Chapter 10

The next morning Catherine and Vincent were having coffee and trying to come up with a plan on what to do next. Catherine wanted to confront her Father about the gem and Rebecca and the facility where Vincent had been held. Vincent wanted to focus on identifying the beasts from the Valentine's Day dance and id the people after Sam and Dana. Catherine did not tell Vincent but she also wanted to talk to JT about Vincent nightmares.

"Vincent, it makes sense that investigating the place you were held would also lead to who is after Sam and Dana. The facility is so close they have to be connected. Maybe Tess and I could sit surveillance and you could track anyone who leaves the facility?"

"That might work…..I'd like to do a sketch of the two beasts from the party and have Sam take a look at them first. Maybe he will recognize them, we should also have Sam to a sketch of anyone he can remember."

Catherine leaned over to kiss him…..she smiled.

"I told you if we put our heads together we could figure out what comes next."

Sam and Vincent both met with sketch artists. When they were finished, they each looked at the others sketches.

"I recognize her." Sam said pointing to Natalie, she was with us on some of the digs. "She is a beast?" Sam asks Vincent questioningly.

Vincent nods his head. "She is the beast from the Valentine's Day dance. In all the time you saw her you never suspected she was a beast?"

"No….no idea…..she was aggressive and some of the others deferred to her, but…." He shrugged his shoulders and looked sheepishly at Dana. "I thought it was because she was hot."

Dana rolled her eyes at him. Even after being apart the last 5 years she knew he loved her and had no jealousy. Sam had been protecting her, not looking to replace her.

Vincent was staring at the sketches that Sam had brought. He was pinching his nose and scowling. Catherine walked up to him, and placed her hand on his back.

"Everything OK?"

"Yeah, it's just….I can't….they feel familiar, but when I try to concentrate, my head hurts. It feels just out of reach."

JT interjects.

"This could be a side effect of your upgrades."

Vincent looks up.

"What do you mean?"

JT explains.

"We don't really know what happened to you Vincent. You were missing for 3 months and you came back with your memory wiped, your beasts skills enhanced and no ability to heal yourself. What else happened that we don't yet know about?"

Catherine thought about Vincent's nightmares. She wanted to talk to JT but not in front of everyone. She did not think that Vincent would appreciate it.

"Look why don't we give this a rest for now. Sam you wanted to work on the Gem right? And Dana how about you take these sketches and see if you can run them through facial recognition?

After Sam and Dana left and it was just the three of them. Catherine told JT about Vincent's nightmares. Vincent was not thrilled to say the least, but JT's earlier comments had got him thinking and he did not want to put his friends and especially Catherine at risk if he was dangerous. JT asked a lot of questions.

"How long have you had the nightmares?"

Vincent explained that he got his memories back after being shot. The nightmares started soon after.

"It seemed as though the more my human side was in control and the closer I got to Catherine, the more nightmares I started having. They have only just recently began to wake me up, or at least wake up Catherine."

What are they about?" JT asks.

"Mostly about my captivity, threats to Catherine and pain….." He shook his head "a lot of pain."

Catherine grabbed his hand in hers and squeezed. The thought of Vincent in pain because of her, hurt. She turned to JT.

"Vincent remembers them asking a lot of questions about me and what I knew about beasts, they threatened me. He also told me that when my Mom was killed Vincent was tracking her trying to protect her. I had an effect on him, even then. Also my Mom said something to him about protecting me."

JT looks at them incredulously. How could they keep all of this from him…..

"Anything else?"

Catherine and Vincent look at each other.

"I don't think so."

"Ok so it's clear that this all centers around you Cat, the question is why? You obviously have power over beasts using the gem, power that comes from you and not just the gem. You have a connection to Vincent that is outside of anything with the gem. Your Dad is a psycho and your Mom was a genius who was in some way trying to keep you and your sister safe." He looks at both of them. "Did I miss anything?"

Catherine under her breath, mutters….

"There is Rebecca….."

"Oh that's right, let's not forget some mysterious ancestor who also had the gem 150 years ago!"

