Chapter 4
Vincent called Catherine and asked her and Tess to meet him at JT's.
'What's going on?" Catherine asks.
'I followed Gabe, after he left you at the café and trailed him to a loft in Tribeca. He met with a guy that was familiar but not." "What does that mean?' asked JT Vincent tried to explain 'I'm not sure but I think he might be someone I met or knew back when the FBI or whoever had me", explained Vincent.
Catherine's face is deathly pale and her heartbeat escalates, as she grabs onto Vincent. "What in the hell?" Vincent pulls her close and tells her not to worry… yet…..
"I am not sure, but Gabe was talking to the guy about needing you to get the gem". Vincent looks at Catherine as he continues. "I'm sorry but it sounded like all of Gabe's attention to you was just about getting the gem away from me."
JT interjects "That's crazy, why go to all the trouble and who's to say Cat would have helped him."
"I don't' know man, but he was not happy that Catherine broke up with Gabe. But it gets better, Gabe told the guy that he was going to play nice and supportive friend, because eventually I will screw up and he will be there to catch Cat when that happens." Vincent tightened his hold on Cat," That is not going to happen, I promise"
"Anyway the plan is to have Gabe convince Cat that the only way to keep me safe is to give him the gem so he can destroy it. But obviously he is planning on turning it over to them… whoever them is. Then the guy left the loft via the helicopter, and get this, the helicopter has absolutely no markings on it, no registration no nothing…"
JT whispered what they were all thinking "It has to be the same people who took you before. I mean it makes sense they were there to get Gabe in the first place so they obviously knew about him."
"But why?" Tess asked. Didn't they already get from Vincent what they wanted? Enhanced beast skills, Murfield gone, other beasts killed. With Daddy Reynolds in jail isn't that all over?"
Cat looks at her friends and says. "I don't know but I know someone who does. Vincent we have to go see my Father."
"I am going to go and get some Tums, anyone want any." JT says as he heads behind the bar. Tess looks at him and says "Yeah grab me some too."
Vincent and Catherine head to Rikers to see Daddy Reynolds. Vincent smiles, "Remember the last time we were both here?" Catherine laughs despite her fears. "Yeah you kidnapping me-good times."
"Well I will admit that was not my best decision ever, but it did lead somewhere pretty damn good."
Catherine smiling said. "Although being tied to the chair afterwards was not so-pleasant, but I prefer to focus on the good stuff and not the bad stuff."
"You know Catherine there is a lot we need to talk about, especially about me pushing you that night."
"Vincent we can talk if you want, but I understood then and I do now. I pursued you, pushed you, cornered you and made you feel threatened. That was not you lashing out at me that was your beast." I don't blame you anymore that I would blame a wild animal that lashes out and attacks when it feels threatened."
"Thank you for that but I have always been so afraid that I will accidentally hurt you and I thought I had gotten past that, but now…."
Catherine put her hand on Vincent's "I know that YOU would never hurt me, back then right after we found you. You were not yourself; you did not know me or trust me. Now things are different and you do know me and you do trust me, even if you don't have all your memories back."
Looking at Catherine with those beautiful hazel eyes he said "I do know you now and I do trust you, now let's go talk to your Father.
Bob Reynolds was not happy to see them, especially Vincent. "What is he doing here?"
Catherine said, "WE are here for some answers, and YOU are going to give them to us."
Vincent spoke up, "I know you don't want me around Catherine, but you need to understand that nothing is going to come between us again. So you can either help us which helps Catherine and maybe just maybe she will forgive you someday and maybe just maybe I won't kill you someday." Vincent let his eyes go golden just to make his point.
Bob looked at Vincent and Catherine, Vincent standing at Catherine's back, like he was protecting her from the world. They looked so strong and united together. Bob realized that Vincent would sacrifice his life for Catherine and he wasn't so sure that Catherine wouldn't do the same for Vincent. No matter what he did they ended up together. Kidnapping, brainwashing, attempted assassination, hell even Catherine shooting Vincent didn't keep them apart.
Bob hung his head "What do you want to know?"
Catherine took a deep breath, "Gabe is after the gem. He met with a man who we think is somehow connected to you and whoever else was involved in Vincent's kidnapping last year." Bob's head snapped up, "What?"
