Words Unspoken

By Schroederplayspiano

Chapter 21: Then I Hope There's Someone Out There

She was pointing a gun at him. It shook in her hands as she watched him. He held onto the metal shelves to restrain from lunging at her.

Vincent's eyes snapped open. His other side didn't want to hurt Catherine. In fact, it knew enough to take whatever means possible to stay away from her. Vincent leaned back in his chair and let darkness fall over him again.

The police sirens upstairs tensed his body. He had to leave the basement before they found him here. There was no escape. He was going to be caught. "Stop! He's out. He didn't see you." She called for him. "Vincent. Stop. We need him alive. I prove that he's guilty, Iris goes free." He understood her. "Stop. Vincent. Those girls are okay because of you. You saved a child's life yesterday." Slowly, she placed her palms on his cheeks. She looked into his eyes and waited for him.

Catherine talked to his other side more sweetly than she talked to him. There was a softness in her voice when she tried to calm his other side down that was simply not there when he fought with her. With him, she stood her ground and refused to sacrifice her point of view when they argued. With his other side, all her defenses were gone.

She was dying. Unhinging the car door was the only way he could save her. He reached for her in the same way she used to reach for him - with care, with tenderness. He pressed his cheek to her hair and held her to him. Losing her was the only thing that would keep him out of control forever.

Everyday, Vincent thought about Catherine's power over him to keep him sane or to send him out of control. Did his other side feel her effect on him before he was aware of it? He put his hands over his face and tried to remember the first time Catherine influenced his behavior unconsciously. He couldn't. Did she first use her influence with his other side and it somehow translated to him or was it the other way around?

He suppressed his questiones for as long as he could. The longer Vincent ignored them, the more he could convince himself he didn't need to understand his other side in order to control it. He needed control. If not for himself, than for Catherine and her safety. After everything she had sacrificed for their relationship, why was it so difficult for him to attempt to find the answers to his questions?

Tess' office chair creaked with each swivel. Cat buried her forehead in her palm and made sure she could see nothing but her paperwork.

"I'm bored." Tess explained her behavior. "Can Vincent find us a crime to solve?"

"No." Cat flipped the page. "He can't."

"Yes…He must be so busy – what with not having a job."

Cat slammed her pen down. Her glare reminded Tess of how she would interrogate the guilty. "I'll try not be offended by that."

Tess stopped swiveling her chair. "Sorry…" Cat still glared at her and Tess repeated herself more quickly. "Sorry."

"I have to drop these release papers off to Evan." Cat pushed back from her desk and spun her chair around. Her heals tapped the wooden floor with her each step to the morgue.

Tess leaped up and took large strides to catch up with her partner. "When are we going to do that dinner date he promised me?" Flinging the corridor door open, Cat tried to outrun Tess down the stairs. "Cat!"

She took the stairs two at a time. "I don't know, Tess!"

"Wait." Tess caught up with Cat enough to tug on her elbow. The tug had enough pressure to turn Cat back to her. Cat didn't speak. Her hallowed breathes yearned for more air. "He said sometime this week. Does he usually go back on promises?"

"It's been three days. Not a week. He hasn't gone back on anything." Cat's words echoed through the stairway, making them seem louder than they actually were. "And contrary to your beliefs, he has a lot going on right now."

"Right…" Tess couldn't help repeating herself again. "Sorry…"

Cat sighed, "Can we just - try to go back to the way it was? I am not comfortable talking about him, with you, at work. It is not safe."

"Fair enough." Tess released Cat's elbow.

Imagining darting down the stairs as soon as she was free, Cat surprised herself when she stayed with Tess. "I understand why you're impatient, Tess. I do. Turning down your excitement, though, would alleviate a weight on my shoulders."

Tess' expression softened. "Okay."

Cat refocused her attention back to the stairs before Tess finished agreeing with her. Her pace only slowed when the morgue was in sight.

Evan's voice boomed down the hallway. "You said this was going to help, JT."

"It will – It does!" Silence. "I just don't think you helping Muirfield find chinks in the DNA is going to help anyone."

"You told me joining Muirfield would help." Cat's anger grew with Evan's confidence. "This is what they asked me to do and I am going to do it."

