Reversed

Chapter 12 – What did you do Tess?

Catherine's point of view

I was sitting on my couch with a beer, absently staring at the TV. To be absolutely honest, I was listening to Vincent and JT. They were both sitting on JT's desk, squeezing their heads to find a cure. Eventually JT had managed to convince me to let Vincent help us. I had been very reluctant at first, but JT made it clear, that leaving Vincent out of this mess was luxury at this point. We couldn't afford this kind of luxury right now. JT and I were running out of time. Gabe was waiting for quite a time now. At this moment it was more important than ever to find a cure and escape this living hell once and for all. Another sigh; it was Vincent's this time rather than JT's. From the corner of my eye I saw his beautiful but troubled face. He was rubbing his forehead as if he wanted to smooth out the creases of worry. His eyes were squeezed shut and his lips were still parted from the sigh. He was already recognizing that my case was hopeless, impossible. His optimism was slowly fading away as the days passed and that frustrated him. He didn't want to disappoint me; I could see that in his eyes.

"It's not working, JT. I am running out of ideas," he muttered under his breath; his voice desperate.

"Sh!" JT quickly hushed him. He gave a meaningful glance in my direction. Vincent's eyes grew wide in realization. He bit his lower lip and looked down ashamed. Having followed the whole exchange with my supersensitive hearing I chuckled lightly while shaking my head. Vincent always seemed to forget that whispering wasn't any good in my presence. JT was glaring at him, not being able to comprehend how Vincent couldn't manage to remember this one simple thing. I, on the other hand, liked that fact. It made me feel almost…normal. It felt good that Vincent often forgot that I wasn't like any other girl, that he wasn't seeing a beast when he was looking at me.

"It's ok guys. I am a big girl, you don't have to tell me fairy tales. I know that the chance of me being normal again is slim to not existent," I reassured them.

"That is not true!" JT hurried to disagree; probably a reflex.

"JT, you are insulting my intelligence,' I pointed out. Still, I couldn't be mad. Even while trying to give me false hope, JT did it to protect me. He didn't want to crash my hopes. He liked to see that optimistic, smiling version of Catherine Chandler; even if that meant feeding me with wrong information. But even if his intentions were always pure, this kind of actions were simply wrong. I had to focus on reality. I had to be prepared. It was essential to my survival.

JT opened his mouth to reply but he was interrupted before even forming a single word. The door flew open and my eyes widened. I was caught by surprise. Not knowing what to do as this was a first during the last five years, I panicked. Before I could even take a look at the intruder, I rose in unhuman speed from the couch and transformed; my back still towards the door as my beastly side couldn't decide whether to turn around and fight or make an escape through the window in front of me. From the corner of my eye, I saw JT and Vincent tense. The first quickly grabbed a tranquilizer gun. Oddly enough he didn't aim at me though. He aimed towards the entrance. This is what made me look at the person who had rushed into the warehouse. It was Gabe. He was struggling to compose himself. My beastly presence was taunting his wild side. He seemed desperate to stay calm, though. The look on his face told me that it was crucial to him to stay in his human form, like it was a matter of life or death. He obviously needed to talk.

I forced myself to look away from the threat and focus on the two other men in the room for a minute. JT'S glance was hostile. His thump was flexing above the trigger. He was waiting for Gabe to give him an excuse to shoot at him. He would probably enjoy it. Although JT had the situation under control, my beast instincts wouldn't let me calm down. My yellowish eyes were jumping between the most dominant threat in the room, Gabe, and the people who were supposed to protect me. Luckily, I hadn't lost control completely, because my beast side didn't trust anyone. My brain was fighting my primitive instinct to rip everyone's head off and escape. They are your friends. That is what I kept repeating to myself over and over in a desperate attempt to convince the animal in me.

"I am here to help," Gabe's voice came out in a struggle. JT however didn't seem to be convinced. The sound of his voice made him grip his tranquilizer gun even firmer.

Gabe didn't give up, though. "Cat, they got to you! I am here to warn you"

But I didn't let him finish. I roared loudly and prepared to leap. That is when I heard his voice. Catherine. That is all he said. I stopped in my tracks. Reluctantly I turned around and cocked my head to the side. My still yellow eyes were now confused instead of angry. Why did I turn around? My beast side wanted to rip Gabe in shreds so badly. Why did I listen to his voice? Why did I hesitate? Once again my wild eyes jumped back and forth between Gabe and Vincent; between my desire to kill the other beast and my desire for the man in front of me.

"Vincent, don't!" JT's voice startled me. It was a quick reaction to Vincent's movement towards me. "She isn't in control, Vincent," JT urged again once he realized that Vincent didn't bother putting some space between me and himself. Instead he moved even closer. His movements were slow, graceful and certainly very careful. If anything like that was even possible, they were reassuring; like he wanted to demonstrate that he didn't intent any harm. He didn't want to startle me. Nevertheless, I was startled when his palm touched my face. I inhaled sharply one time, only to hold my breath after that, creating a hissing sound. He touched me. Both the animal and the human in me were mentally screaming this sentence. My beast side shouted it in alarm, ready to eliminate the threat. My human logic caused my brain to be shocked. This man touched me, when he knew I could easily kill him. I could hear his heart racing. He was obviously scared, that meant he realized the danger he was in. Still there he was, caressing my cheek with his thump while holding my face with both his hands now. I was confused. So he was trying to get killed after all? There wasn't another explanation for this behavior of his. Like he could sense my confusion, he smiled at me, looking directly in my eyes.