JT, all that can wait. I am worried about Vincent! His nightmares are getting worse!"

JT knows what to do, but Vincent isn't going to like it.

"I can hook you up and monitor your brain waves while you sleep, maybe get a sense of where the nightmares are coming from. It also might just take time. No one knows what they did to you and like any trauma it can take time to heal."

Vincent did not like the idea of being a lab rat. "Look can we put this on hold for now and just concentrate on keeping Sam and Dana safe?"

Catherine and JT agreed but if the look between them was any indication, it would not be for long.

Cat and Vincent met with Bob Reynolds at the correctional facility. Catherine wasted no time on pleasantries.

"We found where you held Vincent." Bob attempts to deny were immediately cut off by a very angry Cat. "Don't bother denying it…..Vincent remembers the questions you asked him about me, the torture"…..her voice broke a little…."you put him through."

Vincent placed his hand on Catherine's back, he had a calming effect on her and she regained control.

'I want to know what is going on up there. We have already met some of the other beasts that are working for you. What do they want with me?"

Bob's head snapped up….."What makes you think they want anything with you?"

Catherine glared at him. "You and your friends up there grilled Vincent about me, why else would you do that?" She did not mention her new found abilities with the gem. "I also know about Rebecca Reynolds. So what is the story…..why is an ancestor of yours so important to beasts."

Bob realizing that it is too late to protect Catherine without telling her the truth comes clean. "All your life I have been trying to protect you from beasts. Our family has been involved with beasts for hundreds of years and it always ends the same. There is always one family member that gets involved with a beast and it ends up destroying them. Rebecca is a good example of why you should stay away from Vincent."

"I left when you were born, because I did not want to expose you to this life. Your Mom got involved in genetic research and Murfield all in an attempt to keep you safe. We fought, I wanted you and her as far away from beasts as you could get, but she wanted to help. Beasts have been around for generations, your Mother, thought she could reverse the process, she went to work for Murfield in an attempt to find out from the inside how to do that…..to do the right thing and thought she could keep you safe from the inside….You see how that turned out."

He turns to Vincent, "I did what I did to you for Catherine…She is the reason for what happened to you. There is no one I wouldn't go through to keep her safe."

Hearing those words, Catherine stood up. "You did not do those things for me! You did them for your own selfish reasons, I may not know what those are, but I can see what you are trying to do. You couldn't keep us apart, so now you are trying to make me responsible. You want to make me the bad guy. Why? So I will feel guilty and leave Vincent…So he will blame me for what happened to him…. Do you have any idea what Vincent and I have been through? There is nothing you can say to hurt us anymore. We are stronger than that!"

Vincent was so proud of Catherine in that moment. He knew what it cost her to say those words. They were still fragile….after everything that had happened it would take time, but just like the first day he met her, she protected him. That was always her first instinct.

"Bob, I know you are scared for Catherine, and I know you want to protect her, but you're going about it the wrong way. You don't know her very well, so let me help you out…Catherine makes her own decisions, no one…..not me….not you… is going to be able to tell her what to do. What happened to me was not because of Catherine. What happened to me was you and you are the only one I blame."

Bob glared at both of them, his rage all the more hot because of his impotence. He looked at Vincent. "I will not let you hurt her, you think you know about beasts and Catherine's connection to them…You know nothing. Following this path will not make her happy, it will destroy her just like it destroyed Rebecca Reynolds and nothing either one of you does can change that!"

Catherine and Vincent watched as Bob was led back to his cell. Catherine looked at Vincent.

"Well….that went well."

Vincent smiled at her sarcastic tone. He raised his eyebrow at her.

"I guess we are just going to have to go see for ourselves what is at the facility."

Vincent and Catherine are in the woods outside the facility. JT is monitoring them from home and Tess is standing by ready to call for back up if needed.

"I am reading both of you on the map, your GPS positioning is blinking at me loud and clear. Remember this is a reconnaissance mission only. Just look and listen and then get out of there!"