Cat looked back at Tess. Tess raised her eyebrows in question, but said nothing. She took the first step forward. When Cat noticed her tip-toe, she no longer cared if her heals pounded the marble floor. Their noise drowned JT's response. Before thinking about the consequences of her actions, Cat revealed herself in the morgue's open doorway.

JT's eyes widened and locked with hers. Blood rushed into his cheeks.

"J.T." Evan demanded his attention. "You agreed that coming together with two sets of information would help. Here is the other set of information. Now, how does this help Cat?"

"Help me?" Cat interrupted, abhorrence filling her voice. "What are you talking about?"

Evan turned at her words. He gaped, speechless at her anger and mortified his reveal. It wasn't supposed to happen here. He was saving his secret for her in the perfect moment.

"Evan!" Cat cried. "What are you doing? What are you thinking?"

"Someone needs to protect you. If your little boyfriend isn't going to do it," Evan motioned to JT. "Than I sure as hell am."

Cat took a step closer to Evan. Her anger prevented her from controlling her expression. Aware she was on the edge, she yelled at him. "So what?" Evan's longing expression broke her down further. "You thought you'd join the organization that kidnapped us?"

"Cat," Evan reached for her. His fingers stroked her arm. She shuddered away. "The more we know about the creature, the better we can protect you from it. You must know how it was looking at you. He hungered for you."

"Hungered for me?" Cat repeated with disgust. "Evan, you have no idea what you trapped yourself into." She swallowed. Unconsciously, she moved closer to Evan once more. She allowed herself to be entranced by his longing gaze. But after a moment, she whispered, "Did JT tell you, my Mother's involvement in Muirfield is what led to her murder?"

Blood drained from Evan's face. "What?"

"Yeah…" Cat tore herself from his gaze. Her eyes watered as she looked at JT. "How could you not tell me about this?"

JT leaned in Cat's direction. "Cat-"

"No. I have to go." Cat backed into Tess as she made her way out of the morgue. Tess tried to reach around her, to support her, but Cat fought to free herself. "Let go of me," she demanded. Soon, she was out of Tess' grasp and running down the hall.

"Cat!" Evan called after her, but Tess knew enough to stop him.

"Just wait, okay?" She blocked the doorway with her arm. "Let her cool off."

Evan's attention was divided between an empty hallway and Tess' push against him. He was still torn when Tess gave up her physical fight and resorted to an emotional one. When Evan saw her love for her friend in her face, he backed away.

JT approached the door. "Excuse me," he whispered. Tess searched over him, trying to understand his intentions before letting him by.

"Sure!" JT heard Evan down the hall. "Let the lousy boyfriend through!"

He didn't know why he was going after Cat. Worse, he was running after her. The afternoon's light illuminated the dark corridor. JT spotted its source, originating out of the back door at the end of the hall and knew Cat would be just outside it.

When he reached the door he stopped. Instead of looking out the window he turned back down the hallway. It was empty. He didn't have a choice now. JT hesitated for one more moment before pushing the door open.

A part of him expected to find her crying. His better half knew she wouldn't be. Cat raised her head at the sound of the door creak.

They starred at each other. JT took a breath a braced himself for a fight. It didn't come. Instead, Cat put her hand up between them.

"I'm sorry." JT stated.

Cat nodded. She paced back and forth, hoping to use up her angered energy.

JT tried again, "Cat-"

She halted and turned to face him. The sight of him made her sick. Cat crossed her arms. Finally able to form words, she took a step towards him. "Screw you," she said before walking away.

Cat didn't like being in the warehouse alone. She expected to find Vincent here. There was no trace of him. Maybe his absence was best. Blowing up at him wouldn't do any good. It would probably make things worse. Cat's gaze drifted from Vincent's bed to the kitchen to the metal fence that separated upstairs from down.

Vincent wasn't the person she came here to see.

Screw you? Her words ricochet in head like old church bells. She regretted her words…and yet, what else was she supposed to say? They were a team. They were family. Keeping anything from her was a betrayal.

Anger pushed Cat forward. She swung the fence open with force and stomped her way down the stairs. She had come here to cool off but somehow she ended up more infuriated.

The warehouse never made her angry.

Creaks and slams echoed through the building and sent Cat into police mode. She pulled her gun out as the lock to JT's office door turned.

