Hi everyone... I'm so sorry for the delay but as every fanfic writer, I have good excuses... real life and writer's block. I hope you'll like this knew chapter as much as I suffered writing it! Just let me know... As every fanfic writer, reviews and feedback are fuel to our imagination!


First there was the scent. It smelled like home. The strongest scent was Catherine's favorite detergent, fresh and clean sheets. Then there was this strong musky scent, the one that told him that he really needed to take a shower. As he kept his eyes closed and continued to breathe in and out slowly, he found his son's scent, not far away from where he was. He supposed that he was in his room, in his home. How he got there was a mystery. The lack of Catherine scent meant that she hadn't been in the room in a long time. Where was she then?

Vincent concentrated on his hearing. He could hear his heartbeat going steady, and Tyler making car noises and probably toys being smashed against each other. If Vincent was right, his son was playing just outside his room, behind the door. He concentrated a little more and finally, he heard her heartbeat. She was probably downstairs, in the kitchen or the living room.

That's when the pain hit him. As he was slowly regaining consciousness, his senses were reactivating one after the other. The feeling of pain being the one he hated the most.

He slowly opened his eyes, thankful that it was the end of the day so the sun wouldn't burn his eyes. The room was lit lightly. He looked around him and noticed that his room… their room, was still the same. A movement caught his attention and he turned his head to examine what was moving next to him and that's when he found Tyler, sitting on the floor next to his bed, playing with his toy cars. He watched him play for a while, repeatedly smashing the cars against each other and making crashes noises.

"Hey buddy." Vincent told him softly after some time.

The little boy immediately got up and froze in front of his father.

He waited for a while, studying his father and he let out: "You hurt Mommy."

This little boy knew how to go straight to the point.

"I did." Vincent replied before adding: "And I'm very sorry that I did."

Tyler stayed quiet for a while, just looking at his father. Vincent wondered what was going on in his little yet very smart head and how he would deal with the whole situation. No kid should witness what he did.

"It's okay if you are mad at me. What I did is very wrong." Vincent told him.

Tyler shrugged, climbed on the bed and sat next to his father. As they faced each other, Vincent knew that his son was still pondering what happened so he gave him time to process everything.

"You were all grrrrrr." Tyler told him after a while.

Vincent nodded in answer.

"You were mad at Mommy?" The little boy asked.

"No. I was mad at myself because I let those men take you away from us." Vincent truthfully replied.

"But when you saved me, you were grrrrr and I told you to be Daddy again and you didn't." Tyler commented.

"Yes but I was very hurt and still angry that I couldn't protect you. A long time ago, before you were born, I promised Mommy that I would protect her and protect our baby. I broke that promise to her so I was really angry at myself for that." Vincent tried to explain but he realized that he sounded like he was looking for excuses.

"But your Beast hurt Mommy." Tyler said again.

Tears filled up Vincent's eyes and he said: "I lost control and what I did is unforgivable son."

"But I'm okay, you protect me! You save me." Tyler told him.

"I'm glad that I did. I love you very much. Don't ever forget that." Vincent said to his son.

"Do you love Mommy again?" Tyler asked but he was cut off by Catherine calling him from downstairs for dinner.

Vincent sighed and told him: "Go."

Tyler nodded and left the room. Vincent closed his eyes and listened to what was happening in the house. The reason why Catherine had called Tyler was because Heather had arrived. The little boy immediately told his mother that his Daddy was awake. Catherine asked Heather to keep an eye on Tyler and she made her way upstairs.

Vincent opened his eyes and turned his head towards the door. He didn't want to talk to her, he was so ashamed of what he did and he didn't want to see the look of hatred on her beautiful face. He didn't know what to say to her. Another apology seemed meaningless, another after all the ones he offered her in the past.

Catherine walked to the open door of what used to be their room and stopped, leaning on the frame with her arms crossed. Neither spoke, they just looked at each other, looking for something that was long gone.

"Do you need something?" She finally asked, her voice cold.

"No. Thank you." He replied, although he was lying because he really wanted to drink and to beg for her forgiveness. And maybe something for the pain too.

His eyes travelled to her neck and he saw the bruises his hands had left on her skin. When she realized that he was staring, she covered her neck with one hand.

Vincent looked into her eyes and he couldn't control his tears. "I'm so sorry." He choked out, slowly shaking his head in despair.

"I'll be downstairs." She told him as coldly as before and with that she made her way down the stairs.

