I wrote chapter 1 some time ago, so you may want to go back and refresh your memory. I will be updating this story regularly now. I promise NO GABERINE! If you are just finding me check out my one shot redo of Liar Liar and my take on what should have happened After Redemption.

Chapter 2

Catherine and Tess were still waiting to hear from Vincent's doctor when Tori showed up.

"I hope it's alright that I am here. I really didn't have anything to do at JT's and I was worried about Vincent."

Catherine smiled at Tori, "Of course it's Ok, and I appreciate you coming. This way we can get a chance to talk some more."

"What do you want to know?" Tori asked.

"Nothing specific, I guess, just more about you, I told you that I was younger than you when I met Vincent and all the beast stuff was hard to wrap my head around at first. So I am concerned about how you are doing with the whole actually being a beast thing?"

Tori thought about it, "It's weird, I know its not normal, but I feel like this is normal…maybe because my Father kept such a close eye on me, I feel free now and the beast just makes it easier….but on the other hand I don't have real good control so it's scary too. I don't want to hurt anyone. Vincent's been great at helping me, but I think it's just going to take some time." First off I have to find a place to live. I have been staying on the boathouse while the penthouse was repaired, but that probably is not such a good idea."

"I can't argue with you there" Catherine said smiling to take the sting out of her words. But I think Vincent is going to be here for a little bit, so you have some time."

The doctor came out and asked to speak to Catherine. "Mrs. Zalanski?"

Catherine stood up, "Yes that is me, how is he?"

"Your husband's gunshot wound was not that serious on it's own but he sustained some serious blood loss, we have him in a medically induced coma, just to give his body a chance to heal. The next 24 hours will be critical. If he makes it through those, he should be just fine. You can sit with him once he is moved out of recovery and into ICU. But only one of you can stay."

Catherine collapsed in her chair. "Thank you Doctor Markus," she said looking at his name tag to see his name.

"No problem." He turned and went back down the hallway.

"Mrs. Zalanski?" Tori, arches her eyebrow and looks at Catherine.

"Yeah, I gave him a fake name, I am not sure he is ready to go public just yet, it's his decision and it won't hold up to intense scrutiny but it will buy him some time."

"You guys don't have to stay here with me, I am going to grab a cup of coffee and then just sit with Vincent."

Tess gave Cat a big hug, "Let's go get you some coffee and then Tori and I will head back to JT's to see if there is anything we can help with."

Tori offered to bring some of Vincent's clothes by in the morning.

"Thank You" Cat said as she gave Tori and hug too. "Now let's go get some coffee!"

Catherine sat by Vincent's bedside, listening to the beeps marking his heartbeat. She was holding his hand in hers. What she wanted to do was crawl up in the bed, put her arms around him and never let him go. They had come so close to losing everything.

Catherine was lost in thought; they had so much to work through; her Father, Tori, and his lack of memory. Catherine was still trying to digest the fact that Vincent said he loved her. How was that possible when he didn't fully remember her or their life together? How was that possible when she had just shot him?

"I'm sorry, Vincent….I just didn't know what else to do please don't die on me. Please fight….please don't leave me." Catherine put her head down on Vincent's hand and cried softly, letting the all the tears that she had been holding in all these month come.

She fell asleep and didn't notice, Vincent's eyes moving vigorously behind his eyelids or hear his heart beat speed up.

Vincent was remembering EVERYTHING. It was coming in waves that he could not control. He remembered the first time she found him in the warehouse, how even though she had every reason to arrest him, she trusted him and kept Tess from finding him, protecting him even then.

He remembered how she made him feel human, made him feel alive, how she came after him when he wanted to turn himself into Muirfield, how she fought for him. She had no fear when it came to defending him.

He remembered finding that dating profile she had filled out and realizing that she wanted him. He remembered dancing at her Father's wedding and how it felt to hold her for the first time. He also remembered how scared he'd been to lose her when she almost died after her car crash.

She had stuck by him even after Alex and what he had put her through.

He remembered hearing her say I love you and telling her how much in love he was with her and how it felt to kiss her for the very first time.

He remembered how it felt when he had made love to her for the first time, how she was not afraid when his beast showed up, how she could calm him with just a touch.

