Chapter 6

Catherine is stunned.

Me? Why would they be after me, Vincent? I am not anything."

Vincent is desperate to put as much distance between them and that house as possible.

"I promise I will go over everything later, but right now I need to get you out of here, please Catherine…..now."

Catherine looked at Dana and Tess, who are clearly as confused as she is. But she can also tell that Vincent is clearly upset and agitated. So she gives in to him, for now…

Back at JT's place, Vincent is now the one wearing a hole through the floor. He is scaring Catherine a little, it is too reminiscent of how agitated he was with Tori around. They are waiting for JT and Sam to get back from the University lab, they were "borrowing" to run some tests on the gem.

Dana is concerned enough to ask Catherine.

"Is this normal for him to be so agitated, he is like a caged animal, with all the pacing."

"No he is usually totally in control, something about that place spooked him and he is having trouble settling down."

Tess interjects.

"It's not something that has him spooked, Cat it is his fear for you. You heard him back there, they wanted you."

Catherine tries to keep her voice down, forgetting that her boyfriend is a beast with supernatural hearing abilities.

"I know that is what he said" whispering "But that makes no sense, I am nobody, it has to be Vincent that they are after."

"You know I can hear you right, and you're wrong Catherine." Vincent walks over to her, and as soon as he touches her, he is calm, the agitation is gone. "You are everything."

Sam and JT get back and are anxious to share their news about the gem, but agree to wait because Vincent is clearly upset.

"Catherine is the one in danger right now." Acknowledging his friends confusion he says. "Yes, I was the one kidnapped, tortured and brainwashed. Bear with me here, once your Father saw you and saw how you felt about me, he was obsessed with you. While I was being held, he was constantly asking me questions about you, were you a beast? Did you know I was a beast? Did you have any special abilities? At the time, I had no idea he was your Father and I refused to speak about you to him. No matter what they did to me, I would not speak even your name to them. The reprogramming/enhancements and sending me to kill other beasts and wiping my memory of you were to keep me away from you."

Catherine is overwhelmed hearing Vincent speak, he had never spoken to her about what happened to him when he was taken. Her soul hurts for his, all that he has been through at the hands of her family. How can he even love her, how does he not see the woman who made him what he is and the man who tortured him, when he looks at her.

JT too is trying to piece all of it together.

"But why did he not just come to her, once he realized she was in NY, I mean the city is big but he was FBI surely he could have found her if he wanted to."

Vincent shakes his head.

"I don't know but I am positive this is actually all about her, not me. Her Mom said something to me back in Afghanistan, she said she was doing this for her daughters."

JT throws up his hands.

'What the hell does that mean?"

"JT, come on….." Tess gives him a look.

Catherine is quick to come to his defense.

"No Tess it's ok, he is only saying what we all are thinking." She rubs her hands over her face. "I have a headache from all of this. Can we continue this conversation later? I need some air."

She heads to the door and Vincent is right behind her. Catherine turns to face him, holding up her hands to stop him from following her.

"Please Vincent, I need some time to process all this, I need to be alone."

Vincent stops in his tracks. He does not want her out there alone, not while there are people hunting her.

"Catherine….I….."

She turns and goes to JT.

"Put a tracker on my phone."

JT takes Cat's phone, slips a tracker under the battery and gives it back to her.

"I will be fine"' she looks to both Vincent and Tess, "I….just…."

She has no words, as she is leaving, she looks back over her shoulder to see Vincent standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry" she whispers so softly that only Vincent can hear her.

Catherin needs to run, she quickly changes into the running gear she keeps in her car. Headphones in, music blaring she takes off. The sky darkens as a storm rolls in. Catherine can't hear the rumble of thunder off in the distance.

JT knows that Vincent wants to take off after Cat, track her from a distance, but even he knows Cat well enough by now to know that would only piss her off. He opens his computer and shows Vincent the red blip on the screen that is Cat's phone, they will keep an eye on her from here.

That settles him down…..for now.

"So what about the gem, what did you and Sam find out?"

JT and Sam exchange a look, they are full on nerd excited….

"Well for starters it's not a gem, per se." At their incredulous looks, he continues. "It does not chemically match any known gem or mineral. In addition tools used to cut jewels were not in existence when the beast was alive and the collar was in use."

