Third Time's the Charm

III.

The third time he meets her, it's for real.

...

The morning after he saves her, he wakes up at home with a pounding headache and no recollection of the past twelve hours. The last thing he remembers is tracking the Muirfield agents...an old bar...gunshots...then a scream.

He splashes cold water in his face and grips his hands on the sink. In the mirror, he sees bloodshot eyes, pale skin. There are dark stains on his shirt, blood, judging by the faint copper smell. He's not sure which worries him more - that it might be his or the chance that it's not.

A door creaks open and JT's voice travels up the stairs, along with the sound of his pounding feet. What the hell did you do last night?

He turns in surprise. What are you talking about?

JT sets his coffee down and tosses a newspaper onto the table. I'm talking about this, he opens the paper to an inside spread. The headline makes his heart stop cold.

Murder Victim's Daughter Claims "Beast" Saved Her.

What the hell did he do last night?

The chair scrapes across the floor as he pulls it out and takes a seat. He picks up the paper in his hands, his eyes falling to the photo. The woman looks shaken, like she's seen things. What has she seen?

He scans over the article quickly and sighs in relief. She hasn't seen anything, at least, nothing that could expose him. He sets the paper down, but a word catches his eye. A name. Catherine. His eyes go back to the photo and he studies it carefully. He knows that name. He knows that face.

He's never remembered anything from a blackout before, but somehow, he remembers her.

Brushing off JT's questions with a casual, everything's fine, he tears out the page and goes over to the computer. It's not hard to track her down, and within seconds, he's found out more about her than he's comfortable knowing. Her birthday is coming up soon, he notices, and despite what logic says - that he can't get involved, that it's too dangerous, too risky - he feels he should pay her a visit.

He wants to check up on her, make sure she's okay - he used to be a doctor, after all - but it's more than that. He feels responsible for her. It was her mother he was tracking that night, it was her mother he failed to protect. He won't fail her too. He can't.

He scribbles her address on a piece of paper and circles her birthday on the calendar. When the day arrives, he shoves the paper in his pocket and grabs a jacket. JT stops him as he heads down the stairs. Where are you going?

He pulls his hood over his head and opens the door. I have a promise to keep.

...

It's evening by the time he reaches her house, but it's easy to spot, even in the dark. There are balloons wrapped around the mailbox and he can hear music coming from inside. He looks up and down the street - it's empty - and moves closer to the house, peering into the living room window. It's full of people, chatting, laughing, dancing. He spots her in the middle. She looks happy.

He exhales. That was all he wanted to know, that was all he needed to know. He turns to leave, and at the same time, she excuses herself from her friends. He looks back and sees her walk upstairs, hears a door close upstairs. Blocking out the sound of the party, he makes out the sound of her shuffling feet, then silence.

He's completely unprepared for what he hears next - crying. Quiet, choking sobs, a sound so heart-wrenching he wishes he couldn't hear it. He wishes he had left when she was still happy.

He came here to make sure she was okay, but he never expected, never wanted, to see her so broken. Turning away, he walks back down the street, the sound of her cries getting softer and softer.

He had never planned on visiting her again after that night, but the sound of her cries stays with him, and that's not how he wants to remember her. He wants to hear her laugh.

One year later, he finds himself outside her house again. She's on her way out with friends and they all pile into a car and drive off. The year after that, there are boxes everywhere - she's moving. She looks better this time, but he feels panic rise in his throat. He's not ready to say goodbye.

It takes him some time, but he finds her again, and the next year, she's not renting a house with roommates, she has her own apartment. The space is smaller, but the party isn't, with streamers, balloons, and confetti everywhere, and music blasting until the neighbors yell at them to turn it down.

Every year, it's a party, and every year, he watches from outside. Over time, she looks happier and happier, and one year, he finally hears her laugh. It sounds exactly as he hoped it would - bright, full of life. After hearing that sound, he's finally ready to let go.

He turns and walks away, her name, her face, the sound of her laughter etched into his memory.

Happy Birthday, Catherine, he says into the night.

Goodbye.

...

And that should be the end of it. That should be the last time. But life never goes the way it should, not for him, not for her, and many months later, it's her showing up at his house, peeking into his windows. Many months later, it's her tracking him.

He hears tires against the gravel one day and sees a black SUV stop in front of the gate. Two women step out, and even though the wind blows their hair into their faces, he knows one of them is Catherine. His heart skips a beat.

Catherine. Here.

He pulls back from the window. She shouldn't be here. He had said goodbye, he had let her go. He isn't supposed to see her again, but here she is, walking up to his door.

How did she find him? How did she even know to look?

She steps inside and he hears her feet on the ground, her voice filling the silence. He pinches himself and wonders if she's real.

(A few nights later, she puts her hand on his cheek, and he feels that she is.)

After a brief interrogation of JT, she and her partner leave. He watches her walk away and wonders if this will be the last time. Then she turns her head back, looking for something - for him - and he knows it's not. There's a look in her eyes that says she'll be back.

Sure enough, a few days later, while JT is out, her car pulls up and she steps out again. This time, she's alone. She comes in even though she hasn't been invited, and he would laugh at the fact that she's breaking and entering if he weren't so worried about being discovered.

She makes her way upstairs and it's too late for him to hide, so he steps, just enough, into the light. Just enough for her to see.

Her eyes grow wide and he remembers that look on her face. It's the same look she had that night in the woods, the first time she saw him.

You're Vincent Keller, she says, lowering her gun.

And you're Catherine Chandler, he wants to say, but doesn't.

She stares at him and he stares back. There's recognition in both their eyes.

Vincent.

Catherine.

And that was the third time.

...

Vincent meets Catherine for the first time three times over the course of eleven years. The first time, it's her photograph. The second time, he's not himself. But the third time, the third time's the charm.

Because the third time he meets her, their story finally begins.

...

Fin.