Leader of the pack

Prologue

Catherine and Heather had accompanied Tess to the Hospital, and JT went with Harold and Jeremy, who they felt they should give a summary physical exam just to be on the safe side. Agent Carson and Levy had been and gone to retrieve Matthew's body and even clean up some of the mess it left behind, just in case, they said. Vincent found himself alone for the first time in a while, and he welcomed this occasion to reflect. Just a little over a week ago, he thought himself the only beast left, as far as he knew. The agents had spoken of other dangerous creatures of course, but at the time, they had intimated that those weren't like him. Now, not only was this little delusion busted, but he was in love with one. What the future held was now in flux. Particularly that one very big part of his strange destiny had been resolved this very day.

More than this, it now appeared he had a higher purpose of sort, although in the privacy of his thoughts, he truly marveled at the fact that THAT was the big purpose. But then, if it was going to help the world. What a side benefit…! A self-satisfied smile graced his features at the thought. That part of it he hadn't discussed with Catherine as of yet, and he wondered what she would make of this new development. Particularly in light of how freaked out he had been the one time she thought she might be pregnant. For now though, he only hoped to enjoy the little peace they might glean in between crisis, as he suspected they weren't out of those either.

Leader of a pack…now that one had thrown him for a spin. He had always been a little awkward in crowds as it was. How in the hell was he going to deal with not only people, but beasts…Truthfully, the only way he had ever mostly known to deal with them so far had been terminal. He knew now he would have to be a little more comprehensive in his approach, but frankly Vincent still couldn't imagine himself in that situation. Hopefully, Catherine would be of some help for that too.

Suddenly, Vincent decided that solitude may not have been what he aspired to after all and he became agitated. Another recent development, that one was. Until he started his relationship with Catherine, he was content to spend most of his time alone or with JT...But now, only a couple years into this new life with Catherine, he wondered how he would ever feel if he found himself alone again, or at the very least, without Catherine… He even had friends now again now, a big change after all those years of isolation.

He began to wonder when Catherine would be back and paced the length of the empty lab back and forth, almost ready to bolt. After passing the same spot a few times, the one where Jeremy had stood just at the moment where Ezekiel ended him, an image came unbidden. The alien in his body had grabbed the gun from Jeremy and thrown it away. When he looked on the other side of the room he remembered Agent Carson picking it up and that at least wasn't a problem, but something else was bugging him about that moment and he thought back and distinctly saw the syringe in Jeremy's hand and then there was none. He was certain Ezekiel didn't take the syringe himself. Then he remembered Jeremy dropping the thing and it rolling under the table. He couldn't believe they'd all forgotten about this devilish serum.

Bending under the table, he looked and looked but he couldn't find it there or even further in the lab. Worry started gnawing at him. He tried to find a calm center and tracked the scene again. There it was, Jeremy losing the gun to him and his eyes widening at the revelation of who was truly inhabiting him. The shock caused Jeremy to loosen his hold on the syringe just as Vincent remembered. Then he followed the instrument, seeing it going to rest near one of the table's legs, intact. Then a hand appeared, white, manly… His senses followed the syringe as it was picked up and he found himself looking straight at…Agent Levy. But what really spooked Vincent is that the man seemed to be looking straight back at him with a smile filled with hidden meaning, as if he wanted Vincent to see him take what he considered a weapon.

The doubts about the whereabouts of the serum soon overcame his reasoning that he must be imagining things. Vincent went out, pulling his cell as he went, dialing agent Carson's number as soon as he got a signal. The agent answered on the second ring. Without preamble, Vincent asked, "Is agent Levy with you?"

"No, he went straight home after we were done with...the disposal."

"Right," Vincent replied, uneasy with the euphemism. "I was only wondering what he did with the serum."

"Serum? I thought you disposed of the syringe..."

"No," Vincent trailed with increasing suspicion. "Agent Levy picked it up."

