasel Catherine had killed in her apartment had been in the alley that night. They had tried to force Darius to kill Heather and he had been about to do so, when some "thing" leapt out of the shadows and threw Darius away from Heather, then took out one of their men. Weasel had run like the coward he was, straight back to his superiors, who had tracked down Heather and sent Weasel and a couple of other goons to finish her off. Obviously they had failed because they were all chilling in the morgue alongside Darius.

The ring leaders were arrested and charged with attempted murder, and because they had perpetrated the crime against a New York detective, were denied bail and would most likely not see the light of day again until they needed walkers. So Catherine and Heather were safe from further attempts on their lives.

The problem was, Joe would not accept that his brother intended to kill Heather and was still bent on tracking down the "Vigilante", convinced that Darius had been murdered.

Neither Tess nor Evan believed Joe's assertions, the evidence was just too overwhelming, but they had no authority to go against his decision to pursue the "vigilante", so he became prime suspect number one.

Too tired and depressed to object, they wrapped up the investigation, filed their reports and headed home to get some sleep. Tess stopping only long enough to arrange a clean up crew to go to Catherine's apartment and scrub the blood off the floors and walls, and erase the evidence of the shootout. She'd do something about putting Cat's and Heather's stuff in storage later, certain that Heather at least would never want to go back to the apartment.

JT had been monitoring the police bands and using his computer skills had hacked the NYPD report system so by the time he met Vincent and Geoff in Bethlehem NY, he knew that the police had closed the case on the attack on Catherine and Heather, and opened a new one on the vigilante. Vincent was to become the subject of a citywide manhunt, fortunately the police still had no idea who they were looking for.

JT stood in the predawn cold, leaning against the car with a steaming paper cup of really bad coffee and

watched as the big silver MD-11 dropped out of the sky towards the single airstrip. Geoff had chosen this place because it belonged to a Marine buddy who ran a charter service from here. There was no security, no cameras and a nice comfy hangar for his plane. JT mused on the fact that Vincent had let this Idaho redneck, a virtual stranger, in on his secret and the guy had suddenly become his best pal, making plans and demands and generally pissing JT off royally.

But, to be fair, the guy had come through in a big way, and had kept Vincent off the radar. Flying him across country on nothing more than good intentions and the promise of compensation. So JT thought he should probably make an effort to like the guy. The plane touched down and rolled to the far end of the field, swung around gracefully and taxied back to stop in front of the hangar.

The man, Carl, who owned the place sauntered over to wait with JT. Not a particularly verbose individual for a native New Yorker, Carl gave JT a curt nod, then turned his eyes towards the plane. The stairs were lowered and Vincent appeared in the doorway. He gave a wave and descended to the pavement, then hurried over and gave JT a hug. Which went a long way towards mollifying his best friend.

A very large man emerged from the plane, raised the stairs and then walked over to where the other three waited. He bear hugged Carl, thumping him on the back and initiated introductions all around. Carl invited them all to come inside for a cup of coffee and a logistical confab, and as a group they moved across the blacktop towards the office.

Vincent slowed and put his hand on JT's arm to draw him away from the other two, " Catherine?" he asked.

JT shook his head," There was no change when I left the loft a couple of hours ago. She made it through the surgery, but it was bad Vincent. She sustained a lot of damage and they haven't been able to supply anyone with a prognosis yet. Last word was she was in a drug induced coma until they could get the swelling on her brain down. I can probably find out more today, we'll just have to be patient." He eyed his friend meaningfully and Vincent nodded once in understanding.

" I have to see her JT," he replied in a tortured voice, " I can't let her…not without…" he left it hanging because he couldn't bear to say the words.

"I know big guy," JT said, saddened for his friend," We'll figure it out. Come on, let's go inside and we'll work up a plan together."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The Chandlers were gathered in the waiting room at New York General to hear what the doctor had gathered them together for. Catherine's father paced nervously, agitated and frightened for his oldest daughter, and worried about his youngest who hadn't slept for nearly 24 hours.

After being knocked unconscious, having her new boyfriend killed , surviving a shootout in her home and perhaps about to be told she was losing her sister it had been a rough couple of days for Heather, who didn't have Catherine's strength and was suffering from PTSD at the least.

Tess , Evan and Joe had also come by to hear and lend their support, and they too waited anxiously. Catherine had gone back into surgery in the early hours of the morning when it was determined that the swelling in her brain had lessened enough to replace the skull. They had wheeled her into recovery at 4:03 am and had begun weaning her off of the drugs that had kept her comatose, it was time to find out what her prognosis would be.

The same doctor that had spoken with them the day before, Dr. Taylor, walked into the room looking solemn. Again he shook hands, nodded and asked how Heather was doing. "That will depend on what you have to say," she replied fearfully.

"Ok then, the surgery went well. The swelling is gone and we ran a CT scan to see how her brain function was doing. It seems fairly normal, considering the trauma she's been through. Her ocular nerve seems to also be doing well under the circumstances, and she should not lose her sight, though there may be some mild impairment, she'll probably need glasses to read and she'll most likely suffer from frequent headaches." There were sighs of relief, but he held up his hand to forego a premature celebration. " However….she has been off the drugs for nearly eight hours and typically we begin to see signs of wakefulness before now. She is reactive to physical stimulus, pain and heat in the extremities, her left eye is reacting well to light, but she is showing no signs of coming out of the coma…as of yet. And, when we tried to remove her from the life support, she would not breathe on her own."

There were groans of dismay, and Heather burst into tears. The doctor squatted down in front of her and took her hand, " This is slightly troubling but not unheard of Miss Chandler. It has only been 8 hours and frequently this sort of thing takes a good deal of time, sometimes days or weeks in fact. As I said, she has suffered a severe trauma and it may be as simple as the brain is not ready yet to go back to work and requires a little more time to heal. Or…." and he looked pointedly at each of them in turn," It may be she just hasn't been given a good enough reason to wake up. So….she has been moved to a quiet room in the ICU, and my suggestion is that she be visited by those she knows and loves best. Stimuli is important, soothing music, familiar voices, pleasant smells…things she likes that may induce her brain to kickstart."

He stood and smiled at them encouragingly. " The thing to remember is that she is strong, very strong, not many people would have survived an injury of this severity, and where there's life, there's hope. So visit, read to her, play her favorite songs, tell her what is happening in the world and let her know what she is missing, it just might be the key." He looked around the room, assured them if they had any questions they could contact him at any time, and then turned and left.

Heather was still crying softly, and her father placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. He glanced up at Tess and using his chin indicated that he wished to speak with her privately. Tess followed him a short ways away from the others curiously, "Tess," he said," I know that you and Cat had some sort of falling out and I won't be offended if you decline, but I know that Catherine has enormous respect and affection for you and considers you her closest friend. Heather is going to need some sort of intervention treatment, she isn't sleeping and she blames herself for what has happened to her sister. " He glanced over at his distraught youngest and continued, "I would be personally indebted to you if you could see your way clear to forget your differences with Catherine for a time and perhaps spend some time with her on occasion, while I try and help Heather through this?"

"Consider it done Mr. Chandler," Tess replied, her voice tearful and her eyes brimming," Cat and I have had some issues recently, but I love her and she is my best friend for all of that. You would have to chain her door and post guards to keep me from her room right now." She shot a glance at Evan and decided that she could speak for him as well," And I believe that Evan feels exactly as I do. You won't be in this alone sir."

Mr. Chandler smiled gratefully, "Thank you Tess, that eases my mind a great deal. Catherine is fortunate to have friends like you. Now, I think I had better get Heather to a doctor and see if I can't get her to rest. I'll be back later. You take care of yourself alright? and I'm sure we'll see each other soon. Thank you."

He patted her on the arm, then went and collected his daughter and left. Tess turned to find Joe and Evan deep in conversation, so she walked over to find out what they were talking about and arrange with Evan to take shifts with Cat when they could work them in around their schedules.

" I'm serious Joe," Evan was saying heatedly," This "thing" seems to gravitate around Catherine as though it's hunting her. I think it would be a serious mistake to pull the officers out of the hospital with her in such a vulnerable state."

Joe stood with his hands in his pockets, his head down, clearly considering Evan's exertion, though perhaps his motives for doing so were not altogether for Catherine's benefit. Seeing perhaps an opportunity to apprehend the "vigilante" while using an unsuspecting Catherine as bait.

He gazed up at Evan for a moment, then nodded," Alright, I see your point. We'll leave a guard at the door, and one at each entrance, rotating shifts…you see to it alright?"

Evan nodded in satisfaction," Ok Joe," he agreed readily, "and Thanks."

"Yeah well…maybe we'll get lucky. Ok, I have to get back to the precinct," he glanced at Tess, but his eyes held no warmth, maybe they never would again, she just didn't know anymore, " I appreciate that you both are close with Chandler, but let's not forget we have a city to look out for too…ok?'

Without waiting for their reply, he took off down the hallway without so much as a by your leave.

Evan looked at Tess and she held his gaze steadily, "Was that request issued for Cat's benefit, or are you still looking to nab your lab rat Evan?"

Evan had the grace to look slightly uncomfortable, but he replied with a hint of belligerence, " probably a bit of both actually."

Tess continued to stare at him for a moment then said," As long as we're clear where our priorities lie."

Evan tilted his head in acknowledgement, and Tess said," Now I'm going to go see my partner. I'll Catch up with you later."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Vincent and Geoff sat at the scarred old wooden table in Carl's office brainstorming on how to get Vincent into the hospital, each offering a suggestion, mulling over the deployment tactics, and then rejecting them discouragingly. They had been at it for an hour and were no closer to a solution. Carl had gone into the small living quarters behind the office to take care of a few business matters and cook them all some breakfast. JT was at the computer, and at the sound of his chair scraping back from the console the others shifted their gazes to watch him approach. Geoff, curious…Vincent apprehensive.

JT had a smug sort of look on his face, mixed with something approaching fear and Vincent felt his stomach knot.

He came and sat down with them, not making eye contact right away, then looked up at Vincent. "OK…I have news, some good, some not so good, but nothing that we can't work with I think. So…first off, before Vincent blows a gasket and beasts out on us, Catherine is out of surgery and in the ICU. She's still in a coma, still on life support, but it seems her CT scan came back with encouraging results, she's responding nominally to physical stimuli and she isn't going to lose her sight."

Vincent dropped his chin to his chest, closed his eyes and sighed so deeply JT was afraid he might turn inside out, " The bad news, which as a doctor I'm sure you're aware of, is she's been off the inducement meds for over 10 hours and there's still no indication she's coming out of it. And there's the matter of the cops they have stationed throughout the hospital, but as Dr. Taylor said, where there's life, there's hope."

Geoff grinned at JT's uncharacteristic optimism and asked, "Just out of curiosity dude, who is Dr. Taylor, and how do you know that's what he says?"

JT grinned back at Geoff smugly," He's one of Catherine's surgeons and, well…. see, here's the thing I forgot to mention earlier. I've put a bug in Evan's ear."

"To do what exactly?" Geoff asked, clearly not understanding.

JT chuckled, " Not a suggestion dude, a literal "bug", a hearing device and I'm pretty much privy to all of Evan's darkest secrets," he paused, frowning slightly," and I assure you, he actually has some."

"How did you manage that feat of wonder?" Geoff asked, genuinely impressed .

" After Vincent left town yesterday…was it only yesterday?" he shook his head looking bewildered for a minute," I went to see Evan to try and suss where he was with his cross species investigation. " He showed them a thin wire ring that wrapped around his thumb," I had a tiny transmitter attached to this and at an opportune moment when Evan didn't seem to be listening to me, I grabbed his earlobe like your mom used to do when she wanted you to pay attention to what she was saying…I managed to implant it in his lobe and now I can hear what's going on at the precinct, in the hospital when he's there and unfortunately when he's otherwise occupied…should I happen to be monitoring at the time. Either way, I record him every second and I can play back from the computer at will."

Geoff let out a loud guffaw, and Vincent looked at his friend in silent wonder, "Man," Geoff thumped JT on the back in admiration," That is some wicked brilliant spy shit double OH 7. Remind me never to piss you off dude."

"Noted," JT replied beaming.

"Now," said Geoff," All we have to do is figure out how to draw New York's finest out of the hospital long enough for you to get inside and spend some time with your girl…" he paused, tilting his head to one side and then a wicked gleam entered his eye," and I think I might know just the thing."

"And how do you propose to top my wicked brilliant spy shit?" JT asked.

Geoff grinned like a fool," With a good old fashioned street brawl"

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

" A street brawl," JT uttered disdainfully, " Isn't that a bit low tech?"

Geoff chuckled, " You go with your strengths. I've been thinking about it, I've got close to 20 Marine buddies in this area, not including Mr. Surly in the back room, and I figure that would be enough to empty the hospital and a couple of precincts, especially if I supply the beer."

"You'll all go to jail," Vincent said dubiously," and that's not a great way to end a reunion."

"Granted," replied Geoff, "but I'll get everyone to chip in for bail money. We haven't seen each other for close to 12 years, and chances are a fight would break out at some point anyway, at least this would be in a good cause," he laughed.

Vincent looked at JT," Do you think it could work?"

JT shrugged in reply," I guess if they restrict it to each other, don't have weapons and no one hits a cop, they won't get gassed or have the SWAT team show up…yeah, it might work."

Geoff stood up grinning," This is gonna be F. U. N., fun. I'm going to make some calls."

"That guy is nuts," JT said, shaking his head in dismay.

Vincent grinned," Yeah, I know, isn't it great?"

When Geoff returned to the table he had made contact with 17 of his Marine corps cronies, all of which were delighted to meet and lend a fist. Geoff was rubbing his hands together, practically twitching with excitement. " Man, I can't wait for you to meet the guys, this is going to be a party to remember." He grinned at JT's grimace, " I'm gonna show you eggheads how Marines come through for their friends. Just wait, this is going to work like a charm." He grinned then bellowed across the room at Carl," How about some food Carl? I'm going to need some energy for this evening, don't want to run out of steam before I have a chance to belt Sanchez one in the mouth. "

Six hours later, Geoff, Vincent and JT were sitting in a bar called "Shorties" a half a block from New York General, surrounded by 17 of the biggest, loudest ex Marines Vincent had ever seen. Not one of them was under 6 foot, and they looked like they shaved with razor wire and ate kittens for breakfast. But they were a great bunch of guys. Geoff circulated among them with overflowing pitchers of beer, topping off glasses at regular intervals. There was a lot of name calling and laughing and reminiscing. They were having a high old time. But it was clear they considered Geoff to be their leader and he held place of honor amongst them.

Periodically Geoff would wander back to where Vincent and JT sat at the bar nursing beers , point someone out and give them some background, as if they could hope to keep them all straight.

"That big guy," JT had a hard time distinguishing one "big guy" from another, to him they were all monsters," the one with the bright yellow crew cut? That's Brody. Meanest toughest bastard in the corps, once saw him snap a rifle barrel in half with his bare hands. But I'll let you in on a little secret. We picked up this stray pup one day, and adopted him into the unit. Brody always pretended he hated that dog, but we all knew he was spending his beer money buying food and such for it. One day we took the dog on a routine patrol with us and things went pear shaped. Dog got out of the HumVee, got hit by a stray bullet, killed him dead. That big lug had to be taken to the infirmary, cried for 4 days. Soft as a babies butt that one."

He shook his head remembering, " He and that little guy over there," again, JT could not find a "little guy" until he was pointed out, " Sanchez, they had this running feud. Brody isn't so bright, damn good soldier and all, but dim as a 2 watt bulb. Sanchez used to give him crap all the time, twist old Brody up something fierce. I have a feeling tonight's gonna be payback," he laughed heartily in anticipation.

At around 9 pm, Geoff suggested that his pals were liquored up enough to get things rolling and asked JT if he wanted to do a little recon on the hospital before Geoff gave them the thumbs up. Relieved to get out from underfoot, JT nodded and left the bar. Ten minutes later he texted Vincent that they were good to go.

Vincent got up from his bar stool and looking at Geoff gave him a warm smile. " I'm proud to call you my friend Geoff," he said sincerely, " I don't know what I'd have done without your help."

Geoff winked, " Hey man, you're not the kind of man that lets life roll over him, you'd have been alright. I'm just glad you let me come along for the ride. I'm proud to be your friend…let's do this thing ok? "

He gave Vincent a bone crushing hug, " Good luck my man, here's hoping she comes round."

His eyes watering, " Thank you, and thanks to your friends. I'll see you after ok?"

Geoff nodded and then shouted into the throng, " Let's do some damage Marines!"

And so it began.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

( Suggest you find this song on you tube and play it at the appropriate time)

Geoff had lived up to his boast, 17 ex marines with a lot of beer in them made a hell of a spectacle. Vincent stood outside the hospital in the shadows of the alley across the street and watched every cop inside come pouring out through the doors in a matter of minutes, walkies squawking for back up. They were followed by every employee not currently handling a patient. He nearly laughed out loud when he saw some zealous entrepreneur giving odds and collecting bets.

Clutching his props, he turned up the collar of his coat to hide his face and slipped inside. He climbed the service stairs to the ICU unit, then stood just inside the doorway listening…medical machinery hummed and beeped, ventilation units whooshed and occasionally the sound of the crepe soles of a nurses pair of shoes would enter the hallways, but for the most part the ICU was deserted. It was now or never. He slipped into the hallway and quickly made his way to the nurses station, found Catherine's chart hanging on a hook with 4 others, located her room and made his way there quietly.

Her room was darkened for the evening, but his enhanced vision made it seem bright as noontime. He pulled the blinds and they were completely alone.

He walked slowly to the bed, his chest hurt and his eyes were blurred with tears. She looked so small and fragile lying there. Her beautiful hair shorn off and her head swathed in bandages. The entire right side of her face was covered with a thick layer of gauze, and what could be seen was a livid purple from the bruising.

She was the most beautiful sight he'd ever laid eyes on.

He leant over her, careful not to dislodge any of the wires that held her to his world and pressed a gentle kiss to her left cheek, practically the only portion of her face that was exposed. He reached behind him without taking his eyes off of her, and drug the single chair closer to the bed. He dropped the railing and sat as close to her as he was able. Tenderly he lifted her left hand and brought it to his lips palm up, and tears dripped onto the pale flesh. He closed his eyes, pain and relief warring inside, and pressed a kiss to her open palm.

He pulled the cd player from his jacket pocket and laid it on the bed next to her, adjusted the volume and then spoke for the first time.

"Hey," was at first all he could muster, tears choked his voice off and he struggled to achieve enough volume to hear himself," Catherine?…I'm here baby."

He began to cry in earnest then. He supposed he had harbored this fantasy that the second he touched her, the instant he spoke, she would awaken like Snow White to the princes kiss. Instead she lie pallid and silent and unresponsive. He let the emotions run their course and when he found his voice again he began speaking softly, telling her where he had been, telling her why he had returned. He spoke of love and loss and need and he whispered of a future he had only begun to hope for. He told her what she meant to him, what she had always meant and what his life would be without her.

"Every couple," the word twisted on his tongue and stung his eyes with bitter sweetness, but that is what they had always been destined to be, a couple, two as one," Every couple needs a song and I've picked one out for us…" he reached down and clicked the play button and the vocals of Jason Mraz,"I Won't Give up" filled the room. "Listen to the lyrics Catherine, listen and hear MY voice saying them…"

When I look into your eyesIt's like watching the night skyOr a beautiful sunriseWell, there's so much they holdAnd just like them old starsI see that you've come so farTo be right where you areHow old is your soul?Well, I won't give up on usEven if the skies get roughI'm giving you all my loveI'm still looking upAnd when you're needing your spaceTo do some navigatingI'll be here patiently waitingTo see what you find'Cause even the stars they burnSome even fall to the earthWe've got a lot to learnGod knows we're worth itNo, I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easilyI'm here to stay and make the difference that I can makeOur differences they do a lot to teach us how to useThe tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stakeAnd in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intendFor us to work we didn't break, we didn't burnWe had to learn how to bend without the world caving inI had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I amI won't give up on usEven if the skies get roughI'm giving you all my loveI'm still looking up, still looking , I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up)God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved)God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)I won't give up on usEven if the skies get roughI'm giving you all my loveI'm still looking up

" I love you Catherine, I am so in love with you that it is the single defining reality in my life. I need you to come back to me because I am nothing, nowhere without you. I don't have the strength to face this life if you aren't a part of it. Please don't leave me behind? Please."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jewelers box and extracted the Celtic knot ring, a single strand of gold entwined, no beginning or end and engraved on the band, "as long as we both shall live" he slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand, then bent his head over it and sealed the promise with a kiss.

He looked up at her, let his eyes roam her body hungrily, expectantly…" Wake up Catherine…please wake up."

But she didn't. The machines whined and whirred, and her chest rose and fell. The monitors beeped, showing her steady heartbeat, but she was silent and still.

He sat for a moment, his head bowed and his heart rent into a thousand pieces. He had been so sure that she would respond to him. When she slept through her father's visits and Heather's prattling and Tess' rough humor, it was only because she was just too sad and tired to react. But he would be different, he would be able to call her back out of the darkness, when no one else could.

The disappointment was crushing, and quickly turned to anger. He wanted to shake her, to make her wake. He wanted to race back outside and throw himself into the fight going on in the street below. Tear someone, anyone limb from limb. Howl out his pain. He rose from his chair, chest heaving, his eyes taking on the yellow cast of the beast. But he suppressed it, fought it down with an act of sheer will, sunk in on himself in misery.

He got on his knees at her bedside, took her hand and held it to his cheek and prayed. "You listened once," he reminded God," please hear me again? Send her back to me? Or let me come where she is, because I can't endure the thought of my life without her. Why let her save me, only to take her away? The job isn't done, we still have things to do…I need to make her happy….please, I'm begging you."

He held her hand desperately, as if it were the only thing tethering him to life, and in fact it was. He was adrift and broken.

But sometimes the answer is no. He didn't know how long he stayed that way, but after some time his phone beeped, JT's signal that it was time to go.

Resigned he stood and gently placed her hand back on the covers. He leaned over and kissed the corner of her mouth tenderly. "I won't give up on us," he whispered, touching the backs of his fingers to her cheek in a light caress, " I won't give up on you….I'll be back love…I'll be back every day until you come back to me, or I get apprehended. I love you."

Then he turned and left, half the man he'd been when he came in.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Catherine Chandler was frantic.

All had been dark and silent, she hadn't thought a thought or felt an emotion for….well, she didn't know how long. There had been peace, something she had not known for years. No turmoil, no…complications, simply being. But something had been wrong, deep she had felt a vague sense of loss, of having misplaced something precious, she simply couldn't remember what it was.

Awareness had returned slowly, with the sound of heart monitors and whispering footsteps, nothing specific that she could put a name to, just a feeling of rising up out of a blackness so pervasive, it had seemed like skin. And then a sadness washed over her, not a remembered sadness, but one she knew she had carried for some time. It gnawed at her like an itch she couldn't scratch, or a sound she couldn't identify.

And then memory switched on like the Vegas strip coming to life in the dark. A disorienting swirl of color and sound, and electricity…jumping from nerve end to nerve end, making her want to gasp. Vincent….

She had sent him away, the darkness, the sadness was given identity. The gasp became a silent scream, ripping from a soul bereft of the one thing that might dispel the loss of light and warmth.

It rolled over her in waves. The feel of his arms, the taste of his mouth on hers. Jolting her like a dentists drill without the Novocain, penetrating and invasive, arrowing straight for the sensitive core of her being.

It pierced the darkness as keenly as a scalpel, cutting away the layers of deception and denial until all that remained was the quivering certainty that she could not peel back the enveloping black without him.

Better to simply remain in her deprived state, cut off from the pain, wallowing in the nothing. It's all she had now. It was easy to ignore the stimulus, it was removed anyway and to connect to it would have taken more will than she could dredge up from her ruined spirit. She isolated, insulated herself, burrowed back down into the unawareness and remained. Untouchable, unscathed, understandably.

So sentience ebbed and flowed, usually by the time she decided she might just reach for it, it was gone and she was left in peace again.

But then there was a voice, and it seemed to be his. The remembered timbre and tone, but she convinced herself it was simply an echo, a ghost come to haunt and torment, and so she wrapped herself in another layer and sunk deeper.

But the voice wouldn't leave her alone. It whispered along her nerve ends trying to draw her out. Teasing with her need, pulling and urging.

No!… a mental shake of denial….gone, safe and gone…but that familiar, beloved voice …how could she not listen while it whispered? How could she deny the joy it brought her? She could believe the lie if it felt this good, if it steadied her heart and filled her up so completely. But there was more, a spreading warmth that began in her chest and groaned along the unused muscle and sinew, igniting feeling.

And more yet…lips against her cheek, in the palm of her hand, his lips, there was no mistaking their feel, for their memory was carved into her for eternity. But it wasn't possible, it couldn't be…or could it?

And then…like an explosion, a concussive force like a shockwave…that voice, those lips, the warmth….it ordered her to listen, insisted she pay attention to the….song, it was a song. A beautiful haunting melody and those words….words HIS voice said belonged to them. He was there, he was in pain, she had to help him, to ease him so she struggled. Clawing her way up, like swimming through treacle. Suddenly anxious at the crawling pace the awareness had adopted. Suppose he left again?

The effort exhausted her, but still she pushed forward, up, outward, like a hatchling chipping at the shell that encased it. Don't give up, the voice whispered urgently…there is a way out.

But it began to fade. She could feel it drawing away, and the warmth leaving her. Suddenly she was terrified.

