Chapter 13

Ray came alone to escort Catherine from her room. Was this his way of telling her that he was on her side or just a cosmic coincidence? She had this inner dialogue going on in her head, when he answered her.

"I am not sure yet?"

Catherine jumped a little at the intrusion into her mind. She quickly glanced up at Ray.

"I can hear you!"

He smirked.

"Obviously"

She looked at him and said the words Vincent told her to say.

"Pammy Sue did not cheat on you Ray."

Ray looked at her with razor focus, she could actually feel him poking around in her brain.

"Hey….what are you doing?"

Ray smiled.

"Checking to see if you are trustworthy."

"Me! I am not the one poking around in other peoples brains." She tilted her head questioningly. "How do you do that?"

Ray held up a brown colored gem.

"The red one allows you to communicate, but the brown one allows me to dig deeper"

Catherine narrowed her eyes at him.

"Obviously….." She cocked her head. "Well…am I?"

Ray stared hard at her. He was taking a huge risk. It was obvious she knew Vincent Keller and Keller must have trusted her with his secret, most importantly he had trusted Vincent. But that was a long time ago….People change.

"What are you doing here and where is Vincent?" Ray asked her.

Catherine was tired of trying to communicate with her brain. Out loud she answered him.

"I am here because Barnes threatened to kill Vincent and I am trying to figure out a way to get out of here and stop him."

Ray looked confused.

"Stop him…why would you stop him? Keeping the world safe from beasts is the reason we exist. Without us…..the world would be a much more dangerous place?"

Catherine laughed.

"Did you not hear the part where Barnes threatened to kill Vincent. You may think you are doing good work here, but killing and kidnapping innocent people doesn't exactly win you a spot on the top 10 list of charitable companies."

Ray visibly bristled at her tone.

"If he threatened to kill Vincent, maybe he needed to be put down!"

Catherine bristled.

"Vincent was kidnapped last year, my Father erased his memories and turned him into a beast assassin, then when he was finished, my father tried to kill him…. but Vincent fought for his humanity and won, look into my memories and tell me if you think Vincent needs to be put down. I love him Ray…more than anything."

Ray, closes his eyes and concentrates, probing Cat's memories of Vincent. He sees Vincent save her that day in the woods, them dancing at a wedding and rescuing her from a wrecked car. He feels her anguish when Vincent is captured and torn away from her and her grief in the months she looked for him. Her shock at finding him changed and her determination and love to make him better. Ray can see Vincent through her eyes and recognizes the Vincent he once knew. Ray withdraws from her mind.

"I am not sure what you want from me?" He asks her questioningly.

Catherine explains her plan.

"I need your help to get out of here, Vincent is on his way to meet with my Father about a cure. My ancestor Rebecca Reynolds was able to cure Alistair. We might be able to cure Vincent and you as well if you want. But I can't do anything locked up down here!"

"Then what Catherine? What comes after, won't Barnes just come after you and Vincent again? Keep in mind whatever else this agency does, it hunts down rogue beasts, keeps people safe… it does some good."

Ray, if we can figure out a cure, they won't be after Vincent anymore and the rest is a problem for another day! Please help me?"

Ray looked at her, he wanted to say yes, he knew she was telling the truth, but he needed time. He left telling her he would be back.

Catherine sat down on her bed, there was nothing more she could do, the next move was up to Ray.

Vincent sits down with Reynolds. JT is with him, it takes everything in him to sit across from the man who caused him so much misery and heartbreak.

"I need your help….actually Cat needs your help"

Reynolds immediately leans forward.

"What's wrong?" He can tell Vincent is stressed.

"Barnes has Catherine and she is alright for now. But Barnes told her that Rebecca released Alistair from his beast with tragic results. She sent me here to find out everything you know about them. I am going back for her, she won't leave until I speak to you. She seems to think the cure has tragic consequences and that something awful could happen to me or to her. She won't let me come for her until I talk to you. So you can imagine how badly I need you to start talking."

Reynolds smirked.

"She won't let you?…she really is pulling your leash these days."

Vincent glared at him.

"I know you don't know Catherine very well, so let me tell you something about her. When she makes up her mind, you'd better respect her. She does not want to be treated like a damsel in distress and likes to be in control at all time. I am guessing that stems from the trauma of losing her Mom, add to that the recent realization that Thomas was not her Dad and you can imagine how tightly wound she is. But when you love someone you give them what they need, unlike you I don't have an ego here. So can the bullshit and tell me what I want to know."

Reynolds had the decency to look ashamed.

"It's similar to the flat lining plan you guys have. But you're missing one key component…Catherine"

JT is confused…."Catherine?"

"Yes Catherine, she is the only one who can bring the man back without the beast."

At Vincent's and JT incredulous looks, Reynolds explains.

"She freed Gabe from his beast by restarting his heart, but when Gabe tried to do it to the fire beast, it didn't work….Catherine is the key. Only she can release the beast….BUT there is one problem, for some reason when love is involved the memory gets erased. I don't know why, my guess would be something in her DNA something similar to the DNA that predisposes people to be beasts. Gabe obviously remembered Catherine and Alistair did not remember Rebecca, the only difference is love."

"That is why I wanted Catherine away from all this. Rebecca loved Alistair beyond reason and when she lost him she lost herself, she took risks and was reckless….it got her killed. He left her and NY and never looked back. That was why we messed with your memories. I figured it was a way to keep Cat safe. I figured you would never look back either and Cat would be sad but she would move on with her life. I wanted her away from all this beast business crap!"

Vincent could tell that Reynolds was telling the truth.

"I think it's too late for that, she is a part of this now whether we like it or not. And for the record…..I don't like it. But I will support her in whatever she decides to do."