The long silence at the other end said it all. Suddenly, the peace of mind he had experienced only moments before was replaced by one of dread and the brighter future he had envisaged darkened considerably.

Chapter I

Vincent paced impatiently, seething not for the first time in the past two months. They'd been back at the country house for a couple days now and a phone call had once again shattered their blissful moment of peace.

"Would you please stop that," Catherine tried for the third time in the past fifteen minutes. "Why are you getting so worked up?"

Vincent instantly stopped but the expression on his face told her she was in for it. "As if you couldn't remember the last time this dumb beast came to us."

"I don't think Claude is the real problem."

"Seriously? And please don't."

"Don't what."

"I think you enjoy this reasonable role a little too much."

"You know I'm just trying to help and if you weren't so unnerved you'd see it for what it is. Besides you know what you should do."

"If I turn it off I'll kill him!" He exclaimed, returning to his nervous pacing.

"I believe eventually you'll do something you'll regret if you don't deal with this decisively now."

"What would you have me do? Try scaring him into submission? I don't see how confronting the idiot will help in any way…besides I already tried…" Vincent replied unhappily, resuming his pacing.

"If you get really angry with him, you might not stop at scaring him, that's what worries me. And then where will you be if you kill him?"

Vincent stopped pacing again to regard Catherine wonderingly. "Is it really bad that I'm thinking I'd be free...?"

He dropped heavily beside her on the love seat they'd added themselves to the den after finding out that none of the pretty things her father left her were in any way as comfy as that new chair. Sophistication be damned. As was her habit, she nestled in his arms, trying to communicate as much calm to him as she could. However Catherine was very aware that Vincent was nearing a dangerous level of stress. "I know you don't want to hear this but I don't think this device is good for you."

"It's kept me from beasting out so far and that's really the only way I can deal with these people without hurting them."

"Ever wondered how your predecessor was doing it?"

"Catherine! You don't really want me to go there now..."

"Sorry, I think your problem is starting to rub on me. But seriously, you can let them run you in circles like that. I'm no expert but I don't think you're gaining their respect by doing exactly what they want..."

"Are you done?" Vincent had pulled back from her and she could feel true resentment coming from him to her utter dismay.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am," She brusquely replied, standing up at this, "I'm gonna call Tess, and arrange for a girls night out and leave you to your nervous breakdown. Remember if there's any blood on the carpet it's on you."

"You're gonna abandon me on our weekend?"

"You're not seeing the big picture here...I'm saving your hide. From me!" Catherine replied tensely.

Without another word she ran off without even giving him a chance to reply. He could track her for miles, but then she'd sense him coming from even further. Besides, although they occasionally enjoyed that game, Vincent knew that this certainly wasn't one of those times. He had to admit to himself that lately he'd been a total ass to Catherine but he just couldn't deal with all that everyone threw his way. On the one hand, he was getting the stuff from the John Reynolds society who regularly found more tricky problems for him to help with, but had it only been that, he could've dealt. It was that and the beast 'duties' as they called them, which for the most part required him to deal with big bad babies with tantrums that often got him close to have one of his own.

An hour later, he confirmed his suspicions about the problem.
"I swear, boss," A giant of a man called Claude Leblanc was saying, "I tried to do as you suggested and I talked to them first."

"The plan," Vincent replied with barely contained fury, "the plan was for you to ONLY talk to them!"

"But," Claude started, apparently oblivious to Vincent's mood, "I tried, I swear…They just wouldn't budge."

"Now let me get this straight…you went to have your car repaired and the mechanics disagreed with you on the price…Is that it?"

"The mechanics, I don't really know boss. Although they were with that asshole of a parts manager when it happened..."

"And how many people were there?"

"I counted…four I think." Claude replied, still apparently completely unaware of the effect he had on Vincent.

"You think!" This time, Vincent was sure the dampening field of the emitter wouldn't be able to contain him any longer. Every atom in his body was screaming to be released and he actually went for the device discreetly hidden in a pocket inside his vest but stopped short of turning it off when Claude started talking again.

