"Catherine!"

His roaring scream of despair woke him up and his suddenly wide open eyes slowly focused on Father's worried face.

"Vincent, it's all right! It was only a dream, you've had another of your nightmares!"

He sat up on his bed, shuddering. A dream, was it only a dream? He could still feel the weight of Catherine's limp body in his arms as life slipped away from her, hear the faint sound of her voice as she whispered her last words. During his recovery, his nights had been troubled by frequent and vivid nightmares, but none that could compare to this.

Suddenly he realized Father and he weren't alone in the chamber. When he met Narcissa's eyes, he knew it had been no ordinary dream. A cold and dark wave of fear swept over him, leaving him with only one thought, one single-minded urgency: he had to see Catherine, if only to make sure she was safe. He had to find Catherine, right now!

"Oh God, Joe! What..?"

"We don't have much time, Kiddo, they've given me a sedative. Look in my briefcase. See the black book? You take it and go hide somewhere!"

"Joe, what...?"

"Listen, Radcliffe, it's hot stuff! Lost a friend because of it today, don't want to lose another. So you don't try to do anything about it, not before I've figured out just how big the whole thing is. Don't trust anybody! Do you have a place you can go to, somewhere safe, that can't be connected with you? I could give you a few names, but I'm not even sure."

"Don't worry, Joe. I know where to go. A place where I can't be found."

"I thought so." he said with a weak smile

That startled her. "Joe, what do you mean?"

"Cathy, sometimes you just seem to disappear, nobody knows where you are. I don't know what's so special with that place you go to, but it's exactly what you need right now." He looked straight into her eyes and added. "That and someone strong to watch over you."

She gasped. "Joe!"

He was making an effort to stay awake.

"Weird details in some of your cases, Radcliffe ... all the times you should have gotten yourself killed but somehow got out of it ... bad guys' bodies with the same strange forensic evidence ... as if someone ... or something had been around protecting you ..."

"Joe."

"Shh, Cathy, I don't want to know. I trust you and right now you can use that kind of protection.Don't reappear before I tell you.How ...?"

"Peter Alcott, my doctor... no, forget about him, he could be connected with me. I'll let you know of a safer way."

"Just be careful, Kiddo." He could not fight sleep any longer and his eyes closed. She bent and kissed his cheek.

"Be well, Joe, take care."

Going out of the room she nearly bumped into someone and gasped.

"Jamie, what's wrong? Has anything happened?"

"Catherine, you must come with me, you're in danger!" Jamie whispered urgently.

"Yes, I know, but how do you...?"

"Later! Just come, Vincent is waiting!"

Somewhat mystified, Catherine followed the girl down several flight of stairs, to the subbasement of the hospital. In a remote, obviously seldom used, storage room, Jamie pushed a few wooden cases out of the way and banged on a rusty iron door which opened with a creak, revealing a tall shape.

"Catherine!" She flew into his waiting arms and he almost crushed her in a fierce embrace. "Oh Catherine, you are here, you are safe, I was so afraid!"

She pulled away slightly to look at him, puzzled. "But why, Vincent, why were you afraid? How could you know I was in danger before I knew it myself. The bond? Has the bond...?"

"No. Or maybe in some new way. I had a dream, Catherine."

"Close the door, Vincent." Jamie interrupted. "I'll push the boxes back into place and come Below through another entrance."

"Better not, Jamie!" Catherine warned. You've asked for Joe's room and been seen leaving with me. It would be wiser to stay Below until all this is over."

"All what?"

"I'll explain later, just try to pull these boxes as close as possible, and come with us."

"One of our Helpers works here, he'll come and put them back if we ask him."

"OK, then let's go!"

Jamie tapped a short message on the pipes to announce their return, and they set on their way, Vincent had his arm around Catherine's shoulders and held her tight, reluctant to lose contact with the comforting reality of her. She boldly ventured her arm under his cloak to circle his waist, and was delighted when his only reaction was to pull her closer. He was usually so careful never to show any possessiveness toward her. He must have been very scared indeed!