"I know that you won't hurt me, Catherine," he stated, "If you wanted to, you have had enough chances to do it. But you didn't. You saved my life instead. I know that you are scared. I know that you want to kill him and escape. And I know that you don't want to be captured. You have to trust me, Catherine. This man might know something helpful. We have to listen to him. I won't let him hurt you. JT is ready to pull the trigger if he tries something and I promise you that I will personally end his life if he dares betraying you."

I felt the adrenaline slowly leaving my system. My heartbeat slowed, my breathing eased and my muscles relaxed. His voice was so sincere that it immediately had an effect on me. I straightened out of my crouch while my vision became less sharp as my eyes turned hazel again. I could see the shock in JT's eyes. He was standing behind Vincent the whole time, quickly turning his head between Gabe and me, prepared to shoot the first beast that misbehaved. Now his jaw dropped. He was as shocked as I was that I didn't hurt Vincent and that he actually managed to calm me. When I turned to face Gabe I noticed that he had taken a step back. The situation that developed in front of his very eyes had startled him as well.

"How," both him and JT breathed, eyeing Vincent with a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

"There is no time for that now," I reasoned. I gave Vincent a warm glance mouthing "thank you" and turned to Gabe, "I am listening."

Gabe was caught by surprise; this whole incident was slowing his reactions. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind.

"Tess Vargas," he finally said, "the reporter who hit this mysterious woman, you. She was hired by you know who to investigate the case. She somehow got to you. I don't know the details. As soon as I heard that they knew where you are I rushed to warn you. You have to leave, Cat; now!"

"That's impossible," JT protested.

"They are planning how to capture you. I have to go back. They phoned me when I was heading here. They probably know that I discovered your address, maybe they even know that we met. I don't know, I didn't pick it up. Therefore I don't have time. They will either suspect something and rush into attacking you, or they just won't be patient enough to wait for me to check in."

"JT, gather our things. Everything that is essential to us and everything that might give away where we are planning to hide. You will take Vincent with you, they might know about him as well. You will be heading to Safe house 2," I calmly ordered. I was cold inside. The emotions and the fear would cloud my mind later. Now I had to make sure that Vincent and JT were safe. I couldn't afford panicking.

"You mean we are going," he corrected me suspiciously.

I looked away not being ready for the argument that was coming.

"NO! No, Cat! No, no, no," he realized that it wasn't a mistake. I wasn't going with them.

"I am going to stay in Safe house 1 and stay in touch with Gabe. I want to know what they know. I want to know how dangerous things are for us. I want to be able to plan our next move without putting the both of you in danger," I tried to explain.

"You can't possibly trust him, Catherine!" he looked at me like I was an alien.

"That is why the two of you are staying at another place. Just to make sure,' I smiled guiltily at him.

JT wanted to argue but he changed his mind. He realized that my decision wasn't up for discussion. Quietly but quickly he started packing everything that would be needed, destroying things that weren't essential but gave away information.

"I have to go to my apartment and grab a few things," Vincent informed me, his voice numb. He too didn't approve of my decision.

"No, it is too dangerous," I dismissed his suggestion.

"But I will need some clothes etc." he argued.

"Ok. I will stop by your apartment and grab a few things for you. Is there anything in particular that you will need?" I offered.

"Eh, a few clothes I guess. Some things for personal hygiene would be also nice. My papers and some money are in my room by my bed, you know, just in case," he said holding his keys in my direction.

"JT, hand me a new burner. I will text you the time we will be meeting at meeting point 0.2. I will bring Vincent's things and head to the safe house to wait for Gabe to contact me afterwards.'

JT nodded reluctantly and gave me a burner. "Yours is burner 1, Catherine. Mine is 2 and Vincent will have number 3 in case we get separated somehow. The phone numbers are registered in every phone under the number I told you. Here is a second one to contact, Gabe. Gabe here you go. Catherine's number isn't registered, but she has yours," he explained to everyone.

I nodded simply and made my way out of the warehouse.

"Wait, you need my address," Vincent remembered. I simply shook my head and exited; Gabe following me closely.

My greatest fear was coming true. These might be my last hours to live. With this thoughts I gave Gabe a glance asking myself if it was a smart thing to trust him or if I would be paying it with my life.

I know that my chapters are quite short given the time you guys have to wait. I just hope they are enough to keep you interested.

I was very happy to see new people reading and following my story. I don't live for the reviews but I am always glad to have plenty of them. I want to know your opinion. Additionally it pushes me to find time to update. So give me some feedback, guys, whether you are reading from the very beginning or have just discovered the story. It is also very interesting to see how people who have liked the story in the first chapters, think about it now. I would also like to thank my regular reviewers, who support me and understand my lack of time. I also hope to hear from the once regular reviewers that went silent. I like to think that it is due to lack of time as well and I didn't actually lose you guys. :)

Catherine will succumb to passion in the near future. Gabe will do something he will regret and JT will need to convince Vincent not to go after Catherine. Will Tess be the end of Catherine or will she realize what her bosses are up to?