"You know boss, I admire you so much! I mean, I could never stop myself the way you do. These guys they really were in my face but now…"

With a supreme effort, Vincent said, "Ok…what did they see exactly and how much…damage did you do? Also, please stop calling me boss…"

"I get it bo…Mr. Keller," Claude replied in a slightly more subdued manner. "You'll be proud of me for one thing. No dead…just a little hurt. But one of them has called the cops and told them some monster went at him…I spent the night in the slammer and I controlled myself perfectly!" Claude actually smiled proudly at this, and Vincent wanted to wipe the grin off his face so bad, he had to turn his back on him and head for the discreet bar that Reynolds had installed in the study Vincent and his visitor stood in.

"Right! So, I guess we'll call Agent Carson with the usual request."

"Thing is bo…Mr. Keller," Claude started, "I already called them like you suggested I did before…they said I should come to you because they had… what were the words they used? Exhausted all their chips on me and that I should come to you directly."

"Of course they did," Vincent growled under his breath. After he'd dealt with this, Vincent promised himself the next thing he'd do would be to have a talk with the agent.

Tess was lounging cat like in one of the big comfy chairs in her living room. Catherine had elected to sit on the couch and was sipping a drink of Tess' confection. A favorite of hers with bourbon as a base ingredient…The burn of the strong alcohol felt oddly comforting as it went down. She realized then that she really had needed a break. Her only problem at the moment was the view. Although Catherine loved her friend dearly, looking around her living room felt more like living inside a photo album, and sometimes she was a little embarrassed at all the pictures of herself surrounding her. Recently Tess had, thankfully, been replacing some of hers with those of her new best friend and lover. Still, there were a few that brought back real sweet memories and they all spoke of how deeply Tess cared, so that Catherine always refrained from telling her the way she felt about them.

"So you're saying he's driving you bunkers?" Tess was asking. "And there I thought destined love meant happily ever after."

"First off, nobody is perfect. Us less than most and you know that…"

"Come on sweetie, don't sell yourself short. Anyone would want to be loved like that."

"You got that too, don't you?"

Tess sighed deeply at this and Catherine could see that something was troubling her. Tess confirmed her suspicions with her next words, "How much time have you spent with JT lately?"

Catherine actually felt bad about that. The past few weeks they had barely had time for each other, let alone any to visit friends. "Definitely not as much as we'd like. You know how busy we are at work and Vincent's been so absorbed with his new responsibilities..."

"Well, if you'd tried you might've hit a wall. He's been burying himself in the research he's doing with Harold. Honestly those two are fast becoming inseparable. You think it's because he misses the company of other guys since you two...?"

"I'm sure it's just a phase. After all, he is researching his own problem and they're both brilliant researchers to boot. But doesn't he spend time with you?"

"It's not that we don't get together often, it's just that when we do, I see he's never completely with me. He's so worried about not only the medication he has to take just to go to sleep but also about the problem Jeremy created before he...well…changed."

"You know that we're working on it from our end as well. I mean agent Levy's disappearing act has us all worried but so far, nothing has come of it. Vincent is even wondering if he misread the whole thing."

"Well he sure didn't imagine Agent Levy up and leaving without a word. JT is worried that whatever was in that syringe might be the start of a new Muirfield or worse. He and Harold are working overtime to find a way to counter the effects but so far, they've only got mixed results."

"Are they seriously trying to redo the serum?"

"Yeah with the little help Jeremy can provide, but only so they can find the antidote."

"I don't think Jeremy told Vincent about it. And that won't help his cause since Vincent is still very suspicious of him and frankly I can't blame him…"

"Maybe you shouldn't tell Vincent about that, Cat. If JT chose not to, I'm not certain it's a good idea for you to get between these guys. From what you're telling me, your man doesn't need more stress anyway and JT assures me everything is fine on Jeremy's front."

"You know Vincent and I have promised never to keep anything from each other again, don't you?"