The door was pulled open to reveal the office's owner on its other side. JT reacted to her gun on instinct. He raised his arms to show off his innocence. "Whoa, okay. Are we onto round two?"

Cat blinked. She counted her heartbeats, hoping the focus would be enough to calm her down. Watching JT's raised arms, Cat soon realized the ridiculousness of the situation. She replaced her gun into its holder. "Who do you think you are?"

JT humiliated Cat further by laughing off her question. He lowered his hands and made his way to his desk where he dropped his shoulder bag. JT crossed his arms and bowed his head. Unable to deal with the silence, he finally whispered. "I have no idea who I am, Cat." She rolled her eyes at him, waiting for him to say something real. "No. No." He lifted his hand between them. "Since you asked me to spy on Evan for you, I've had no idea what I am doing. I can't define myself anymore."

"So this is my fault?" Cat raised her voice.

"I don't know." JT met her gaze and matched her tone. "Maybe." He stopped and waited for Cat's retort. It didn't come. "Vincent's mutations seem to be progressing slower and more smoothly than we thought, so I don't need to access to Evan's equipment anymore. So, I guess I am just working with Evan to spy on him now?" JT knew his question was rhetorical but still paused. "If I am, don't I need to gain his trust? Telling you all his secrets won't help. I told you I wasn't a good actor and I don't know how to do this."

"Do what?" Cat yelled. "Pretend to be on Evan's team or be honest with me?" She jabbed, "Because I have to tell you – you failed at both today."

"Oh. Jeez. I'm sorry." JT acted remorseful. "Did I screw up the delicate little balancing act we had going? My bad."

His light tone pulsed through Cat's veins. "JT." She tried to regroup. "How could you not tell me what Evan was doing? Worse," Her voice lowered, somehow making everything more serious. "Ask him to spy on Muirfield for -"

"I did not ask him to do anything with Muirfield!" JT defended his actions over her. "He offered and I -"

"You – you what?" Cat stepped towards him and pretended to reach for something out of thin air. "Told him what a great idea it was?"

"I didn't!" His short reply allowed both of them to take a breath. "He asked me if spying on Muirfield would help you and I said it would. Okay? His information has been useful. Now we know what Muirfield is up to."

"Yeah – at Evan's expense."

JT his shook head in disapproval. "Well, you can't have them all, Catherine."

Cat jolted back. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Forget it," JT murmured.

"No." Cat demanded. "Tell me."

JT held her gaze for a moment before moving. He jerked his bag towards him and pulled out the DVD she gave him for his birthday. "What the hell is this?"

The change of subject disoriented her. "What?"

"This." JT flung the DVD across the desk. "What the hell is it?"

Cat picked up the Star Wars DVD. "It's a birthday present…" She took her time answering, but then her explanation flowed out. "I told you I knew you guys didn't do birthdays, but you know how much birthdays mean to me and I thought it was nice." Her tone changed to sarcasm. "Sorry. Next year I won't bother."

"I don't know anything, Cat. Birthdays must be something you talked about with Vincent. Don't confuse us."

"Excuse me?" Cat blurted out.

JT closed his eyes. When he regained his composure, he looked back at the woman across from him. "Don't confuse us. Don't confuse your real boyfriend with your fake one-"

Cat's cheeks turned a deep shade of red while her words caught in her throat. Whatever thoughts she had on Evan's perception of her relationship with JT, she buried them deep inside. "I would never." Cat promised him. "JT, I'm sorry if you ever thought-"

"So," He cut her off again. He didn't want her apology. "What the hell is this?" He grabbed the DVD back. "A gift for your boyfriend's best friend or for your fake boyfriend?"

A window creaked above them. The noise scared Cat's answer, whatever it was, out of her. Even though she was on the first floor, she was able to listen to the footsteps on the roof. Cat followed then to the edge of the building before watching a green jacket fall down passed the half-covered window in JT's office.

JT followed Cat's gaze and saw the edge of Vincent's jacket before it disappeared. "Great," his sarcasm covered up his anger before he threw his birthday present across his desk.

Vincent had heard their whole conversation.

A/N: Yeah - That's right, JT has feelings too! This chapter has been ready for days. I wanted to give it to guys earlier, but readers did not convince me to update early...Vincent/Catherine/Beast wonderfulness on the way (but there's only one way to read it (Shhh...It's in the box right below))!