Disclaimer: Beauty and The Beast (2012), and all its characters belong to the CW and the show's creators. I am jut an avid fan who loves twisting the stories around.

Any reproduction of this story, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the author's written consent.

Let My Soul Out

Prologue

"Outta the way! Outta the way!" she shouted from the confines of her Dodge Charger, the siren blaring, as she tried to manoeuver between traffic in the race to another crime scene. Didn't people get that the siren meant move or did they think it meant block the path every chance you get? She zipped out from behind a blue Mini Cooper and darted in front of the line of traffic that final go the point that they should stop and let her through. "Thank you!" her hand waved with momentary exasperation before grasping the wheel as her foot pressed down on the accelerator.

She'd gotten the call ten minutes ago, a body had been found in a dumpster on East Fourth and Avenue D. She'd been sitting at home contemplating calling her father for the first time in four months, but she never got around to it. The moment her phone rang, "PRECINCT" appearing on the display, she was already shoving her feet into her boots even before she answered. "Chandler? Yes, boss. Got it. I'll be right there." A moment later she was collecting her gun and badge from her bedside table, clipping the golden sign of authority to her belt as she marched her way to yet another murder. The phone rang from within the apartment as she stalked through the living room to collect her jacket and head out the door. She let the answering machine pick it up as she turned the knob and stepped into the hall, the last thing she heard, "Catherine, its dad."

The streets were clearly as she neared Avenue D and she punched the car into another gear. She'd always liked cars, the speed and power of them, and she'd been more than happy when the department had been issued better vehicles, such as the stunning silver-grey Charger she was now in possession of. She turned the corner and geared down in quick succession before she brought the car to a stop, popping out from behind the wheel almost instantly, not even bothering to lock the door. At least fifteen of New York's finest were within spitting distance, what did she need to worry about someone snatching her car? She marched towards Joe and Tess as they stood talking to one of the officers.

"Hey, what've we got?" She looked from Joe to Tess.

Joe spoke first, his face reflecting the seriousness of the situation. "Young woman. No ID. Evan estimates she's between the ages of twenty-four and thirty. Found strangled about twenty-minutes ago by a drunk who got out of his car to puke. He's on his way to the station. He was too wasted to be of much help. We'll let him sleep it off and see what more information we can get from him."

Cat nodded her understanding. "Wolanski and Boggs have lead on this, they're next up on the rotation. I expect an update in the morning. You two have a goodnight." He backed up and walked towards his car. A moment later he was gone.

They watched him go.

"So what was Joe doing here?" She asked Tess. "I thought this was something high profile when I saw him standing there." She started walking towards the crime scene.

"Nah. He was headed to something with the wife and was nearby so he decided to detour." She shrugged. "You know how it is."

Catherine and Tess, along with half the precinct, were aware that Joe and his wife were having trouble. He worked late, avoided her as much as possible, tonight being another good example of that. She gave Tess a sympathetic look. She felt for the guy, but Joe's personal life was not their priority right now, the dead woman fifteen feet away was.

"Well the Oestrogen Squad is here."

"Hilarious Wolanski, just as funny as it was the first fifteen times you said it," Tess countered with her usual sarcasm. Cat smirked. Then she saw the victim.

"Damn," she muttered to herself as she crouched near the woman's head. "She almost looks like she's sleeping doesn't she?" She studied the woman's features, the gently cheeks that still had a hint of blush on them, the shadowed eyes and a small smudge near the corner of her mouth. "Looks like we have some transfer here," she called over her shoulder as she continued her cursory examination of the body. "Thumb maybe? Like the perp brushed something away from the side of her mouth or stroked her cheek?" she continued to Tess, as her partner assumed a similar position beside her.

"Yeah, and there's something in her hair too," Tess moved the blonde tresses with the end of her pen. "Dirt of some kind maybe?" she looked around, "Doesn't look like something from around here." Cat nodded her head in agreement.

"Hey, Thelma and Louise, mind backing off of our crime scene? Let the real detectives do their job," Wolanski mused as he stood over them, Boggs at his side with a matching ridiculous grin.

Cat scoffed. "Just finding evidence while you," she looked over at the redheaded patrol officer Wolanski had been speaking to before, "find a date? I think you'd have better luck with the internet." She patted his chest lightly, "I'll let you 'detect' now. Come on Tess."

She stalked away with Tess on her heels. "I really hate that guy."

"Ditto. Meet you back at the precinct? I gotta stop by my brother's to pick up something first," Tess asked as she held the door open on her own Dodge Charger.

