Chapter 20

They were all speechless.

It was a lot to take in…. for Catherine especially. She had been curious about her family for so long and here was Faith Reynolds, the one person who knew her history because she had lived it. Catherine felt the heavy weight of responsibility that Faith wanted her to take on. She looked at those she loved, what about them? Could she ask that of them?

"We are going to need some time to process this…..this is overwhelming."

JT surprised them all.

"I am in"

At the shocked look on his friend's faces, he explained.

"Vincent I am partly responsible for what happened to you and everything I have done in the last 10 years was to try and make up for that, here in this lab, working full time on the problem I can find the solution and help not only you, but others like you. I can think of no greater purpose, there is nothing I would rather do."

Vincent does not want JT sacrificing anymore for him.

"What about the University?"

JT waved him off.

"I was never going to make tenure anyway."

Vincent tries again.

"What about Tess?"

JT looked at Tess, his expression softened when he looked at her.

"Tess can make up her own mind, Vincent this is just a job, I am not going to hide away down here or give up anything outside of this. I will just come to work here every day instead of going to the University, trying to figure out how to steal what I need to keep this going. Don't you see Vincent, I won't have to lie anymore."

"JT"

Vincent voice cracks. His emotions are all over the place. JT more that anyone, even Catherine, has been most affected by Vincent's beast.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

JT walks over to Vincent and places his hand on his shoulder.

"More than anything V, I am sure."

Vincent is at a loss for words.

"I don't know what to say JT, it just feels like it's too much. Are you sure?"

"I am sure Buddy, believe me I am sure."

Tori is the next one to make up her mind.

"I would like to be a part of this. I don't really have anywhere to stay and while Vincent and Gabe have been great, I would like to do this on my own. I have never been on my own before and now is as good a time as any to start. I don't ever want to hurt anyone, and I would love to be normal, not that I ever was"…..she laughs self-consciously…"At least as normal as I can be."

This is all happening too fast for Vincent, how can they be so sure so quick. He tries to stop them.

"Look I don't think anyone should make a decision while we are here under these circumstances, we need a couple of days to figure this out and think things through. You are asking a lot from everyone." He says looking at Faith.

Faith smiled, understanding Vincent's concern.

"I agree, take some time to think about things, but I am not asking anyone for anything, I am offering you all an opportunity. Thank you, the guards will escort you out of the facility and inform you how to contact me once you have reached a decision. I hope to see all of you again."

As they start to leave the room, Faith asks Catherine to stay.

"I would really like to spend some time with you and show you a few more things."

Seeing the hesitation on her face and realizing Catherine does not want to be away from Vincent, she adds.

"Vincent is welcome to stay with you if you'd like."

Catherine is torn, part of her want to get out of here and run, leave all this behind, but another part of her is curious…..curious about Faith and about what role she could play here.

Vincent can see Catherine's inner struggle, he knows her so well, he can tell she is tempted to stay and learn all she can. He also knows that she will be unable to make a good decision if she does not have all the facts.

"Catherine, stay and listen to Faith, I will be right by your side."

Catherine turns to Faith and says.

"Lead the way."

Faith took Catherine and Vincent on a tour of the facility. They saw labs where doctors were working on various levels of treatment. Some looking for a cure, some looking for medicine like Gabe had to suppress the animal DNA. Of particular interest to Vincent was the infirmary. Various kinds of beasts were being treated for everything from illness to injury.

Faith explained.

"The infirmary is a place that not only treats and cares for the residents here, but also a place that beasts from the outside can come and get treatment without fear of exposure. You were shot Vincent and I am sure that going to the hospital for treatment scared you. This is a place where they don't have to be scared to get the care they need. We could use a doctor like you here. We have agents, both human and beasts that require care as well. We are equipped just like a level one trauma center. Our agents face extreme danger, just like any other operative."

Faith also showed them the dormitory, some beasts lived here full time unable to be in the outside world, and some had lives outside the facility.

There was an operations center, much like a central command that dealt with threats to the Sealgairi, both beast and human and both foreign and domestic.

She saved the most difficult for last.

"What you are about to see here is heartbreaking. There are beasts who are unable to control their violent nature, we are actively trying to help them, but they are too dangerous not to be contained. We do not kill without cause, most of these beasts have some ability to communicate with us and are here willingly. They don't want to be killers. These are the beasts I think you can help with Catherine, with the jewel you have incredible abilities to calm and control beasts. If we can figure out how that works maybe somehow or someway we can figure out a way to help these creatures."

She turned to Vincent.