Sam jumps in.

"The skeleton and the collar are the same ones I found in Ireland years ago, I think the gem or whatever is it, is what they were looking for over the last few years when they were taking me on digs. We know the gem prevents your beast from manifesting, but without further testing we don't know what else it does."

JT again.

"Vincent if you think that Cat is the real target, I think we need to test this with her. Has she ever touched it?

Vincent thought back to the time he stole it, she took it back and then he recovered it.

'I don't ever remember her touching it" He looked at JT, "Do you really think it will have an effect on her?"

JT shrugs his shoulders.

"I don't know man, I am just making this up as I go. But if her Dad was trying to find her and her Mom was working with Murfield to protect her…"

"Catherine has always had an effect on me, from the first moment I met her….."

Thinking back, Vincent realizes there is information about his past, that he has yet to share with anyone and it starts with the night he saved Catherine's life all those years ago. But he can't explain it to everyone else until he talks to Catherine.

"Were is Catherine's phone now?" JT refreshes the screen and Vincent knows right away where she is headed. He blurs away.

Tess looking over JT's shoulder, sighs.

"The cemetery."

The storm is closer when Vincent arrives at the cemetery. Vincent can feel energy gathering as the rain threatens. Catherine is already there, he can hear her talking to her Mom and Thomas. Her voice is breaking and it guts him to hear how much pain she is in. She always takes on too much. None of this is her fault, yet he knows she will feel responsible for what has happened to him. To be fair that is why he loves her so much. Her passion, her dedication, her fierceness. He is the beast, but when it comes to protecting those she loves, Catherine's courage and bravery could give the beast a run for it.

He waits patiently and tries to give her as much privacy as he can, he does not want to intrude but does not want her to be alone in this.

Catherine kneeling in between Thomas and her Mother's headstone is trying to make sense of everything. She talks to them through her tears, her voice breaking.

"Is there something wrong with me? Is that what you were protecting me from? I don't understand any of this. Catherine takes a deep breath. What did you not want me to know? Why did you keep my birth father from me, is he dangerous?

Catherine has difficulty getting the next words out…Her hand is on her Mother's headstone.

"How could you hurt people….and Vincent….I don't understand? Is this my fault, did you hurt him because of me?" Oh god…how can he look at me?" She breaks down and buries her face in her hands.

Vincent has heard enough. He quietly approaches her and kneels down beside her.

She is spooked, she quickly lifts her tear stained face to find him staring at her. He cups her face in his hands. He speaks softly.

"Enough Catherine, you are not to blame here. Do you know what I see when I look at you? I see my heart. You are the light to my darkness, you are the other half of my soul. I don't care what brought us together, every decision I have ever made brought me to the moment I met you. That moment changed my life for the better and no matter what happens, you are the person I choose to be with you, you are the woman I love."

He looks into her eyes, willing her to accept what he is saying, willing her to believe him.

"I can survive Murfield, I can survive what your Father did to me, what I can't take is your pain, I am not strong enough for that. Seeing you like this kills me. Please believe me when I say that I love you and that is never going to change."

Catherine places her hands over Vincent's, her lips are trembling, tears running down her face. She looks up at him and can see the love that he has for her. His gaze heats her, it's as if his love is a living thing, winding its way through her, softening her edges, and soothing her fears.

The sky lightens briefly as the lightning strikes and thunder rolls in the distance, rain starts to fall.

Vincent pulls Catherine up and shelters her in his arms. She lifts her face to him, her eyes closing as the rain hits her face and he lowers his head to kiss her. Her lips are wet from the rain and he tastes the salt from her tears. He pulls her close, angling his head to kiss her deeper. His tongue slide along her lips, she parts to give him access. Her arms come around his neck and he lifts her up pressing her body against his. The rain falls getting both of the wet, but they don't notice lost in the taste of each other. Catherine runs her hands through Vincent's hair. After a few moments, she pulls back and rubs her nose along his, separating for just a moment.

"Thank You for saving me."

She kisses him hard and he knows that she is talking about so much more than just the night in the woods. He picks her up to blur away with her and says.

"We saved each other."