"Sometimes Cat, a little white lie goes a long way towards peace and harmony."

"So that's your secret?" Catherine asked with an amused expression.

"My motto is preach, don't do," Tess replied with a self-deprecating smile. Meanwhile, let's toast to us girls and leave those guys' problems behind for one night. What do you say?"

"And how many toasts are we talking about here?" Catherine added with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Hum, let's just say that now I understand why I always lost at this game and I'm not playing it anymore. Too many hangovers already."

"Wow, Tess is getting reasonable! What should I do to change that?"

"Wait till you see what I've got planned for tonight and we'll see who's reasonable here," Tess mocked protested. "Also make sure you adjust that thingy right! Wouldn't want you to have too much fun!"

"Hey!" Catherine exclaimed.

Later that night while going back to the country house, Catherine was smiling contentedly, recalling the highlights of the night. She was particularly amused at the fact that she had to put Tess to bed after they played the drinking game again. After the first few glasses, Tess had managed to convince herself once again that a girl raised with all those boys could hold her liquor with the best of them.

Before that, throughout the evening they'd both had to fend off offers ranging from simple dances to the most outrageous propositions and although neither of them were in any way interested, it was nice to know they still had IT.

She was still bathing in the haze of pleasantness even as she drove up the long driveway to their new place. Then as she was parking the car Catherine felt a twinge of guilt, particularly remembering how she'd left things that afternoon. The house was mostly dark except for a light in the entrance, which she assumed Vincent had thoughtfully left for her. However, she was a little disappointed that he hadn't waited up for her, even though she knew that wasn't fair.

Catherine became uneasy when she found the house eerily quiet and for a brief moment she feared her bad joke of the afternoon might've come to pass but with an awful outcome. Immediately she opened her senses and relief flooded through her when she heard Vincent's calm heartbeat. In fact, she could sense that he was calmer than he'd been in days. She found him reclining on the loveseat, wide awake as she had expected but the sight of her seemed to have the reverse effect to what she had sensed only seconds ago. His heart raced but not out of any kind of desire. Coupled with the guilty look he gave her she knew right away he felt really bad for some reason. "What did you do," Catherine asked warily.

"I did what you said..."

"And..."

"Well you were right about me feeling better..." He trailed.

"I'm afraid to ask where I went wrong."

"If you wonder about Claude, he left in one piece..." The thought of the problem beast momentarily seemed to bring back the feistiness of the afternoon, "although I'm still debating whether to cut him into little chunks and feed him to the pigs."

"Vincent!" Catherine exclaimed indignantly.

"Alright, he's fine...but it was a comforting image nevertheless."

Catherine sighed deeply before asking, "Ok, then if Claude's fine...what isn't?"

Right away the remorseful expression returned as Vincent confessed, "Hum...your study." As he said so, he turned towards her father's former office/study.

"My what?" Catherine followed Vincent's gaze and saw right away that something was amiss with the room, the lack of a door, which Catherine found embedded in the opposite wall of the study, being the first sign. That was only the tip of the demolition derby that took place in that room however. The fancy wallpaper that used to hang on the walls was now ripped to shreds, either hanging off in strips or frankly torn off, and one of the walls even sported a gaping hole looking into an adjacent guestroom. Not a single piece of furniture remained standing and Catherine soon realized that a number of the pieces had found a new home in the backyard through the shattered bay window. There was glass everywhere, so much so she wondered how he didn't wound up all cut up.

Vincent watched her with more than a little apprehension. He would've preferred she'd scream at him but instead, he felt a sudden surge of emotions coming from her while he noticed her shoulders shaking violently. "Catherine you're not crying right? You know I'll pay for it."

If anything what he said only seemed to increase her apparent inner turmoil. He was about to try and apologize further when Catherine finally couldn't contain herself anymore and she burst out laughing so hard it took him a second to understand that's what it was. Then she turned back to him almost bent in two, feeling the pain in her belly so hard she was laughing.