She heard, truly heard a door open and then shut and she tried to scream, she thrashed in her agony and a single finger twitched…then stretched, then came in contact with?…her mind struggled to place the object, and then the synapses fired… the source of the music, a cd player…her finger found the play button.

Vincent had his hand on the stairwell door handle when his sensitive hearing picked up a familiar sound. Odd…it was the song he had just played in Catherine's room. That brought a searing pain, sharp and unexpected. Insult to injury and he yanked the door with more force than was necessary and then paused…turned his head, listened more closely. The music? It was coming from back down the hallway, coming from….Catherine's room?!

Even considering his preternatural ability, Vincent had never moved so quickly in his life.

CHAPTER TWENTY

A single tear like a lost hope, slid down Catherine's cheek as the lyrics of the song finally penetrated the fog.

He had come back for her, despite her chasing him away, and he wasn't going to give up on them. She couldn't find words for the feelings that rose up in her, but they saturated every thought that flickered through her bruised mind. It offered pale comparisons, gratitude, love, fidelity, respect and while all of those were true, they were simplified versions of a far more complex connection.

They had a bond, something that went beyond control or choice. Something more…though she couldn't describe it, even to herself.

When her hospital room door had closed, as she finally realized that he hadn't been the wishful dream of a broken psyche, the loss was palpable, tangible and visceral. Not a pang, but a full contact, UFC soul destroying body slam. It left her breathless to the point of asphyxiation. Even with liters of pure oxygen pumping through the ventilation system, she couldn't breathe.

She knew, even in her hyperventilating panic, that he would return. That she had not lost him, at least not in that way. But because of who and what he was, and the enormous risk he had taken to come to her, the possibility that circumstance might prevent him, was ever present. The idea that she might never be given the opportunity to unburden her heart and finally tell him what she had discovered about him and herself and the enormity of what she felt, was tragic.

"It's a great song isn't it?" his voice asked, silkily and charged with intense emotion.

She neither heard him return, nor was able to see him so she was frightened that he might not really be there and that she was still dreaming. But moved her head to nod anyway, it was a slow uncomfortable effort, but obviously enough because a warm strong hand enclosed hers as it twitched on the coverlet.

The relief was so extreme it made her whimper, and had her throat not been closed off with a ventilation tube, it would have been a sob.

Even so, her reaction to his touch was immediate and apparent, as was his response. Swiftly, competent hands moved to ease her discomfort, all while his sibilant voice soothed and reassured. " I'm going to remove the tracheal tube so that you can breathe normally. It will be uncomfortable, but only for a few seconds…do you understand Catherine?"

She gave a slight nod, and he proceeded. When he had performed that task she felt him move away and heard the sound of water being poured. A straw was placed against her lips," Small, slow sips at first, your throat is going to be sore."

She did as he prescribed and the cool water revived her. She pressed her head back into the pillow and whispered," Vincent…"

She felt, heard, knew he smiled then because his voice was colored with it," Hey."

"Hey", she replied.

"It's good to see you,' he was nearly laughing in relief, like someone who knows how closely they just came to dying.

" If I could see you, I'd say the same," she whispered painfully. The straw was placed at her lips again and she took another sip. " Why can't I see?" she asked fearfully.

" Well, it's dark in here for one thing," he chuckled softly and her stomach fluttered at the sound she never hoped to hear again," and also, and probably more likely, because one eye is covered with bandages and the other is taped shut."

"Taped shut?"

"Yeah, they do that to keep it from drying out when a patient isn't able to blink."

"Oh. Are you really here?" she asked softly, needing to be sure.

She felt her hand being lifted and placed against a strong, warm chest. A pounding, thready heartbeat thrummed beneath her fingers. " Convinced?" he asked softly.

She swallowed a sob that threatened to erupt, and could only nod in answer.

As his hand tightened around hers in response she felt an unfamiliar object encircling her left ring finger. "What's that on my hand?" she asked.

"Oh…that…well, it's a ring?' he replied, sounding unsure and shy. It was endearing.

"Where did it come from, I've never worn a ring on that finger before."

" That's because I never married you in secret before."

"What?"

"Well, in fairness I didn't give you the opportunity to refuse. But considering you did tell me you loved me, I sort of took liberties."

" Suppose I don't want to be married to you?"

"You don't?"

"I do."

"Well that's a relief," she could hear the smile again.

" That might have been true when I was comatose. What about now that I'm awake? Still relieved?"

" You have no idea."

" Me too. Not much fun being married when you can't nag about dirty socks on the floor, or leaving the toilet seat up."

His voice grew serious," Do you want me to ask now that you have the option? It was rather arrogant of me to assume."

"Nah," she sighed, her heart swelling to dangerous proportions, "It was a safe assumption, for all your arrogance."

She heard his phone beep. " Is that your signal?" she asked, knowing he was probably here at huge risk.

" Yeah, JT… hold on."

She could hear him depressing buttons on the keypad, then her hand was held again.

"You should go," she whispered, though it was the last thing in the world she wanted to say.

" I can't," he whispered back, his breath fanning her flushed face. He had bent over and was mere inches away.

" Because I haven't sealed our bargain yet," he replied just before he lowered his lips to hers.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

While their first kiss had been passionate and desperate, this one was tender and filled with promise. She raised her hand to touch him, and felt the tears on his face. Her heart soared like a clay pigeon and then exploded into fragments, knowing that she had caused him so much pain. Reversing their perspectives, she imagined how she would have felt in these circumstances and her remorse was overwhelming. Because now she knew that he didn't just love her….you can get over lost love in time. This was something else, something she'd never heard of, seen and had certainly never felt before. And in his kiss she found that he too was bound by it. That he was as powerless to resist it as she was. This was closer to symbiosis.

It was liberating and terrifying at the same time, to be so connected that even the possibility of losing one another, was unbearable. But it wasn't as if either of them had a choice, or would change it if they could. He had said it was immutable fact, carved in stone…she eased him away," as long as we both shall live, at least," she smiled against his lips.

She could feel the melancholy, and suddenly, desperately needed to look in his eyes. She reached up and pulled the tape off. It took her a moment to adjust, her vision was blurred with more than disuse and darkness. When she could finally focus on him, she made a sad "ohm" sound. He looked terrible.

Bruised circles under his eyes, sunken cheeks, and several days worth of beard made her realize how difficult the last few days had been for him.

"Those words are engraved on your ring," he smiled down at her, and brushed the tears from his face with an impatient hand.

"Really?"

He nodded again, " and I mean it too."

She rewarded him with a huge grin, even though it hurt, "Ditto."

He smiled, remembering that conversation too.

" I'm so sorry Vincent," she sighed, " I don't think I understood when I pushed you away, how impossible it would be to try and sever this connection, or how much we both rely on it. I only wanted to keep you safe because I love you so very much…you realize that…yes?"

"Of course I do, I intuitively understood why. After all, I had tried to do the same thing. I was going to be noble and walk away…but I couldn't. It's as though there is an unseen force that is woven around the two of us. It's so close and so strong that separation causes literal physical pain. I can't say I understand it, and I won't even say that it's good for either of us, but there is no denying it and I don't have the will or the strength to try," he again bent to her lips, they were warm and soft and pliant and each time he touched them he felt a surge of power and a completeness that he had never even known he lacked.

He drew back to look at her, savoring the closeness, knowing that there would never be talk of walking away again, no matter what came next. That just wasn't an option anymore. Only death would deny them, and even then he wasn't convinced that they could be separated.

His phone rang this time. "JT is freaking out, I guess the diversion is played out." he pulled his phone out and without breaking eye contact with her he said," OK JT, I'm coming…what? Are you sure? Ok, I'm on my way…yes, she is" he smiled warmly, " Yes, I will. Ok,Ok…I'll be right out." he sighed and dropped his head dejectedly. " I have to go."

She smiled, letting him know that it was alright. " I know. I want you to, I need you to stay safe, for me…ok?"

"Ok…but I'll be close…and I'll find some way to come back," he dropped another lingering kiss on to her lips and then straightened. " And JT says to tell you, welcome home."

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Even as he had to tear himself away and leave her, the elation he felt made Vincent's step light and put a wide smile on his face.

She was alive, she was awake and she was his and nothing else in the world could matter to him as much as that. Lost in that euphoria, the threat of Muirfield faded, the police became a nuisance, her friends and family a minor obstacle…she loved him…and he was so desperately in love with her that he couldn't see straight. Even were he to be taken on the hospital steps, the last hour was worth it. He would happily have traded all his life to that point, to achieve this outcome. To know with certainty that she would be beside him from this day forward. If he had her to lean on, he could endure anything.

He floated down the back stairs, lighter than he'd been in ten years, and pausing at the door he allowed himself a surge of happiness so intense it almost made him laugh out loud. He bowed his head for a moment and gave thanks for answered prayers, then pushed the door open onto the darkened alley.

He'd gone perhaps ten steps when he saw JT's body. He was sitting in the shadows, against a dumpster, his head lolled onto his shoulder and Vincent could smell the blood that oozed from his oldest friend. All the elation evaporated in a single breathless moment and he sprinted to JT's side. His shaking fingers found a thready pulse and as he bent to examine the wound in his shoulder, the world went suddenly black. He felt the hypodermic dart pierce the skin on his thigh, and knew no more.

Catherine lay quietly in the darkened room a secretive smile playing on her lips. She was tired, but emotionally sated. Relaxed and happier than she could ever remember being. He had come back to her, not abjectly, but with purpose and resolve and there was no question that she would offer resistance. He had pulled her almost bodily from her coma, and then given her every reason to live.

He had taken a stupid, dangerous risk in doing so, but she couldn't regret it. He loved her. Together, they would overcome.

She let that thought lull her gently to sleep, still smiling.

JT regained consciousness slowly. There was a LOT of pain, and he really wasn't suited for that sort of thing. Everything had gone according to plan. Better than the plan in fact. The Marines had landed with a mighty crash that brought every cop within a 5 mile radius to stand and gape at the magnificent brawl unfolding in the street. Geoff and his brothers in arms had begun by getting loud, then there had been a flurry of punches, several aimed specifically at the hapless Sanchez, and then they got down to business.

There had been a crowd of 50 or more spectators, most with phone cameras, recording the action. The cops had mostly just stood back and waited to see who would be left standing. There was a lot of cursing, and raucous laughter, a good deal of blood and superficial wounds, and Sanchez lost a gold tooth down the drainage grate. It was all very marvelous.

JT had watched with wry humor from the safety of the shadows behind the hospital. The alley smelled of urine and garbage, but it was better than losing teeth. He waited for Vincent, hoping that he would be able to awaken Catherine, for both their sakes, and make all of this effort worth while. He had to admire Geoff, albeit grudgingly. Vincent had a knack, even as a kid, for choosing friends that would do almost anything for him. He was that kind of guy, one that inspired intense loyalty and fealty. Because you never doubted that you would receive the same in return.

Because of the incredible noise from the street, and the fact that he wasn't being as cautious as he should have been, he didn't hear the approach of the men that knifed him. Turning a moment too late, he saw three men in dark clothes, wearing military balaclava's bearing down on him. He threw up his hands, backing away, babbling about not wanting any trouble. But they never even slowed.

He tried to stand, got halfway to his feet, then slid back to a sitting position his head spinning. At that moment, two hospital janitors talking rapidly and excitedly about the fight they had just witnessed, came down the alley. They were on top of him before they noticed him, then one said," Hey Marty, look!'

They approached cautiously, and he said," Help me please I've been stabbed."

They ran over and one squatted down to check on him while the other stood apart like he was ready to turn tail and run. The one called Marty glanced at the other, telling him to go inside and get a paramedic, and hurry. Relieved, JT finally surrendered to unconsciousness.

Geoff and his brothers, the ones that could walk when the dust settled, were loaded into the police van for their trip to the precinct to "cool off". The ones that couldn't walk were being treated in the hospital ER. Just before the van doors closed, Geoff searched the alley shadows for some sign of JT or Vincent, but saw nothing. He assumed they had made a clean getaway, and he would see JT later at the jail, as was agreed.

All in all, he grinned , it had been a HELL of a night.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Brody sat in the ER waiting room a compress held to his forehead to stem the flow of blood from a nasty cut above his eye. He chuckled, Sanchez hadn't been very happy to lose his prized gold tooth, and the cut had been retaliation. Served him right the little jerk. Of course, at 6'2" and 230 pounds Sanchez could only be called "little" in comparison to Brody. There were eight of them waiting to be seen. It had been a grand fight, even if they did get a little over enthusiastic as it had progressed. In his big soft heart, Brody hoped that Vincent had gotten his wish and his girl had come out of her coma. He liked Vincent almost as much as he liked Geoff, who had always stuck up for him. A guy had to look out for those kinds of buddies, especially a guy like Brody.

He looked up as the ER doors slid open and a gurney was wheeled in, curiously he stood up because he recognized the prone figure, "hey Sanchez…isn't that Vincent's friend, what's his name?…JR?"

Sanchez glanced over at the gurney, "JT, you moron…wonder what happened to him? He wasn't in the fight."

Brody wandered over to where the paramedics had parked the gurney. JT was very pale, and a large bandage was plastered to his left shoulder. The paramedics had started and IV and had given him a pain injection, but he was conscious. Brody towered over him, "Hey man, what happened? You're supposed to be down at the jail bailing the guys out."

" I got knifed by 3 guys in the alley, they took Vincent…" JT's voice was soft and his words were slurred, but Brody understood him anyway.

"Who took Vincent?" he asked aggressively, no one messed with his friends.

JT shook his head , " I dunno, I think it was Muirfield, there was a black SUV..' he mumbled, the drugs really beginning to kick in.

Brody turned and shouted across the room, " Sanchez, get over here."

Sanchez wasn't really inclined to acquiesce, but something in Brody's tone made him get up and go over anyway.

" What's going on?" he asked in a surly voice.

Brody's forehead was knit with anger, " Somebody knifed JR here, and took Vincent away…."

" JT, stupid…and who took Vincent?" Sanchez had liked the quiet Vincent too, and knew that Geoff would be upset that his new friend had been abducted.

" Muirfield," JT whispered, he had the where with all left to reach into his jeans pocket and extract the wad of cash the guys had given him for bail, he handed it to Sanchez," Muirfield….tell Geoff, he'll understand."

Angry himself now Sanchez nodded and gave JT's hand a squeeze, " Don't worry buddy, " he said quietly, " We're on it, you rest easy."

He punched Brody in the shoulder, " C'mon Dopey," he grinned savagely, "Looks like the night isn't over yet."

Sanchez went quietly from marine to marine explaining what had happened, they were all in. No one was going to snatch one of their friends and get away with it. Sanchez was elected to go down to the station to secure the release of the others and formulate a plan, they would all rendezvous at Carl's place in Bethlehem.

Sanchez arrived at the precinct only to find that his friends were being released with citations. Seems the cops had bigger fish to fry than a bunch of drunk and rowdy marines. As the guys were gathering their belongings from the desk sergeant, he pulled Geoff aside and explained what had happened. " All the guys at the hospital are in, none of us wants to see Vincent get hurt, so you tell us what to do, and we've got your back."

Geoff shook his head regretfully, " No man, this is big time bad," he replied, " These Muirfield guys play dirty, and I can't ask anyone else to risk their lives, 'cause that's what this is going to mean to anyone who gets involved. I didn't mind asking the guys to put on a show, but getting Vincent away from Muirfield is going to take a special ops insertion, and someone could get killed."

Sanchez scowled at him, squaring his shoulders, " Are YOU going?" he asked belligerently.

Geoff stared at Sanchez for a moment, " Yeah, I'm going to do what I can to get him out of there, even if it means I get hurt in the process."

" Then I'm going too…no one gets left behind….remember?" Sanchez said stoutly.

Geoff grinned, almost sorry now that he'd smacked Sanchez around during the brawl. " Alright, as long as you know what you're getting into. We'll put it to the other guys and see where we stand."

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Catherine woke languorously that morning, a feeling of contentment still lingering from the night before. She opened her good eye slowly only to find her room crowded with silent people. Her father, Heather, Joe and Tess and Evan all stood around her bed apprehensively.

When the ICU nurse had returned to check on Catherine in the early hours and found her tracheal tube removed and a few unexplained items in her room, she had immediately called Catherine's doctor, who in turn had contacted the police and Catherine's family.

The room was now filled to overflowing with an expectant hush. Catherine's eye moved from tense face to tense face, then she smiled reassuringly and said," are we having a party?"

Heather burst into tears and rushed her sister, throwing herself onto Catherine's chest and wheezing between sobs, " Thank God you're alright…thank God…' Catherine patted Heather's back gently.

" Hey little sister, calm down, everything is alright…I'm alright…" she gazed up at her smiling father in confusion, her eyebrow arched questioningly.

" She feels responsible," he shrugged by way of explanation.

" Hey Heath," Catherine said gently, pushing her sister away momentarily," relax, none of this was your fault," she stared into Heather's tearful eyes and said more sternly, " Stop beating yourself up, this was Darius and the thugs he got involved with, it had nothing to do with you."

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Joe bristle angrily at the suggestion that his brother was somehow at fault, but he said nothing.

Tess and Evan moved simultaneously towards Catherine's bedside, sincere smiles of relief on both their faces. Tess had tears in her eyes, and she placed her hand on Catherine's forearm and gave it a rough squeeze, " Good to have you back partner,' she said softly.

" Better to be back," Catherine replied shooting Evan a questioning look, he grinned, shrugged and made a "what are you going to do?" gesture that told Catherine whatever had come before, was now forgotten in Tess' eyes.

There was a lot of talking all at once, everyone asking when she had come around, what had made her do so, and where had all the stuff in her room come from?

Catherine feigned ignorance, hoping Vincent had had the sense to wipe his fingerprints from the cd player.

She told them she had come around late the night before, found herself in the hospital and had been disoriented and very tired and had fallen into a natural sleep almost immediately. That was all she knew.

Everyone seemed to accept that explanation, except perhaps Heather, who had, even in her hysterics, noticed the ring on Catherine's finger. She said nothing however, shrewdly discerning where it might have come from, and determined that this time, she would respect her sister's choices and defend her privacy.

A few minutes later an ICU nurse and Catherine's doctor came into the room. Dr. Taylor apologized for breaking up the happy reunion, but insisted that he had a battery of tests to run on Catherine and told them they could all come back later in the day if they wished. He told Mr. Chandler that he would be in contact to let him know the results, and shooed the flock out of Catherine's room.

He gazed down at Catherine speculatively for a moment then said, " It would appear as though you had an unauthorized visitor last night, that managed to get through to you."

Catherine looked up at him trying to remain calm and replied, " If I did, I don't remember…but it seems like it did the trick."

Dr. Taylor smiled knowingly, " Indeed," was all he said.

He instructed the nurse to get Catherine ready for her tests and turned to leave, then glanced back over his shoulder and said, " Nice to have you back detective Chandler."

Catherine simply nodded.

Half an hour later Catherine was on another gurney and being wheeled down the hall towards the elevator. The ICU orderlies were deep in conversation, ignoring her almost completely, as they discussed the brawl that had happened just down the street from the hospital last night, and how busy the ER had been because of it. Catherine discerned that it must have been the "diversion" Vincent had mentioned and wondered how he had contrived a brawl, considering the only person he knew was JT, who never struck Catherine as the brawling type. She mentally shook her head, smiling inwardly at the lengths he had apparently gone to just to see her. Dear God, she loved him.

They had descended two floors when the elevator stopped and the doors opened to admit another passenger.

Catherine almost gasped when she saw that said passenger was JT, his arm in a sling and his face pale and drawn. His eyes widened when he saw Catherine, and he tried very hard not to react, but Catherine knew immediately that there was something very wrong. His body language was obvious, and her heart suddenly began to hammer in her chest, because the only thing that could make JT look like that was Vincent being in some sort of trouble. She almost said something out of fear, but he gave an imperceptible shake of his head then glanced at his watch and tapped the face, subtly telling her that he would tell her but now was definitely not the time.

Agitated, she compressed her lips and gave a subtle nod, then looked away as the doors slid open again and the orderlies pushed her out into the hall. She let her eyes slip back to meet JT's worried gaze and he mouthed, " I'll be back later."

Then he was gone and she was alone with her terror.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

JT was exhausted and he hurt everywhere, but he had no time to sleep. He went directly back to the loft, by a circuitous, convoluted route and sat down at his computer. He began by pulling up the security camera footage from the hospital, it was a long shot but he had to start somewhere. As he suspected, the cameras had been disabled for nearly an hour, as had the traffic cameras surrounding the hospital. It was then that he was sure it had been Muirfield that had captured Vincent, no one else would have had that technological acumen, or been that thorough.

Chasing another phantom lead, JT knew that the police had opened a file on his attack and decided to check in on Evan's bug to see if he could learn anything. He was dismayed to find nearly 12 hours of audio to sift through, so to save time, he inputted a series of keywords to search the file so he could move on to other things and multitask. He typed in "attack, hospital, his own name" and then… on a whim, he also added "vigilante, creature and Muirfield", he didn't expect that to lead to anything, but you never knew.

He set the recording to play, and then picked up his phone and dialed the number for the burner he had given Geoff last night. The big man picked up on the first ring. " Geoff, it's JT."

He could hear the smile in Geoff's voice as he stated the obvious, " yeah JT, I figured…how you doing man? Are you ok?"

"Aside from feeling like an hors d'oeuvre skewered by a toothpick, I'm fine…where are you?"

"The guys and I are at Carl's, we've been waiting to hear from you. Did Vincent get to see Catherine? Is she awake? Have you heard anything about him?"

" Hang on dude, one thing at a time will you?….yeah, he saw Catherine, yeah she's awake, I actually saw her myself at the hospital…she's out of her mind with worry and I'm pretty much the same. And no, I haven't got any news on Vincent yet. Are you getting ready to head back to Idaho then?" JT couldn't help the disappointment that colored his voice when he asked.

" WHAT?!, going back? Oh hell no, the guys and I are planning our insertion to get him back, all we're waiting on is for you to give us a target."

JT's head drooped in relief, " I'm working on that right now, how many guys are we talking about? And do they have any idea what they are getting themselves into?" he asked, really liking the guy now. Vincent had chosen his confidante well.

" Oh yeah, they're up to speed, and charged up for action. There are 12 of us, and I called in some markers and have 4 tech ops on their way to give you a hand with the logistics, and one guy to run coms. Turns out Carl is a doomsday fanatic and has an arsenal of weapons and gear that would make Muirfield tremble in their loafers if they knew."

JT nodded in satisfaction, but cautioned Geoff," Whatever we do, needs to be quick, quiet and as bloodless as possible. We don't want a lot of dead bodies we have to explain."

"yeah, I take your point…hang on a sec…"

JT could hear a muffled conversation, apparently Geoff had placed his hand over the phone. When he came back on it was with a hint of smug satisfaction, " We got it covered, seems Carl has prepared for everything, we have tranq's and enough rounds to put half of New York nighty night. Will that do?"

" Admirably," JT stifled a laugh.

Suddenly the computer beeped, indicating that one of the keywords had been found, he hit the pause button and then said, " Look, I might have something here, let me get back to you in a while ok? You guys just keep doing whatever gung-ho marines do in these situations, and I'll give you a call in a bit."

" Ok JT," Geoff said, "and hey….don't worry, we look out for our own man, we'll get him back."

JT grinned, " I think I believe that 100 percent Geoff, hang tight, I'll be in touch."

JT hung up and turned back to the computer, running the audio through the speakers. It only took him seconds to figure out that Evan was in with Muirfield, going by the conversation. Not only was he instrumental in Vincent's capture, but he had apparently been given the job of overseeing his abduction as his induction into Muirfield's inner circle. Which meant he had been one of the masked men in the alley that had stabbed him. JT seethed with fury at the betrayal and hypocrisy exhibited by the so called scientist. So much for his wanting to "help" the poor creature and find a cure, and so much for his being a detective who had made an oath to protect and serve. Well, thought JT angrily, he now knew how to find Vincent, and would extract his revenge on Evan for being knifed.

Getting back on the computer, he hacked the GPS on Evan's phone and started tracking him, then called Geoff back and explained the situation.

"This guy Evan, he's a friend of Catherine's?" Geoff asked incredulously.

"Yeah, he likes to pretend he is," replied JT savagely," He's pretended a LOT of things apparently. I have his coordinates, how soon can you and a couple of your guys get back to New York?"

" We can pay your ME pal a visit in a couple of hours….we'll get Vincent's location out of him one way or another, don't worry about that," Geoff replied, and JT gave a little shudder at his tone. He definitely wouldn't want to be in Evan's shoes when Geoff and his boys caught up with him. " You just keep tabs on him bud, and we'll see you asap."

JT gave Geoff the directions to a meeting place, and rung off. Now for the really hard part, he had to go back to the hospital and tell Catherine what was going on. It was a conversation he had hoped he would never have to have.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Catherine had been moved to a private room on the 3rd floor after completing 2 hours of tests. She had blurry vision in her right eye, a screaming migraine headache, and extremely high blood pressure, which had nothing whatsoever to do with her physical state. She had endured another CT scan, ekg's and blood work, and then spent an hour with a clinical psychologist to determine if she had any cognitive dysfunction or memory loss.

She had passed, but only just, because her mind was seething with worry over JT and Vincent. She knew in her heart that something was very wrong, she could almost feel it through their connection and she was nearly frantic. Worse yet was the fact that she was shackled to this hospital bed, and couldn't have gotten out of it even had there been the option to do so.