He remembered being cured and how close they had come to having the normal life they had dreamed of.

He remembered fighting with Gabe and watching as he threw her across the courtyard, how the beast exploded out of him to defend her and then watching her face as he was ripped away from her. The feeling of her hand slipping out of his, her crying out his name and with that Vincent cried out….

"Catherine"…He woke up. He was staring at her as if seeing her for the first time in a long time.

Catherine's head shot up, "Vincent, you're awake! What's wrong?" She placed her hand against his cheek.

Vincent squeezed his eyes shut as tears threatened to overwhelm him. He savored the feeling of her hand against his face, God he had missed her. He opened his eyes and looked at the woman he loved more than his own life.

"Catherine, I remember….everything."

Catherine just stared at him and could see that it was true; it was HER Vincent staring back at her. "Oh Vincent, I have missed you so much," she said her voice breaking.

He held out his arms and she carefully crawled up beside him and they held on to each other, eventually falling asleep secure in each other's arms.

That is how JT and Tess found them the next morning.

"Hey," Tess said softly as she and JT entered Vincent's room.

Catherine woke up and smiled at them both. She got down off the bed and gave JT a huge hug. "He remembers JT….. He remembers everything." She whispered so as not to wake Vincent.

"That's a miracle," he said hugging her back. "Although it might have something to do with surgery and whatever drugs they gave him, they always tell you to think about what you want to dream about before they put you under. Maybe his last thoughts were of you and under the influence of the drugs they used to keep him in a coma, the memories came back."

Tess trying to find the bright side said, "So shooting him was maybe not such a bad thing? "

"So maybe she should have shot me months ago?" Vincent asked sleepily.

"I'm sorry we woke you," said Catherine sheepishly, "How do you feel?"

"I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck." Vincent said smiling, "But it was worth it."

He looked at JT, "It's good to see you man! I'm sorry I…."

"Dude seriously don't worry about it, just get better so you can get the hell out of here before they figure out who you really are."

Vincent looked at Catherine "they don't know already?'

"I told them you were my husband Vincent Zalanski and I was so distraught I did not have any paperwork. I didn't know if you were ready to go public." Catherine explained.

"Husband?" Vincent said raising his eyebrow at Catherine.

She shrugged her shoulders, "It was the only way I could stay with you and find out what was going on with you."

"Tori is going to bring you some of your own clothes today as well, I told her she could stay at the boathouse until you're ready to go home."

"Sounds like you have everything under control!" Vincent said.

And it was true, until Dr. Markus walked in to check on his patient…..

"Good Morning, Mr. Zalanski" he said as he came into the room, his head down looking at Vincent's chart.

JT and Tess stepped out into the hallway to give him some room and Catherine held onto Vincent's hand.

"I am surprised you woke up on your own, those drugs you were on should have kept you unconscious for another 12 hours. You must have an incredibly high metabolism, Mr. Zalanski"

After speaking Dr. Markus got a good look at his patient. "Vincent?...Vincent Keller?"

"Oh Shit" JT said from the hallway hearing the Dr. call Vincent by his real name.

Catherine started to correct the Dr., but Vincent squeezed her hand.

"Hello Dr. Markus, it's good to see you."

"I thought you were dead? How are you….where have you…..?"

"I know it's confusing…. Dr. Markus, this is Catherine Chandler, my…. "handler."

Vincent looked at Catherine, "Dr. Markus was the attending at St. Benjamin's hospital when I was a resident there. Now he apparently works here."

Catherine not missing a beat stepped up and flashed her badge "Dr. Markus you have to trust me when I say that it is important that people believe that Vincent Keller is dead, that is why he is here under a fake name.

Dr. Markus shook his head, "Vincent, you were one of the best doctors I ever had the pleasure of mentoring, I can't pretend to understand what's going on, but I trust you so we will leave it at that."

Catherine and Vincent both breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank You Dr. Markus," said Vincent "If ever the day comes that I can tell you what is going on, I will."

"That would be great, but what would be even greater is to see you get back into medicine Vincent, you were one of the good ones."

Vincent closed his eyes overwhelmed by all the emotions washing over him. It had been awhile since he had felt so many emotions. "Thank You."

