A week. Catherine had been stuck in her apartment for a week and the least she could say was that she was going crazy. Things had finally calmed down around her, the mole at the precinct had been arrested and the Russian gang dismantled. She needed protection just to be safe, Tess' words. So a police officer was standing at her front door. She was also imprisoned in her own house because of her shoulder, doctor's orders. She had overstressed her body and her healing was taking more time, so she wasn't allowed to go back to work, she wasn't even allowed to step outside. Now she was getting restless and annoyed. Having to wear the shoulder holder didn't help either. During the week she had done everything, reading, watching TV, scrapbooking, cooking, listening to music but now she just wanted to go outside for a walk, to see actual people. And to think that she had one more week ahead of her of just doing nothing was getting even more on her nerves, if that was possible. Of course Tess had come by frequently and Catherine was glad, it was a good way to get some distraction but Catherine wanted to go out or do something, she wanted to jog in the park or hit her punching ball.
She let out a long and desperate sigh and made her decision. She took her coat, purse and keys and left her apartment. It took her a while to sneak up on her fire escape to avoid the cop at her front door.
When her feet finally touched the ground, she took a deep breath but winced a little, the rising of her chest pulling at her stiches. She knew exactly where she was headed and that was her favorite coffee shop after ordering her coffee to take away, she would walk to the park, sit on a bench and enjoy freedom.
On her way to the park, she saw a newspaper stand that caught her eyes. She couldn't miss the title "The Good Samaritan saves twin girls from drowning." She couldn't help but smile and bought the paper. Once she arrived in the park, she sat on a bench and began reading the article. The Good Samaritan had saved twin girls from drowning in the Hudson yesterday afternoon. No one had seen him beside the girls who told the press that he was nice and funny. Catherine's smile widen as she read, imagining Vincent interacting with the girls. The rest of the article was a bundle of questions, from who was he, where did he come from, where did he live, why was he out of the subway, why was he saving people… Of course Catherine had all the answers.
She hadn't seen the Good Samaritan since they left the safe house. Tess had driven Catherine back home while Vincent had preferred going back to the city on his own. Since she last saw him, the only thing connecting her to him was the papers and Tess.
Vincent was now back to living with JT and as Catherine promised, she didn't go there, first because she was on bed rest but also because she had told him that she wouldn't. Every day for the past week, he had saved someone and newspapers had made an article about him. It wasn't always the big title on the first page like today but every day there was something written about him. Catherine was torn between being proud and being scared. Proud of Vincent for helping people and choosing his humanity over the Beast and scared that he might get too much attention on him and that people would try to find him and haunt him again. And she was sad too, sad that she didn't get to share with him all the good he was doing. And she was jealous, jealous of Tess because she spent time with JT and Vincent. It made Catherine feel left out. She missed Vincent and she missed the four of them hanging together. She wished that she could be with them. Eat, drink, talk, laugh and then go to sleep in Vincent's bed with him by her side just like they used to.
Her phone rang and she quickly picked it up, the caller id was indicating Tess, that could only mean trouble.
"Chandler." She answered trying to sound casual.
"Where the hell are you?" Tess asked.
"Home. Watching TV." Catherine lied.
"Hell you're not. I'm in your living room right now and you are definitely not here. I freaking searched your whole house." Her partner replied.
"I knew I shouldn't have given you the keys to my apartment." Catherine said sarcastically.
"Where are you?" Tess asked, ignoring her comment.
"Just enjoying the sun." Catherine replied with a smile.
"Tell me where you are, I'm getting you home." Tess ordered.
"Not a chance, I've been stuck inside for too long now. Don't worry Tess, I'm fine, I'll get back home once I'm soak up with sun!" Catherine said in a cheerful voice.
"You're not getting away with it, I'm going to hunt you down." Tess said.
"Bye Tess." Catherine replied before hanging up on her best friend.
She sighed and smiled, enjoying a beautiful and sunny day in her favorite park. She took a sip of her coffee and watched some kids play, the joggers that she envied for being allowed to run. She took the newspaper and read some more articles about what was happening in the world.
She jumped a little when someone sat next to her. She looked up only to see Vincent. He sat straight on the bench, looking ahead of him.
"Let me guess… Tess sent you and you're here to carry me home against my will." Catherine asked.
"She's worried about you." Vincent replied, still not looking at her.
Catherine sighed and said: "I just wanted to go out. I just walked a few blocks and got some coffee and then I made my way to the park."
"Against the doctor's orders. And I'm not even talking about the Russian's threat." Vincent commented.
"Screw the doctor's orders and screw the Russians!" Catherine exclaimed, getting up suddenly before continuing: "I've been stuck in my apartment for a freaking whole week, can't I get some time out without having to justify myself?!"
Vincent got up as well, slowly and he turned to Catherine, looking at her for the first time since he arrived. He made a step towards her and she backed away, her heartbeat off the chart. She had put her walls up again. Vincent couldn't blame her.