"Yeah. I have one or two things I should probably do before tomorrow and I want to hear what CSU digs up on that trace. See you there."

Three hours later Cat was putting away the last of her filing and waiting on the lab to finish their analysis. Tess was sitting drinking her coffee and catching up on the paper. "You know, we really are wasting our good looks," she mused over the top of the editorial. "I mean look at us? It's almost midnight and the only thing either of us has to do is wait on dirt analysis to come from the lab. It's pathetic." She tossed the paper aside and leaned back in her chair, her arms crossing over her forehead as she closed her eyes.

"Well, I've waited around long enough. This isn't our case Tess and even Wolanski and Boggs have headed home. If they can get a good night sleep and worry about evidence tomorrow, why don't we? Want to go for a drink?"

"I'd love too. Where did you have in mind?" Evan's cheerful voice interrupted as he sat on the corner of her desk. Tess flashed a smirk from behind Evan's back and Cat slowly allowed herself to look up at him.

It had been months since Tess started teasing Cat about Evan. It was evident the good medical examiner from Britain had a thing for her not so available partner, but Tess was hoping that would change. Evan was a good guy; intelligent, respected and he wasn't a douche. Yes, he had a silly three month rule about relationships, but with Cat he was different. It had been at least a year since they'd started their weird dance around each other and Tess was hoping that would change. She worried about Cat. She never dated. She was always alone, and Tess knew she hadn't spoken to her family in ages. If it weren't for the fact that Cat's younger sister Heather lived with her, she didn't think there would be anyone in her life outside of work. Cat just needed the right incentive. Tess smirked.

"O'Callaghan's is open and happy hour should be starting soon. We should head down there," she stated as she pushed up from her chair and grabbed her bag. "You coming?" she urged with another grin as she watched Cat and Evan fall in behind her.

They were downstairs headed out the door, Cat and Evan talking behind her, when she decided the time was now. "Shoot! You know what? I just remembered. I have to go pick up some dry cleaning before tomorrow. Why don't you two head over to O'Callaghan's by yourself. Alone and yet together," she mused as she gave Cat a wink. "Goodnight. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She disappeared out the door.

"Wow! She was subtle," Cat mused as she turned to Evan, that devilish grin playing at the corners of his mouth as he watched her carefully.

"So what do you say, Cat? Have a drink with me?" he leaned in slightly, hoping she'd say yes. "Or are you afraid that you can't handle yourself around me, Detective Chandler?"

She chuckled. "I think I'll be fine. Let's go." They turned towards the door and were almost out when a commotion caught their attention. Cat's brow furrowed as she heard the sound of scuffling. "Wait…wait here a minute," she said as walked towards the sound, Evan followed behind at a distance. He was a medical examiner not a cop, brawling perps weren't his speciality cadavers were.

She moved behind the desk and walked towards the holding cells where the source of the sound was coming from, her feet picking up into a job as she saw one office step out from around the corner covered in sweat and breathing hard. She gave him a quick look, he was fine, and then proceeded.

She saw him a moment later, a tall guy with shaggy brown hair surrounded by three cops who were trying to get in into a cell. There was an officer to her right who looked like he'd just gotten the work out of his life. "What's going on?"

"He was brought in for a drunk and disorderly. We tried to get him into the cell and he just freaked out. Went Rambo on us."

Cat nodded, "Okay." She didn't wait, the officer's protests fell on deaf ears as she took several quick steps forward, dropped into a crouch and swept her leg around knocking the perp to the ground. The second his body hit the tiles they were on him, pinning him to the floor as they struggled to subdue him. Cat got to her feet, feeling rather accomplished, they could take it from there. She was just about to return to Evan and their impromptu date when the man's face came into view for the first time, peaking out beneath the mishmash of flailing limbs.

She froze.

Their eyes met and suddenly he stilled as well as both were drawn in, neither able to break the gaze.

"Vincent?"

Author's Note:

This is the prologue of a thirty chapter story (at least at present this may change with inspiration and reviews) that I've already outlined. I can't tell you when I will be updating, but I will give you bonuses at the end of each chapter, mostly music. I find the music from the show is fantastic and definitely inspiring to me when writing this fiction.

So, to start you off here is a video for the song that inspired this story: watch?v=ZcfqS0ELnUQ - Nitesky by Robot Koch

This is the song for the chapter: watch?v=GA13r2jIyX4 - Midnight City by M83

Songs on youtube.

See you guys next chapter!