A/N: Thanks everyone for continuing to follow the story. That means a lot. Now it's time for Alex to back off! But ouch - Vincent's got some explaining to do.

Reunion

Chapter 11

Vincent watched in horror as Catherine turned and sprinted out of the barn. "Wait!" he called after her. "It's … it's not what it looks like." But Catherine was already out the door.

For a moment he felt helpless. Then anger roared up in him and he glared at Alex as she turned back to face him. He knew he must look scary and every muscle in his body was wound tight, about to explode. Alex must have felt his body tense underneath her and the look of surprise - almost fear - on her face gave Vincent a clue that his face was a study in seething anger. She recoiled and stopped her advances.

Vincent took a deep breath to calm himself. He need to get control of his desperation-fueled anger so he wouldn't do anything rash, like accidentally hurt Alex. He took in another breath and rose to his knees, clasping Alex's forearms pushing her up and away from him. She released him as he pushed her back toward the hay bale he'd tripped over until finally the backs of her legs hit it and she sat down hard with an unceremonious thump. He stood and glowered at her.

Alex sat quietly for a moment, studying his face. Then she said, "Who was that and why are you so pissed?" After a moment her eyes widened and she said, "Oh … a new girlfriend? She is, isn't she!" Alex accused. "Well, I guess she knows she's got some competition."

Vincent let out a growl. "Alex, you're not competition because we're not in a relationship." He shook his head in frustration and looked at the ground. "And now this relationship may be over before it begins."

"Maybe that's for the best," Alex said, her voice lilting. "After all, you certainly seemed interested enough in me after I arrived."

Vincent's head snapped up and he shot her a glare. "You're a goddamned doctor, Alex. You, of all people, know how this works. An attractive woman I used to have sex with shoves her crotch against mine and starts gyrating and my body responds with a half-million years of instinct - and that's supposed to mean I'm interested in you? You think a guy can just turn that off and on like flipping a light switch? If you do, you should have flunked out of medical school."

Alex frowned at Vincent. "Well, if you weren't interested why didn't you push me away?"

Vincent threw his hands up, letting out a frustrated groan. "Push you away?" he said, incredulously. "For a smart woman you can be pretty dense some times. What do you think I was trying to do when you grabbed me outside? When we got in the barn I literally peeled you off me." Vincent leaned over and swatted his hand hard against his legs to brush off his jeans and let off some steam at the same time. "No means no, Alex. I've been telling you no for the past two years. You rub your crotch against mine knowing full-well how my body will react and then you grab my arm and ask me out to dinner and because I don't knock you on your butt, you think that means yes?" Vincent let out a sardonic chuckle. "Talk about role reversal. Maybe that's what I should have done, just tossed you on your butt."

Alex shifted nervously on the hay bale. "Oh …" she said, her voice small. "Yeah …, I …, guess you're right. But why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell me she was here?"

"Because it's none of your damn business. It's my private life, Alex. All I ask is that you respect it - respect me."

Alex looked at the straw strewn floor and slowly nodded her head. "You're right. I didn't play fair."

Vincent snorted. "That's an understatement."

"I'm sorry," she said earnestly. "Let me go talk to her. Let me explain. She deserves to know what just happened."

"No," Vincent said. "That's not a good idea. I think the best thing right now is for you to leave."

"But let me do something. At least let me tell her what kind of person you are. She needs to know that this was my fault, not yours."

"She's known me for a long time. She knows what type of person I am," Vincent said. I hope she does, he thought, but didn't voice that to Alex.

Alex quirked an eyebrow. "She's known you for a long time?" she questioned. "Is she an old friend? An old girlfriend?"

Vincent winced, realizing he'd unintentionally let the cat out of the bag. But he didn't want to lie to Alex, he never had. So he said, "An old girlfriend."

"Which one? What's her name?" Alex asked.

Vincent had told Alex about his past relationships, there weren't that many. "Catherine," he said.

"Catherine?" Alex looked puzzled. "But you've never had a girlfriend named Catherine, at least, not that you told me about. I thought you told me about all of your relationships."