When she almost reached the last step, Catherine stopped and closed her eyes. She didn't know how to get out of this living nightmare. They were done. The man she loved didn't love her back. That hurt more than when she had to shoot him before he hurt Reynolds, because back then, even though he had acted like he didn't care, she could see that a part of him still cared for her. Even when he strangled her in the Gentleman's club's vault, he had stopped because of his love for her. Now it was different, he hadn't been able to stop and JT had to tranq him or she would have died. Sure she had her part of responsibilities. She had blamed him for letting those men take Tyler away. And yes, she was still mad at him, but not because of what happened. Clearly the fight he had put up with for Tyler had almost killed him, but she was mad at him because he didn't love her anymore. She wasn't even mad that he had strangled her, she knew that his Beast was hard to control when he was in pain, angry and with adrenaline running through his body. No… she was just so damn angry because he had stopped loving her. And she was also mad at herself for not being enough to bring him back. She knew she had pushed him too far with the way she talked to him… Everything she said… He didn't deserve any of it… But she had been so damn scared for their son…

Their son… She took a huge breath and tried to clear her head, Tyler needed her and she didn't want him to see her like this. She had to put up a good front for him. He had gone through enough for a boy his age.

Back in his room, Vincent was trying to rest, but he couldn't. His mind was going wild with thoughts. So Catherine had made clear that she didn't want anything to do with him and well, he couldn't blame her. She didn't love him anymore, that was understandable. She had obviously grown tired of putting up with his shit for so long. How could he be so strong and powerful and such a looser at the same time, that was a mystery to him. The thing was that he still loved her, very, very much. He knew that he should leave her, let her move on from him and be happy, but he had left her in the past and her life had been in jeopardy as well. And now everything was different, they had Tyler and Vincent didn't want to let her raise their son alone, especially with his abilities. No matter how he envisioned the problem, he couldn't leave them behind. Maybe he could crash at JT and Tess' for some time, giving him time to find a place of his own. He hoped that Catherine would let him see Tyler. If she didn't, he would respect her decision and watch over them from afar, just like he had done with Catherine after her mother was murdered. But he knew Catherine better. He knew that she would let him see his son. No matter what was going on between them, she wouldn't deny her son the right to see his father. He sighed and pain shot through his body. For now he was stuck in this bed, there wasn't much that he could do.

Heather entered his room, bringing him a tray with some food.

"Hey." She greeted him before adding: "We didn't know what to get you so there's a little of everything."

"Thanks." Vincent replied.

"Do you need anything?" His used to be sister in law asked him.

"How is she?" He asked.

"I don't know." The little brunette replied truthfully.

"Thank you for taking care of them. It means a lot to me. If you could just tell Catherine that…" Vincent told her with a smile.

"Listen Vincent…" Heather cut him off with a sigh. "You fucked up big this time and I don't want to be in the middle of whatever is going on between you two."

Taken aback, Vincent didn't know what to say. Heather was right anyway. "I'm sorry." He muttered.

"Just call me if you need anything before I go." She told him before turning back and leaving the room.

'You fucked up big' Heather's words were echoing in his head, over and over again until it ached and tears pooled at the corner of his eyes. His sadness soon transformed into anger. He should have been able to fight against those men and stop them from taking Tyler. He replayed the fight in his head, trying to understand why he hadn't been able to defeat them. His heart rate accelerated until it was out of control and once again, his Beast took the best of him. He fully transformed, making his wounds bleed again a little. He half-growled and half-screamed at the same time. He twisted and turned in his bed, knocking the tray of food on the floor. When he heard Tyler calling his name from downstairs and the noise of steps rushing in the stairs, he regained control of himself before anyone could see him like this.

Unfortunately, his body kept convulsing against his will.

Catherine rushed into the room, grabbed a syringe on the bedside table that he didn't know was there and she pushed the needle in his bicep. The unknown liquid burned his muscle and he quickly calmed down, the pain going slowly away.

"Daddy?" Tyler asked with concern.

He felt disoriented and fought against sleep to answer his son: "I'm okay."

"It's a mix of painkillers and tranquillizers. It should make you sleep for a while." Catherine coldly explained.

Vincent nodded slowly, his eyes feeling heavier by the second. He noticed Heather picking up the mess on the floor because of the food and he apologized to her.

"Get some rest." Heather told him and received a small nod from him in answer.

"I rest with Daddy." Tyler stated, climbing on the bed.

"First, you're going to finish your dinner, then you'll get into the shower, brush your teeth and change into your PJ's." Catherine told him.

"But Mommy…" Tyler tried but his mother cut him off and said: "No discussion. Go."

The little boy sighed and pouted but did as he was told and went downstairs, followed by his Aunt.

"Catherine…" Vincent moaned, he was tried to fight the effect of the sedative.

"Rest." She replied before leaving the room.

Vincent stopped fighting against sleep, there was no use… Maybe, with a little luck, his dreams would treat him better than reality. Maybe that in his dreams, his family would be whole again and Catherine would look at him the way she used to. Maybe that in his dreams, his life wouldn't be as fucked up as it was in reality… Maybe… in his dreams…