Chapter 37 : Fear-

DISCLAMER, i do not own Beauty and the Beast of course, this is just a work of fiction based on the characters and the show.

A/N : Here some more … I had hoped to post earlier, but I'm having crazy weeks at work so I barely have time to write and it's not easy to be inspired in such conditions. Hope you'll like this chapter ;)

Imagination1234 : darling I'm really terrible with fluff, and that's not what i prefer to read, I can try to put some, but when the moment is opportune, cause I also have to move the story forward deary, hope you understand.

Guest : I know, I understand. There is a point to the story, I just need to figure out how to get there. And as I said many time, it's my first ever fanfic (more than 2000words i mean) so i'm still learning. Hope you still enjoy reading.

Previously in ATW : Tess and Cat had sometimes to talk, and though Tess is def not rooting for Vincent, and is still not really ready to meet him in person, she at least seems to be still Cat's friend.

JT had a nice evening with Sarah but feels more and more guilty about lying to her.

JT and Vincent need to find a way to escape Muirfield's radar, since they got pretty close once already it's only a matter of time until they attempt something else to catch Vincent.

And here we continue.

It had been now a few days JT and Vincent were living in that abandoned building. They had managed to find beds and a little furniture, just enough to live.

JT had also installed a security system and some similar emergency button that had helped them destroy anything before Muirfield would put their hands on it. A simple push would delete all files of their computers so that their enemies would never know what they knew about Vincent's condition and abilities, and at the same time make sure a copy of those informations was saved on JT's computer at the university. The teacher was sure proud of his little program.

Given they had not heard anything from Muirfield - apart from the death of Agent T - in a little while they felt like at least this worked. Though they were still in alarm.

That didn't mean Vincent and Catherine weren't spending time together. Quite the contrary, they cherished it, knowing how precious it was and how easily it could be taken away from them.

Yet that night Catherine was exhausted. She fell asleep heavily on the couch while watching some stupid TV show and when Vincent came along once it was dark outside he found her there.

He took her in his arm and lead her to her room without waking her up. He made sure to put the cover over her body so she wouldn't get cold during the night and gave her a light kiss on the forehead before turning off the light as well as the TV.

Sure he could have stayed, and he did want to, but few days before he had promised her to keep an eye on Evan, and he thought he would keep his promise, no matter how much he hated the man.

It was chilly outside. When Evan went to close the window he stayed a bit to look out at the city in the night, a glass of scotch in his hand. He sighed and took a sip before he closed the window and went back to his couch to sit down.

His situation with Muirfield was messy and he would need to figure a way out. But how ? And even if they were to let him leave, they'd probably still keep an eye on him and he'd have to be extremely careful.

Forget that, they'd never let him leave their organization ! Not with what he knew about beasts. There was clearly no way out.

He stared blankly at his glass and noticed it was empty, again. How many had he had already ? He did not know anymore.

He stood back up losing a bit his balance and went to fill it back up. Once the glass full again he gave it a look then his eyes went to the bottle and he decided to sat back with the bottle to avoid the trouble of getting up for the next refill.

Vincent knew exactly where Evan lived, he did not need to ask Catherine. It actually had not been the first time he had followed the guy. Knowing how much the good doctor felt for Catherine had gotten Vincent a little worried and he had kept tabs on him just in case.

But now it was different, and also more dangerous. He just wanted to make sure the doctor was fine and that he was not giving him away to Muirfield. Though Catherine had complete faith in him, Vincent was not really convinced and was also there to make sure Evan would not leak too much informations.

Carefully, as he neared the doctor's building, Vincent slowed down his pace and got on the roof of a nearby building to have a better view of the neighborhood and make sure Evan was not surveyed by Muirfield.

He did not notice anything suspicious but still thought he should be extremely discrete and careful.

In the darkness he peaked a look inside Evan's apartment. It was one of the rare of the building with all the lights on. On some stories Vincent could see parties were going on due to the loud music and the light effects of all colors, but most of the building was quite quiet and we could see the flickering light of some TVs on as some people were probably watching a movie before heading to bed.

In Evan's apartment, thought all lights were on he couldn't spot the man. Listening carefully he couldn't hear anything either. So he moved a bit on the side until he managed to see Evan's body passively seated on a yellowish couch.

Concentrating exclusively on this apartment and managing to forget all of the other noises he could hear him sipping alcohol and breathing heavily. So he was ok, or at least as ok as he could be.

Weirdly enough, and for the first time ever, Vincent felt bad for the guy. He used to think his own situation was worth but in that very moment it probably was the other way around. Evan was in love with someone that didn't love him back and was putting his life on the line to protect a monster that was sleeping with the girl of his dream. In those words it sounded even worse.

Yet there was not much he could do to help. He did stay a bit longer until Evan gave up his empty glass on the living room table and manage to walk to his bedroom where he felt heavily on his bed.

Only then did Vincent leave to go back to his new place.

"Hey doc" Tess said bursting in the morgue.

Evan looked up a little disoriented, dark circles under his eyes.

"Wow, hangover much ?" the tall lady cop asked.

He simply nodded in response, quite slowly, which only emphasized how well she had guessed.

She came in and sat on the edge of his desk. "Maybe you should go home and rest, you're clearly not in shape for work" she said cocking a brow.

"I can't ... I have to be here and ..."

But Tess would not hear it, she was already back on her feet grabbing his jacket and putting it on his shoulders. "Go" she said pointing at the door. "Catherine will be fine, I will be fine, everyone will be fine. Don't worry"

Easier said than done, but Evan did not have the strength to argue, he put his jacket properly on, grabbed his key on his desk and made his way out of the morgue.

