Title: Infinity
Author: Annaliesegrace
Rating: T (though some chapter could maybe creep into M – you will be warned)
Summary: A series of independent one shots that will follow the Word of the Day format.
AN: Hello readers! This will be a series of one shots, mostly unrelated but all Cat/Vincent. Some may follow the eps, some will be stand alones. All based on the word of the day app from . Now, this won't be updated every day, I frankly don't have time for that; I'm hoping once a week or so. I hope you guys enjoy and feel free to leave a review on your way out.
Canonize (v): To glorify and honor; to consider or treat as sacrosanct or holy.
At some point during the nine years he had saved her life in the woods and now, when they had finally officially met, he had placed her on a pedestal. She was this beauty that he watched from afar, content to watch her life unfold in the shadows. Realistic (until recently) that he would never be part of that life.
Maybe he had lied a bit when she'd asked if he had been keeping tabs on her; he had, just far longer than she or even JT realized. Since that night so long ago, he had watched her change careers from law school to the academy, graduate top of her class and quickly move through the NYPD ranks.
From the moment they had seen each other in the woods, he'd known there was something about her. Yes, he had been protecting her when he'd taken out the men who had killed her mother, but being only a year post Muirfield's attempts at exterminating him, his control during the "beast" times was tenuous at best. And yet, he had been capable of stepping away, of containing the rage that consumed him so as not to hurt her.
It took so much effort to control himself when the adrenaline kicked in, so much to maintain control, it was physically and mentally exhausting. And yet he managed it, because he had to, because if he didn't…they won. Muirfield would have complete control of him, and somehow that was far more frightening than the beast inside.
So when the realization hit the night before that Catherine was afraid of him, he didn't know what to do. After so long he'd established contact with the woman he had followed and watched for close to a decade and she was frightened of him, of what he became.
His world had tilted on its axis and suddenly the fight didn't seem worth it anymore. The best thing he could do was turn himself in to keep both JT and Catherine safe.
And their (her) safety was paramount to him. Because she was on that pedestal.
When they showed up at the warehouse, he was both angry and grateful they had cared enough to find him and stop his admittedly stupid plan. Because if it hadn't been for them (her) by now he would be a science experiment again as the Muirfield scientists tried to figure out what exactly went wrong. If they didn't just outright execute him.
Reaching her building he sent a quick text before just as quickly making his way to her fourth floor fire escape. He hung back until she settled into the window frame before tossing her the ball. It had been an impressive homerun.
They spoke of the circumstances around their…peculiar relationship.
"I wish this was easier," he'd finally admitted.
"So do I," she sighed before adding, "It will never be normal with us, will it?"
"No."
Silence again reigned and he could sense she was contemplating something. After several long minutes she spoke again, "How long have you been keeping tabs on me, Vincent?"
Her tone was very much that she knew it was longer than two weeks ago after the run in in the alley.
"A while."
She wasn't sure she wanted the answer, but Cat asked anyway, "What's a while?"
"Catherine…" He wanted to lie, or at least avoid the question with a sidestep, but she deserved more than that after everything. "Since that night in the woods."
She sucked in a breath. "Oh…that's…a long time, Vincent."
Vincent dropped his head, in shame or embarrassment he wasn't really sure. "I know."
She played with the stitching on the softball she held. "How often?"
Vincent thought about lying, but figured he was all in at that point. "Not often at first, maybe a couple times a year. The last couple years it's been…more."
"Why? Why me?" Now she looked at him. "You've saved plenty of other people."
He scoffed slightly. "Not like you."
The words hung heavy between them and she let out a soft "oh".
"The man who took me…he showed me a picture of her, my Mom. She was at Muirfield, Vincent. She worked there. Are you sure you didn't know her?"
He shook his head. "I knew they were following her, I figured she worked for them in some capacity."
She shook her head and pushed back tears that threatened to fall, fingers moving more quickly over the seams of the ball. "I can't believe she would be involved in this."
He reached out a hand and covered hers, stopping the frantic movement. "Maybe she didn't realize what she was working on. I have to imagine to keep their risk low they either lied to the scientists or they each worked on their own parts. It's hard to put the pieces together when you can't see the whole puzzle."
She nodded but he could hear her heart pounding and the little sniffles she was trying to keep to herself.
All he wanted to do was make her pain go away.
So he slid off the fire escape and sat next to her on the window sill, one arm wrapped around her shoulders. Grateful for the reassurance she sunk into him, her head falling into the crook of his neck. From here her heart was louder, her smell that much more powerful and the little breathes that fanned across his chest felt like fire.
This was such a bad idea. And yet he couldn't pull away from her.
Then almost of its own accord his hand started to move up and down her arm slowly, fingers taking in her soft skin and the chill that had settled on it as they had sat outside. For a brief moment he considered telling her they should move inside before she got colder but realized that would mean pulling apart and Vincent wasn't willing to do that. Who knew when the chance to hold her would come up again and she seemed content resting against his side.
Cat felt warm, comfortable…safe with him. Despite her earlier reservation (brought about by Muirfield), she knew deep down that he would never hurt her, or any other innocent person. He was a good person in an untenable circumstance. Curled into his side, Cat couldn't picture anywhere else she wanted to be in that moment.
So as his hand started to glide over her arm she moved closer and placed a hand flat on his chest, fingers splayed over the cotton of his shirt. And she didn't need to be a beast to feel the way his heart sped up under her hand.
Gripping his shirt she looked up to find him staring down at her, pupils dilated despite the light illuminating the area from her bedroom.
"Vincent," she whispered and reached up, putting their lips within inches of each other.
Just as they were closing the gap he suddenly pulled back, as he had the first time they'd met and she had touched his face.
"You're sister is home," he said and reluctantly pulled away from her.
"Of course," she muttered.
He smiled gently at her and stood before sending a glance toward the door and Catherine knew her sister was nearing the room. They couldn't chance him being seen here - as always, it was too dangerous.
"Goodnight, Catherine," he said and she felt a kiss being dropped on the top of her head before he disappeared into the night.
It couldn't have been more than five seconds later that there was a knock on her bedroom door and Heather stuck her head in. "Cat?"
Pivoting into the room, she stayed seated in the window. "Yeah, Heather, what's up?"
"I had a terrible day, up for some trashy reality TV?"
Despite her sister's timing, Catherine smiled and nodded, hopping down from the window and closing it behind her, taking a moment to stare into the darkness, knowing he was out there somewhere.
"What is with you and the fire escape lately? I've never seen you sit there before…" Heather asked as they walked down the hall.
"I recently realized there's more to it than meets the eye."
END
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