Heather had returned to visit, and in her blithe way was doing her best to lift her sister's flagging spirits, when in fact she was actually making things worse. She prattled on about finding a new apartment and taking care of Catherine when she was released from the hospital. She gave her sister a start when she slyly mentioned the ring no one else had noticed and her theory about where it had come from, assuring Catherine that her Vincent prejudice was over, since it was obviously him that had returned her to the land of the living. She went on and on until in a fit of pique, Catherine had told her that she was extremely tired and would Heather mind coming back another time so she could get some rest. Heather hid her hurt well, and brightly acceded to Catherine's request, promising to bring ice cream when she came back later that evening. Then she left.

Catherine wanted nothing more than peace and quiet in which to think through what could possibly have happened, and figure out a way to fix it from her hospital bed. Frustration didn't even begin to define the feelings she was enduring when JT appeared in her doorway, and she bit his head off for making her wait so long.

He brushed aside her waspishness, pulled a chair up next to her bedside, and began his tale. He kept his head lowered as he spoke, not sure he could bear her fear and his own as well. When he had finished sketching out Evan's apparent betrayal, and his solution, he looked up to find her face awash with tears of pain and anger. She was busily pulling the leads from her body and trying to work the IV needle from her arm.

He stayed her hands angrily, " Catherine, what the HELL do you think you're doing?" He hissed.

"Getting out of this damn bed so I can help you find him," she replied tartly, brooking no argument, but she got one anyway.

"Are you out of your mind?" he asked sharply, replacing the leads. " We have this under control, there isn't one damned thing you could do to help, even if you were 100 percent, and you're not even 25 percent fit. I've got Evan under surveillance, Geoff and his guys are preparing for Armageddon, and I promise you that everything humanly and even inhumanly possible is being done to find and rescue him. There is nothing you can do except stay put and wait, just like me." he snapped at her, in his own worry being sharper than he intended.

He gazed into her tortured visage and sighed, patting her hand awkwardly in an effort to comfort her, " We'll get him back Catherine. These Marine's that Vincent befriended are motivated and VERY good at this sort of thing, I'm handling the logistics, and we have all the resources we need to get this done. Try not to worry so much."

Catherine nodded through her tears, " I'm sorry JT, I know you're doing whatever it takes…it's just…I love him so much and if anything happens to him…this is my fault.." she broke down, heart wracking sobs shuddering through her slight frame.

JT, brutally honest as ever replied, " Look, I won't pretend that keeping him safe wasn't easier before you two actually became involved with each other, but the fact is, Muirfield has been one step behind him for 10 years. And honestly, though I hate to admit it, he has actually had moments of pure happiness since you two…well, since you have known each other, and I know I can speak for him when I say, he wouldn't have traded those brief moments for any amount of safety. He loves you too…more than I counted on really, and he's followed his heart in this, so I have no business gainsaying him."

JT sighed deeply, then gave her another reassuring pat. "Look, I need to go, we have a LOT of details to work out, but hang on to this," he placed a burner phone in her quiescent hand, " and I promise you as soon as there is anything to tell, I'll call you…alright?"

She nodded again and watched him as he left her room. She clutched the phone like a lifeline, and began her solitary, fearful vigil.

Evan sat tiredly in his car, in front of his apartment building for several minutes trying to get his head around the way things had gone down in the last 24 hours. He had honestly thought he was doing what was best by joining Muirfield in their hunt for the "creature". He had been afraid for Cat, and determined that he save her from herself, as she obviously didn't have a clue what she was dealing with when she set out to protect the thing that was stalking her.

But the tactics that Muirfield employed went counter to everything that he believed in. He hadn't thought he had any option at any rate, and he was certain it would have meant his life to refuse their "job" offer. So he had fallen in, justifying his actions by assuring himself that what he was doing was for the public good, and would help keep Cat safe from her own misguided feelings.

But when the men he had taken to the hospital with him to watch for the creature had stabbed JT and left him bleeding as bait, he knew he had made a very big mistake. Then when they had tranq'd the man he recognized from the wedding, he knew he had just compounded that mistake a hundred fold. In the back of his mind, he had pictured the "creature" as being something more animal than man, something furtive and vicious and uncontrollable. Not some poor soldier that had been the result of a Muirfield experiment gone horribly wrong. And certainly not the man he had jealously watched waltz Catherine tenderly around the dance floor at her father's reception.

Evan was dismayed, and he was in WAY over his head, but couldn't see any way out of his predicament now. They had the poor hapless bugger, buried deep in a solitary cell on Shelter Island 2 hours from New York, and tomorrow he had been tasked with dissecting what had happened to one Vincent Keller, and finding out if the experiment could be salvaged. They had casually informed him that if Keller died as a result, it was no matter, as they had other subjects they could study. But Keller was special, he had managed to elude them for 10 years, and was cognizant and cunning. He was an asset to the program if they could keep him alive, but an unfortunate casualty if they couldn't.

Evan shook his head and sighed deeply. If Cat ever found out about this, his life was forfeit. He knew her, and knew what her reaction would be. It was obvious to him now that all her odd behavior and secretive dealings had been centered around Keller and keeping him away from Muirfield, he wasn't quite sure what their connection was, but he knew it ran deeper than just Cat trying to help someone she felt sorry for. She almost acted as if she felt responsible for him, and knowing that might be the case, Evan felt his own betrayal keenly.

" Well," he said under his breath," There's nothing I can do to alter the situation now," and he gathered his things to exit the car when his door was yanked open with extreme force, a huge hand reached in and grabbed him by his shirt front and hauled him unceremoniously out of the car, his feet never touching the ground.

"Think again," said a menacing voice, before everything went black.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

When Evan came to, he was duct taped to a metal chair sitting in the middle of a concrete floor in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Surrounding him was a whole lot of empty space, unless you counted the four massive men in black and grey camo gear, sporting black and grey greasepaint face camo. They had penetrating, fierce eyes all trained on him. He felt a thrill of fear, then adopted a stern face and said with unconvincing bravado, " I'm a New York City detective, and unless you want to spend the rest of your natural lives staring through bars, I suggest you let me out of this chair and explain yourselves."

There was uproarious laughter to greet his demand and one man leaned down until he was right in Evan's face. " We know precisely who you are Detective Marks," he said, sneeringly emphasizing the word "detective". " You have some much desired intel concerning a man named Vincent Keller, and you're going to tell us what you know, or you'll be spending the rest of your natural life sipping your meals through a straw. We know all about your moonlighting for Muirfield, we know you had Keller abducted, the only thing we don't know about you, you little slime, is where you've taken him….but I assure you most sincerely, my friends and I," he waved a hand at the other three men," are determined to find out."

Evan was speechless, and JT watching this all play out on his computer upstairs, actually giggled in delight at the nonplussed expression on Evan's face. This was rich as chocolate butter cream, and he was enjoying it immensely. He only hoped that Evan would give them lip so he could exact a little payback vicariously.

But judging by the way Evan sat in his chair, there would be no need for torture. In seconds Evan was spilling his guts. JT tsked , " A tower of Jello," he snorted in disgust, but was taking notes as Evan told them precisely where Vincent was being kept. Then he surprised JT by telling Geoff that he was horrified by what had been done to Vincent, that he hadn't had any idea when he'd signed up for the program, and that he wanted to help in any way possible. He told them that Muirfield had injured someone he knew to get to Keller, and he felt extreme remorse for the fact. He thought he knew how he could help, and if they'd let him go, he'd do everything in his power to secure Vincent's freedom. He could give them the location, the layout and help them get in, if they'd only trust him.

Geoff straightened, and looked directly into the camera lens JT had mounted on a girder, he shrugged questioningly. JT sighed, Evan had taken all the fun out of this. " I think he means it," he said into Geoff's earpiece, " He's not a bad guy per se, just dumb as a box of rocks. Let him up, I'm on my way down."

By the time JT reached the warehouse floor, Evan was freed from his bondage and rubbing the circulation back into his wrists. He looked up in surprise as JT reached the bottom of the stairs, then glanced at the Marine's in concern. "JT?…is this your doing?"

" Marginally," JT replied stiffly, " Though these are friends of Vincent's and are not pleased with his treatment at your hands. So if I were you, I'd make very sure that your motives and priorities are clear, because if you betray us again, I wash my hands of what becomes of you."

Evan nodded, "Fair enough," he replied, " So, you have an army? Maybe I can help you with deployment."

"Maybe?…" Geoff growled.

"Definitely…I can DEFINITELY help with deployment," Evan reiterated quickly.

"Then let's get to it, we're burning daylight and I want Vincent back before the end of visiting hours at the hospital."

" Right," said Evan briskly, "Lead me to a computer."

Two hours later, with plans and tactics in hand, Geoff and his boys left to meet up with the other's in Bethlehem. They had gear to secure and a plane to get ready. Evan stayed with JT for another hour, he checked JT's wound and changed the dressing, and they had a very frank and candid conversation about Muirfield and what they had planned for Vincent. Evan sincerely wanted to make this right.

The plan was that Evan would drive out to Muirfield's base on Shelter Island and meet up with the Marine's who were planning an airdrop into the compound. Evan would get them into the facility, and they would take care of the staff and releasing Vincent.

"You're taking a big risk," JT said as Evan got ready to go back to the precinct, " This could end badly for you, you know?"

"Then it's no more than I deserve for being such a moron," Evan said matter of factly. He gazed at JT, " I'm so sorry for what they did to you JT, I had no inkling it would go down like that. I was under the impression we were simply going to snare Vincent if he showed up at the hospital. I was mortified when they hurt you. I hope you know that, and can find a way to forgive me."

JT returned Evan's gaze frankly, " We'll talk about forgiveness and what you can do to make amends, if and when we have Vincent back."

" Fair enough" replied Evan as he turned to leave.

JT said, " Evan?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck, and try not to get yourself killed eh?"

Evan grinned, feeling like they had just taken their first step towards forgiveness, " I'll do my best."

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Catherine woke to the sound of insistent beeping from the burner phone JT had given her, letting her know there was a message. It took her several impatient seconds for her vision to clear enough to read the screen.

" Found him, Cavalry mobilizing. Evan helping. Will let you know as things progress. 007"

Under different circumstances, Catherine would have laughed at JT's sign off and the incongruity it incorporated. But she wasn't capable of amusement at the moment. Her heart was a withered, gasping thing in her chest. She was shocked that she had been able to close her eyes, much less fall asleep, and berated herself severely for her weakness.

Never mind that she'd had two brain surgeries in as many days, she should be stronger. She should be able to help the man she loved. She chafed at the restriction, angered by the impotence. She was furious at Evan, frustrated by Tess' defection, incensed by Joe's blind rage, annoyed with Heather's inane and clueless ramblings…she needed to get out of this hospital and find Vincent, and she was damned well going to do it.

She removed the monitoring equipment, and gritting her teeth, divested herself of the IV needle. Using every ounce of will power she possessed, she sat up in the bed and swung her legs over the side. Gingerly she slid across the mattress until her feet touched the cold floor, and taking a deep breath, she let her weight come to rest on them. She took all of two tottering steps before she fell flat on her face.

In the nurses station, the charge nurse looked up sharply when Catherine's heart monitor read flat line suddenly. She stood, and calling for a crash cart she pelted down the hallway at a dead run, snatching at the sleeves of two orderlies as she passed them and ordering them to follow her.

The three hospital staff skid to a halt in Catherine's door, to find her sprawled on her face, beating the floor with her fists. The charge nurse motioned for the orderlies to pick her up, and they put her gently back into bed and left when the nurse gave them a short hand wave, indicating that she would take over. She told them to cancel the crash cart, and she set about rehooking Catherine to the machines.

She was muttering under her breath, and an exasperated and surly Catherine told her to speak up if she had something to say. The nurse leveled a formidable stare at her recalcitrant patient and said, " Your father told me you might be…."difficult" he just failed to mention HOW difficult."

Catherine had the grace to be chagrined, but said belligerently, " Someone I love is in danger and he needs my help, I have to be there for him." She glared at the nurse, daring her to chastise her.

"Well, Ms Chandler," the nurse said heatedly, " as you have just proven you can't even help yourself to the bathroom, it appears your friend will have to figure it out himself, danger or no."

"Thank you Nurse Ratchett," Catherine replied sourly, " You can go now."

The nurse gave her a saccharine smile and exited the room just before the storm hit.

19:17 hours found JT, Geoff, 11 Marines in night vision goggles and camo gear, 4 tech operatives with open laptops, one surly pilot named Carl, and one coms guy cruising at 20,000 feet in a big silver cargo plane over the eastern seaboard on their way to Muirfield's secret compound. On the ground was Evan, and in the bay just off shore from Shelter Island was a zodiak, waiting to pick them up after they had retrieved the "Package", meaning Vincent of course. The team planned a Halo jump over the target, and would drift soundlessly into the facility, taking the Muirfield forces by complete surprise. Or such was the plan…in theory. The tech team, including JT, were responsible for hacking the security system, not a simple task at 20,000 feet.

JT was monitoring Evan's progress via his on board nav system in his precinct car. He was approximately 30 minutes out from the target, and the tech guys were still not into the security feed.

Geoff, noticing the frustration in JT's face, got up and walked over to him. " How's it coming 007?" he asked with a grin, "Are you doing the voodoo that you do so well? Laying down a wicked brilliant spy shit rap for us?"

JT looked up at him over the rim of his glasses and scowled, " I'm working on it John Wayne, oorah…"

Geoff laughed and went back to sit with his men. While JT and the techies feverishly worked, their collective fingers flying over the keys ina concerted effort to break through Muirfields' defenses.

After about 5 minutes, Jordan, one of the techs let out a whoop. "I'm IN! gotcha you motards."

Geoff and the others shouted "OORAH Marine!" and started high fiving each other. JT shook his head, but proceeded to tap into Jordan's links and started making a loop for the security feed.

Not a moment too soon, as Walker, the coms guy shouted, "DickyBird five minutes from target, take us in Carl." DickyBird was obviously Evan, and JT set up the feed to loop as soon as he showed his ID at the gate.

"4:20 Marines," Geoff bellowed over the sound of the engines, "Time to drop out of the sky like the hammer of God."

The 11 men stood and made an orderly line in front of the cargo door, JT wasn't sure if he should be excited or scared shitless…he chose shitless. He would stay with the plane as it made it's way to NorthHampton airport, where the extraction team would meet them. It was a good plan, he just hoped like Hell it worked and everyone got out alive.

He had rigged a red/green light above the door and suddenly it turned green. Geoff turned to him for second with a savage grin and shouted, " See you on the ground 007.…" and he was gone. Followed closely by the 10 other strangers that were risking their lives to save his best friend. He said a little prayer for them as the plane banked and headed inland.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Evan drove up to the gate slowly, scanning the night sky through the windshield for parachutes. When he finally saw the first one drop out of the clouds 1000 feet above the facility, he thumbed the gate lock and flashed his badge. "Wasn't expecting you tonight Detective Marks," a disembodied voice said smoothly, "Is there a problem?'

"No, no problem, I just had an idea at dinner and I need to use the facility computers to see if it's viable." Evan lied smoothly, using the script that JT and Geoff had written for him. He held his breath while he waited to see if they were going to let him in, and then the buzzer sounded, and the gate rolled back to allow him access.

He drove up to the facility and got out of his car. He could see that the first of Geoff's men had hit the ground and were rolling up their chutes, taking up their dart rifles and moving into formation. They hugged the wall in a crouch, and moved rapidly towards the corner of the building. When all 11 were strung out along the south wall, Evan walked up to the doors, swiped his card and then stood back.

Geoff and 3 of his men came around the corner silently, and the two guards fell twitching to the ground with darts protruding from their necks. Geoff signaled silently for them to be removed, and whispered into his coms, " Ok JT, now."

On the plane, JT keyed in the loop and the security desk was treated to a constant picture of two guards at their post. Geoff split the unit into 3 groups. One was to head to the installations computer center, where they would attach the scramble device that JT and the techs had designed to wipe Muirfields banks of hard drives. The second was to go to what Muirfield euphemistically referred to as the "Scrapyard", their morgue, and the 3rd, led by Geoff and Evan would find and release Vincent.

Silently, the marines split into their groups. Geoff held up 2 fingers, then 5 fingers, indicating they had 25 minutes to complete their tasks and return to the rendezvous point. Everyone nodded their understanding, and spun away to perform their part of the operation. Evan had to admit he was impressed, this group functioned with robotic accuracy and precision. Geoff motioned for Evan to take the lead and they moved off into the bowels of the compound.

The marines with Geoff worked together seamlessly, one trying each door they passed, finding one open their guns would swing silently from right to left searching for a target. Finding one, they darted them instantaneously, another marine would drag the supine body out of sight and they would move on. Geoff stopped them at one point to check the time, then rolled his hand at the wrist, indicating they needed to hurry up. Evan moved forward at a more rapid pace. They rounded the last corner and were unexpectedly met by massed resistance. Four heavily armed Muirfield grunts stood outside of Vincent's cell, Geoff reached forward and pulled Evan back, shoving him behind the marines. The shots rang out. Geoff took a round dead center in his Kevlar vest, it was hard enough to make him grunt in pain, but not enough to stop him. In fact it seemed to Evan as if all it did was make him batshit crazy. He hurtled towards the four men, his air rifle popping, and shouting SEMPER FI! Followed closely by the other four men in his group. Geoff bowled into the defenders like they were pins in an alley and scattered them as if he had just rolled a strike.

Four dart rifles popped in unison, and all four Muirfield guards lay quietly on the floor. Geoff, his eyes blazing said, "Get him out of there Evan and let's get moving."

Inside the cell, Vincent heard the shots, his adrenaline kicked up a notch and he morphed into the beast. He crouched in the darkness waiting for the enemy to show itself. Then he heard the impossible….a loud familiar voice shouting "semper fi ". He knew then that it was Geoff on the other side of the door, but so much adrenaline was in his system, he couldn't change back right away. So he moved back into the shadows and willed himself down from the precipice.

The door swung open and light poured into the room from the steady fluorescents in the hallway, one of the marines whistled and said, "Holy shit." Geoff immediately swung towards him in anger and shouted, "Stow that crap." The marine subsided meekly with a "Yes sir," and Evan moved into the doorway. Vincent growled low in his chest seeing who it was, and then looking at Geoff growled again thinking he had been betrayed. Geoff suddenly understanding, stepped in front of Evan, lowered his rifle and speaking soothingly said, " Hey man, we're here to take you home to Catherine. But we gotta hustle. You need to trust me Vincent."

Vincent cocked his head, looking from Evan to Geoff. Then he gave it a hard shake and he was suddenly Vincent Keller again. He looked up at Geoff with tears in his eyes, tears of humiliation and gratitude fighting for the need to fall. Geoff moved forward and took Vincent's wrist in a firm grip, " You ready to leave this place buddy?" Vincent nodded mutely, then Geoff gave him one of his patented grins and said, "Well then, let's ride."

Together they left Muirfield's horror behind.

They met up with the other two teams on the rocky shore of Shelter Island, listening to the sound of the zodiak's outboard motor drawing nearer. Jeff checked with the first team quickly, making sure they had succeeded in their objective. They assured him they had and he gave the signal to the techs to begin the hard drive wipe. It was going to take years for Muirfield to regain what they lost tonight.

Then he spoke with the second team who were bizarrely carrying a body bag, that quite obviously had a body in it. Evan joined them, asked a question, then nodded in satisfaction at their answer.

Vincent watched suspiciously until Geoff, seeing his look joined him. "Evan's idea man…it's a doppleganger for the NYPD. Same serum they used on you, cross species DNA… died yesterday at the hands of some Muirfield doctor. It's the "vigilante" all conveniently wrapped up for them like a Christmas present for Joe. He's your way out."

Vincent gazed at him in shock, Geoff smiled sadly, " I took a look at his record, he was a marine…he would have been proud that his end served such a noble cause."

The zodiak appeared out of the mist and Geoff whistled, " Ok Marines, good job, mission accomplished…let's get the hell out of Dodge."

CHAPTER THIRTY

JT, sitting in the belly of the big plane, waited nervously for word. He paced around the inside of the plane, much to the amusement of the four techs and the coms operator. All of whom seemed relaxed and complacent, just another day at the office. JT's respect for this group of men, none of whom had met Vincent or himself before last night, soared to unimaginable heights. Complete strangers. Leaving their homes and families to break one man out of a dangerous high security facility, for nothing more than the satisfaction of doing the right thing. It made JT tear up.

And Geoff…JT was ashamed that he had ever considered the man a red neck interloper. Without him, none of this would have been possible. Without him, JT would still be sitting in the loft wondering what they had done with his friend. Geoff, who on the strength of open friendship, had come across the country and put his own life in danger. JT shook his head wonderingly. JT could do it because he had been friends with Vincent his entire life. But Geoff just decided he was Vincent's friend three short days ago, and had done more for him in that time than JT could claim from a lifetime.

Suddenly the coms chirped, "Mission accomplished, package en route."

JT sat down, put his head in his hands and cried like a baby. When he was finished making a fool of himself, though none of the men had said a word or made a single disparaging remark, he wiped his face with the back of his hand and picked up the phone to make the happiest call he'd ever had the pleasure to place.

She must have had the phone in her hand because he didn't even hear it ring before her breathless, frightened voice said, "JT?"

"They got him out Catherine, he's safe and sound and unharmed and on his way here." he waited for her response, and waited…."Catherine?"…"Catherine are you there?"

He took the phone away from his ear and stared at it nonplussed. Great, he had just given Vincent's girlfriend a stroke. " CATHERINE!" he shouted into the phone in panic.

" Sorry JT," came her dazed voice finally," I think I just fugued out there for a minute. He's really ok?"

"Yeah Catherine," he laughed shakily," He's really ok. I'll have him call you as soon as he gets here alright?"

"OK, thanks JT.' Her voice sounded muffled and far away. It worried him, but he couldn't do anything about it, so he hung up.

Twenty minutes later two jeeps full of Marines pulled up next to the plane, and Vincent climbed out. He looked like Catherine had sounded. JT went down the stairs and met him on the tarmac. Vincent didn't say a word, he just put his arms around his friend and hugged him tight, then whispered, "Let's go home JT."

JT quietly led him up the stairs onto the plane, wrapped a blanket around his tense shoulders, handed him a cup of coffee and the telephone and said, " You better call her, she's a wreck."

Vincent gave JT a wan smile and replied, " She isn't the only one."

Ten minutes later the plane was in the air. Vincent stood up, walked to the back of the plane and made his call.

The phone rang for several seconds before she picked up.

"Vincent?"

"Hey ."

Sobbing…. The sound broke his heart. " Hey….shhhhhhhh, " he soothed, "I'm alright. I'm on my way home, we're in the air and I'll be there in a couple of hours."…..

More sobbing…." Catherine?"…."Catherine?"

"Yeah, I'm here," she said, though it was obvious she was having a hard time drawing breath.

" Calm down baby…it's ok."

" NO, it isn't ok," she sounded petulant, " They took you and there was nothing I could do…."

He laughed softly, soothingly, " You did just have two brain surgeries honey, YESTERDAY" he chuckled, " I think you can be excused for not joining the posse just this once."

"Was anyone hurt?" she asked fearfully. She didn't know even one of the men who had taken part in the operation aside from Evan and JT, and she owed them so much more than she could ever repay.

"No babe, no one was hurt, not even the Muirfield people. Geoff's guys used tranq's."

"That's good then," she replied in a small voice. "Vincent?"

He loved it when she said his name, it made his stomach flutter, " Yeah?"

" I love you.'

" Ditto," he replied smiling.

He could tell she was smiling finally, "Vincent?"

"Yeah babe?"

"Bring Geoff with you when you come?"

"Ok. Any particular reason why?"

"yes."

"Care to elaborate?"

"no."

He paused, surprised…" How come?"

"Because if I tell you, you won't bring him. Also JT and Evan…ok?"

" OK," he sounded a little disappointed, " I was sort of counting on some alone time with you," he said when she didn't respond.

"Oh…believe me," she sighed, "You'll get it. I'll insist. But I need to see them. Ok?"

"OK baby, whatever you want." He smiled, knowing he would never be able to refuse her anyway.

"I'll see you soon," there were tears in her voice again, but this time he thought they might be happy tears.

"Count on it," he replied gently.

"I always will," she said, and then the phone went dead.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

After a stop in Bethlehem to drop off the plane and settle the other men in for the night, Vincent, JT, Evan and Geoff headed into New York. There was very little conversation, everyone was tired and wrung out from the days events. Especially JT, who hadn't slept in a couple of days and was starting to feel the effects.

They pulled up in front of New York General at a little after midnight, and trooped inside. Evan flashed his badge at the uniformed officer at the door and told him that he could go back to the precinct as the "vigilante" had been apprehended and Catherine no longer needed protection. Then he had to explain to the charge nurse that he was there on official business and he was sorry for the hour but it couldn't wait and that they needed uninterrupted time with the patient. She had "tsk" ed disapprovingly, but complied and they all entered Catherine's room together.

She was awake, and no one seemed surprised by the fact. She made a sound somewhere between sob and laugh and stretched her arms out to Vincent, who needed no other invitation and did not hesitate. He held her tenderly, and she clutched at him, kissing his face all over and laughing.

The other three men in the room shifted their weight and looked embarrassed, and Catherine giggled at their discomposure. Finally letting go of Vincent, who moved to the other side of the bed, she looked at each of the others in turn. Beckoning first to JT. He walked over to the bed and she motioned for him to bend down.

Whispering conspiratorially she said, "JT…thank you. No one has ever had a better friend than you, and I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am to you. Anything you ever need, however outrageous the request, if it is within my power it is yours. I love you JT." She grabbed his face and pulled it down so she could kiss his forehead.