Vincent looks at Catherine. "You ready?"

Catherine smiles. "Let's Go!"

They approach the building, Vincent calls out the cameras as he identifies them. JT makes notes. Catherine notes that there are guards patrolling the grounds, including dogs.

"Dogs are not a problem for me." He blurs with Catherine over the fence. When he does that their GPS signatures blank out and JT can no longer see them.

"Ah….guys…..they must have some sort of jamming system in place. I can't see you anymore."

No response from either of them.

"Guys?...anyone?"

Tess answers up. "JT what the hell is going on?"

"I have lost communication with Vincent and Cat, I can't see them anymore, nor can they hear me!"

Vincent and Catherine make their way to the loading area, Vincent has successfully turned the dogs away from their location and blurring with Cat is able to hide with her behind the dumpster.

"We really need to stop hanging out behind dumpsters." Catherine whispers sarcastically. Vincent is reaching out with his beast senses, trying to determine the safest route in. But he is overwhelmed. He sense beasts everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He shakes his head, trying to clear it. Catherine senses his confusion.

"Are you alright?" She asks him. He lifts his head looking into her eyes, his brow is furrowed. Vincent reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"I'm ok…it's just…..I can feel them everywhere yet I can't pinpoint them and my headache is coming back."

All of a sudden, Vincent yells out and clutches his head. Catherine turns to him and he collapses into her arms. "Vincent!" She yells, and struggles to hold him up, but that is all she can do as the doors burst open and beasts and commandos surround them.

Catherine is wrenched away from him, she struggles against the commando holding her. Natalie, walks up to Vincent and squats down to his eye level. Catherine yells at her to stay away from Vincent.

Natalie laughs. "What's a matter Vincent? Your girlfriend fighting your battles for you now?

Vincent raises his head and the beasts yellow eyes focus on Natalie. He struggles to stand up and Natalie taunts him.

"Such a tough guy, going to rescue your girl?" Vincent struggles to stay on his feet, the pain in his head is increasing. Natalie continues to mock him. Catherine continues to struggle against the one holding her.

"Really Vincent for all that they talk about you I am more than a little disappointed."

Vincent's head is hanging down and he looks defeated. But looks can be deceiving… All of a sudden he gathers himself and launches himself at Catherine's captor as the beast emerges.

Natalie quickly holds up a small black box and Vincent's beast disappears and fully human Vincent drops to the ground.

"STOP"

An older gentleman comes into the fray and grabs the device from Natalie. "This is not a toy!" He walks back over to Catherine and pulling out a gun, he holds it to her temple.

"Vincent, listen to me very carefully." He holds up the black box, "As you can see we can control your beast. The pain you are experiencing and the inability to beast out, that is our doing. You must understand we don't want to hurt Catherine."

"Really! the gun you have to her head, is not the best way to convince me of that!"

The man chuckles.

"I said we don't WANT to hurt her, not that we wouldn't! We are in an awkward position here. We have Catherine and we don't need you anymore. So the question is…..what do we do about that? Kill you and take her…..I think she would be most uncooperative if we did that…Take you both…you really are more trouble than your worth….Ah I have an idea! I will let you leave and Catherine will stay."

"I will not leave without her!"

The man looks at Vincent and then at Catherine. He walks over to Catherine and whispers in her ear. As he talks the look on Catherine's face changes from defiant to terrified. Tears well up as she looks at Vincent. The man continues talking and Catherine closes her eyes, as the tears escape down her cheeks. She nods her head and the man stops talking.

Catherine looks at Vincent and tries to convey to him all the love and trust she has for him, she wills him to feel from her how much she loves him.

Vincent could only imagine what that man said to her. He understands the look she gives him, the love and trust so easily read in her eyes. Vincent's gaze tells Catherine the same thing. Her eyes never looking away from him as she is pulled backwards into the facility. Vincent holds her gaze and whispers to her.

"I will find you…no matter what…I will find you."

Catherine's eyes close briefly and her head dips, to let him know she heard him.

Then the door slams shut.