"So...not mad then," Vincent said as a hesitant smile came unbidden, the contagious nature of her reaction evident. "It's not that funny though, Catherine."

"Well, it's always nice to know when one's right…" She managed between fits of laughter.

Catherine was trying to catch her breath back but every time she looked at Vincent, another bout of laughter started. "Catherine, come on," Vincent said a little testily.

"Alright, alright..." she valiantly tried but it was all she could do not to burst out laughing again. "Funny," she began between halting breaths, "Weren't we just talking about redecorating...?"

"Right," Vincent answered hesitantly.

"Ok," Catherine finally managed to control her hilarity as she moved toward him suggestively, "here's how it's gonna be."

Now Vincent felt aroused rather than contrite but he also suspected the anvil might be about to fall. "How much is that gonna set me back?"

"Well... you do want to please me don't you?"

"Ouch!"

The next day, Vincent visited with JT and when he told him what happened, the man was beside himself. "You lucky bastard!"

"Hey, define lucky. Yeah that was great, but I'm still stuck putting out fires left and right. Also now, I have to build a genuine Dojo in the former study."

"Is Catherine aware that you're positively allergic to hammers and nails?" JT asked with, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Well, when I say I'm building it, I actually meant I'm having it built…"

"I still say lucky bastard! I can't imagine what would happen to me if I destroyed part of my girlfriend's place but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't involve the words fun and bedroom ever. Matter of fact, I'm rather convinced at that point I might as well take a vow of celibacy!"

"Tess isn't that bad."

"You're kidding? I love the woman and all, but sometimes she scares the bejesus out of me!"

"Come on, she's the most caring woman I know besides Catherine."

"Caring maybe…forgiving I'm not so sure…but right now, I'd rather talk about you groveling to some greedy mechanics..."

"Didn't I mention earlier that I nearly destroyed Catherine's house because of that?"

"And...?"

"Can you imagine what I might do next if I hear the words mechanics and groveling in one sentence again?" Vincent said only half-jokingly.

JT stared at his friend in astonishment, "ok when I heard you were going over the edge I thought Tess was exaggerating but now I can see maybe she really wasn't."

"Where did she get that?"

"I'll give you three guesses...you really shouldn't blame Catherine. She's just worried about you." "Well then I guess she won't mind me repeating what Tess said about you..."

"Which is," JT wondered uneasily.

"Are you two having problems?"

"Is that what she said?"

"No, its just I know you. You wouldn't keep her at a distance if everything was fine."

JT sighed deeply. "It's got nothing to do with how I feel, trust me. Ever since they gave me those damned pills I haven't been myself. More and more I can't seem to think straight."

"You know why you got to take them, JT. If you and Harold can't find a way to return you to normal...Not sleeping is a serious issue! Besides, I think you're exaggerating here. You're still pretty much the smartest guy I know."

"Hum...you're buttering it on thick...what do you need?"

"Why do you always assume...?"

"Cause I know you and that's ok. Glad to help. I think I need a little distraction anyway."

"You sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure but I think it's really time I charged you for all that advice."

"You know… might not be such a stupid idea. My accountant said I should incorporate and stuff."

"Now let me just picture this...you and your accountant... what did he suggest as a name? Beast Inc.?"

"Very funny," Vincent replied, faking outrage. "Just for that I should duck your pay!"

"Right," JT answered. "All kidding aside, what did you need?"

"Honestly JT, I don't know what I'm doing..." When Vincent saw the look on his friend's face he knew right away that Tess hadn't been the only one talking about his problem. "What do you know?"

"Well the people at the agency, they're worried. They thought you only needed some time to adjust but they've been extinguishing fires left and right for the past two months. Those beasts of yours..."

Vincent interrupted irritably, "they're not my beasts. I didn't ask for this."

"Maybe your problem is you worry too much about what you are…Don't you remember when we were young? You always knew how to bring people together…I don't know. Give a few of your trouble makers a night on the town. Figure what makes them tick!"