When he walked through the precinct he gave a quick glance toward Cat's desk, but it was empty. He did not know if he should rejoice she didn't see him like that, or feel sad that she wouldn't come up to him. He sighed and exited the building.

He needed to find a pharmacy to get something for his headache. He knew he didn't have anything left at home so he walked a couple of blocks until he found a place to buy what he needed.

"So is he coming ?"

Cat and Tess had been called to a crime scene and were supposed to bring Evan along.

Tess shook her head no, "Come on, let's go"

"Why ?"

"He went home, he is not feeling well". She did not want to comment knowing it would only make Cat feel bad. "We don't have time, let's go" she added grabbing Cat by the arm to drag her out.

In the squad car she had to reassure Cat a million time that it had nothing to do with Muirfield, that Evan was just sick and that everything would be all right. It didn't really help much, but it was all she could say.

Cat gave up asking and just tried to focus on work, promising herself she'd check on Evan ASAP.

"We're here" Tess said interrupting her partner's thoughts, "Come on Cat, focus."

"Will that be all ?" the pharmacist asked the young woman.

She nodded and handed him a credit card to pay. Once he gave her the bags with her purchase she turned around to leave the shop and bumped into the next customer letting her wallet fall in the process.

Both just squat down to gather her stuff back until their eyes met.

"Dr. Evan" the young blond headed woman said.

"Oh ... Elsa" he answered getting back up with difficulties.

"What are you doing here ?"

"Headache"

"Oh, I'm sorry" she said taking her cards back as Evan handed them back to her.

He stood back up but as he threatened to lose his balance Elsa instinctively grabbed his arm to help him up.

"You alright ?" she asked as he was rubbing his temples.

"Yeah ... I'm fine" What a lie. He wasn't fine, if anything he was anything but fine. His life was hell, and he had a hangover because he had just tried to get one night free from it all. Worse part was, it hadn't even worked.

Seeing how cold his answer was she did not dare insist. She wished him to feel better soon and left the pharmacy, not without giving one last glance to the handsome British doctor. Checking out her watch she noticed she was almost late for work, so she ran toward the closest subway station.

"You wanted to see me", Vincent said cocking a brow.

Here he was, standing in her living room, staring at her with that delicious smile on his face. He was irresistible. She smiled back and blushed a bit.

"Always" she answered barely above a whisper.

She walked toward him, almost ran and hugged him tightly, hiding in his arms.

The moment was short, way too short.

When Catherine broke their embrace she looked down sadly and sat on the couch gesturing for Vincent to join. He took off his jacket and put it on the side of the couch before sitting right next to her and taking her hands in his.

After taking a deep breath she looked up at him and said : "I worry about Evan".

He didn't even had time to say anything she explained some more : "He was not at work today, Tess said he was sick but … I don't know I feel …"

"guilty" Vincent finished for her.

"Yeah"

What could he say. He too felt guilty, especially after witnessing what he had the previous night. But he was not sure it was such a good idea to mention it to Catherine right now. She was already feeling bad enough. On another hand he could not really keep that from her.

"I worry too" he ended up saying.

"He won't expose you, I know you can trust him." Catherine immediately said.

"It's not what I meant" Apparently it was obvious to her how little he trusted the man and how much he despised him. "I truly worry. I … kind of … " pity him, he thought to himself, "I feel bad for him" that seemed like a better way to say it in front of Catherine.

She was surprised, and it actually worried her even more.

"Did … did something happen ? Do you know something I don't ?" her voice was beginning to shake.

So Vincent explained how he had found her asleep the night before and how he had thought he'd check on Evan. He did not describe too precisely the doctor's state, he just mentioned he had been drinking his feelings.

"No wonder he was not at work today" she said getting up. She started to pace the floor.

Vincent followed her with his eyes.

"Maybe I should go see him" she said without even looking at Vincent. It was more her thinking out loud.

That was not an idea to please him, but he did not want to stop her. He was her friend and he was sure doing a lot to protect him, he couldn't decently refuse the man a visit from Catherine.

"That might not be a good idea … but … I don't want him to be alone …"

Silent filled the room, Catherine was trying to figure out what to do while Vincent didn't even dare to move

"Maybe … I'll just call him or something, and then … I'll see …"

He nodded and grabbed her hand to make her sit back down next to him.

He had slept most of the day and that was the best that could have happened to him especially that day. The only way he'd get peace of mind was though dreamless nights or naps.

When he emerged around 7pm, Evan felt a little groggy. Still he managed to grab his phone on the little nightstand next to him while his eyes were still in the process of waking up.

Three missed calls. He checked the detail and seeing Cat's name made him smile lightly. It did feel good to know that she cared about him, even though he knew it was not like that. Yet Cat had only called once, a little less than an hour before he woke. The two other calls had occurred in the afternoon and were from an hidden number.

"Muifield" Evan whispered to himself. It had to be them. Who else would call under a masked number ?

The slight comfort he had felt when reading the name of Catherine vanished in a matter of seconds to be replaced with worry, fear even, deep fear.

And that's when someone knocked firmly on his door.

He felt a knot forming in his stomach, and his hands started to shake. Slowly he got out of bed and took a look toward the entrance door still remaining in his bedroom. He closed his eyes and silently prayed for whoever was knocking to go away.

But again he heard that strong knocking on the door.

A/N : So who do you think it is ?

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