Fandom: Beauty and the Beast
Author: ice shredder
Disclaimer: not mine, belongs to the CW.
Spoilers: episode 1x12, the woods scene. Alex finds her dreams in shambles after seeing Vincent's beast side. One-shot. Complete.
POV: Alex
Summary: How could I have been so stupid? So blind? So sure that we could've ran away and started a new life together?
I can't believe this is happening. It's not real.
My breath came in furious clouds. I still had the gun Catherine gave me but instead of staying in the cabin like a smart girl my curiosity got the better of my common sense. I slipped outside and followed her into the woods.
I wish to God I hadn't.
Gunfire pierced the quiet night. It echoed like firecrackers through the trees. I ran hard and came across a sight I wish I could erase forever. I saw Vincent but he was...changed. He held one of the bad guys clear over his head.
Choking him to death.
What I saw wasn't my ex-fiancé. It wasn't the brave soldier who served in Afghanistan, or the subject of a government experiment gone awry.
It was a monster. A feral beast with claws and fangs. It ripped those gunmen apart like their skin was made of tissue paper.
It was protecting her. The handler.
How could I have been so stupid? So blind? So sure that we could've ran away and started a new life together?
The battle's over in seconds. But I can't shake what I've witnessed.
He looked up, human again, and saw me aiming the gun at his chest. Despite this, he insists he wouldn't hurt me. Right. Says the savage beast before pouncing on his prey.
I told him I'd seen everything. The air seemed colder. It mocked my stunned eyes. So this was the answer to all the vagaries. Why he was presumed dead. Why Catherine kept popping up. Why they seemed to share a connection I wasn't apart of. She knew.
Just when I was about to pull the trigger Catherine returned and started talking. She slid in front of Vince, shielding him and me holding the gun determined to kill the man I thought I knew.
She coaxes me into standing down and I did. Very reluctantly. Taking the firearm she whispered to Vince she'd be at the car. The trees soon swallowed her slender form and I stood alone, naked without my weapon. For the first time, I was scared to death of the man I used to love.
He's talking about why this was the reason he didn't come home, why his death was faked and how much of a fantasy this was. Of a life with me that I no longer desired. I can handle the man. I can't live with the monster. In a weird way he sensed that and accepted it.
I don't want him to touch me or come near me. I never want to see his face again.
"I'll just...drive myself home."
Wow. That...took a lot of energy to say.
My dreams are gone. I've got nothing left.
No happily ever after for me. Thanks to that creature.
I shuffle past and walk away too shocked to cry.
He doesn't attempt to follow. No sense salvaging a lie.
-end