"This is why I did what I did to you, you can understand now, what it would be like to be forever trapped by the beast inside you. You know what Catherine did for you and that was because of love, but the jewel gives her so much more power. She could be the key to saving all of them…"

Catherine looked around her at the many cages holding a variety of mutated human beings….. that is really how she saw them, she did not see animals or beasts, just people, both men and women who were trapped, she felt their pain and suffering. How could she turn her back on all of this? Maybe this was her destiny.

Vincent and Catherine have seen all there is to see, no more secrets. Now it is time to decide.

Catherine was quiet on the ride back home, her thoughts swirling in her head, like water caught in a whirlpool. Vincent drove, content to let the silence accompany them home. He was lost in his own thoughts as well.

JT and Tess went back to the Gentleman's club, JT was feeling settled, like a weight had been lifted off his chest. For the first time in a very long time, there was no fear. Not even knowing that there were many more creatures out there to go bump in the night could shake his calm. He was secure in the knowledge that he was going to be helping and he was really looking forward being part of the solution and not the problem. No one hunting him or Vincent, they could really look forward to a future.

Tess on the other hand was torn. She wanted to help, she secretly loved being a part of the "Scooby gang" even if she gave everyone a hard time about it. But being a cop in New York City, was in her blood, literally. Her family, a long line of cops, how would she explain what she was doing to them?

As they walked into JT's home, she broached the subject with JT.

"How can you be so sure this is the right thing to do?"

He smiled at her and led her over to the couch.

"Because for the first time in forever, I don't feel like a need a tums. It is the right thing for me to do Tess, of that I am positive.

She wished she could be so certain.

"My gut says no, I don't want to leave NYPD, but my heart wants to help Cat…I am not sure which one to trust?"

"Is there a reason you can't do both? Why not stay with NYPD and help Cat out when she needs help, I imagine she will need someone she can trust here topside."

Tess grinned.

"Topside? She is not living in the sewers you know."

JT laughed, putting his arm around her, she snuggled into him.

"Topside does sound a little dramatic, but it fits."

Tess sighed, enjoying the solidness and the steadfastness of JT.

"Your right, maybe I can do both, I will have to sleep on it."

JT grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Sleep?"

Tess looked up and took his face in her hands, kissed him and said.

"Maybe not just yet."

Gabe went home alone. He really didn't need any time to think about what he wanted. He remembered what it was like to be dependent on the pills to keep his beast in check. The day Catherine had saved his life, they day she killed his beast and set him free, he counts that as the first day of his life. He is beyond grateful to her, even if she only did it to try to save Vincent, it didn't matter he owed her his life. He wanted to help her and help the Sealgairi, but he thought he could help the most by staying with the DA's office and helping the Sealgairi out when they needed it. Catherine could call on him at any time and for anything and he would always say yes.

Catherine sat down on the couch as Vincent poured her a glass of wine and grabbed himself a beer. There was silence, but it was not awkward. As Vincent settled in next to Catherine, she leaned into him. She closed her eyes and appreciated the moment. He was safe and he was hers….She realized that nothing else mattered.

She also realized that the Sealgairi was what she wanted. Protecting Vincent had been all she thought about for the last year and a half. It consumed her and she almost lost herself, but protecting him had given her life meaning and purpose, no matter what else was going on, even when she wasn't sure of him, even after she shot him, she always protected him. Beasts have been a part of her life for over 10 years. Her Mother had felt a calling to help and deep down so did Catherine.

"I want to help…..I want to see what I am capable of. I feel like it is where I belong, Vincent."

Vincent didn't say anything right away. He was trying to figure out how he felt about all of this. He wanted to support her in her decision, but he was tired. Tired of being a beast, he wanted to go back to being Vincent Keller, just Vincent Keller. He wanted his old life back.

"I….I think that if you want to work with them, you should. I don't know yet what I am going to do, but you need to make your decision based on what is best for you. I have no doubt you will be incredible."

Catherine smiled and kissed him.

"Thank you for understanding. I want you to know Vincent that I can only imagine how difficult this is for you. Your life these last 10 years has been more difficult than any of ours. You have earned the right to determine your own destiny, and it doesn't have to be with the Sealgairi. I will support you no matter what."

Vincent cupped Catherine's face in his hands and kissed her. He placed his forehead against hers.

"I want to do the right thing, I am just not sure what that is right now."

"Take your time Vincent, you have been living in fear and day to day for so long, of course it's going to be hard to figure out what you want. And remember, nothing is set in stone, you can always change your mind."

Vincent's head hurts from all the thinking.

"I may not know what I want to do with the rest of my life, but I know who I want it to be with, and where I want to be.

Vincent picks her up and starts heading for the bedroom.