"Honestly JT, I'm not sure I even remember how to do that. But mostly, I'm afraid the little I managed to accomplish so far would be blown out of the water the moment these guys let loose."

"Of course you could always make a stand. Show them who's the boss…"

"Please don't use that word. I can still hear Claude calling me that while whining about his issues…"

"Those issues include a mechanics?" JT smiled teasingly.

"JT!"

"Ah relax Vince. I think maybe the taking the beasts out on the town is a little much for now but how about I take one? I think you could use fun that doesn't involve a bedroom or running in the woods…"

"And you suggest," Vincent questioned while smiling at his old friend.

"Let's go see if there's a limit to your not getting drunk thing. Oh and Vince, how about you leave this toy at home?" JT indicated the vest pocket, which he knew contained the dampening device,

"I don't think you'll need it at all."

Vincent hesitated a long beat before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the small emitter. "You're sure? I mean, what if I'm having too much fun?"

"You're kidding? I'm counting on it…"

Vincent frowned a little but somehow the idea of an evening free of worry was irresistible. "Alright, but I warn you, that's gonna take a lot of booze!"

"Let's make it an experiment and then you can put that in as research expense on your Beast Inc. corporate account…"

Vincent shook his head in mocked disbelief but the smile that accompanied it was genuine.

On Monday morning, Catherine had not heard from Vincent since the day before but she wasn't exaggeratedly worried, since he'd told her JT and he were going out to blow some steam the night before. In fact, she figured he'd crashed at his friend's and JT almost always had a calming effect on Vincent. When he hadn't answered her call, she'd wondered a little but she figured maybe he'd turned down the volume on the phone.

Meanwhile, upon reaching the precinct she worked at with Tess, she was told that her partner was already at the scene of a murder. After taking down the exact address, she headed there right away. She'd called Tess ahead and her friend was waiting for her in the street in front of a large building claiming to be an electronic manufacture. As she had assumed, the coroner had established that the body had been dumped there during the night but that death had most likely occurred somewhere else at or around 9:30 on the preceding evening. The whole thing sounded rather like routine as usual but Catherine immediately sensed an unusual tension in her habitually laid back friend. "What is it?" She asked curiously.

"Well…you got your little toy with you right?"

"Always but I've not had to use it much lately. Why?"

"I'd suggest you turn it on now, Cat."

"Oh come on, Tess, I've seen pretty awful crime scenes before. It's been a while since I've reacted badly to one."

"Could you humor me?"

Catherine eyed her partner uncertainly. For the space of a moment she thought back to the fact that she'd been unable to reach Vincent but she chastised herself right away. Even if something had happened to him, god forbid, Tess wouldn't have let her walk in on the body without telling her. If she'd even let her get near him in the first place. So what could be so unnerving, according to Tess, that she'd suspect it was going to make her react badly?
The answer to that, she found out, was twofold. The moment she got behind the building she saw Agent Carson standing back but still watching the proceedings with acute interest. Already, that put Catherine seriously ill at ease. She met the agent's eyes but this one only nodded without saying anything, probably thinking it was better they played it cool in the company of other officers. The second shock actually got her grateful for the little dampener. When the coroner pulled back the sheet from the body at her request, her face must have blanched because the coroner actually inquired if she was alright. Claude Leblanc, or what was left of him, was lying on his back, his face and torso half destroyed by multiple slashes. One part of her mind clinically approved of the coroner's conclusion about the body having been moved. There was little or no blood around the body which definitely made it only a secondary crime scene. This came in as the detective detached part of her mind processed what she saw, while the other half of her was inwardly screaming in fear of what might really have happened to the beast.

Discreetly, Tess grabbed her partner's arm and pulled her away from prying ears. "Agent Carson here tells me that this guy was one of the difficult cases your boyfriend's had to deal with. Is that true?"

Catherine didn't trust herself to answer and instead she left the scene, intent on trying to reach Vincent again. After her third unfruitful attempt, the dam she had erected around her mounting panic began to crack.