On the way back, JT was racking his brain trying to figure out how flat lining was a possibility?

"I know I am a biochemist, but I can't think of anything in DNA that would allow Catherine to make beast DNA just disappear or at the very least no longer manifest itself."

"Not sure it really matters JT." Vincent says sadly.

JT mouth agape, stares at Vincent.

'What do you mean… of course it matters, Catherine could be the cure! Maybe we can synthesize something or….."

Vincent looked at him.

"I am not going to take a cure that makes me forget JT." With that Vincent turns his face to the window and that is the end of the conversation.

JT didn't know what else to say.

Vincent set up his campsite again and waited for dark. "Catherine?" He waited a bit…. "Catherine?" God damn it Catherine answer me or I am coming in there?"

"Don't! I am ok, I think Ray is going to help me out…..Did you speak to my Father?"

"Yes, and I will talk to you about it….in person. Are you coming out or am I coming in?"

Catherine smiled to herself, she could picture Vincent scowling at her, and she loved him for trusting her and knew that he was scared for her and would not hold back much longer.

"I am coming out…..I think."

"You THINK…..not good enough Catherine."

"Listen, I think Ray will help me….he read my memories and trusts me because of you. We are going to need a place to hide and figure this out….work on finding us a safe haven and I will see you soon…..I promise Vincent."

Vincent clenched his fists and sighed.

"OK….but Catherine…..please be careful and please…..hurry."

"I love you Vincent…more than anything"

And before he could tell her he loved her back, she was gone.

Cat was lying in bed, trying to sleep and not having much luck, when the door opened. It was Ray.

"I am not sure exactly what you think you can accomplish, but I owe Vincent, so I will get you out of here. Follow me and be quiet."

Ray held the door open and Catherine followed him out. They moved through hallways and around labs. Finally Ray came to an elevator.

"Take this up until it stops, then climb out of the roof hatch, you can access the surface from the shaft. It's a bit of a climb, but these should help."

He handed her a small bag, when she looked inside she saw a variety of gems.

"They all have different properties, but they will all make you strong, so take anyone of them out and put in in your pocket. Only take one out at a time and keep the others in this pouch, it is designed to block the effects, so you are not exposed to all the traits at once. Good Luck and tell Vincent, we are even."

"Wait! I want you to come with me. You don't need to stay here, at least come out with me and see Vincent.

Ray looked at her, he could see what Vincent saw in her. She was a bulldog when it came to getting what she wanted.

"I don't think there is a place for me on the outside. This is where I belong now."

Catherine was not about to give up.

"No this isn't where you belong, please come with me, Barnes will figure out eventually that you helped me escape…I don't want to be responsible for something bad happening to you."

Ray had always been a sucker for a damsel in distress and whether she realized it or not, Catherine was in distress.

"Fine….Lets go."

They entered the elevator…..

"Change in plans since I am going with you."

As the elevator rose upward, Ray opened the service hatch on the ceiling. Grabbing Catherine he said. "Hold on tight" With those words he flexed his legs and shot out of the opening with Catherine.

Standing on the top of the rising elevator, Catherine looked up. Far above her she could see another hatch at the very top. She held on to Ray as the elevator continued up. She watched in fear as the distance to the hatch grew smaller and smaller. Just as she thought they would be smashed against the ceiling the elevator stopped.

"Now!"

Ray exclaimed as he grabbed her and shot upwards, hitting the hatch with his shoulder and using all of his beast strength to push it open.

Catherine's eyes had been tightly shut, now she opened them to see blue sky. She shot to her feet and grabbed Ray in a big hug.

"You did it!"

She stepped back from him to get a good look around. A blur out of the corner of her eye was all she saw before she was swept up into Vincent's arms.

"Catherine…..Oh my God….Catherine" Vincent buried his face in her neck, breathing her in. His arms were bands of steel around her and his hands came up to frame her face.

"I am all right Vincent…I'm ok." That was all she got out before his mouth took hers. He pulled her hard up against him. She could feel the length of him, his barely contained strength as he plundered her mouth. Her palms came up to cover his hands, before cupping the back of his head, as she kissed him back just as fiercely. He stole her breath and kissed her senseless. God only knows when he would have stopped but for the sound of Ray clearing this throat.

Vincent spun around and shoved Catherine behind him, his eyes glowing yellow as his protective instincts kicked in.

Raymond took a quick step back and raised his hands.

"Whoa there buddy it's me…..Ray."

Vincent immediately calmed down, but he was still hesitant. Yes he got Catherine out, but that didn't mean this wasn't a trap to catch both of them.

"Ray?"

"Vincent?'

Catherine watched as the two men seemed to be at a standoff. She decided to put an end to it.

"Ray, which gem allows you to read minds?"

He smiled.

"The brown one"

Vincent looked confused as Catherine handed him the brown gem.

"Look we don't have a lot of time here before they notice I am gone. Vincent concentrate and use the gem to look into Ray's mind. I imagine it's the same as using your tracking skills"

"What?"

"Just trust me…..please"

Vincent took the gem from Catherine and stared at Ray. At first nothing happened. He relaxed, took a deep breath and concentrated. All of sudden images flashed through his mind. Images of he and Ray in Afghanistan together, of the Murfield trials, of Ray escaping, but then being caught again by Barnes. Of meeting Catherine and her needing him to get free. Nothing in what he saw led him to think Ray would double cross them.

"Ray"….This time the tone in Vincent's voice was welcoming. The two men stepped towards each other and embraced. As he clapped Ray on the back he whispered "Thank you for getting her out."

The two of them stepped apart and Ray looked embarrassed.

"I owed you Vincent, and once I saw what you meant to her"…..he shrugged…"I didn't have much choice."