"Now Vincent, will you tell me what this is all about?"

"Are you really in danger, Catherine?"

"I might have been if I had stayed Above. Joe gave me a book." She felt Vincent's arm stiffen, but he said nothing and she went on. "Highly sensitive stuff. He told me to do absolutely nothing. Just hide somewhere safe and wait till he figures things out."

Vincent frowned. "How could he put you in such danger?"

"I think I'm the only one he really trusts and he seemed to know I had a safe place to go to."

"How can that be?"

"Joe's not stupid, Vincent, and he cares for me. He was bound to notice that sometimes I just vanish out of sight. He assumed I must go somewhere my usual friends and acquaintances don't know about, a place I keep secret for some reasons of mine. He said such a place was 'just what I needed right now'."

She noticed Jamie was listening intently and saved the part about her "protector" for later, when she would be alone with Vincent.

"Now tell me about that dream, Vincent!"

She felt him shudder. "It was devastating, Catherine, and it felt so real! In my dream Joe did give you a book, but before you could get Below you were kidnapped and locked up somewhere. I kept searching for you everywhere, for months, but without our bond to help me I found you too late..."he stopped to look at her with tears in his eyes, and his voice broke "...only to see you..die... in my arms. Oh, Catherine!"

She snuggled closer to him. "It's all right, Vincent, I'm here now! It was only a dream!" She felt a light kiss on the top of her head and he went on, his voice still hoarse with emotion.

"I woke up screaming to find Narcissa standing near my bed. She said that a vision had brought her to me, that my dream was a warning about what could be. She urged me to bring you Below as soon as I could. Father was reluctant to believe her, as usual, but I knew better. We were going to send everyone in search for you, then Jamie arrived with your message about Joe. Fortunately the hospital has a tunnel access, and we were able to reach you in time."

"I'm glad you did. All this is beginning to really scare me!"

"You will listen to what Joe told you, and not try anything, promise me, Catherine!"

She smiled, Vincent knew very well how stubborn she could get when her job was involved, but this time she would take no risk. She might have been careless with her life in the past, but now she had another life to care about . She surreptitiously put her free hand on her stomach. Certainly she would do nothing that could endanger her baby, Vincent's baby. How was he going to react when she told him? It probably would scare him silly at first ... but she believed he would finally overcome his fears, and be as happy as she was.

"Don't worry, Vincent, I won't do anything about that book. Cathy Chandler, A.D.A. didn't come down to the tunnels. I'll just be Catherine, a woman of Below. I'll help Rebecca with the candles, read to the children, play chess with Father and walk to the Chamber of the Falls with you. And it will be heaven! Joe will let me know when he wants his book back."

"How will he do that?" Jamie inquired suspiciously.

"We must provide him with a safe way. Joe can be trusted, Jamie. And Peter should be warned not to come Below. As one of my friends, he might be watched."

Vincent had not really been listening to that last exchange, still under the spell of what Catherine had said before. She had described herself as a woman of Below, and compared the life there to heaven. Could she really have meant it? After his terrible dream, there was nothing he could want more than to keep her Below forever, safe under his vigilant guard. And he discovered he was not afraid any more of what could happen between them if he had her that close to him for a long time. The devastating sense of loss that had torn his soul when he had seen her die was still too present in his mind to leave any room for another fear. He tightened his arm around her warm, supple body. She was alive! She was alive and she could be his, he had known it for long now, though it was the first time he admitted it to himself. Not only did Catherine love him, she wanted him! Even without the bond to convey her feelings, her desire could be clearly seen in her eyes. If he asked her, she would gladly come to his arms, to his bed, and forsake her life Above to stay with him forever. He only had to ask. Just a few hours before, he wouldn't have allowed himself to even consider this possibility, but now he lingered on it. She was alive, yes, and so was he.

Part 2