Vincent explained that Gabe had met with a guy who seemed familiar to him, but he could not place him; he also explained that after the meeting the guy took off in an unmarked helicopter.
"Dad the other day you said that I had to kill all the beasts especially Vincent. Why? What is so special about Vincent?
"It's not just Vincent….It's you too. I have been trying to protect you from all of this. But no matter what I do it all comes back to the two of you and the fact that you are together."
"Vincent surely you must have guessed by now that you are different from all the other beasts out there. You have always been able to retain your humanity. Even after you were brainwashed and your memories erased, it did not take long for your humanity to reassert itself. The agency that made you has been trying to make beasts just like you for years. You are the perfect beast.
"So why have they not come after me?" Vincent asked
My guess is because they can't control you. After they…. we had you last year and after all the reprogramming, here you are back with Catherine and back to your old self. If Gabe is after the gem it must be so they can control you."
"What does this have to do with Catherine", Vincent asked.
Bob looked at Catherine. "You might not believe me but everything I have done is to keep you safe. You won't remember this but when you were about 2 years old you were very sick, your Mom figured out that your illness was genetic. She came to me at that point and found that the damaged gene was passed down from my side. You mom got into gene therapy in order to keep you alive."
Vincent could hear Catherine's heartbeat start to race, he placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered "hey it's ok, I am right here."
Bob continued. "The Agency" for lack of a better term has been involved with beasts for hundreds of years. The agency changes and modifies itself according to the changing times, but one thing always remains the same, they are all about beasts. Hundreds of years ago it was powerful families, which morphed into groups, they eventually morphed into businesses. Murfield is just one of those groups they focused on turning beasts into weapons for profit. The army was basically the human trial for their experiment. Vincent is the only one who did not let the beast side overwhelm the human side. That put him on their radar."
Bob continued "Your Mom got involved with the biotech arm of Murfield and discovered a way to alter DNA, that is what saved your life, it's also what got her hooked up with the military branch of Murfield. Her discovery of how to splice DNA lead to the formula that was used on Vincent."
Catherine could barely breathe, "So I am the reason there are beasts out there? I am responsible for what happened to Vincent." Vincent immediately turned Catherine around. "You are not responsible for any of this, do you hear me? You are not responsible." Catherine looked at Vincent as tears welled up in her eyes. She nodded her head, took a deep breath and turned around to her father.
"Ok, if what you say is true, how does killing Vincent protect me?"
"You two appear to share a connection; everyone can see the effect she has on you, Vincent. If the Agency gets a hold of both of you they would try and replicate the bond you two have in order to provide a genetic handler if you will, for beasts. I figured if you killed Vincent then the Agency would leave you alone and no one would be the wiser as to your involvement."
"Look I don't know who the guy in the helicopter was; I was just a small cog in a very big wheel. All I can tell you is that you are both in danger." Bob looked at Vincent. "I am counting on you keeping her safe, I tried and failed it's all up to you now."
Catherine made it as far as the car before she broke down. Vincent held her while she cried. When it was over, she looked up at him, her eyes full of unshed tears. "I'm so sorry".
Vincent would have none of that. He held her face in his hands. "Catherine you have nothing to be sorry for. You did not have anything to do with this; you cannot take this on by yourself. Whatever has happened and whatever will happen we are in this together."
"I love you and that has nothing to do with DNA, it has to do with who you are. I watched you for 10 years and loved you because of the kind of person you are. I may not remember everything, but I remember enough. What I feel for you has nothing to do with Beasts or genetics."
"Vincent how can you be so sure? What if all this is just some kind of weird experiment?"
"Catherine, do you really believe that? Is that how you feel about me?"
"Oh Vincent no, I love you for who you are too. I fell in love with you last year because I saw the man behind the beast and I have always loved you, even when I was mad at you, I still loved you. That has nothing to do with DNA. My head is just so overwhelmed with all of this."
"Let's head back to JT's update him on everything and we will figure out together what to do next, OK?" Vincent leaned in and captured Catherine lips with his own. She gave herself into the kiss and as they stopped, foreheads touching, she whispers "OK, let's go figure this out together."