"Right now all I want to do is get in bed with you and lock the rest of the world away, no plans, no decisions, just here and now with you."

"Tess and Gabe called this morning with their decisions. Both are going to help, but both are staying 'up top' as Tess put it. I think that it will be helpful having eyes and ears at NYPD and the DA's office."

Vincent winced.

"So everyone has figured out what they are doing, except me?"

Catherine felt for him, it was obvious he was tortured trying to make the right choice.

"Vincent there is no 'right' choice here, there is only your choice and whatever that is, it will be the 'right' one, you have spent so much time worrying about JT or me and how your decisions impact us.

She got an idea.

"Call Dr. Markus."

Vincent was stunned.

"I'm sorry what?"

"Call Dr. Markus, he was your mentor when you were a resident right? Talk to him a bit, get some perspective from someone who doesn't know anything about beasts, just talk to him about getting your life back."

"Thank you for meeting me Dr. Markus. I really appreciate you taking the time."

Dr. Markus took a good long look at Vincent.

"I am glad you called Vincent, I have not been able to stop wondering about you since I discovered you were alive. I am sure there is quite a story there."

Vincent smiled.

"Well there is, but I can't really get into all the reasons why everyone had to believe I was dead for the last 10 years. But I could use your help now."

Dr. Markus was pleased Vincent had reached out to him.

"Whatever I can do to help, Vincent."

Vincent explained that his life had not been his own for the last 10 years and now he found himself free to do whatever he wanted to. He explained that he wanted to practice medicine again, and he was torn because he also had a certain set of unique skills and he was unsure if he should just walk away from using the skills to help people.

"On one hand I just want to walk away, practice medicine and live a normal life. One the other hand, I feel responsible to use the skills I have for good. I just don't know the right path to take."

Dr. Markus remembered the younger version of Vincent, the doctor who was focused on the patient and doing whatever he could to make them better, he was never about the glory or ego of being a doctor, he truly cared for people. He also remembered the hot headed Vincent who jumped up and enlisted after 9/11 to honor his brothers. Vincent's sense of responsibility was not new, it was part of who he was.

"Vincent do you remember how you felt after 9/11?"

Vincent was taken aback by the question and had to think a moment.

"Like I had to do something."

He looked at Dr. Markus and laughed.

"You got me….. I was never one to sit on the sidelines and my life sure did not end up like I had planned but getting involved and helping people has always been a part of who I am. I guess with everything I went through I just forgot who I was before."

"Vincent, I hope that whatever you decide, practicing medicine is still a part of your life you were good doctor Vincent and on your way to becoming a great one, but you also always had a sense of something bigger than yourself."

And just like that Vincent knows what he will do.

"Catherine!...Catherine are you home?"

Vincent rushes through the apartment yelling for Catherine. He does not find her in the apartment but notices that her phone and keys are still on the entry table. He stops, closes his eyes and tracks her.

As he opens the door to the rooftop, she hears him coming and turns to the doorway. For a moment he can't breathe. She is leaning against the ledge, the city behind her and her hair is blowing slightly in the breeze. She is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.

Catherine turns her head at Vincent waiting for him to speak, but he is just staring at her.

"I came up here to get some fresh air…are you ok?

Vincent races over to her and swings her up in his arm and kisses her.

"I am great!"

She laughs.

"Clearly."

"Thank you for suggesting that I talk to Dr. Markus, talking to someone who knew me before all of this…it made me remember who I was before I became a beast. The kind of man I used to be, the kind of man who wants to work for the Sealgairi as a doctor AND as an operative."

"I realized while talking to him, that I have always been the guy who felt like he had to do something. Being a fireman, a doctor and enlisting in the army, even volunteering for Murfield, were all a result of that. That trait was me, the real me. I also remembered last year when I thought I was cured, I actually felt lost without the beast part of me. Now that part of me is under control and I can use it to help people and I don't have to feel like this is something that was forced onto me because of what I am. I can choose to do this. With the Sealgairi I can practice medicine and when I am needed I can go out into the field. I can choose!"

Vincent was so excited, he twirled her around and kissed her again.

Catherine stared at Vincent, with tears in her eyes. This was a Vincent she had never seen before, he was free and not because no one was hunting him or because he was no longer a beast, he was free because he finally accepted who he was.

THE END

*Thank you to all who have read this story and left reviews, you truly are the hearts blood of any writer. S2 of BATB had some moments for me that did not ring true to Catherine and Vincent's characters so I felt the need to right some of those wrongs. Stay tuned for the next episode and I would love to know which ones you think need to be rewritten, sound off in the comments.