"I did," Vincent said, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Alex was smart and he knew she'd do the math and figure it out in a few seconds.

Sure enough Alex's eyes grew wide and she blurted out, "You mean … Catherine … from Afghanistan?"

Vincent nodded.

"But I thought she was …," her voice trailed off.

Vincent sighed. "And she thought I was dead, too. Remember when I told you about the army mistaking my identity while I was in recovery in Ramstein?"

She nodded.

"That's why Catherine thought I was dead. I just found out a month ago she was alive. I contacted her and we agreed to meet yesterday afternoon in Chicago - where she lives."

"Oh my god," Alex whispered. "That must have been amazing news." She paused and then scrunched her brow, her mind obviously going a mile a minute. A look of revelation filled her face and she took in a sharp breath. "And it must have been terrifying, too."

Vincent let out a sigh, glad their argument had dissolved. "Yeah, I guess," he said, shrugging his shoulders. Thinking about what Alex said he realized she was right. He had been excited, but also there was this underlying fear - almost terror - running through him and he needed to figure out what it was. He had a pretty good idea. He knew if he lost Catherine again it would be his undoing and that scared him more than anything else he'd ever experienced.

"And you still brought her … here," Alex said, gesturing broadly with her hand to mean everything around her, "to her dream. Except, you didn't know she was alive when you built this. What does she think about all of this?"

"The verdict's still out," Vincent said.

Vincent saw Alex swallow hard. "I've really messed-up, haven't I."

He felt a pang of sympathy. "You were just being Alex. And that is one of the reasons I love you. But you have to get this through your head - even though I love you and always will - I am not in love with you."

Alex seemed to pull herself together, straightening her spine and looking Vincent in the eye. "You've always been clear about not wanting to get back together. I just couldn't help myself. You're a pretty special man, Vincent Keller. But this changes everything. I love you too and the last thing I will ever do is hurt you." She gave him questioning look. "Are you sure I can't talk to her, try to smooth things over?"

All Vincent did was squint and give her a grimace.

"Yeah … right," she said, nodding her head in understanding. "I've probably done enough for one day." She stood. "Vincent, I'm so sorry. I feel sick about this, but you're right, I need to go now."

"That's probably best," he said. "I'll call you about Catherine and you can come out and monitor her progress."

Alex gave him a dumbfounded stare. "Wha … what?"

At her reaction Vincent realized he hadn't called his alpaca, - his little girl - by her name in front of Alex. "Catherine, my alpaca," he clarified.

"You named your alpaca, Catherine?" Alex asked.

"Uh huh," he said.

Alex's mouth turned up into a wry smile. "You really do have it bad, don't you."

Vincent rolled his eyes. "You have no idea."

"Actually," Alex said, her face a little sad, "I do. She's a lucky woman."

"We'll see," he said.

They walked out of the barn, a respectable distance between them. As Alex stood by her Jeep Vincent noticed she stopped herself just before she would have automatically leaned in to kiss him. Instead, she reached out and gave his hand a squeeze, then climbed into her Jeep and drove away.

Vincent turned toward the backdoor of his house, watching the steam of his breath in the cold air rise in front of him. He felt like he was on a roller coaster, given all the emotional and physical ups and downs and twists and turns of the past twenty-four hours. It seemed like the universe still conspired to keep he and Catherine apart, driving any wedge between them it could find. At any other time this debacle with Alex would be difficult to explain, but still something resolvable. But now, with his and Catherine's newly rediscovered relationship as fragile as the strand of a spider's web, his body tensed with fear that this incident might snap their tenuous connection.

His chest tightened and despair began to rise up in him. He couldn't lose her again. Not now. Not after he'd found her. He needed to explain what happened, to apologize to her for his own naiveté, to reassure her that there was nothing between him and Alex. He fought down the fear and pulled from deep within himself the focused determination that had driven him most of his life as a soldier and as a businessperson. He inhaled a deep breath of cold air and stepped toward the house.