The look in her eyes made him squirm in shame for all the unkind things he had ever thought about her.

His voice husky with weariness and emotion he replied, "Brain surgery has made you all soft and girly…you're welcome, and don't think I won't call that marker in at some point in the future." Then whispering so that only she could hear he said, " I love you too, and you take good care of him, ok?"

She nodded and smiled through her tears and he stepped back.

She motioned for Evan to step forward and he did so, but not without hesitation. The soft dreamy look had left her eyes and they were steely. He hung his head before her and waited for the scathing telling off he deserved, instead she motioned for him to bend down. He met her eyes cautiously, and in them she read his remorse and shame, but she wasn't about to let him off the hook so easily. " Evan…if I had had my pistol earlier today, I would have shot you dead without a qualm or any concern for the consequences." His eyes widened marginally at this admission, but he said nothing because he would have deserved such a fate at her hands. " However…" she sighed, " You have thoroughly redeemed yourself this evening. I only hope that from now on when I ask you to trust me, you'll do so?" He nodded quickly, relieved that he had come away from facing her unscathed. She reached up and pulled his head down and kissed him chastely on the cheek,"That's for bringing him back to me," she smiled. Then she hauled off and punched him in the face, bloodying his nose. " And that was for handing him over to Muirfield making bringing him back to me necessary." He stepped back hurriedly, a chagrined smile on his blood smeared face. " Can't say I didn't deserve that Cat. I'm sorry."

She dropped her eyes from his embarrassed by the show of force, but pretty sure she'd gotten her message across. Vincent was chuckling into his hand, and Geoff laughed outright.

Catherine looked up then and locked her gaze on Geoff. " Vincent?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you help me up?"

" You probably…" he stopped speaking when she gave him that look, and he simply did as she asked, supporting her weight.

She said, " You must be Geoff?"

He smiled shyly, " Yes ma'am…and you must be Beauty."

She laughed, getting the joke immediately. "Considering I'm bald, black and blue, and wearing a hospital gown, that's a chivalrous thing to say."

He chuckled, liking her very much. He shot a look at Vincent, whose eyes were glowing with love and pride. " You weren't kidding about her, were you dude?"

" never about her," was Vincent's soft reply.

Catherine motioned for Geoff to come closer and he stepped right up to her. She reached up and pulled his face down so she could look directly into his eyes. " I've never had a hero before," she smiled, "Until tonight. I have no words to express the gratitude I feel towards you, and the men you led into Muirfield. I am humbled by your goodness, and if there is ever anything I can do for you, anything…" her voice faded into tears, and she stood on tiptoe and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. Then she put her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. He gave her a little squeeze in return. " You're my Lancelot," she whispered.

Behind her Vincent chuckled, "Hey now…" he said, mock warning in his voice, "Lancelot had an affair with Guinevere, I'd prefer we didn't stretch the metaphor so far…I'd hate to have to get all Medieval beast on a friend."

All three laughed, then Geoff stepped back. " Catherine, it took me all of 5 minutes to figure out that Vincent was a good man, deserving of my help. I consider him a friend, and always will." he grinned mischievously, " Can't say I think he deserves someone as fine as you… but no accounting for taste." He grinned down at her, dispelling some of the emotional tension.

She looked up at him seriously, " I meant what I said Geoff, anything…any time…"

"Well," he drawled considering, " Now that you mention it….you wouldn't happen to have a….sister?"

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

JT took Geoff back to the loft to get some sleep, and Evan said he had some work to do at the precinct before he finally went home, so soon Vincent got his wish to spend some alone time with Catherine.

He was laying half on and half off her hospital bed, and she was curled on her side, her head on his chest and his arms tight around her. There hadn't been much talking, they simply lay together, reveling in the freedom to do so.

" I missed you," he said quietly, "when I was locked up at Muirfield." he paused, considering his words carefully, " And I did a lot of thinking."

"About?…', she asked gently prompting him, knowing there was something bothering him.

"Us of course," she could feel him smiling. " I did that too," she admitted, "But you first…what was it you were thinking about?"

" About when I pretend married you in secret." he played with the ring on her finger as he was talking.

" Funny…" she smiled into his chest, " I thought about that too."

" I thought about how much I wished it didn't have to be pretend….or a secret."

She stretched her arm across his chest and hugged him, " Nice to know we DO think alike sometimes," she laughed softly." You don't just have to wish you know," she said shyly," I'd say yes."

"You would, huh?"

" Well…probably," she pretended to consider her multitude of options, " I mean….unless I got a better offer." She grinned.

"The thing is…" he didn't say anything for a minute and Catherine rolled away from him to look up into his face. There was no hint of humor there and she became suddenly concerned with the direction the conversation was taking. " What is it Vincent…you can tell me you know," she urged him gently. Something serious was obviously on his mind.

" The thing is Catherine, I don't know if I can have a….how can I put this?… a physical relationship with you. There's no question of my commitment, or my desire, or my attraction for that matter….I just don't know if it would be safe for us to be…intimate."

" Oh… because of?…," she made claws of her fingers and snarled silently, pretending to be a beast.

" Yeah, because of that," he dropped his eyes from her face and smiled a little, but it was a sad smile.

" Have you ever ….tried?" She almost laughed, the question made it sound like she was asking him about former girlfriends in a convoluted way.

" I haven't had any interest…or opportunity for that matter, since I came home…"

" I see," she replied quietly, " and now?"

"I'm in love with you, of course I'm interested. I'm just not sure I'm able. If I were to ever hurt you…" he shuddered as if the thought scared him to death. " I change when I get excited, or my adrenaline amps up…and making love to you would definitely do both… I can't imagine…I mean if in the middle of…"

" Do you think being unable to have sex would make a difference to me?"

" Are you telling me it wouldn't?" he asked disbelievingly.

" Let me put it this way," she said, " If that is the one thing I have to give up in order to be with you…forever with you, I would do it happily. Vincent…" she sighed, " you're as sexy as they make them, and I won't pretend that given the chance…" she laughed coloring, " But… you fulfill needs within me with just your presence in my life, that no one and nothing has ever been able to before. Just being with you…like this, close and affectionate, I'm content….Perhaps one day we'll find a cure for you, there is always that possibility. But I wouldn't let that be the reason I didn't spend as much of my life with you as conceivable. Did you really thing I hadn't considered this? The chance that having that kind of intimacy might not be possible? I told you I loved you. When I said it, I meant I love you, all of you and what you bring to this relationship is already complete."

" What about kids?"

" What about them?, she countered.

"Don't you want them?"

" If you're there to help me raise them…sure."

" But if I can't give them to you?…."

"There are thousands of children that need homes….are you telling me you couldn't love one, or two…or ten, just because we didn't make them?"

" Well…no…but what about…"

" Vincent," she said with an exasperated smile, " If you want to get married, I will marry you, beast and all…if you don't, then I'm ok with that as well. I just want you in my life, whatever you feel comfortable with, as long as you're here."

" Really?"

"Yes really…let me ask you this…will you love me?"

" For ever."

" Never lie to me, or give the affection due to me, to someone else?"

" Never…there is no one for me but you."

" Will you stay with me as long as we both shall live?"

" At least that long," he said fervently.

" And will you put the toilet seat down when you finish?"

" If it makes you happy," he smiled.

" Well….those are my "being married to a beast" rules, if you're willing to abide by them, then I don't see any problem".

" You really are amazing,' he whispered.

" I know," she grinned.

" OH…one other thing," she said softly, " If I can't have sex, to compensate I will require an inordinate amount of kissing…I'm talking lifetime supply of chapstick amount of kissing…embarrassingly unmanly amount of kissing, perhaps even Guinness world record amount of kissing…do you think you can handle that?"

" Hmmmm," he seemed to think about it for a moment, " Well, that's a lot to ask…" he tilted his head, then lowered his lips to hers , " I suppose we had better test my resolve."

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

Evan was bone tired, but he had one more unpleasant task to complete to finish his act of atonement. He drove to the precinct and went straight to the ME office. He used the flash drive that he and JT had cooked up from the dead Marine's files, and replaced all of Vincent's DNA evidence, with that of the doppelganger.

Then he went down to the evidence locker and checked out the gun they had found in the alley that had had Darius' fingerprints on it. He initially took it to the lab and ran some ballistic tests to cover having removed it from evidence, but before he took it back he took a short drive to a deserted rail yard, put two bullets in the Marine's body, and then took the gun back to evidence. His final act of the night, was to drive to the East River and dump the body. He felt pretty bad about this part, this man would not know justice for the crimes committed against him, and in fact would be taking the blame for someone else's "crimes". He would become the New York "vigilante" in Vincent's place.

But after getting the story of what really happened in the alley that night, Evan felt he could justify the subterfuge with a relatively clear conscience. This Marine had had no family, had in fact been transferred out of a Marine brig to Muirfield's facility, and the loss of reputation he would endure post mortem, would not cause duress to anyone living.

Even so, he spent a moment saying a few words over the body before letting it slide into the river. Then he went home to try and get a few hours of sleep before his shift next morning.

As he drove home, he thought about Cat and Vincent. Evan had been deeply attracted to Catherine Chandler for over a year. He had thought he was in love with her, until he had seen them together, when he realized that the flirtatious infatuation he held, paled in comparison. He could not deny the evidence of his own eyes, and could not fail to recognize the real thing when it stared him in the face.

He couldn't help but think that Catherine deserved better than what Vincent could offer her in the way of a "life". He might have escaped Muirfield for the moment, but they were still out there, lurking in the shadows. They may have suffered a setback because of tonight's destruction of their facility computer files, but they could be sure there were backups somewhere. Perhaps they got stung, and would walk away wounded, but Evan had no doubt they would be back, and now HE too was in danger from them.

Well, there was nothing for it now. He had cast his die, and must live with the decision. He could take comfort in the fact that it had been the right one. And perhaps he could have offered Catherine a better "life" had he moved to do so, but he could never give her , emotionally, what she seemed to derive from her relationship with Vincent.

He could only hope that they would now be able to live a life with some semblance of normalcy. He wished them both a happily ever after. But he had his doubts. In any event, he had done what he could to make reparation, the rest was up to them.

JT was so tired, he wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep. When he got back to the loft, he showed Geoff the couch and got him settled, then turned the tv on and sat in front of it without really watching it, just to give his mind something to do. When he got Evan's text, he rang Catherine's precinct with an anonymous tip about a body floating in the East River, and put paid to that chapter of his friend's continuing saga.

He thought about Catherine and Vincent. He had thought for a long time, that he was the only person on earth that cared what happened to Vincent Keller. He had been incredibly wrong. He had also thought that seclusion and secrecy was the only way to keep him safe, but after ten years of non life for both of them, he had come to realize that it had made very little difference.

Perhaps it was time to revise their strategy. Maybe, instead of living in the shadows, Vincent should move into the spotlight. It's harder to attack someone in the broad light of day, than if they lurk on a rooftop or in an alley. Someone who will be missed, can give pause. There was no point now in trying to keep him secret from Muirfield. They knew for a fact that he was alive. JT was certain they would not give up in there quest to acquire him, but taking a high profile, prominent doctor would be much more difficult than snatching a furtive, reclusive beast. Especially one with a New York detective for a girlfriend.

Muirfield was vicious, and their tactics were downright sinister, they were all still in danger. But maybe they could make it harder for them . JT shook his head wearily, he just didn't know… maybe sleep would bring clarity. He stood up and shut off the tv, but before he could move he heard Vincent coming up the stairs. He waited for his friend, just to make sure everything was alright. He'd half expected Vincent to spend the entire night in the hospital, and was mildly surprised to see him back so soon.

Vincent took off his jacket as he walked across the room, slinging it over the back of a chair he turned to JT and ran his hands tiredly through his hair," Hey." he said.

"Hey," JT replied expectantly. When Vincent didn't offer anything more he said," So?….everything ok? I didn't expect you back so soon."

Vincent nodded, " Yeah…she fell asleep," he chuckled, "In mid sentence. So I left to let her get some rest. I'll go back tomorrow. They're supposed to release her by the end of the week, and then she'll have a pretty long period of recuperation."

" Yeah, I see that happening…not so much," JT snorted, knowing that Catherine was going to be a very difficult convalescent.

Vincent chuckled again, and nodded in agreement. He looked sad, and JT didn't want to press, but he knew Vincent would brood if he didn't get it off his chest, and a brooding Vincent was not a great thing.

" So?….what's with the angst?"

Vincent looked up at JT, then smiled. There really wasn't any use trying to hide things from him, JT knew him too well. Sighing in resignation, he waved a hand at the chairs and indicated that JT should sit with him. When they were facing each other, he told JT what he and Catherine had discussed in the hospital.

JT sat for a minute, then shook his head and gave Vincent as penetrating look, " And your problem with her reaction is,… what?"

"It isn't fair to her JT. She deserves so much better. She deserves a home and a family and a husband that can show her just how desirable she is, and how very lucky he is to have her. I'm really not worthy of that devotion. I can't give her any of those things." He sighed again, and his eyes filled with tears.

" She loves you," JT argued vehemently," Don't you think that decision is up to her?"

" I know she loves me JT, that isn't the problem."

"Then what IS the problem?" he asked heatedly.

" She'd be settling for half a life, when she could have one that is full.' He replied angrily, " She's being obtuse if she thinks things will get any easier. I will always cause her to be torn and unfulfilled."

JT shook his head, " It seems to me that Catherine knows her own mind. She would rather have half a life with someone she loves deeply, than a full life with someone she doesn't. That seems a wise choice to me. And quite frankly," he stared Vincent down, " I think this is more about you not having everything you want from the relationship, far more than what it is she wants."

Vincent glared at him, but didn't deny it.

" Hah," JT snorted, " That's what I thought. Catherine is a singular individual and it is my firm belief that as long as she is convinced that you are giving her everything you are capable of, she will be completely satisfied. You're the one who wants more than that, and so what?….you're willing to cause you both a world of hurt and misery, because you can't have everything? Do you have any idea how many people never find what you have right in front of your face? And you're willing to walk away from it because you're greedy?"

JT stood up angrily, and shoved his chair back under the table " You know Vincent, I have never been ashamed of being your friend…until this moment." He shook his head with disgust," I'm going to bed now, I don't really think I can talk to you anymore tonight without punching you in face."

With that JT turned his back on his oldest friend, and went to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Vincent sat at the table for a while longer, his head in his hands, and his mind in turmoil, before he too gave up and went to bed. Though he was certain sleep would elude him.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

Catherine woke the next morning chagrined. She remembered talking with Vincent, and the next thing she knew she was waking up in the hospital alone. She was disoriented at first, but after a few minutes was able to focus. They had given her permission to try and get out of bed this morning. A walker had been put next to the bed to facilitate that end. After five minutes of struggle she was finally upright and felt the need to brush her teeth, so she shuffled into the bathroom.

Unfortunately, it took her so long to get there that by the time she did, she'd forgotten why she'd gone. It was as if last nights sleep had drained all of her cognitive energy. Suddenly she remembered….teeth …alright…she picked up the hospital supplied toothbrush, and then couldn't remember how to use it.

Frustrated and more than a little afraid, she stared at the implement for a second and then remembered.

She managed to get the cap off the toothpaste and get her teeth brushed, all the while eyeing herself critically in the mirror.

She was a mess. They had removed the bandages over the right side of her face and there was only a sort of skull cap gauze bandage perched on top of her bald head like snow on a mountain top.

Her face was one big red, black and purple bruise with hints of yellow and blue. It was ghastly, no wonder Vincent had left when she fell asleep.

Vincent….she smiled. Just saying his name could make her pulse react. Picturing his face, his eyes sparkling with humor made her breath come a bit quicker. Good Lord, who knew love could make you feel this way? She was prepared for the emotional…but the physical reaction was something altogether different. She spared a moment to wonder if the philosophical high road she had taken during their conversation last night had been realistic.

He wasn't even in the room and her body was reacting. Could she really be close to him for the rest of their lives and not want to touch him, or be touched? She thought about the wedding reception when they had danced, remembered stroking the sleeve of his suit and wishing the fabric would melt beneath her hand. Wanting it to be bare flesh, the muscular corded arm that held her so securely, under her exploring fingers.

She could no more deny the attraction, than she could the inhalation of another breath. Worse, she knew he felt it too, perhaps even more than she did, though she wasn't convinced that was possible. Knowing that, and how fearful he was of losing control, she had to wonder if she would be able to remain the strong one. Would she be able to resist the overwhelming urge to entice? To draw a reaction from him. To keep her hands to herself? This morning, she wasn't entirely sure.

He was right really, she did have a history of being involved with bad boys, and if not in attitude then by circumstance, he was probably the ultimate. He was also the most compassionate, gentle, kindest man she had ever known. She smiled, thinking that she was sounding like a late night infomercial, " and if you act now, as an added bonus, you get drop dead sexy".

She remembered showing up unexpectedly at the loft once and finding him doing chin ups, he had been shirtless and barefoot and the warmth that had begun in her face, traveled south with alarming speed. It left her confused and breathless, every nerve screaming. And she had had to fight the urge to let her hands, follow the path her gaze had traveled. He had read it in her eyes, she knew, and his had smoldered in return, locked on hers and sending signals she could not fail to understand.

She didn't want to stress him, or put undo pressure. She had meant what she had told him last night, but they had been snuggling and sleepy. It was a different story when they kissed, and she knew that it would be more difficult for them when they were in that situation. They were both passionate people, and deeply in love with one another, things could get out of hand pretty quick under those circumstances. She just hoped she had the strength of will to keep the promises she had made. Because every time he touched her, her resolve weakened a bit more. Though, if her options were 1) behave herself, or 2) not have him in her life, the choice was pretty simple.

Her reverie was interrupted by the arrival of Tess and Heather, each bearing gifts. Tess brought the coffee, strong and black and steaming in the styro cup her favorite coffee place served it in. Heather brought breakfast, the cop staple, donuts. She had to laugh, Heather didn't seem too concerned about the weighty affects of donuts these days, determined that her convalescent sister put some "meat" on her bones.

They sat in companionable silence while Catherine sipped and nibbled. She was pleased with the way things had reverted since her injury. She and Tess had nearly repaired all the damage done by her clandestine activities. Tess apparently had decided to trust her implicitly, without explanation, and Catherine couldn't help but be relieved. She was sure that at some point they would have to broach the subject again, Tess was too good a detective to let it go completely. But apparently she wasn't going to press the issue for the time being, and Catherine was going to enjoy the reprieve for as long as it lasted.

Heather was making a determined effort to be cheerful and upbeat, though Cat knew her sister well, and knew she was dealing with her own demons. She wasn't trying to exorcise them in Cat's hospital room however, and that too gave Catherine a sense of relief. They chatted about inconsequential things, steering clear of the subject of men…none of them feeling comfortable enough just yet, to drag those skeletons out of the closet. So they talked about the apartments Heather had been looking at, and the fact that the "vigilante" had made the paper this morning by being found adrift in the East River.

Catherine didn't try to cover her very real surprise, and she felt a moment of horror thinking that it might be Vincent they were talking about. But Tess called the man by a different name, and Catherine wondered how they had come to the conclusion that he was the vigilante. She was comforted none the less, and began to feel a real sense of hope, realizing that Vincent would no longer be a suspect. One less enemy, one less hurdle to their happiness. One less was not so much in such a long list, she thought wryly, but it was still one less and that was good. She also realized that the body they found could only have been supplied and planted by one of those in the "inner circle" and she wondered why no one had bothered to give her that news. She was a bit annoyed, but tried not to let it stain the moment. There was a real possibility that Vincent could at least become a comfortable presence in her home now, instead of a ghost on the fire escape. She was sure that much of the story of the Muirfield incursion had been left unsaid last night, and she reminded her self to ask Vincent about the particulars.

After a little while Tess had to excuse herself to get to work. The press was all over the "Vigilante" story, and the precinct was busier than normal. Telling Catherine she'd check in with her the next day, she gave her a hug and left.

Heather hung around for a while longer, and they talked some more about apartments. In all honesty, Catherine wasn't really inclined to move. She loved her apartment, even with the recent bloodbath taken into account. But she also loved her sister, and knew Heather would never go back there. Catherine let her prattle on, thinking that perhaps it was time Heather got her own place anyway. Catherine was rather hoping that she might be able to have some privacy with Vincent from time to time, which might be difficult if Heather was on the premises. But there was time for that conversation later. Finally Heather stated that she too had to get to work. She gave Catherine a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, and was gone.

Catherine let her mind wander back to her favorite subject, and passed the rest of her morning with thoughts of Vincent and hopes for the future, keeping her company.

Across town a very different morning was taking place.

Geoff was shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth and watching the two old friends at the table with him, through narrowed eyes. JT seemed out of sorts, gruffer than was usual even for him, his eyes gritty and his voice surly. He spoke to Geoff, but not to Vincent ,except in short monosyllabic responses to questions put to him. After two cups of coffee, but no breakfast JT gathered his things wished Geoff a good day, told him he was welcome to stay as long as he liked, and left for school. Without a word to Vincent, who stirred his coffee morosely, not looking up from the swirling surface even when Geoff cleared his throat.

Pushing his plate away, Geoff gazed hard at his new friend, trying to gauge the situation between him and JT, and failing. He'd just have to ask.

"Ok dude," he said, "What the hell is going on between you and the Jman?"

" He's pissed at me," Vincent mumbled, still stirring his cold coffee.

"Yeah, I gathered that much," Geoff chuckled, reaching across the table and tapping a finger on the back of Vincent's hand to get his attention. When glanced up Geoff gave him a penetrating look, " So what's he so bent out of shape for?"

Vincent related the conversation he had had last night with both Catherine and JT, then gazed at Geoff willing him to understand.

Geoff sat back in his chair and laced his thumbs through his belt loops, staring silently at Vincent until in agitation he said, " What? I suppose you agree with JT?"

Geoff shrugged," As a matter of fact I do. In fact, I'm going to go him one better and call you an idiot."

He could see that Vincent was getting angry, so he held up a placating hand, " let me finish before you go flying off the handle," he said. " I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm damned observant. What I saw in that woman's eyes last night when she looked at you, and by the way that was ALL she was looking at was YOU, made me wish like hell someone would look at me like that. All that stuff you told me on the plane…well, you weren't wrong. She is one special woman…one of a kind. And she loves you, even I could see that and I've only seen you together once."

Slightly mollified Vincent sat back in his chair and gazed at Geoff, " But…" he began, and Geoff cut him off sharply.

" But nothing man. First of all, you don't have the vaguest idea how you're going to react to being intimate with her, because you have no basis for comparison. You haven't been in love with anyone for ten years, nor have you tried to act on it, so you don't know unless you try. And judging by what I saw last night, it wouldn't matter to her anyway. I think we both know you won't hurt her, I think she's damn sure of it too. So my question is, is this about her? Or is it about you not wanting her to see you like that?"

Vincent paled and his mouth worked but no sound came out. Geoff gave him a knowing look, " That's what I thought. This is about your pride…you not wanting Catherine to see you as the beast, not wanting it to be true that she accepts even that part of you, when you can't accept it yourself. You're not afraid of hurting her, you're afraid she'll be disgusted….or worse, you're afraid she won't be disgusted, because you think she should be."

Geoff stood up then and gazed down sadly at his friend, " Look, I'm going to go to the hospital and see your girl. I'm sure she has a ton of questions about what went down last night, and frankly, I'd like to get to know her a little better. She's someone I'm going to be very proud to call my friend, or I'm not an Idaho boy. I suggest you take a good hard look at yourself my friend. Then if I were you, I'd go talk to that beautiful girlfriend of yours, and tell her how you feel and what you're thinking. I bet she'll have an answer you can both live with."

He patted Vincent on the shoulder, told him he'd see him later and that Vincent still owed him a hotdog, then with a smile left the loft.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Catherine was just finishing her exceedingly bland lunch when Geoff knocked on the doorjamb with a big smile," Hey there Beauty, mind if I come in?"

"Geoff!" She was delighted to see him, and it shone on her face and in her eyes and poor Geoff got a bit flustered by her enthusiasm.

He grinned and looked at the floor, trying hard not to blush, hiding the pleasure it gave him to be greeted with such eagerness.

Catherine tried not to laugh.

He was a big man, broad of chest, wide of shoulder. Sandy colored hair buzz cut close to his skull. Expressive blue eyes and a wide ingenuous smile. He was the kind of man that when he smiled at you, he could make you believe you were the only woman in the world worthy of his interest. Catherine sincerely hoped he had someone nice back home that he could lavish all that on.

"Come on in," she invited, " I was hoping you'd show up before you went back to….Idaho was it?"

He shambled into the room like a dancing bear, with more grace than she would have credited him. He was carrying a brown bag from which an enticing smell was emanating. She cocked an eyebrow and grinned,

" Did you bring hotdogs?"

He chuckled and dropped his gaze shyly, he was endearing and sweet and Catherine rather hoped he'd stick around for a while. " Yeah," he replied airily, "I sort of thought you might be getting tired of hospital food?… you think this is ok?" He waved the bag questioningly.

"If you don't share, I might have to get up and mug you for them," she replied with mock severity.

"Hey…no need for violence, I brought enough to feed you for a couple of days," he surrendered the bag to her with a grin.

"I'm glad you came Geoff," she smiled warmly at him, she really liked this new friend of Vincent's and she owed him more than she would ever be able to repay.

" Thanks," he smiled shyly again, she could tell he didn't spend a lot of time talking to women, " I thought you might have a lot of questions? Being female and a detective? That makes you the biggest snoop on the planet, and we didn't give you much info last night."