"Listen Catherine, I know this situation is driving you crazy but I'm not here to drag you home at all costs. Tess asked me to find you and make sure you are all right. Now, if you calm down and sit back on that bench, I don't see why you couldn't stay here a little while longer." He explained.
Catherine ran a nervous hand through her hair and chuckled before saying: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
She sat back on the bench and Vincent looked at her intensively, listening to her heartbeat, studying her.
"It's just that Tess has been treating me like a baby for the past few days, don't do this, don't do that. I love her for caring but I needed out. I just want people to stop thinking they know what's best for me." Catherine explained.
"You should tell her how you feel." Vincent commented.
She sighed and said: "Yeah I know, but my feelings and I are a tiny bit conflicted these days, hence the scene you just witnessed."
She was probably still mad at him so Vincent decided that he would be better to give her some space and he told her: "Well, I've found you, you're in one piece so I'm going to go now. Bye Catherine."
He turned to walk away but she called his name. He turned to face her and she said: "These little girls you saved…"
"What about them?" He asked, it seemed that she had troubles finishing her sentence.
"It's a good thing." She told him.
He nodded, turned away and started to walk away again.
"Just be careful." Catherine told him, knowing that even with the distance he had heard her.
Vincent crossed the park and stopped when he found a place where Catherine couldn't see him but where he could see her. He took his burner phone from his pocket and dialed Tess' number.
"Vargas." Tess answered.
"She's fine. She's in the park a few blocks away from her building." He explained.
"Thanks Vincent. Would you mind keeping an eye on her? At least until she decides to go back home." Tess asked him.
"Of course... but…" Vincent replied.
"Is something wrong?" Tess immediately inquired.
"She's agitated, like a lion stuck in a cage and she's angry too." Vincent explained.
Tess sighed at the other end of the line and decided to be abrupt: "She's been like this even since she lost her baby. It changed her you know and then a lot happened in her life and she has troubles dealing with it. Add to that that you are both too stupid to admit your feelings to each other and voilà, Cat's losing it."
"We need to help her." Vincent stated.
Tess chuckled: "It's not we Vincent, it's you. You have to help her. All she needs is you in her life."
Vincent stood silent and Tess added: "Just talk to her." Tess said.
"I can't." Vincent said in a whisper.
"Listen, I'm not telling you to go back to the way things were before, I'm just telling you that you both need to let go of the past so Catherine can move forward. In order to do that, you need to sort things out, that means to talk to her."
"I'm buying food tonight. See you later." Tess told him.
"Bye." Vincent said before hanging up his phone.
He took a long breath and thought about what Tess had just told him. Without his head acknowledging it, he walked back to her, drowned by her heartbeat.
"You're back." Catherine told him.
"Tess asked me to keep an eye on you, I thought I'd stay with you instead of hiding in the tress and spying on you." He explained, putting his hands in his pockets.
After a short moment of silence he asked her: "Walk with me?"
"Are you sure this isn't against doctor's orders?" She asked back with a smile.
"I'm sure you'll let me know if you are too tired to walk, you know where your limits are since you like to push it back so much." He replied as they started walking.
"You know me well Vincent Keller." She said with a smile. It felt both weird and good talking to him without hostility and Vincent felt the same.
"So, how's Heather doing?" He said to fill the silence between them.
"More than good. She's enjoying the life in Miami, she's fallen in and out of love more times than she can count and she loves the weather and the beaches." Catherine explained with a smile that made Vincent smile as well. He loved her smile and seeing it back on her face was making him happy.
"Good for her, she deserves to be happy." Vincent said.
"Yes, she does." Catherine replied.
They passed by a hot dog stand and Vincent asked: "Are you hungry?"
Catherine shook her head no in answer and he asked for a bottle of water that he gave to her after paying for it.
Catherine gave him a questioning look and he said: "Drink plenty of water. Doctor's orders."
She smiled again and asked: "So what should I call you now? Doctor or New York City's Batman?"
Vincent chuckled and said: "None of that. I'm just helping people."
"I know, it's who you are. A good man, helping people." She told him.
"It's not always who I have been." He said sadly.
Catherine stopped to face him and told him: "You've made mistakes like everyone in the world, that doesn't make you a bad person. That makes you human."
"Thank you." He told her, immersing his gaze into hers. Love filled their eyes and heart.
"You know, I'm just scared that helping all those people is going to draw all the attention on you and it might get you exposed." Catherine told him.
"You don't have to worry, I work every day on having a better control on this other side of me. I don't beast out when I save people." He explained.
"Good. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." She told him.
"I wouldn't want anything to happen to you either. Come on, let's get you home." Vincent told her.
Catherine simply nodded and they both made their ways to Catherine's apartment. Once Vincent was sure Catherine was alright and had everything she needed, he told her goodbye and left.
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