"Well your vitals look good, I want to keep you another day or two to monitor your stitches and to give you a chance to recover from all the blood loss."

As he turned to leave he said "I will check on you again later and I will make sure your secret is safe." With those words he left.

"Handler?" Catherine said, holding back laughter.

Vincent smiled, "It was the first thing that popped in my head"

JT and Tess came back in, this time with Tori who had showed up while Dr. Markus was in the room.

"Hi Vincent," she said tentatively not sure of her reception from him. "I brought you some things from home…she stuttered…. your home I mean."

"Tori, come here," Vincent said holding out his free hand to her. Catherine was still clutching the other one and tightens her grip as he beckons Tori close. Vincent squeezes Catherine's hand back.

"Thank you for bringing me my stuff. You are welcome to stay at the houseboat as long as you need. I am not going back there. He looks at JT; hopefully I can have my old room back?"

JT grins so hard, it looks like he was going to hurt himself, "Absofrickenloutly!"

They all laugh, although Vincent grimaced. Taking his hand from Tori and placing it over his wound. "Ouch! Maybe laughing is not such a good idea right now."

"Look we should get out of your hair and let you rest. I am going to head back and keep working on the skeleton; I am running a bunch of tests." Said JT

Tess was going to head into work, see what was going on at the precinct and update Gabe.

Catherine looked at Tori, feeling sorry her with no where to go. "Tori if you want to stay for awhile, I could use a break to run home shower, and change."

Tori looked surprised. "You want me to stay with Vincent?"

"I am sure you guys have plenty to talk about."

Catherine leaned down and captured Vincent's face in her hands and kissed him. "I will be back as soon as I can."

Vincent reached up with hand and cupped her cheek, "Hurry back, I miss you already." And he kissed her one more time before she left.

After Catherine left, Tori was uncomfortable, she didn't really know what to say to Vincent. "I'm sorry" she said in an effort to make things more comfortable.

"Tori, listen you have nothing to apologize for. This is my entire fault. Until I woke up a little while ago, I did not remember the last year of my life. I did not remember Catherine. I have spent the last few months, trying to be what she wanted me to be, because there was something about her that kept pulling me to her, but I did not really understand it and it was never clear. Then I killed your father, essentially turning you into a beast or turning on your beast. Then your effect on me and my decision to go after Catherine's father, to not trust her. The truth is I have made a huge mess of everyone's life yours included, I owe you the apology, not the other way around, OK?"

"I guess this is just a mess for the both of us huh?" Tori said. "But no more blame, I just want you to know that I can see how you feel about Catherine, I always could, I was just afraid to be alone, so I am sorry that I pushed and goaded you."

"All is forgiven; let's focus on the future now." Vincent said. "So what do you want?"

Tori had no idea; she spent so much of her life under control of her Father that she had never really thought about it. Now with the beast a part of her, she wasn't sure what her future held. "Can you teach me to control it better?" Tori asked.

"I can try, you are not a created beast like me, you were born one, so I am guessing your level of control will be pretty good. Your life can go on and you can do whatever you want Tori, being a beast doesn't have to change everything if you learn to control it."

"What are you going to do Vincent? Go public and go back to being a Doctor? No one is after you right now, and you may even be safer if you go public. I am pretty well known and a long lost war hero who saved my life is something we could work with. You would be harder to make disappear if you became a public figure."

"I haven't really given it that much thought…..once I get out of here I am going to have to find something to do, my FBI supported beast hunting days are over and I can't expect Catherine or JT to support me."

"There is still Catherine's father to deal with and whatever it was that your Father was doing at the curio shop with the beast skeleton, but that stuff doesn't pay the bills. OK now I am exhausted just thinking about all of this. I am going to close my eye a bit alright?"

"Sure I will be right here if you need anything, til Catherine gets back."

Catherine returned to the hospital and found Vincent asleep and Tori watching over him,

"How is he doing?" Catherine asked quietly so as not to wake him up.

"Good," Tori whispered, "He has been asleep for about an hour, I am going to take off and leave you two alone."

Catherine sat by Vincent and watched him as he slept. There was no rush now, they had all the time in the world to figure things out, they were together and they could face anything.