Catherine laughed out loud and smacked him on the arm good naturedly, " Yeah, well you have me pegged right down to my romper stompers," she replied still chuckling. "I would like to hear the story…but first…" she fished a hotdog out of the bag, took a huge bite and sighed in contentment giving him an approving nod.

" Darnell's East 43rd?"

His eyes widened, " The girl knows her mystery meat."

" I'm a cop. I know coffee, donuts and hotdogs."

She gazed at him while she chewed, " Geoff," her voice dropped and became serious, " I need to thank you for what you did to help Vincent, and by extension, myself. It was a brave, generous, and probably foolhardy thing to do for a complete stranger, and I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am."

" Hey," he replied gently, seeing her eyes well up, " When he told me about you on the plane…Catherine, you should have seen his face, the way his eyes got all soft and his voice got all tender and whispery. The way he talked about you?…well, I had to help. It was like a moral imperative. You rarely get to see a man that much in love, rarer still experience it for yourself, so when it needs a little help you have a responsibility."

" You're a big soft…"

He laughed, " yeah, big soft gooey marshmallow…so Vincent has said. But I liked him, and I liked you before I ever met you because of how HE feels about you…so…there it is."

" And now that you've met me?" she asked, curiously.

" I'm thinking about knocking him on the head and tossing MY hat in the ring," he grinned. " I totally get why he gets all gaga when it comes to you. Feel a bit giddy around you myself, truth be told," he blushed red to the roots of his hair, and Catherine smiled tenderly at him. He really was a very nice man.

" Ok then…let's talk about what happened last night? And could you start with the "vigilante"? Hearing he'd been found floating in the river nearly gave me a heart attack."

So Geoff told her about everything. Meeting Vincent for the first time, flying him back to New York, the fight, the abduction and the rescue. He paused once and shook his head in wonder as she scarffed her third hotdog, wondering where this petite little woman got such an appetite, then resumed his story. He told her about breaking into Muirfield and Vincent changing. About JT doing his 007 routine, which made her laugh, and about Evan's idea to use the Marine's body to take the heat off of Vincent. When he finally stopped talking he made a grab for the bag before she ate ALL of his lunch and asked, " Any questions?"

" Did they hurt him Geoff?" she asked her voice soft and laden with a fear she couldn't hide, " I didn't have the guts to ask him and he didn't offer any information."

He reached out and took her hand reassuringly, " No Catherine, I promise you, they did not hurt him. He'd been in that cell for about 10 hours and he was bored and scared and he missed you, but they hadn't had a chance to get to him yet." He stroked his thumb across her knuckles soothingly, and then realizing how intimate the gesture was , dropped her hand back on to the bed and gave it an awkward pat.

"Thanks to you," she gave him a heartfelt smile, which he returned. " Are you going to stay in New York for a while?" She asked, she enjoyed his easy, uncomplicated company. He had a charm and sense of humor that instantly made him likeable, and she hoped she'd have the opportunity to get to know him better.

" Well…. That depends ," he grinned, " You never did answer my question last night about whether you have a sister."

She chuckled," As a matter of fact I do."

" Is she as beautiful as you?" he waggled his eyebrows at her making her laugh.

" Some people say she's prettier," Catherine replied, wondering if Geoff wasn't exactly what Heather needed.

" Well then, if there is actually someone in this city that can rival you, I'm definitely staying until I meet her," he stood and bent over her smiling, leaned down and gave her a brotherly kiss on the forehead. " I better head out and let you get some rest. If I prolong your stay in this hospital by a nanosecond because I tired you out, I'll have to deal with your boyfriend, and that is something I would like to avoid.'

" Will you come back?" she asked wistfully.

" Try and stop me," he grinned, then gave her a little wave and left.

She hoped he meant it.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

Vincent sat in the same spot Geoff had left him, for hours. His mind reeling. He wavered between Vincent/the Beast several times. His adrenaline kicking in, his heart rate speeding up, his breathing growing short and labored….then he'd pull it together. Talk himself down, breathe deep and even, force his body to obey. He did it over and over, trying desperately to control it, to exert his will over something he'd never been able to govern before. It was like beast calisthenics, pushing out to begin the change, drawing in to restrain it . There was a thin film of sweat covering his face, his hands were clammy and his chest hurt from the exertion. His heart labored , erratic and painful.

Here….he could do it here, when he was concentrating, where there were no distractions.

He cast his mind back to two years ago, and the near fatal encounter he'd had with…her. He had been following Catherine, he remembered. The same as he had for almost seven years. It was part of his routine. Eat, sleep, exercise, play chess or video games with JT….watch over Catherine.

There had been feelings even then….well, if he was honest, they had been in evidence since that first night in the woods, he had however, played them down, set them aside. Convinced himself that he was being ridiculous, you couldn't fall in love with someone at first sight. That was an invention of romance writers. It took time and continuity and proximity, that was what built a lasting love. But seven years later, he was still shadowing her…still living on the edge of her life, and still jealous of every human contact she formed.

Angered at his impotence, his inability to be any part of her life except a ghost in the darkness, he had sought out other company. Not so discriminating, not so integral, without the tangle of feelings and with a deliberate impermanence. He had charmed, as he was fully capable. Had soothed and cajoled and ingratiated. That night, more than any other, with the benefit of copious amounts of alcohol, there had been contact. There was no love, but there was desperate need and as the excitement amped up, he began to change.

He could have, he would have ripped her throat out and left her a broken husk had she not maced him and slipped away.

He had disappeared for 9 days…unable to return to Vincent Keller for four of those, and sorry he had for the other five. It was the lowest point in his life, and he had nearly cast himself off the Brooklyn Bridge and into the river. Probably would have if JT had not found him when he did. Had not fed and medicated and restrained him while his mind broke and reformed. It was then he knew that his life would be barren and desolate, and unless he found a cure for what Muirfield had done to him, he would live forever on the outside of society.

But like a lifeline he had fallen back on Catherine. The one constant in his life besides JT. He watched and listened and grew to know her. The fierce defender, the compassionate friend, fearless and righteous and searching, just like he was. Searching for him, so it turned out. And he fell into the chasm.

She had looked at him, man and beast, and had not turned away. Had in fact drawn nearer, gotten closer and had been unafraid. She had made him hope, made him feel the light of the sun, made him wish to wake another morning and see what the world would bring. She would love him, whole and complete against all odds, and help him be the man trapped in the beast's body. She would save him, as he had tried to save her. But the salvation she offered him came at a very great cost, and though she was not afraid, he believed she should be. Because as sure as she was that he would not hurt her, he could not share that optimism and further, was not willing to take the risk, because he was afraid of himself. Her trust was misplaced and naïve, because he knew he could not be trusted. He had killed, would do so again, and if he were to ever hurt her…there would be no redemption. No coming back from that horror. It would fracture his soul beyond repair.

He might have told Geoff…there would have been no judgment, Vincent was sure. There would have been acceptance and advice and assurances. But Geoff did not, could not know what the beast was capable of. The consuming rage, and the glory of the kill. The satisfaction of rending and destruction, the indiscriminate bloodlust and the devastating after affects to Vincent's gentle human psyche. No, Geoff would have offered sympathy and compassion, and none was deserved.

And yes, after many years and serious exertion, he could quasi master the beast in a controlled situation such as this. But with Catherine? When his emotions and hormone levels were running high? In the throes of passion? Could his love for her really conquer? He could not be sure, and until he could, there must be no opportunity to test his love's mastery. Harming her would break his mind once and for all.

But…could he resist her? Would it even be possible for him to absent himself from her life? He loved her with a need so consuming that the thought of parting from her brought pain both psychological and physical. Made his heart stutter and his hands shake. She was all that tethered him to life and sanity. She was everything pure and real and good and he was hopelessly addicted to her.

Could he love her now that he had awakened the same feelings in her? Could he allow himself to hope, to hold her close and draw her like breath into starved lungs? Could she save him? Could Vincent Keller keep her safe? Should he allow her to make the choice?

In turmoil, he threw himself out of the chair and paced the floor. Hurling punches at the bag, growling deep in his chest, he battered the leather until his knuckles bled. He raked his fingers through his hair, trying to tug the answer out by the roots until finally….inexorably… he came to the conclusion that he must tell her. She must know everything, every dark and sordid detail and then, she would see. And then she would do what he could not….she would walk away.

His decision made, he grabbed his coat from the back of the chair, and headed for the hospital.

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

It was late, well, late for someone recovering from brain surgery anyway. It amazed Catherine just how tired you could become from doing nothing, but the lassitude was all encompassing. She had had a steady stream of visitors all day. After Geoff had gone, her father and Brooke dropped by, brought flowers, offered her a place in their home while she recuperated, said the things parents say. Later Evan had stopped in, staying laughingly out of arms reach. They had chatted for a good while and then he too left. JT popped in, and Heather returned for the second time in the day. By this point Catherine was tired enough that being gracious was beyond her ability, and she had pointedly asked them to come back another time. Neither seemed to take offense, which she was happy about. She appreciated their concern. The only person who hadn't come today, was the only person she really had wanted to see.

She had waited expectantly, but he had not come, and she began to be afraid. Not for his safety…she felt like they had gained at least a short reprieve before that would become an issue again. But she had felt a rising tide of fear in him last night, and was worried that perhaps it had manifest itself in his perpetual need to protect her. His self loathing, and lack of self worth was becoming a real problem. Especially as she could not truly relate to it. To a certain extent she understood how reprehensible he found the "beast', and having seen him in action, she was aware that he could be unmanageable. However, Catherine's innate sense of justice argued that the beast in Vincent targeted only those deserving of retribution. Vincent had said once that he wasn't Batman, but Catherine felt like he was much closer to a Dark Knight than he would like to admit. They all had that black rage within, Vincent's was just more pronounced. And it had a face.

That which he found loathsome, she found heroic. His strength and uninhibited, untamed justness appealed to her on a level that would have dismayed him. And if she was honest with herself, the element of danger inherent in her relationship with him, was exhilarating. But that did not negate the very real love she felt for the man he was. The beast might hold a dark allure, but it was Vincent Keller whom she loved with all her might. The tousled hair, the warm brown eyes, the dimpled smile…certainly, but more so the tender heart, the sense of fairness and for doing the right thing however painful. The determination to make a difference despite the consequences…these things made him imminently desirable. She wished he could see himself the way she saw him. Wished he trusted himself as she trusted him. Wished loving him was enough.

A shadow fell upon her from the doorway, and there stood the subject of her reverie, at last. She lifted heavy eyes to his and smiled with all the warmth she had, for him alone," Hey."

"Hey," he replied. His voice was soft and angst laden and she could see that he had been torturing himself with inner demons all day. They clawed at him, wracking him with indecision and tore away at his heart.

"Come in," she invited gently, " I've been hoping you'd make an appearance."

" Yeah…well.." he shrugged diffidently, his hands plunged deep in his hoodie pockets to keep them from flying about in agitation . But he came into the room, one hesitant step at a time.

He wouldn't meet her gaze, but shambled over to the chair and slouched down into it , " How are you feeling?" he asked, but his eyes skittered away and he stared at a point over her shoulder distractedly.

" Better now that you're here…..Vincent? Will you look at me please?" She kept her voice soft, soothing fearful that anything sterner would make him take flight. He looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin.

He looked up and his eyes were dark with emotion, smoky in the dim light. She held his gaze, " Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

He gave her a sardonic smile, " I hardly know where to start," he replied with a sigh.

" Maybe I can tell you then," she stated simply," Because I think I already know. Correct me if I'm wrong and we can discuss it….you're afraid."

He looked up sharply, his eyes narrowed, but he didn't deny it and nodded shortly before looking away.

"You're afraid of where this is going. Your feelings, like my own, are more intense than you anticipated. You wonder if we can take this further…to it's natural conclusion, without there being serious repercussions connected to your control. You think you'll hurt me, and you know if you do it will cause you considerable guilt, added to what you already feel. Maybe more than you can bear, so you're wondering if it wouldn't be more prudent to stop before we begin. How'm I doing so far?' she smiled gently, and though his eyes still looked stormy, he smiled a little and nodded, " Bullseye."

" Ok…then let's address this logically. I have been in close proximity to the beast on several occasions, even when he's enraged, and you have done me no harm. Ever. In fact, I have touched you, spoken with you and talked you down while you were beasting out, and you have always responded to me. Isn't that true?"

"Yes…' he replied, but she could hear the "but" left unspoken, so she continued.

"But….you're worried that the control is too tenuous , too uncertain to risk getting any closer. You have to exert so much effort as it is that you're afraid when things get…heated, you'll lose it. Right?"

He nodded again, and she could see the tears that streaked his cheeks and it broke her heart.

"Further," she continued, though her voice was rough with tears of her own," You know I'm not afraid, and you think that will make me complacent and reckless, and that scares you even more. You're not sure if you can control yourself, and me. Does that about cover it?"

" Almost," he replied so quietly she had to strain to hear him, " There are things you don't know…things you should know, before you decide it's safe to be with me. My fear isn't just in my head Catherine, it's based on experience."

She nodded slightly, she had already assumed that there was a concrete reason for his fear. That there had been an…episode… in his past that led him to believe that he couldn't be trusted in that situation. That knowledge gave her a twinge of pain, thinking that he had risked his secret for someone else, but was unwilling to do so for her. But she knew that it was because he loved her, that he was afraid to even try with her.

She looked up at him then and smiled tenderly, " Vincent…." she sighed, he was so very fragile sometimes carrying this burden alone, she wanted to share even this with him. " I am no stranger to injury, danger and the possibility of death." She pointed at her head, and then her shoulder offering evidence with her assertion," And I understand that you don't think the risk is worth it…but I do. You. Are. Worth. It." Her voice got stronger with her conviction," I think we should go slow, test and stretch the boundaries. But I am not willing to give up on this," she waved her hand between them, " To give up on US, because of fear."

He looked up at her, wanting desperately to believe. " Do you think we can?…go slow I mean?…because every time I'm near you…I…the need to…" he paused and blew his breath out between pursed lips in frustration.

He glanced up when she laughed softly, an answering wry smile gracing his mobile lips.

Her eyes sparkled with a mixture of tears and droll humor, " Well…I'm going to have to work on my control too it seems, but yes, I think we can. And I'm not willing to go down without fighting for it. I love you, you silly man/beast." She grinned, " and to be honest, I'm not sure I'd have the strength to give you up now anyway. You're too much a part of me. The most important part," she whispered. " For all that you say I make you remember who you used to be….you make me realize who I want to be. Who I can be, with you. We need each other Vincent."

He nodded in agreement, his voice gone. He didn't know if he could ever match her courage and honesty, but he was going to try.

"Now..' she said with mock fierceness, " Come over here and kiss me before my head explodes."

He got up and moved over to the bed, she scooted to the edge to make room for him. He stretched out beside her and wrapped her in his arms. Snuggling up to him, she laid her head on his chest in contentment, and clasped his folded hands in her own. When he dropped his head and their lips met, an ember glowed inside…but it offered only warmth and comfort and safety from the storm. At least for this night. They fell asleep in each other's arms, and that was how Heather found them the next morning.

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

Heather leaned against the doorjamb of Catherine's hospital room, taking in the scene beyond. She stood silently for several minutes contemplating how she was going to react when one of the two people in the bed woke up. She had never seen her sister so comfortably close to anyone, so relaxed and at ease. Even in this busy hospital, she curled against….what ever his name was' chest, her arm draped across him unselfconsciously. The tableau was rather sweet, and she decided that whatever her reservations about what's his name, she would put them aside for the sake of the peace in her sister's sleeping visage. Catherine had lived most of her adult life without letting anyone that close, Heather wasn't going to be the one to ruin it for her.

Making a decision, she cleared her throat softly, knowing that he was on the verge of waking. That did the trick, his eyes flew open in alarm and shifted quickly to the doorway. Seeing Heather standing there he started and moved to get up, when she held a finger to her lips, quirked an eyebrow and smiled. He relaxed marginally, giving her a cat with a canary smile and slowly, gently disentangled himself from a deeply asleep Catherine.

Heather turned her back, then glanced over her shoulder indicating with a head tilt that he should follow her into the hallway. He joined her a moment later, his hands shoved deep into his jean pockets, his shoulders hunched defensively, and he guiltily refused to meet her frank stare. " hey," he offered by way of greeting.

She snickered, " hey yourself," she replied, but she smiled at him genuinely when he looked up, and meeting his eyes candidly she said, " I think maybe we should talk…don't you?"

" yeah," he replied quietly, " It's probably about time," he stretched his arm towards the waiting room, and with a backward glance to make sure Catherine was still asleep, followed Heather as she walked that way.

He waited until she sat down, then took a seat himself facing her.

Heather stared at him a minute, trying to gauge how far she was willing to trust him then said, " I guess first off, I'd like to know what your real name is." That was going to depend, she supposed, on how frank his answers were.

He paused, wondering if he should tell her the absolute truth, then decided that if he and Catherine were to have any chance at making a go of their relationship, it was going to have to include Heather, so he chose honesty. " My name is Vincent," he replied, " But my last name is obviously not Zalanski…that was Catherine's idea."

"Why would she give you a fictitious last name," Heather asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him and daring him to lie to her.

" Because I'm supposed to be dead, and there are people looking for me. Using my real name is dangerous."

" Dangerous to whom?' she asked startled, but instinctively believing him.

" To me, Catherine, the two other friends I trust with the secret…and now you."

Heather digested that tidbit of information, then gave him a penetrating look, " So…who's looking for you? Drug lords, the mafia…what?"

" Are you sure you want to know?" he asked her seriously, " Once I tell you, I can't untell you, and the knowledge is dangerous…life and death dangerous Heather, and I don't want to put you in that position unless you're sure."

Heather thought about that for a minute, weighing her curiosity against what she felt she needed to know. " Ok…maybe I don't need to know that particular thing…just tell me this, are you a criminal?"

He gazed at her for a moment," I think that depends on your definition…let me ask you something. Did you consider Robin Hood a criminal?"

She chuckled, understanding the distinction, " Ok, I get what you're saying. Some of your actions could be considered "questionably" legal"?

He nodded, " That pretty much sums it up, but your sister is a cop with a strong moral compass… she knows my entire story, if she trusts my motives, maybe you could too?"

" Ok" Heather replied, " As far as that goes. Will being with you be dangerous for her?"

He looked pained by the question, and she knew immediately what the answer would be, "Yes," he said with a sigh, " But…she seems determined to accept the risk, even though I've tried very hard to talk her out of it. You see Heather, " he paused and a sadness crept into his eyes and his voice, " I love her, I love her so much that even though I know it would be better for both of us if I stayed away…I'm drawn back like a moth to a flame. Unfortunately, she feels the same way for me. So you see," he gave her a sardonic smile, " We're sort of between a rock and a hard place. Damned if we do, damned if we don't."

Heather nodded, she was afraid for her sister on one level, but she felt like she finally understood this guy a bit and that despite his being "hunted", he loved Cat and would do what it took to keep her from harm. She felt like she could trust him at least with that….the rest was really none of her business.

" OK," she replied, making her decision, " I'm going to take you at your word because it seems like my sister has made her choice pretty obvious and I don't have any right to question it. But…" and she leveled a serious stare at him, " If she gets hurt because of you, you'll answer to me…understood?"

Vincent nodded in relief, hoping that he would never have to answer for that situation for his own reasons, "Understood.'

" Well Doctor Zalanski," she replied with an ironic smile, " Go wake my sister up so I can show her how supportive I plan on being." She extended her hand and he gazed at it for a moment before he took it. "Thank you Heather," he whispered, " This will mean a lot to her, not having to make unbearable choices."

" She's had enough heartache in her life," Heather said glancing towards Catherine's room, " If my acceptance of her choice in men makes her life a little easier, then it's a small enough sacrifice." She looked up at him willing herself to like him, " Please don't make me regret it."

" I'll do my best." He replied fervently, and moved off to rejoin his sleeping girl.

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

Catherine surfaced from her dream slowly, languorously, and she was pretty sure…with a red face. The dream had been….erotic, and she woke with butterflies still fluttering around inside her. She was embarrassed to open her eyes for fear Vincent was looking at her, and he would know, or at least guess what she had been dreaming. And after all of her lofty sentiments last night. Fraud, was the word that came to mind, but still she couldn't help the smile that came unbidden. Fraud or not, if that was the only way she would be able to touch him like that, well…it was no ones business but her own, and she was going to hold that dream close for a while longer.

It was then she heard the murmured conversation, and Heather's tinkling laugh, a soft but distinctly male chuckle, and then another in a deeper bass…what the hell. She opened her eyes and pushed herself up on her elbow to find Heather, Vincent and Geoff in a tight knot of gathered hospital chairs, deep in animated conversation. Thinking that maybe she was still dreaming, she shook her head to clear it, and cleared her throat, " Um…hello?"

Three pairs of laughing eyes swiveled towards her. She was sure she looked a fright, bed hair, bruised and disheveled and undeniably grumpy. " Would someone like to explain why there's a party going on in my room, and why I wasn't invited?"

Geoff grinned hugely, clearly enjoying her discomfort, " Well good afternoon Sleeping Beauty," he chuckled as he stood and walked over to give her a peck on the cheek. Heather giggled girlishly, making Catherine shoot her a surprised look, and Vincent, though still smiling, gave Geoff a somewhat penetrating glare as he moved back to his seat. Vincent stood up then and walked over to the bed, dropped his face down until he was only an inch from Catherine's and whispered, " Good morning," then planted a searing kiss onto her startled lips, making the butterflies swoop all over again.

She had a moment of shock before she responded, the dream still fresh in her mind, until Heather cleared her throat and said, " Get a room will you…" when Catherine and Vincent looked up guiltily, she laughed and said, " Oh right, this IS your room.." then waved her hand airily, " Proceed if you must."

Catherine blushed a deep crimson, which fortunately got lost in the bruising, and Vincent grinned mischievously against her lips." Good morning to you too," she said somewhat breathlessly. She rarely got to see the playful side of Vincent, especially with an audience, she liked it very much. Even if she was somewhat confused.

" Um…" she tried to recover with some dignity, " I see you've all been introduced ?," she looked quizzically from one to the other, wondering just how long she'd been asleep. She pushed herself up and got straightened around, pulling the covers up to her chest to hide her discomposure.

Geoff was still grinning like a fool, Vincent looked smug, and Heather…well Heather was looking at Geoff like he was food. Catherine, looked down and smiled to herself. That answered that question, she thought.

" Heather, Geoff…you have met ?," she smirked when Heather colored prettily, and without taking her eyes off of him said, " Oh yeah…Geoff was just telling me about Idaho. It sounds wonderful!" she gushed.

Catherine met Vincent's gaze and he rolled his eyes. She nearly laughed out loud. This was so….normal.

She knew by his expression, that he could tell what she was thinking and his smile got wistful, but stayed in place. Clearly he was enjoying this brief respite among people he didn't need to hide from. Geoff's easy approval and clear affection for Vincent had gone a long way towards swaying Heather , and she seemed to have accepted him without reservation. Catherine was frankly amazed, and tallied another reason she had to be grateful to the big man from Idaho.

" So Geoff, now that you've met her, what do you think?" Catherine asked, trying to keep the laughter out of her voice. Going by the expression on his face, it was pretty clear what he thought of her little sister.

" Well," he drawled looking at Heather while he spoke, " I know I said I thought it would be hard to find a prettier woman than you," he shot her an apologetic grin, " But I think I may have to revise that now."

Catherine chuckled, her eyes crinkling up and she replied, " You Idaho guys are so fickle. I'm crushed," she pouted, making Vincent roll his eyes again. But not before she caught the flash of yellow that ringed his iris', or the smile that froze tight on his lips. He was jealous, she crowed inwardly, thoroughly enjoying the possessive look he leveled at her. She gazed back at him innocently, then gave him a smile so warm and loving that it made him draw a sharp breath, and smile sheepishly.

Everyone was chattering and laughing when Dr. Taylor strolled into her room smiling. The conversation died as the four of them looked at him expectantly. " Well Ms. Chandler," he said, puffing up his chest a bit, " We've decided, it's in the best interest of the hospital if we let you go home today." He grinned at Catherine's delighted reaction to that news. " Clearly," he gave her a stern look, " You have no intention of following the visitor rules, and it seems your friends here are equally as guilty of bending them, " he shot Vincent a knowing glance, " If you feel able to that is?" He gazed at her seriously and she nodded. " Are you sure," he asked pointedly. She nodded again, this time with more emphasis. " Alright then," he smiled, " I'll see to getting your discharge papers in order. The nursing staff will give you your follow up schedule, but I think if you're sensible and adhere to your discharge instructions?…" She nodded again, "Then you should be fine. You take care and we'll see you in a week." he smiled at each of them in turn, and then left them to celebrate.

Catherine clapped her hands together in satisfaction, and was quickly congratulated by Geoff and Heather. Vincent was more circumspect, and gave her a long speculative look. He knew she was going to try and do too much too soon, and didn't like the idea of her being left to her own devices. She read his expression clearly, and smiled reassuringly, " I'll be good," she assured him, " I promise." He didn't look convinced, but he smiled anyway.

Heather looked troubled, " But…where are you going to go Cat? I mean… I want to take care of you but…"

Clearly Heather was afraid to go back to the flat, and it was the only place Catherine wanted to go. She would be smothered at her fathers', and aside from there, she really didn't have many options. She could probably stay at Tess', but that didn't appeal because Vincent wouldn't be able to visit her there.

Everyone began talking at once and Catherine held up her hand to forestall the inevitable argument she felt brewing. " I know you want to help Heather," she gazed at her sister fondly, " But I really want to go back to my flat. It's where I feel most at home. I know you can't bear to be there, I understand that, but…"

Heather got agitated, " But you can't stay there alone!" she insisted vehemently, " And I'm sorry, but I just don't think I can live there anymore." Heather was so upset that Catherine nearly capitulated when Vincent said softly, " I'll stay with her. I'll look after her, I am a doctor after all."

All conversation ceased and everyone stared at him in shock. Getting a little defensive he turned to Catherine, " Unless of course you don't want me to?"

Catherine gaped at him for a moment, speechless. Vincent staying with her through her long convalescence?

Not want him to? Was he crazy? Of course she wanted him to, it was all she ever thought about.

" Um", she stuttered, and shot her mutinous sister a placating look, " No…of course I want you to. That would be perfect actually. You could have Heather's old room." She looked at Heather who was beginning to warm to the idea, because she gave Catherine and then Vincent a shrewd, speculative look. Then she shrugged compliantly and said, " Well I suppose HE can make you do what you're supposed to do, if anyone can."

Geoff eyed Vincent and Catherine too and muttered under his breath, " I wouldn't count on that."

Vincent got a strange gleam in his eye and said, " That's settled then."

Heather and Geoff exchanged smug smiles and Heather replied, " So it would seem."

CHAPTER FORTY

It was decided that Geoff and Heather would stay at the hospital and wait for Catherine to be released then drive her back to the apartment. Geoff then offered to help Heather move her things to her dad's, which she accepted with enthusiasm. Vincent was going to go and pick some things up and meet them at the flat.

He leaned over Catherine and pressed a tender kiss to her lips, " Are you sure you're ok with this?" he whispered.

" MmmHmmm," she smiled, " Are you sure YOU are?"

He considered for a moment, then smiled warmly into her eyes, making her breath hitch in her chest, " Yeah, I'm sure. Someone has to keep an eye on you, or you'll be jogging, or target practicing, or swinging from trapezes by the end of the week. Although…'

She raised her eyebrows questioningly, " Although?….what?"

" Although, this is going to give JT a heart attack," he laughed at her expression, " But now that Geoff is so besotted with Heather, I'm pretty sure I can talk him into staying for a while, and he can help out with the more mundane things like shopping and such…things it might be difficult for me to do."

" Seems like you have it all worked out then," she replied somewhat sourly. He tilted his head questioningly, " Is that a problem?" he asked, and then it occurred to him why she seemed less enthusiastic, and he laughed, " I promise not to fuss," he grinned at her sheepish expression, " But I WILL see to it that you follow your doctor's orders. Ok?"

She sighed in resignation, knowing she wasn't going to win, " Ok."

He gazed down at her for a moment, then cupped her cheek gently with his hand and let his thumb trace the contours of her lips. The contact made her shiver with delight, and he chuckled softly, then bent and claimed another tender kiss before straightening, " I'll see you at…home," he smiled.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and all she could do in response was nod because her voice had fled.

She was nervous.

Fortunately Geoff and Heather were too busy with each other to notice. Catherine smiled, it was hard to imagine anyone as verbose as her younger sister, but Geoff didn't seem to be having any trouble keeping up. They were currently discussing bands and their favorite music, a moment ago it was movies and two minutes ago it was social media. They were getting along like magic, and Catherine gazed at them fondly thinking that Geoff was just what Heather needed. Solid, reliable, ruggedly handsome and totally smitten.

Catherine was somewhat lightheaded from the speed in which things had changed gears in her life in the last few days. She had gone from alone, fearful and heartbroken, to a life filled with unexpected friends and a man she didn't think she could live without. Maybe she should get shot in the head more often…or not.

She let her gaze settle on Geoff as he talked with her sister. It seemed that everything good in her life had come about because of him. His presence had been the catalyst for Evan coming around, Vincent being liberated, and Heather's acceptance. He had a folksy wisdom, and a sensitivity that was honestly, surprising. She didn't think there was ever a time that she had trusted or liked another person so quickly, as she did Geoff. She owed him, big time, and he shrugged off her gratitude with humility. She hoped things worked out between him and Heather, she would like nothing more than for Geoff to be family.

Tess arrived while Catherine was musing, and was introduced to Geoff. Catherine was amazed by the ease with which he won over, even her laconic partner. In minutes, Tess was laughing and chatting with him as though they had been friends all their lives. Catherine wasn't sure what she had done to deserve such a force for good to enter her life, but she hoped she would do it again. She and Vincent were going to need all the good luck they could get.

Tess had brought Catherine a change of clothes, and by the time she showered and got dressed, the nurse had arrived with her discharge papers. Geoff, reading Catherine's mind, divested the nurse of said papers, giving Catherine a shrewd look, " I'll take those and deliver them myself," he grinned, " So they don't get….lost." Catherine stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed uproariously, " Not having him on my case because I let you lose the instructions."

Catherine glanced away and noticed that Heather and Tess had their heads together and were talking rapidly. Tess' eyebrows climbed up her forehead as Heather whispered to her, and she shot Catherine a surprised look or two, then she shrugged and nodded.

Catherine wondered what that was all about, but didn't get an opportunity to ask as Geoff said, " let's head 'em up and move 'em out ladies, " then he chuckled delightedly," Had I known that there were so many beautiful women in New York, and that I would have the chance to know them, I would have come here a LONG time ago." All three beamed at him, and he grinned. " Most fun I've ever had," he assured them.

Then he grabbed Catherine's things and with a steadying hand under her elbow, ushered them all out of the room.

When they arrived at the flat, it was to find that the elevator was down for repairs. Dismayed at the thought of climbing five flights of stairs, Catherine sighed, " I'll see you all tomorrow when I reach the top," she said in exasperation. Geoff laughed, " Oh no you don't," he handed her things to Heather and scooped her up into his arms," You'll be taking the express m'lady, no stairs for this Beauty, at least not today."

Catherine protested weakly, but he was not having any of it. " You don't weigh more than a thought," he chided, " and Vincent would quite literally kill me if I let you climb even one stair, so pipe down."

Catherine made a face, but was relieved just the same and relaxed against his broad chest to enjoy the ride. He took the stairs easily, talking with all three ladies the entire time. Heather moved past them and went to open the door, which swung open before she could put her key in the lock.

Confronted with Tess, Vincent had a moment of fear but she dispelled it by saying, " Dr. Ass I presume?"

He gave her a confused smile, " That would be me," he replied.

Tess quirked an eyebrow and gave him a sardonic look, " Well…can we come in?…"

" Oh…right…sure," he muttered and stepped out of the way as Tess and Heather moved past him into the apartment. Then he noticed Geoff and Catherine and his face tightened momentarily. Catherine felt a surge of perverse satisfaction when he reached to take her from Geoff's arms. Geoff chuckled at the look on Vincent's face as he handed Catherine over, " relax man, the elevator is broke. I'm not making time with your girl." Catherine grinned, and Vincent had the grace to look ashamed as he cradled her in his arms.

She placed her lips against his ear and whispered, " I love you." and his face relaxed and his eyes blazed with emotion. " Ditto," he replied with a smile, and carried her over to the couch and set her down gently.

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

It took a while for everyone to get sorted out. Geoff and Heather went off to pack up the rest of Heather's things and move them down to the car. Catherine watched anxiously while Tess conversed with Vincent. Tess' body language indicated that she wasn't making it easy for him, but he held it together and eventually Tess nodded and gave him a slight smile, then she picked up a box and followed the others downstairs.

Vincent came over and sat at the end of the couch, letting out a deep sigh. He glanced at Catherine and gave her a distracted smile, " Whew…" he said, making a show of wiping his brow, " She's one tough customer."

Catherine giggled nervously, " Tell me about it," she replied, " What was that all about?"

" She asked me what my…intentions were," he sniggered, " Told me I better walk the straight and narrow where you were concerned, or she'd kick my…how did she put it? "cute little Dr. Ass".

Catherine looked mortified, but had to laugh, " Don't think she won't, either," she replied. " Vincent…I'm sorry," she said soberly.

" For what?" he asked.

" For bringing all these people in…I know it's dangerous.."

" No, it's alright," he said after a moments thought, " It was bound to happen if I'm going to be staying here, and it's better they accept me." He paused considering, " I think Geoff has gone a long way to ease everyone's suspicions. That guy just seems to exude trustworthiness, and I seem to benefit by association,' he laughed wryly. He waved a hand at the door, " He told them that he's known me for years and what a "good" guy I am. They seem to think that any friend of Geoff's is worthy of a second chance." His voice took on a hint of sadness, and Catherine laid her hand on his arm in sympathy. " Give them a chance Vincent," she replied gently, " Once they get to know you they'll like you on your own merit…I promise."

He smiled, " As long as you like me…" he whispered.

" I love you,' she replied, her voice catching in her throat. " You're the best man I've ever known."

" Better than Geoff?" he asked wistfully.

" Better than Geoff," she replied stoutly, then with a hint of mischievousness, " But it's a close race."

He rolled his eyes, but his smile was brighter and less forced.

It took another hour before Heather and Geoff were ready to go. They might have hung about longer, but Catherine was giving them the evil eye and not so subtle hints about giving her and Vincent some time alone, so Heather huffed a bit and said, " C'mon Geoff, I can tell when we're in the way." Geoff just grinned and replied silkily, " can't say I'd mind a bit of "alone" myself" he waggled his eyebrows and she giggled. Glancing at Catherine she gave her a "so there" look, and swept out of the apartment in a better mood than Catherine had seen her in in ages. Tess shook her head, not sure which couple made her want to gag more, then said her good byes as well and followed the others out of the apartment.

Vincent closed the door with a sigh of relief, and stood with his back pressed against it, his hands hanging limply at his sides. He glanced up and met Catherine's concerned gaze, he tilted his head with a ironic smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, " Wow. Is your life always this busy?"

She smiled and dropped her gaze shyly, " hardly," she intoned.

He walked towards her, all muscular grace and pent up energy, " That's more company than I've had total in ten years. I'm worn out."

"Me too," she said softly.

All concern suddenly, he took a blanket from the back of the couch and gently pushing her into a prone position, draped it over her tucking her in snuggly. " You need to get some rest," he said in his best doctor voice. He dropped a kiss on her forehead, " I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?"

He smiled so warmly that the butterflies did another dance in the pit of her stomach, "Promise," he replied gently.

When she awoke it was dark outside, but the flat glowed warmly with candlelight. Vincent was in the kitchen, and something was smelling very good. She sat up slowly and watched him as he went about his domestic duties. She wondered if she was dreaming. The entire day had been so full of surprises she wasn't sure it wasn't ALL just a dream. It just seemed so…average and normal. He had obviously showered and changed, as his hair was still damp and slicked back. His t shirt clung to his muscular frame, stretched tight across his chest. He wore snug blue jeans and was barefoot and looked so at ease and at home in her kitchen that it brought tears to her eyes.

He glanced up then, catching her watching and smiled, "Hey sleepyhead," his voice was gentle and soothing.

"Hey," she replied, her own voice gruff with emotion.

His eyebrows knit into a frown, " Something wrong?'

She smiled and shook her head, " Just the opposite," she said diffidently, " I was just thinking how much I love having you here." A lump rose in her throat and tears filled her eyes, this was a dream and she was going to wake up any minute and he'd be gone.

He came around the counter quickly, sat next to her on the couch and pulled her into his lap. He cradled her head against his chest and "shhh"'d her, rubbing her back gently. She felt like an idiot for getting so emotional, but relaxed in his embrace, soaking up his warmth and closeness. She put her arms around his shoulders and buried her wet face in his neck, " I'm sorry," she whispered.

He chuckled softly, " For what? Being glad I'm here?"

She sniffled, shaking her head slightly, " For being such a crybaby,' her voice was muffled against his throat, and she could feel him quaking with laughter.

" I don't mind," he said softly, " it just gives me an excuse to hold you."

" Do you need an excuse?" she sniffled again.

He pressed a tender kiss against her forehead, and laughed when she looked up into his eyes, " No, but if I held you every time I got the urge, I'd never let you go."

" I don't mind," she smiled through her tears.

Suddenly her stomach growled and he threw back his head and laughed, " yeah, but your stomach does." he gently wiped her tears away with his thumb and gave her a soft kiss on her upturned mouth. " I'm going to go finish dinner….you ok?"

She nodded and gave him a watery smile. They ate dinner on the couch, neither saying much. Catherine was unaccountably shy having him so close for such an extended period. She was sure he could hear her heart pounding every time their arms brushed against each other, or he smiled at her. A glass of wine might have helped, but he adamantly refused to allow it, citing her recent surgery and that alcohol could have adverse effects, yadda yadda, yadda. She rolled her eyes, making him laugh.

He cleared away the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, then came back to the couch and sat next to her, his arm draped across the back. " What shall we do now?" he asked at a loss.

" I could "kick your cute little Dr Ass "at Call of Duty," she suggested with a smirk.

He grinned at her," Oh you think so?" he replied, " You forget I've had ten years of practice playing video games, I think the ass kicking will be on the other foot."

With that challenge issued, they spent the rest of their first night together, calling each other names while doing battle. It was the most fun Catherine had had in many a year.

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

Life took on a rhythm for the next few weeks, that Catherine found easy to adjust to. She and Vincent fell into living together as though they had been born to it.

The days passed languidly. They would talk, or read or curl up and watch a movie. They began to learn about one another and feel increasingly comfortable.

They had frequent visitors. Geoff and Heather, who had become practically joined at the hip, were always about. Heather confided to her sister that being in the apartment wasn't nearly so traumatic if Geoff was there. He managed to make every situation an occasion to laugh. Tess would come by every other day or so, still somewhat mistrustful of Vincent, but the ice was definitely thawing. JT, too ,spent a lot of time at the flat. His wounded feelings over Vincent's defection, soon gave way to acceptance as he began to remember what it was like to have a social life. Even Evan, after getting over Cat choosing a Beast over him, took it with British stoicism and became a regular visitor. All in all, the days passed in an increasingly normal fashion and Vincent began to open up.

Catherine was able to see for herself, the man he was prior to Muirfield. He was warm and funny and able to charm her friends without trying. He laughed and smiled more, and had a silly side she would never have guessed at. And every day, she fell a little more in love with him.

Their nights were spent mostly alone and quietly. He was attentive and delightfully romantic. There were countless slow dances on the kitchen floor. Spontaneous gifts and love notes and he would seldom pass by without an embrace or a kiss or a simple touch. Every morning she awoke, certain that she had reached the maximum limit for loving him, and every night when she went to bed, she realized that there didn't seem to be a limit at all.

Being who she was, she kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Eventually it did.

The day started like all those before it. Vincent made breakfast and they sat in the sun warmed kitchen while they ate. He was particularly quiet, pensive and somewhat uncommunicative. Catherine didn't think much of it at the time. She sipped her coffee and watched him surreptitiously. He seemed restless. Thinking that maybe he had cabin fever she casually suggested he get out of the apartment for a while. " Maybe you should go hang out with JT," she said.

He looked up from under knit brows, " Trying to get rid of me ?," he asked sharply.

Taken aback Catherine could only gape at him, " No," she replied softly, somewhat hurt by the suggestion, " What in the world would make you think that?"

Vincent poked at the leftover food on his plate with his fork, disconsolately, not meeting her eyes, " Nothing…never mind," he said sulkily.

Catherine reached across the table and laid her hand on his forearm, feeling him tense beneath her touch. Mystified she said, " hey?…"

He looked up then, his eyes stormy and cocked an eyebrow, "What?"

She pulled her hand back and placed it in her lap, looking at him with an injured expression, " Have I done something to upset you?" she asked in as reasonable tone as she could manage. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out what was going on with him this morning.

" No," he replied shortly. No explanation, no elaboration, just pointed silence.

"OK," she said, trying not to let on how much he had just hurt her. She got up from the table and without another word went to her room and closed the door. She sat on her bed for a while, wondering what she might have done between their pleasant evening last night, and breakfast this morning that could have put him in such a foul mood. Then she got angry herself. Unless she had been sleep walking in the night and done something truly heinous, he was just being an ass. So he could wallow all he liked in it, she wasn't going to sit around all day and be subjected to it. She picked up her phone and held it for a minute trying to figure out who she actually felt like spending time with. Heather was at work, as was Tess, although both would probably be up for a break later on. Evan was also busy….Geoff, she thought smiling. He was just the kind of company she needed. She dialed his number and he answered on the first ring.

" hey beautiful, what's going on?" his voice held a note of surprise, but he seemed genuinely pleased to hear from her.

" I don't know," she answered somewhat wistfully, " I was just thinking I could use a little time out of the apartment and was wondering what you were up to.'

"Honestly I'm sort of at a loose end myself. Heather has a big meeting today with some event planner mucky muck, and JT's at school…what would you say to a walk in the park?"

"Actually, I could use a stretch," she replied with a smile, warming to the idea of a little time with easier company, " How about we meet at the Alice In Wonderland statue in about 90 minutes?"

"Sounds like a plan…" he paused and she could hear the question in his response.

" I'll see you then," she didn't feel like going into detail with Mr. Bionic hearing in the next room.

"Ok, look forward to it," he said, and hung up.

She got up, rifled through her closet for something to wear, then went and got in the shower. She was unaccountably upset by Vincent's mood this morning, and a bit chagrined by her own reaction. Things had been going so well. They were getting along beautifully, and she was getting really used to having him in the apartment. He was wonderful company, stimulating in more ways than one…and she had been very careful to curb her lustful tendencies. She really didn't want to put either of them in a position to have to reject the other's advances. So she had returned his kisses lovingly, his embraces warmly and his attention in like kind. But had made no effort to initiate anything further. She had promised to go slow and let him chose the pace, and that was what she had done. And this was the thanks she got for her sacrifice.

She took special pains with her make up, her hair was finally growing back in, but it still looked like she was a Rainbow Party refugee. She grinned at herself, all she needed was a flannel shirt and some hiking boots and she could have any girl in the park. Not that that was a bad thing, and considering the surly male that brooded outside her door at the moment, might be preferable company. But Geoff was just the ticket with his booming laugh and his camaraderie, and she was looking forward to spending a little time one on one.

She put on her Yankee's cap, drew on a light jacket, stowed her id and phone and went out into the apartment.

Vincent was in the kitchen doing the dishes and he glanced up , then did a double take when he noticed she was dressed to go out. He dried his hands on the towel thrown over his shoulder , his eyes blazing with some emotion she couldn't define since she had never seen it before. What the HELL was wrong with him?

"Going somewhere?" he asked tersely.

She nodded, suddenly a little afraid of him for some reason, " Going for a walk in the park."

"Alone?"

She paused before answering, then replied a little more heatedly than she intended, " No, I'm meeting Geoff."

His eyes got dark, and a yellow ring glowed around the iris. Wow, she thought, he is REALLY worked up about something.

"Geoff?" it was almost a growl.

"Yes Vincent," she sighed, "Geoff, our friend remember? Would you like to join us," she asked more gently, relenting somewhat, trying to get him to talk to her.

He dropped his eyes, and his shoulders slumped, " I don't want to get in the way," he said in a tone redolent with suppressed pain.

"In the way?" she asked in confusion, " Vincent, what the hell is going on here?"

He looked up and his eyes were glazed with tears and an arrow of remorse shot straight into her heart. Holding his gaze, she removed her phone and dialed Geoff again, " Hey, it's me…look I need to take a rain check, is that ok?" Geoff, sensing some storm brewing agreed readily, telling her to call later if she needed anything, and then hung up.

She set her phone on the table, took off her jacket and walked up to Vincent, never breaking eye contact with him. She put her hands on either side of his face, rocked up on her toes and kissed him very gently. Tenderly she kissed his eyelids, his forehead and his lips again. " Vincent," she said in a whisper, " There is no one on this earth I would rather spend my time with, than you. You are never, "in the way". Tell me what is bothering you….please?"

He put his arms around her and crushed her to his chest, dropping his face down to bury it in the hollow between her neck and shoulder, and kissed her there, sending her stomach rolling over with desire. She tried to be strong, but his breath, warm and moist in that sensitive spot sent a shiver down her spine and made her weak in the knees. She clung to him, her arms pulling him closer, hands splayed across his broad back. " I don't want to go," he whispered.

Startled, she pulled away so she could look into his face, " Go?" she said softly, fear coloring the single word, " Go where?"

He looked down at her, his entire demeanor one of sadness, " You're almost better," his voice broke, " soon you won't need me to be here anymore."

She laughed wryly, " Is THAT what all this is about?"

His eyes glowed with pain, but he nodded.

She leaned into him then, her arms around his waist and hugged him close. He was such a dear, sweet idiot. " There will never be a time I don't need you like air you idiot," she sighed, " I don't ever want you to leave. Ever. These last few weeks have been…heaven. Vincent, don't you know that by now? I love you, desperately. Truly, madly, deeply. As far as I'm concerned, you can stay here until we're too old to leave this apartment."

"Really," he asked hopefully.

She laughed for real then, all the pent up tension leaving her in a whoop of mirth. " Yes REALLY," she chuckled, " Honestly, I can't believe you even have to ask me that. Do you seriously not know how I feel about you?"

He looked down shyly, " I know you love me Catherine, but…well…we haven't…we don't…you…"

"You think it's because I haven't wanted to?" she asked in disbelief.

He shrugged and she laughed again. " Good lord man," she chortled, " do you have any idea how hard it's been for me to keep my hands to myself?" She shook her head in dismay, " Left up to me you'd have been sleeping in my room after the first night."

" But you…" he stammered, " But I..do you mean?.."

Her eyes glowed up at him with an indefinable light behind them, " It seems we have some lost time to make up for," and her kiss left him in no doubt where their relationship was headed.

CHAPTER FORTY THREE

(THIS CHAPTER IS GOING TO NEED A SLIGHT RATING CHANGE. WE WILL CALL IT "EROTIC" AS OPPOSED TO "SEXUAL"…BUT YOU'LL GET THE IDEA, LOL.)

He was nervous, but then, so was she.

She wasn't worried about getting hurt, at least not physically. In her heart, she knew that the Beast, even if he were to emerge during their love making, would not harm her. She had been in close proximity to him on too many occasions to be concerned with that. She was far more worried about putting her heart out there, loving him so completely as she did, and being rejected. It was a recurring theme in her life. She would begin to trust someone, and they would let her down.

This was far more dangerous, she knew, because she had never felt anything to match the intensity of the feelings she had for Vincent. It went far beyond physical attraction, although that was undeniable. It was miles past love. She had known love, but never like this. Never so consuming, so selfless, so tender. This was something completely new to her, and she could not control it, which frightened her more than she would ever let on. He was always in her mind, and everything she said or did was examined and scrutinized to measure it's impact on him.

As anxious as she was about her own heart, she was more apprehensive about his. For all his " I'm a beast" and masculine bravado, he was terrified. Of hurting her, either emotionally, or physically. And maybe more so, of losing the connection he felt to her. His world had been spinning out of control for ten years, and it didn't take much intuition for Catherine to realize that what they shared was sometimes all that kept him grounded, and made him feel human. She was the bookmark for his humanity, the keeper of his soul and should he lose that, lose her, he would be lost. She couldn't allow that.

So, this time, this first time that she showed him how he made her feel, it must be with care and tenderness. Gentle, soothing and with all the love she had within her. So she let it shine in her eyes, let it spark through her fingertips, and let it burn in her voice.

" I have an idea," she whispered throatily, then almost let a laugh escape when he swallowed hard.

" What's your idea ?," he whispered back.

" I think you need to relax…" she tilted her head to the side with a gentle smile playing on her lips, " What would you say to a massage?"

He practically gulped again, which brought another smile , but he nodded vigorously. She nodded in satisfaction and took his hand leading him into her bedroom. His eyes were wide and frightened, like a deer in the headlights. She felt a momentary thrill for the power she held sway, but beat it down and let the love take over. She put some quiet music on the cd player, and lit a few candles. She tossed him a towel and said," Strip down , get on the bed and put that over your…lower half " she tried not to laugh at the look of sheer terror on his face, " While I find some massage oil." She left him in peace while she rummaged around in the bathroom, taking longer than was actually necessary in order to give him time to comply without being self conscious.

When she reentered the room, he was face down on the bed with the towel tucked in demurely around his "cute little Dr. Ass". She grinned to herself, this was going to be fun for both of them.

She kept up a running dialogue as she climbed on the bed and straddled his waist. She would like to have sat a little lower, but in order to reach his shoulders she had to move up a bit. And as he had tensed up immediately she thought this was probably safer as well. She kept her voice soft and sibilant, conversational as she poured a copious amount of oil onto her hands and began to warm it between them.

When she placed her palms flat on the broad expanse of his back, he sucked a sharp breath between his teeth. " Too cold ?" she asked solicitously, though she knew it was the touch and not the temperature of the oil that had made him react.

He shook his head, but didn't say anything, so she ran her hands upward from waist to shoulder slowly and sensually. He had his head pillowed on his crossed arms, when she reached his neck she said, " Put your arms down to your sides, palm up." He did as instructed and she let her hands slide outward from his neck, to his shoulders and then down his arms, repeating the movement slowly several times until his back glistened with oil.

" You're very tense," she whispered, her smile somewhat coy, and glad he couldn't see. She felt a rumble of laughter that was muffled by the mattress, " Can't imagine why," he replied, though most of the sentence was lost in a sigh. She let her hands travel over his ribcage, her thumbs pressing gently along his spine. She could feel him beginning to relax. She kneaded the muscles firmly, finding the knots and working them free. Stopping occasionally to replenish the oil. She worked her way upward across his shoulders and down his arms, reveling in the ability to touch him so freely.

She leaned over far enough for him to feel the press of her breasts against him, then began rubbing his neck. He sighed again, deeply. She pressed her fingertips into the base of his skull gently, and then pushed upward through his hair massaging his skull and temples, brow and forehead. Then back down to his shoulders and lower. She scooted back to sit on his butt so she could work on his lower back, and he tensed again momentarily, then relaxed beneath her gentle touch. When she felt like he was loose enough, she slid off him and said, " Now roll over and let me work on the other side."

There was a momentary pause, but he finally complied. She looked away discreetly while he adjusted the towel, then surprised him by straddling his waist again. His eyes widened, then turned a smoky brown, smoldering with desire as her heat came in contact with what was hidden beneath the towel. Hidden, but still obvious. She smiled down at him languidly, oiled up her hands again and began to massage his abs, moving upward over his broad chest. He put his hands on her thighs, and she could feel him trembling. She leaned forward again and tilted his head back so that his throat was exposed. Very gently she kneaded the muscles at the base, then using her thumbs, massaged the muscles of his jaw.

His eyes were half closed, and a low groan of pleasure issued from between clenched teeth, " Catherine….' his voice was almost a growl. She slid her hands down his biceps until they met his hands and she twined her fingers among his, drawing them to her lips and kissing each finger tip. His eyes opened slowly and the look he gave her left her breathless and wishing that her own clothes were in a pile next to his. With his free hand, he reached up and cupped the back of her skull, drawing her down for a kiss. Her lips parted, and their tongues danced with each other. The kiss deepened and he pulled her down onto his chest, then rolled her to the side. He looked down at her, his eyes blazing with need, but she was happy to see they stayed their normal warm brown color.

He slipped his hand up under her shirt and slid it upward. Her eyes closed and her breath became labored as his strong hand found her breast and he brushed it gently with the backs of is fingers. In moments she was divested of her clothing and they were under the blankets, flesh to flesh at last.

It was a night of sighs. Groans of pleasure , and soft gasps of release. Murmured endearments and professions of love. Tender kisses, gentle embraces and the all consuming passion of two hearts colliding and becoming one. There was a single moment, just before he shuddered against her, where his eyes glowed yellow, his voice became a growl, and his nails dug into the skin of her back. But she placed a steadying hand against his cheek and whispered his name, and he returned to her in an instant.

In the languor that followed, she lay spooned in his embrace, his lips gentle against her shoulder, " I love you Catherine," he whispered in the dark.

" I love you too," she sighed, before sleep took her.

CHAPTER FOURTY FOUR

The morning sun slanted in through the bedroom window, and the railing on the fire escape cast bars of shadow across her sleeping face. Vincent had been awake for some time simply drinking in her beauty. Feelings he couldn't describe welled up in him, then ebbed peacefully like a tide. Filling him with emotions that first closed his throat with tears and then opened his heart so it blazed with a joy so profound it bordered on sacred. She was curled against his chest, her face burrowed into the hollow of his throat and one arm cast across him as though she would never let go. She hadn't all night, and he hoped she never would.

His arms held her loosely, maintaining just enough pressure to let her know he was there, even in her sleep. He would press the occasional kiss against her brow, or hold the hand that curled palm up like a supplicant on his breast, and just let the love he had for her sweep through him like a cleansing rain. She pushed back all the darkness, swept it aside with her fierce loyalty and devotion. Her faith in him lifting him out of the detritus of what his life had become in the last 10 years, raising him up until he could see the hope that lay ahead. He supposed that all men who fell so monumentally in love, believed their women to be saviors. But his was quite literally that.

He had not known how empty he was inside, until she had brought him back to life. It was almost painful, like the awakening of nerves long since thought dead. The exquisite torture of feeling so much, after so long with nothing. It made his chest ache, his pulse pounding in synchronicity with her beating heart. She smiled in her sleep and sighed his name, bringing tears to his eyes. He had never thought to have this, to have her, something so singularly beautiful. So far and above any dream he could have conjured. He did not deserve her, he never had, but wondrously she had chosen him and would not be denied. And if she, in all her wisdom and generosity could love him, could he not also find a way to love himself? She saw only the good within him, and if she could see it, it must be there. His Catherine was no ones fool.

He tightened his arms slightly, drawing her closer, cradling her against himself in a need to feel her extract the unworthiness from him. To make him of merit. To be deserving of the gifts she gave him so unstintingly. Because what did he have to offer her? What could he bring to the table, but deceit and concealment. Not security, or comfort, or ease, only fear and flight and shadows. He was anathema and would eventually be the death of her. If not by his own hand, then by those who hunted him, or perhaps more horribly, by those she counted as friends. He didn't know how he would live with that, or how he would live at all without her. He didn't think he could, nor would he want to.

But despite the wild bent his mind was taking, dawned the realization that he was in too deep now to step away. They were partners in this shadow life, symbiotes, unable to function one without the other. They were bound, and there was no breaking the chains that held them together.

They were forged from the love that hadn't grown so much, as it had sprung fully formed from their first meeting.

Now she meant everything to him. That first kiss on the rooftop had sealed the bargain. He had told Geoff that the moment his lips touched hers, he was a goner. But it had happened long before that, perhaps with the first real smile, or the first time she touched him and let all the compassion she withheld from others, loose on him. She was the cure for every injury done him, the balm that soothed every wound inflicted by a life he hadn't been prepared for.

She wrapped around him like a shield, protecting him from every bad decision he had ever made.

And the love she lavished on him…that shone in her eyes, or lit up her face when she smiled at him. It radiated from her and engulfed him, burning away any resistance. He was helpless before it.

He desperately wished there was more he could give her. Be more for her. He wanted her to have everything she deserved, and he might never be able to supply her with half of what was her due.

All he could really offer her, was a dangerous heart. But it was hers wholly, he would never be able to give any part of it to anyone else. Whoever he was, whatever he was or may ever be, belonged to her.

And last night, his soul had joined his heart. He had been so afraid for her, that she would trust him so completely. But she was fearless and she had given him courage. Her touch , her whispered encouragement, her eager acceptance had banished his fear, forced him to grasp what she offered, and repay it in kind.

She had responded without inhibition and melted beneath him, warm and inviting and welcoming.

He loved her so much more than he had thought he was capable of, he thought his body might simply disintegrate from the pressure of it. It grew and expanded exponentially with every breath.

He readjusted his position slightly, and in trying to get her to move with him, he placed his palm on her back to draw her closer. When he lifted his hand, it was smeared with blood.

His heart began to hammer out a terrified tattoo, and the rich coppery smell caused his adrenaline to spike.

He slipped from beneath her hurriedly and scrambled out of bed to stand panting and sweating, trying desperately not to change. Disturbed by his abrupt departure, she twitched in her sleep and rolled over.

Her back was a lattice work of claw marks. Blood beaded in the grooves, some dried, some still oozing. It looked as though she had been whipped with a cat of nine tails. It was raw and livid and screamed " I told you so" into his horrified mind. Self loathing ripped through him, unrelenting, unforgiving. He threw his head back as the change took hold. He stood above her, his eyes flashing gold and a low growl of fury rumbled in his chest. He had warned her. His head snapped to one side as he fought the urge to give in to the base monster he had always told her he was. He had done the unthinkable. What he always did…

He raked his own chest with his claws and drew enough blood to snap him out of it. His chest heaved with the effort. His voice half way between Vincent and the Beast, he whispered gutturally, " I'm sorry…"

He turned, threw on his rumpled clothing, climbed out onto the fire escape, and was gone….

Catherine awoke some time later, alone. Thinking he was probably in the kitchen making her breakfast as he usually did, she smiled. Last night had been… she wasn't sure what words could do justice to the fulfillment of a dream. He had been tender and gentle, and his love for her had been tangible. There had been one moment…but she had called him back to her with the least touch. Perhaps now he would realize that he could be trusted, that what they felt for each other could overcome anything. That Muirfield would not win, because he was not a monster.

She was a little sore and decided to get a shower before venturing into the kitchen to say good morning. She got out of bed and still smiling, went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower and waited for the water to get hot, then stepped in. She could still smell him on her skin, taste him on her lips. She hoped she always would now. She loved him so much it was almost incomprehensible. She turned her back to the spray, and gave a startled hiss as the water stung the deep scratches. She finished her shower quickly, something not feeling right about the situation. She got out and stood dripping in front of the mirror. She turned around, but couldn't see what was causing the pain, so she swiveled her makeup mirror around and gasped when she got a good look at her back. He was going to have a fit when he saw these, she shook her head and almost laughed. They didn't hurt and they looked much worse than they really were, but he was going to berate himself from now until the judgment day if she told him, so she'd just have to hide them. Chuckling she wondered if she could conceivably keep them hidden, and still sleep in the same bed. She'd just have to lay on her back for a while….surely that wouldn't be a problem. She snickered.

She went into the bedroom and got dressed quickly in case he made an unexpected appearance. When she was ready, she went into the living room, but he wasn't there. Nor was he in the kitchen. She doubled back and checked his room. Nothing. She went back into the main room, glancing around for a note or some indication of where he might have gone. Still nothing. Hmmmm. Well maybe he just went out for a paper or something, she thought shrugging her shoulders. That made her wince a bit, and she made a mental note not to shrug when in his presence, he was far to observant to miss that cue.

She went into the kitchen and went about making coffee and getting out things for breakfast. Good sex could certainly give one an appetite, she grinned. He still wasn't back by the time the coffee had brewed, so she poured herself a cup and went out to sit on the fire escape to drink it and enjoy the sun. It was a glorious morning.

When he hadn't returned by 11, she began to get worried and tried his phone. She could hear it ringing somewhere in the apartment, and finally found it on the dresser in his room. That was odd, he never left the apartment without his phone. She tried JT. He answered on the third ring, no, he hadn't heard from Vincent, was everything ok? Catherine didn't know what to say to reassure him, because she was becoming more concerned by the moment. She told him that Vincent wasn't in the apartment, that he had been gone for several hours and had left his phone behind. JT swore softly, said he'd do some checking around and get back with her. He told her not to worry…but it was too late for that.

Next she tried Geoff. He answered right away.

" Geoff," her voice was now tense and he could hear the note of panic, " Vincent is no where to be found and he's left his phone behind….have you seen him?"

" No…" Geoff hesitated, " Did something happen yesterday after I talked to you?"

" Well, " she paused, a blush heating her cheeks, " Yes, but nothing "bad"," she replied, " but he wasn't here when I got up, and he hasn't come back and I'm starting to get really worried."

"OK," he replied all business now, " I'll be over in a few minutes and we'll figure this out. Have you talked to JT?"

"Yes," she replied, her heart suddenly plummeting into her stomach, " he hasn't seen him either."

"Well, don't get all frantic, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. Sit tight and I'll see you in a bit."

"OK," she replied in a small voice.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of anxiety and tears. Geoff and JT spent the day searching all of Vincent's bolt holes to no avail. None of them got a call or any word at all. JT hacked the cctv cameras around the apartment, but found nothing of note. So she waited. Six weeks later, she was still waiting.

CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

Six weeks to the day after Vincent's disappearance, Catherine walked up the stairs of the precinct, past her former fellow detectives and into Joe's office. Without preamble, she handed him the white envelope containing her letter of resignation. She thanked him for his friendship, for believing in her and for giving her a job. Told him to take care, and said goodbye without giving him an opportunity to say anything.

As she walked back through the office, he watched her go sadly. All the fire that had once burned in Catherine Chandler, was now just a smoldering slag heap. She had been pale , her eyes dark and sunken in a face that looked skeletal. Always slim and fit, she was now rail thin and moved with a disjointed, hesitant gait. She was the ghost of the Catherine Chandler he had once known, and her specter haunted him.

Tess had kept him up to date on what had been happening in her life. More than three weeks ago she had been released to go back to work, but she had not come in to the office. She had failed to keep her doctors appointments, failed to show up for her psych eval. She had stopped taking calls from Tess and Evan, and the only news they got, filtered down from Heather and Geoff.

Her boyfriend had disappeared 6 weeks ago, and her decline had kept pace with the passing days. She had come close to a breakdown in those first few weeks. There had been no missing persons report filed, so there was no official investigation. But Tess and Evan, concerned for her health and sanity had begun digging on their own. Evan had taken Tess aside one balmy afternoon, bought her a cappuccino, and told her Vincent's story.

As was natural for her, Tess had been incredulous and called him a raving conspiracy theorist. Until he provided her with DNA evidence, and a trip to visit with JT, who had confirmed his story. Once Tess was a believer, all three, JT, Evan and Tess had begun scouring the greater New York area in an effort to find Vincent. They had even gone so far as to pay another visit to Muirfield, with the help of Geoff and a few of his Marine friends. But they found nothing. Where ever Vincent had gone, he had vanished like smoke. And so had the Catherine Chandler they had known.

Heather still saw her, though infrequently. Catherine wasn't able to hold a real conversation any more. Her voice was monotone, her responses clipped and terse. She tired easily, and never smiled. She checked in with JT frequently, but it was always without hope and their conversations were short and perfunctory, as though she were simply asking after Vincent out of habit.

The only person she seemed to genuinely respond to, was Geoff. While Heather was gracious about his devotion to Catherine, and understood, it put a strain on hers and Geoff's relationship, and eventually they made a mutual, amicable decision to part ways. It made them both sad, but Catherine was their priority at the moment. He could get her to eat, or do mundane tasks. He would force her to leave the apartment a couple of times a week, though never for long and never very far. Sometimes he would just sit with her for hours, as if he were on a death watch, and sometimes that was exactly what it felt like. She would talk to him….or more precisely, talk at him. She didn't ask questions, or seek answers from him. She simply traveled the well worn path of self recrimination, placing the blame for Vincent's disappearance on her own shoulders, and talked in circles.

It pissed him off something fierce, but he never said anything. He had tried once to talk sense into her, to give the burden of guilt to Vincent, where it belonged. But she had thrown him out of the apartment in a rage, and it had taken a week of cajoling for her to let him back in. Now he simply let her blame herself without argument, because it was the only way he could stay close enough to her to keep her alive.

He was so angry at Vincent that he hoped he never saw him again, even if it meant that Catherine might find a way to heal. Because he was afraid he might kill him. He looked at her now, and compared her to the woman he had met only 2 months previously, and it broke his heart. There didn't seem to be anything left of her.

A few days after she had tendered her resignation at the precinct, Geoff showed up at the apartment to take her out for breakfast. He let himself in with the key she had given him, and found her in the bathroom being violently sick. He had scooped her up into his arms, despite her protests and hammering on his chest with her fists, taken her sobbing down to the car, and driven her to County General.

Catherine was pregnant. Geoff played the part of the delighted father, told the ER nurse that they would make an appointment with their OB-GYN and hurriedly bundled Catherine out of the hospital.

Knowing that Vincent was obviously the father, and knowing that his DNA had been tampered with, Geoff immediately contacted both JT and Evan. JT arranged for them all to meet at the university medical lab, procured the necessary equipment, and he and Evan ran a battery of tests. The fetus was doing well, and was most assuredly Vincent's child. Beyond that the development was normal, and further tests later in the first trimester, would determine if Vincent's enhanced DNA contribution, would play any role in further development.

Catherine was absolutely delighted. All three men were terrified for her. JT was popping Tums like they were breath mints and Evan was wearing a scowl that would probably not leave his face for at least nine months. Geoff asked if there was anything Catherine needed to be doing now, and Evan had a frank discussion with her concerning her health.

" Cat," he cautioned using his official doctor voice, " If you're going to carry this child to term, you're going to have to start taking care of yourself."

Geoff gave him a nod and rolled his hand behind Catherine's back, encouraging Evan to continue.

" I'm going to prescribe some prenatal vitamins, I want you to start eating better, getting light exercise and a lot of sleep, or you are going to put yourself and your child at risk. Do you understand?"

Catherine nodded and gave him the first smile she had formed in weeks, " I do Evan, and I will I promise." Her eyes were glazed and dreamy, and she dropped her hand to her stomach and rubbed it gently. " Vincent's baby…" She nodded vigorously, " Yes…I'll do whatever you think is best." She smiled again, and Evan nearly choked on his anger. Instead he looked pointedly at Geoff then said, " Alright then, I think you should go home and get some rest, and we'll make arrangements to check up on you again in a couple of weeks, ok?"

Catherine slid off the examining table and gave Evan, then JT a hug, "OK Evan, and thank you."

He nodded, still unable to meet her eyes. Geoff put his hand on her shoulder and turned her toward the door, " Why don't you go sit in the hallway kiddo, and I'll get your prescription from Evan ok?"

"Thank you," she smiled again, " Thank all of you, this is wonderful news…wonderful…' and she went out into the hallway leaving the three friends staring after her.

"This is bad," said JT nervously, " This is very bad."

" For once I agree with you JT," Evan said, shaking his head.

Geoff stared at them, "Why? I thought you said everything looked normal."

Evan sighed, " It looks normal…NOW. But we have no way of knowing what cross species DNA will do in the development of a fetus. Imagine Vincent's aggressiveness, in an infant. His strength, his lack of control…Geoff, for all we know the fetus could rip it's way out of Catherine's body at birth. We're going to have to monitor her pregnancy day by day. Imagine how she will react if we discover we need to abort it to save her life."

Horrified, Geoff's voice dropped to a whisper, " If it comes to that, she'll die for that child, just as she would have for Vincent…you know that, both of you.'

Evan nodded and JT gazed out into the hall where Catherine sat with a sublime smile on her gaunt face,

" That's why this is very….very bad."

CHAPTER FORTY SIX

Things got better from that point on. At least relatively speaking. Catherine began taking care of herself again. She went grocery shopping and bought nutritious food. She started going to the gym and walking when she could feasibly do so. She took her vitamins, and kept her appointments with Evan and JT, who monitored her carefully. They were still concerned, and she was still sad, but at least she didn't look like a concentration camp survivor any longer.

She still didn't spend much time with anyone but Geoff, but she was getting out once in a while, at least to birthing classes and that sort of thing and Geoff began to feel comfortable leaving her alone for longer periods of time. He was still living at the loft with JT, and they had many discussions about her, trying to figure out how the pregnancy would progress, and what she was going to do for money now that she wasn't working.

Geoff flew back to Idaho in her third month, sold his business and his house, then flew back to New York. He and Carl talked it over, and Geoff bought into Carl's business as a partner, which gave him a steady income. Once that had been accomplished, he broached a very sensitive subject with Catherine one night over dinner in her apartment.

"Hey kiddo," he said, pushing his plate away and resting his forearms on the table as he gazed at her, " I wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?" she was picking up the dinner dishes and taking them into the kitchen, she glanced at him as she leaned over the table. Noticing the seriousness of his expression, she pulled out a chair and sat down

"Well…." he began, " Now that I'm working full time and I have some money coming in…I was wondering if maybe you'd be interested in a roommate to sort of help out with the bills and such."

He glanced down the hallway towards what had been Vincent's room pointedly and she followed his gaze, her expression unreadable. She hadn't moved a single thing in that room in three months. Vincent hadn't brought much with him, but everything he had left behind was exactly where it had been the day he disappeared.

There had been more than one occasion when Geoff had found her in there with one of Vincent's shirts pressed to her face, and tears running unchecked. Or laying on the bed, clutching the pillow he had used.

Geoff was somewhat ambivalent concerning his feelings for Catherine. On one hand, she was pretty much his best friend, not that he lacked for friends. He was the sort of guy who could go into a bar and walk out 2 hours later with a handful of business cards, and a dozen women's phone numbers. People were just naturally attracted to his warm, compassionate friendliness, and Catherine was no exception.

On the other hand, the attraction he had always felt for her, since that day on the plane when he had gazed down on her photo, had grown into feelings he tried very hard to suppress. Because he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that even were she to eventually move on, no one would ever take the place of Vincent in her heart. And whoever she chose would forever be a pale imitation of her real love. So, he chose to be her friend. For the two of them, it would be the only relationship that would satisfy them both. Anything else would be a travesty, and he knew it.

When she didn't answer, he prompted gently, " I was thinking that maybe we could stay here for another couple of months, and then we could look for a house? Maybe something with a yard, and a third bedroom we could turn into a nursery?"

Her eyes swiveled back to his face and he grinned sheepishly, " I'm not asking you to marry me kiddo," he assured her quickly, " I know…well…I know, ok? But you're going to need help through your pregnancy, and well….you are my best friend and if not me, then who?"

Tears trembled on her lower lid, threatening to fall as they filled her eyes, and he looked away discreetly.

"I just want to be there for you Catherine." Under his breath he muttered, " Someone needs to be," thinking of the absent Vincent with a spike of anger.

Catherine reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing it hard, " I think that would be very nice Geoff," she replied in a soft voice, " Then she smiled warmly at him, and it was the most emotion she had shown in response to his continued friendship, in a long time. "You practically live here as it is, we might as well make it official."

He grinned, relieved, he had thought the suggestion would be met with far more resistance. Now came the hard part, " Well, I can be ready whenever you say the word." He left it open so that she could decide what to do with Vincent's things. Personally, he thought it would be best to give them to JT to hang on to, or better, just toss them in the trash. But he was pretty sure they were going to become treasures to Catherine, and she'd squirrel them away somewhere so she could take them out from time to time and remember.

Another wave of anger swept over him. Vincent had certainly made every mistake in the book with this woman. It was bad enough that he'd broken her heart and left her shattered and empty. But to leave without a word, giving her no closure, he had made sure that she would pine for him for the rest of her life. That was simply cruel, and he had thought better of Vincent. Had he known then that things would end like this, he'd have left his beasty ass in the hands of Muirfield. At least then he'd have died a hero in her eyes, and she could have moved forward in her life. As things stood now, she was a permanent resident of limbo, and might never be whole again. She would certainly never be the "old" Catherine, and that was sad on more levels than he could count.

She sat in contemplative silence for a time, then looked him in the eye and said, "let's plan on Monday ok? That gives me a few days to… I can…" her eyes drifted back down the hallway towards his room, and her voice faded away into sadness.

" Sure, sure," he responded briskly, trying to cut off the melancholy, "Monday is good. It's amazing how much crap you can accumulate in just a couple of months, even living hand to mouth in someone else's place," he grinned. "That gives me time to sort and prioritize."

He knew he probably shouldn't, but he said, " Do you need any help with?…" he gestured down the hall, indicating the room.

Almost fearfully she shook her head, " No, I can handle it," she replied quickly, forestalling any further offer to remove Vincent from her life. Her heart lurched in her chest, and she had to swallow hard to keep from sobbing.

"Ok," he responded sadly, "Well kiddo, you better get ready, we need to meet Evan in about 2 hours, and traffic could be heavy."

She sighed, nodded, and stood. As she made her way down the hall to her room, she hesitated for only a second at the door to Vincent's room. Her hand lifted, touched to doorframe momentarily, and then she moved past and entered her own room to get ready. Geoff hoped it was a sign.

Somewhere near the Queensboro bridge, a man in a green fatigue jacket with a deep scar on his right cheek, stacked produce boxes on the docks. He picked up odd jobs now and then to make enough to eat on.

The foreman had tried to talk him into full time, he was a hard worker, didn't talk much, and threw himself into the job with an intense energy that made him somewhat unpopular with the other dockworkers.

He kept apart from the other guys, didn't mix or get friendly. When he finished his days work, he simply melted away. No one knew anything about him, and he seemed to prefer it that way. He'd show up from time to time, looking like a stray dog. Lean, hungry and wary. But he always gave a 100 percent, and the foreman liked him, so there was work when he wanted it.

He made his home in an abandoned shipping container near the 43rd avenue power station. Thanks to years on the run, he was able to rig electricity to his new home, at least enough power to run a hotplate, an apartment sized fridge and treble lights. He spent his nights wandering the docks, or lying on the rickety army cot he used as a bed, thinking about her. He was always thinking about her. No matter how hard he tried to empty his mind, she lurked in every thought. He saw her everywhere he went, smelled her skin, her hair, the perfume she wore in every breath. Found her voice in every overheard conversation, she was buried in his heart and there was no way to remove her.

He had run back to Astoria when he'd left her. Gone back to the familiar streets he'd cruised as a boy. He could hide here, knew every alley and abandoned building, could be the shadow he was destined to be.

He talked to no one, got close to no one. He didn't deserve to have a place in humanities' communities, so he kept to himself and haunted the outskirts of life like a feral cat.

He had seen JT once a couple of months back, though he had not been seen. JT was obviously looking for him if he had come back to Astoria. But Vincent had seen him first, and had melted into the darkness where he belonged, letting his oldest friend leave their childhood neighborhood, frustrated in his search.

He had been tempted to check on her many times. To travel the rooftops to her apartment, to spy on her as he had for many years, to make sure she was safe. But in his heart he knew that urge was not for her benefit, but for his own. The best thing he could do for her was to keep away, give her a chance at a normal life. Though he ached with need, his shame was so great it kept him from doing what he most desperately longed to do. It was a constant battle, and sometimes he felt that if he could just see her, look at her, he would be satisfied. But he knew that wasn't true.

He dreamed of her every night, without fail. Dreamed of her voice whispering his name in the darkness, her hands on his body, trembling with desire. The feel of her curled in his arms. Her eyes gazing at him, filled with love and longing. Her smile warm and tender, lips inviting his kiss. It was torture, but it was all he had and he clung to it like a drowning man in a riptide.

It was all he was worthy of.

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN

Geoff moved in on Monday as planned. Catherine had spent the weekend packing Vincent's things tearfully, and storing them in her closet where they were close at hand. Geoff had pretty much left her to it, so that she could mourn in private, knowing she would be self conscious about being so emotional after all this time.

Catherine knew she should just let go of him. It was obvious he wasn't coming back, but her heart just wouldn't allow it. She thought about him every moment of the day, and with his child growing inside her, trying to exorcise him was impossible. Not that she really wanted to.

Everything reminded her of him.

She cried at the drop of a hat. If she heard his name mentioned, at songs on the radio, when she picked up the dish towel he had draped on his shoulder that day, so long ago it seemed. She missed him so much it was as if he had torn out her heart and taken it with him when he'd gone. There was only this empty space in her chest that seemed to suck every good thing in her life into the swirling void, and sink it in despair.

She tried…she really did, for Geoff and JT and Evan. She put on the best face she could manage for her family and friends, but none of them were fooled, she knew. They played along and let her pretend, though no one bought it. But it was the best she could do.

She was glad to have Geoff in the apartment. His positivistic attitude helped push back the darkness that threatened at every turn. He forced her to put one foot in front of the other every day, and she loved him for it. Or as much as she was able anyway. She knew it wasn't as much as he deserved, but it was all she had, and he accepted it without rancor or comment.

He took on every burden she allowed him to, and did it with smiling eagerness. He was always there for her, lending his ear when she wanted to talk, and his strong shoulder when she needed support. He was the best friend anyone could ask for. She knew that she had cost him his budding relationship with Heather, though they were still close and friendly. But he never mentioned it, or anything else that might upset her. He was very studious in that regard, constantly conscious of her feelings and careful not to add to her heartache.

He was considerate and attentive and she wished there was more she could offer him, she knew that he wanted it, but he never said so and seemed content with the status quo.

In the sixth month of her pregnancy, after her weekly check up with Evan who had become her personal obstetrician, Geoff grinningly pulled her aside and said, " I don't know if you're ready for this….but I've found a house."

Startled, Catherine could only manage an "Oh?,' in response. They had talked about the possibility of moving several times, and while she never really said no, the idea of leaving the apartment and all the memories contained within it, made her want to hyperventilate. It would be like saying she had given up on Vincent, and she wasn't sure, even after all this time, if she could. But she swallowed hard and said, " Where?"

"In Marlboro," he replied excitedly. She knew the town, it was about an hour and a half from the city, midway between here and Bethlehem where he worked. " it was Carl's mom's, a rental, but she's gotten too old to take care of it and is looking to sell it. Carl says I can get into for nothing down. It's a big place, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and there's acreage with it. It sits out at the end of a long paved road, by itself and it's surrounded by trees. It's about a quarter mile from the river. It needs some work, but I figured we could do it our selves….' he stopped talking, seeing the look on her face. He stifled a sigh. Maybe it was time for a little tough love.

" Catherine?" when she looked up, he gave her a sad smile, " Look….I know that it's hard to think of leaving the apartment. I know you think that by doing so, you're giving up on him," she started, her eyes wide at his intuitive leap. It was difficult hiding things when someone knew you so well. " But kiddo, you have a baby to think about, not to mention getting a handle on your own life. It's time to let go Cath…"

Her eyes filled with tears and she dropped her chin onto her chest in defeat. He was right, she knew he was. She understood that he wasn't suggesting that they move their own relationship forward. He had come to accept where things stood between them, and didn't seem at all inclined to force the issue. He was content with their friendship, which made her feel both guilty and relieved at the same time. He was as easy as a summers day, and she didn't really deserve the devotion he lavished on her. But she had no one else, so she selfishly took it and gave him back what she could. It seemed to be enough, at least for now. It seemed that the least she could offer him was a place that didn't contain the ghost of her former lover, and the convenience of a shorter commute every day. So she nodded in resignation and said as brightly as she could, "When could we go look at it?"

He grinned and replied, " How about tomorrow morning?"

They drove into Marlboro at about 10 the next morning, met with Carl to get the keys and then drove out to the house. It sat back off of Quarry Rd. in the trees, the last house before you got to the river. It was several thousand yards from the nearest neighbor and was private and secluded. Huge trees shaded the large yard, and the road became dirt just beyond the house. It was a rambling two story affair with large windows and lots of natural light. It needed updating, and some cosmetic work, but it was definitely livable. The rooms were bright and airy and there was a fresh feel of possibility to it that Catherine found appealing despite her misgivings. The more she moved around inside, looking out the big windows into the trees beyond, the more she realized that Geoff had been right, and this was just what she needed.

After about a half an hour of Geoff knocking on walls, turning on taps and lights, and checking the big furnace in the basement they met in the kitchen. "So?…." he asked tentatively, " What do you think? Do you like it?"

She paused for a minute, then smiled and replied, "You know, I was prepared not to, but in fact I really do. It's almost perfect."

"Almost?" he asked.

"Well," she frowned a little, " It's big, and must be fairly expensive considering the location…are you sure you can afford it? I mean, if you were on your own, without taking me and the baby into consideration, this place would be much bigger than you needed. I don't want you getting in over your head on my account."

"Well," he drawled with a secretive smile, "it's funny you should mention that. Because part of the deal is that for two years the payment is well within my means. Then it goes up some and I might need a little help. But the thing I forgot to tell you is, at the end of next year the Marlboro police force will be looking for a new chief, and Carl seems to think that with his mom's endorsement and her contacts, you might be the perfect candidate for the job."

" You don't say," she said suspiciously, giving him a shrewd look, " Funny how you didn't mention that before.'

He had the grace to look slightly embarrassed but said, " Well, I have to admit, it was a consideration when he told me about the place."

" Uh Huh," she said, unable to stifle the chuckle that spontaneously erupted from her, much to his delight. It had been a long time since she'd laughed at anything.

" So what do you say Chief Chandler? Do we have a deal?" he extended his hand and she took it fondly. He really was the best friend she could hope for.

" Ok Sasquatch,' she smiled, "You have a deal."

CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT

It took a couple of weeks to settle things. Catherine decided to sublet her apartment. For all she was now eager to move into the new house, she just couldn't let go of the flat altogether and after discussing it with Geoff, they decided that this was the best way. So she advertised it in the paper, and much to her surprise, it was JT who answered. He told her that he was tired of the warehouse, and with Vincent gone, he felt like it was time for him too to move on. Catherine was delighted. In her secret heart, she thought that if Vincent were to ever return, and he found JT living there…..well, it was a trail he could follow. So, that was that. She and Geoff took an entire weekend and moved to Marlboro in early October.

They spent the next few weeks happily enough, painting and restoring the oak floors, updating the kitchen and all the other things new home owners did. Geoff worked so hard, all day at the charter service, and then came home and cheerfully began working on the house. He took over one bedroom on the ground floor, and told her to stay out of it until he was ready to show it to her, making her promise not to look. She was very tempted to break that promise on several occasions, but she fought the curiosity and worked on the rest of the house instead. On October 25th Geoff announced that he was done and would she like to see? She imagined a mancave, complete with big screen tv and a mini bar, but when he opened the door it was onto the most magical nursery she had ever seen.

He had borrowed the talents of a local artist who was known for illustrating children's books, and had the entire room done in a Velveteen rabbit motif. Three walls were a wrap around, floor to ceiling mural of painted shelves full of toys from the story, along with real shelves loaded with real toys. The fourth wall, the one with the door in it, was painted to look like a forest, the door an avenue between a row of trees. It was amazing. There was a crib, and changing table, a bassinette and a playpen. It was complete and breathtakingly beautiful.

Catherine couldn't think of anything to say for several minutes, instead just letting her eyes shift from wonder to wonder, her fingers pressed to her lips in an effort to keep from crying. She couldn't begin to imagine how he had accomplished this all under her nose, and without her suspecting. As if reading her mind he said, " Well? What do you think? I had to sneak the guy in after you went to sleep every night for three weeks to get this finished. Do you like it?'

He was on pins and needles. He had taken an awful chance going behind her back to do this, and hoped like hell she wasn't angry at him for assuming so much. He knew it wasn't really his place to do so, but he had wanted to show her that he was in for the long haul, and that while he knew that the baby was not his and that she was still very much in love with it's father, he would be there for both of them for as long as she wanted.

When she finally turned to him, instead of answering verbally she quietly put her arms around him and hugged him tight. It was the first time in 7 months she had initiated any kind of physical affection, and he had his answer. He gave her a brotherly kiss on the top of the head and chuckled, " I'm happy I don't have to paint over it."

" I'd kill you if you did, " she replied, somewhere between a laugh and a sob, " it's wonderful."

"Yeah, this was my favorite story as a kid. My mom used to read it to me all the time. I loved the part about being real…" When she looked up at him quizzically, he smiled reminiscently and recited,

"What is REAL?" asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day... "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?""Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When someone loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.""Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit."Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.""Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?""It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. "Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand... once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

Catherine looked at him with a new respect and admiration, " Who knew," she smiled.

"Who knew what?" he chuckled. "Who knew you were such a big softy?"

"Seems like everyone knows that secret," he laughed.

"This is a wonderful surprise Geoff," she smiled wistfully, and he knew from the look on her face that she was thinking of Vincent and wishing he had been the one to do this for their baby. He would like to have been angry about her thinking of him after all he did in here, but it wasn't in him to begrudge her the love she felt. Besides, he wouldn't have liked her half so much as he did, if this wasn't part of who she was. The devotion she felt was a lot of what made her such a wonderful person, and he wouldn't really have changed that about her even if he could.

He spun her about and steered her out of the nursery, taking a last look around in satisfaction before turning off the light and shutting the door. He put an arm around her shoulders and walked back into the living room with her, " So," he asked, "Are you ready for the party?"

She made a face and shrugged. "Oh c'mon kiddo, it'll be fun," he chided, " And you haven't seen any of them in weeks. It's time you got back into life y'know."

It had been Geoff's idea to have a combination Halloween/house warming party, and he was really looking forward to it. Catherine on the other hand, was dreading it. She hadn't seen Tess or Joe for months, and Geoff had invited several of his friends that she hadn't even met yet. Evan, JT, Sarah and Heather were all coming as well, and they would have a full house. She wasn't really in the mood, but it meant so much to him, and he asked for so little, that she felt it would be churlish in the extreme to deny him, so she went along with as much grace as she could muster.

" You're right," she smiled brightly, though it didn't quite reach her eyes, " It'll be fun."

He laughed not fooled at all, " You're gonna have to work on the fibbing thing kiddo, you don't lie for shit."

She laughed and rolled her eyes at him, then waddled into the kitchen to make dinner.

JT was putting the finishing touches on his new apartment. He looked around in satisfaction, "Look Pinocchio, you're a real boy at last," he chuckled. It had been a long time since he'd lived in a place that didn't echo or smell like dust.

Sarah was in the kitchen putting away his meager dishware and tsk'ing over the chipped cups and mismatched plates. " We're going to have to do some upgrades in here JT," she laughed. " It looks like you cleaned out the Goodwill."

He snorted, " I DID clean out the Goodwill as a matter of fact. " he replied sarcastically, " The hazards of being a lifelong bachelor. Mismatched crockery."

She chuckled good naturedly. Sarah was a nice girl, and they got along great. He wasn't sure that things would go beyond the boyfriend/girlfriend holding pattern they were in, but he was enjoying it in the moment.

There was a knock at the door and Sarah called out, "That's probably the pizza guy, you want to get the door?"

"Yeah, I'm on it," he replied.

But it wasn't the pizza guy.

"Holy crap", was all he could think to say.

CHAPTER FORTY NINE

"Hey JT," Vincent said.

"Hey?…hey..MIA for 7 months and all he says is "hey" ", he put his hand in the middle of Vincent's chest and gave him a shove, glancing back over his shoulder into the apartment, "Sarah's here and I don't want her to see you. Go out on the fire escape until I can think of a way to get her out of the apartment."

Vincent nodded, spun on his heel and left. JT went back into the apartment, thinking furiously, what to tell her, what to tell her…ok…

"Who was that?" she asked curiously, "Obviously NOT the pizza guy."

"No," he replied, injecting a note of regret into his voice, " As a matter of fact, it was one of my grad students, seems like one of our experiments has reached a critical point and they need me back at the university. Do you mind if we do the pizza another time?"

She gave him a look, but then shrugged and said, " No, that's ok. Are we still on for the party at Catherine's on Friday?"

"Absolutely, be here at 6" he grinned at her, grabbing her coat from the back of the sofa and holding it for her," I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be great to see them, don't you think?.." he was babbling a bit in his nervousness, and ushered her hurriedly towards the door.

She gave him an odd look, but then tilted her head in a resigned way and gave him a kiss," Yes, it should be fun. Don't forget the costumes.." he kissed her back, a quick peck, assured her he wouldn't forget the costumes, and saw her out the door.

He stood with his back to the door for a moment, let out a deep sigh, gathered his indignation and went into the bedroom to let Vincent in.

JT pushed the window open and his oldest friend climbed through and stood looking at him without saying a word. His eyes were haunted and JT could tell he was steeling himself to be thrown out. He let out a deep sigh and said, " If it isn't the prodigal son…C'mon inside where we can talk." Then led Vincent through to the living room.

"Sit down," he waved at the couch and went to get himself a much needed beer, " You want anything?"

" I'd take a soda if you have one." he replied softly, unsure of himself. JT fished a coke out of the fridge and tossed it to him as he crossed to the chair opposite. He sat down, took a swig of his beer and just stared at Vincent, waiting.

Finally he said, "Well?"…

Vincent looked up at him, his expression sad and remorseful, " I'm sorry JT," he said.

JT sat in disbelief for a minute and then said softly, " You're sorry?! Well gee Vincent, if you're sorry then that just makes everything hunky dory. Great, well, thanks for coming by and letting me know." JT shoved himself out of his chair and paced the room in agitation. He'd stop, gesture wildly sloshing beer around, shoot Vincent a venomous glare and mutter under his breath, "He's sorry…"

" JT.." Vincent began to speak and JT swung around and shouted, " SHUT UP! You're sorry? Really? Do you have any idea what you've done? Sorry…what a load of shit."

"JT, will you please listen?" Vincent pleaded, his voice heavy with tears.

JT was shaking with fury and he leveled a hostile stare at Vincent, " You want to be sorry?" JT asked heatedly, "I'll show you why you should be, wait right there." he stalked from the room, went into his bedroom and Vincent could hear him rummaging around in the closet. He came back holding a photograph. He flung it at Vincent and said, "Take a look at your handiwork, then you can tell me how sorry you are."

Vincent glanced down , then looked back up at JT in confusion, " What am I looking at?" he asked, discomfited. JT shot him a look of pure loathing and said, "Look again Vincent….look closely."

He gazed at the photo for a full minute before realization struck him. The woman in the picture was painfully thin, her cheeks sunken her color pallid and washed out. She had dark circles under her eyes, her short hair was lank and unkempt. Her clothes looked to be two sizes too big. But it was the misery in her eyes that was so arresting…those eyes…dear God, those eyes…."Catherine" he whispered in a tortured voice.

JT threw himself into his chair and took a deep swallow of his beer trying to get his temper under control, " Yes," he replied, "Catherine."

Vincent looked up , tears streaming down his cheeks, " Jesus JT, what happened to her?"

JT arched his eyebrows high on his forehead, he couldn't believe Vincent could be so obtuse, " What happened to her?! YOU happened to her you ass. You did that. That picture was taken 6 weeks after you left her in the middle of the night without a word, on the day she quit her job."

Vincent crossed his arms on his knees, dropped his head down and began to sob, but JT wasn't done with him and he pushed on relentlessly," She stopped eating, she stopped talking, she wouldn't take Tess or Evan's calls anymore, she never left the apartment. And you know the best part? She blamed herself for you leaving. She was committing slow suicide by apathy, dying right in front of our eyes, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. If it hadn't been for Geoff stepping in and picking up the pieces you broke her into, she'd be dead now."

Vincent was hyperventilating, sobs wracking his lean frame and JT knew his anguish was real, but he felt no remorse for what he said next, "It would have been kinder if you had just killed her outright."

Vincent shot upright, his chest heaving, his eyes glowing amber, " Shut up JT," he growled menacingly, " You don't understand." he fought to control himself, shaking his head to clear it.

" I don't understand?" JT whispered scathingly, " You scratched her back during the first love making you'd had in ten years, and you ran like a coward. You know what Vincent? A little Neosporin and five days was all it took to heal those wounds. But she will never recover from your desertion. You broke her heart when you left her, and she hasn't been the same since."

"Where is she JT?" Vincent was still struggling to contain the beast.

JT shook his head with a derisive laugh, " You don't get to ask me that."

"What?" Vincent asked incredulously, " I want to know where she is.'

"No Vincent," JT replied stubbornly, " I'm not going to tell you. You know why? Because I saw her last week, and for the first time in 7 months she smiled and it actually reached her eyes. I'm not going to let you destroy what little peace she has managed to find. The answer is no, and to be honest, I'd like you to leave now. Looking at you standing there feeling sorry, makes me want to puke. So go crawl back into whatever hole you've been hiding in, and just stay there."

"JT," he whimpered, " You've been my best friend since we were kids….please?"

"You're not THAT Vincent Keller anymore," JT said, his tone steely, " the man I called my friend, would never have done that to someone he loved. I don't know who you are."

Vincent nodded, all the fight gone out of him. He didn't know what he had expected when he came here, but he got what he deserved and he had no right to argue the point.

" OK JT," he said softly, " I'll go, and for whatever it's worth, I really AM sorry."

He climbed out of the window and was gone. JT felt a moment of remorse, and nearly stepped out onto the fire escape to call him back. But decided he had made the right decision, for Catherine's sake anyway, and shaking his head sadly went to get another beer.

CHAPTER FIFTY

The following day JT called Geoff at work ostensibly to rsvp for the party, but after a few minutes of chat he got down to it. " I need to tell you something Geoff," he sighed with resignation.

Geoff, reading JT's tone accurately asked, "What's up Jman?"

"Vincent came to see me last night."

There was a slight pause, and JT heard Geoff suck a breath through his teeth, " Really?"

"Yeah," JT laughed sardonically, " He came to tell me he was sorry.'

"OH…well, that was good of him," Geoff replied sarcastically.

"Yeah…he asked where Catherine was."

"Did you tell him?"

"Of course not," JT replied indignantly, " Not just no, but hell no."

"Maybe you should have," Geoff sighed.

"Are you nuts?" JT shouted into the phone, "After what he did to her? It almost killed her, or don't you remember that part?"

"Yeah JT….I was there remember? I'm still there. But you know she'd want to see him, and if she finds out he came to see you, wanted to see HER and you didn't tell him, she's gonna be pissed."

"I don't care," JT replied angrily. He had come to love Catherine like a sister, and he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her. Not even Vincent. Not even if she wanted it.

" I would , she still has a gun you know," he chuckled wryly " I'm going to have to tell her."

JT was incensed, " NO Geoff, that is a very bad idea. I sent him away, she doesn't need to know."

"Did you tell him about the baby?"

"Absolutely not, if I had told him that he would have wrung my neck to find out where she was."

"Well, that's sort of my point JT. She still loves him…she will always love him, and it's pretty obvious that he still loves her….right?"

"yeah," JT sighed.

"Then it really isn't our decision, is it?"

"But he's gone, and I have no idea where he is. Telling her under those circumstances will only hurt her, and do absolutely no good."

"Not to mention that she'd probably shoot you."

"And then there's that," JT replied with a sad smile.

"I think there's only one thing to do, I'm going to have to try and find him. She'll never forgive either of us if I don't at least try."

"But he could be anywhere Geoff, and frankly, she's much better off without him in her life. She's finally getting back on her feet, looking and acting almost like the old Catherine again. I don't want to see her get hurt, and we won't even discuss the fact that Muirfield is still out there looking for him. What happens to her if they should get wind of the fact that she's carrying his child? Jesus, that doesn't even bear thinking about…."

"Whew…you have a point there, I hadn't even considered that…" Geoff remained silent for a few seconds then said, " But the fact remains that it's her decision, and JT, you and I both know that if she could get him back, she'd do it, no matter the risk."

"Yeah, I know that. But Geoff, sometimes you have to intervene when someone you care about is about to make a bad decision."

"Well….I can't say I disagree with your logic in theory, but this is Catherine we're talking about, and Vincent IS the father of her child. He has a right to know, and she has the right to decide if he'll be a part of her babies life. We can't take that away from her, we don't have the right."

"I was just trying to protect her Geoff," JT said sadly.

"I know that bud," Geoff chuckled, " And I'll remind her of that fact when she's looking for her pistol."

"Gee thanks," JT replied with a snort. "Do you think it's still safe for me to come to the party?"

"Oh….I think so," he said trying not to laugh, " I doubt she'd kill you in front of so many witnesses."

"Comforting Geoff, thank you," JT said sourly, " I'll see you Friday."

" Ok JT, see you then."

"And Geoff?"

"Yeah?"

"Hide the bullets will you?"

Laughter, "You got it Jman."

"Geoff?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

"One more thing…"

"What?"

"Try looking in Astoria, he smelled like the docks."

CHAPTER FIFTY ONE ( A WAY OUT )

It was Thursday and Geoff had spent the last three days in the city looking for Vincent. His heart wasn't really in it, he agreed with JT that Vincent had done enough damage to Catherine already, but he knew she would want to see him so he kept at it.

He visited every dock foreman from Yonkers to Bayonne, and from Astoria to Lower Manhattan, but it was like looking for an ant in an ant hill. There was no sign of him. One foreman in Astoria said that it sounded like a guy that showed up once in a while, but he didn't know his name or where he lived. Geoff spent one whole afternoon just in Astoria and wasn't able to find a single trace. Finally he gave up.

He hadn't yet told Catherine that Vincent had gone to the apartment and seen JT. He was hoping he might find him, and when he didn't he thought it would be better to wait until after the party. He didn't want their friends, or her family to have to worry about her all over again. She was not going to take this well.

He headed home with a heavy heart. They'd get through tomorrow night, and then they'd see.

Vincent had left what he still thought of as Catherine's apartment, his mind in turmoil. To say that he had not received the reception he had expected, was an understatement. But he should have known. He should have checked on her, should have seen for himself what his leaving had done to her. The truth was, he had known what it would do, and was too cowardly to step up to the plate. He told himself at the time, he was doing what was best for her. But he knew that he had done it for his own selfish reasons.

Loving her the way he did, it made him responsible, and he hadn't wanted to be responsible. He had spent ten years letting JT look out for him, and had convinced himself that any relationship he built outside of those safe parameters, put that person at risk. But it wasn't Muirfield they needed to be afraid of, it was him.

He had protected Catherine physically, but had destroyed her emotionally, telling himself that it was for her own good. That she would get over him in time. But he had known that wasn't true, because he would never get over her, and she loved him more. That was why he had stayed away, he didn't want to see the ruin with his own eyes. Ignorance had not been bliss, but it had been better than facing the evidence of his cowardice.

He went back to his storage container and sat in the dark, thinking about all the promises he had made her.

"As long as we both shall live" until I break your heart. Empty promises. He had pursued her, let her fall in love with him to suit his ego, and then left her without a word. He truly was a monster, but the beast was not to blame. He had to make things right, but he had no idea how. He was torn between finding her and telling her that he had been weak and afraid and begging her to forgive him, and staying away which at this point might actually be for her own good. But he owed her the opportunity to wreak her vengeance if that was what she chose. He couldn't offer her an explanation, because he had none. But he could face what he had done, and let her have closure. Because he was sure now, in his heart of hearts that she would send him packing. Which was no more than he deserved.

His mind went back to what he had overheard at the apartment. Sometimes super hearing was a blessing. Sarah had mentioned a party at Catherine's….a costume party. She and JT were leaving at 6 to go to it. He could follow them…wait until the party broke up and then approach her. He could see her, and then decide if he should show himself. He might never have this chance again, and for once he would face his fear and let the chips fall where they may.

The next evening at 5:15 he was parked outside the apartment in a rental car, waiting for JT and Sarah to leave. His heart was pounding, and his palms were sweating, but his resolve didn't waver. He had taken everything from a woman he had professed to love and had left her shattered, she deserved the chance to do the same. So he waited.

Sarah showed up at 5:30 and went up to the apartment, at 5:50 she and JT came down and got in her car. When they pulled away from the curb, Vincent followed. They took the 9W north and Vincent slid into traffic behind them. As he drove, his mind played over every conceivable way this evening could go. How would he react to her anger? Suppose she threw herself into his arms? What then? He had no idea what he was walking into. Suppose she was with someone? Suppose it was Geoff? JT had said that Geoff had stepped in to pick up the pieces. If she wanted him back, should he agree? Should he tell her he didn't want to hurt her anymore, and had only come back so that she could have the satisfaction of telling him to leave?

He just didn't know, but he was going to put the ball in her court and let her play it out as she saw fit.

They drove for almost 2 hours, and then Sarah took the exit for Marlboro. He mused for a moment on what had brought her up here, away from the city that she had spent her life in. JT had said that she had quit the police force. Another reason for his self loathing. She had spent her entire adult life helping others, seeking justice, and she had been incredibly good at it. He had ruined even that for her. He wondered how much his defection had really changed her. Was she cold now to the misery of others? Too immersed in her own to care what happened to anyone else? She had never been one to let people in to her heart, she had always been guarded, was she now impenetrable? He had much to answer for.

Sarah drove through town on the Old Post Road, turning right on Quarry Rd. . Vincent thought they must be getting close to Catherine's now so he slowed down and lagged behind. He found a pull out and parked the car, deciding he would take to the woods. Being this close, he knew he would be able to find the house now. His sense of smell and hearing would lead him to it.