Terror Twins, Inc.

34/?

Bree opened the door to her home, her eyes widening when she saw Alex Vartann on the other side. “Alex.”

He looked tired – and nervous. “We need to talk.”

She was silent as she opened the door wider and let him in. They both made their way into the living room and sat opposite each other.

“I know I hurt you,” he began. “And I’m really sorry. But when I came, I was doing my job. And then when I met you, everything changed.”

“What about sleeping with me? That wasn’t part of the job?”

“No,” Alex said firmly. “Bree, I didn’t expect to fall in love when I came here, but I did. And I wanted to tell you what I did, but I couldn’t – not until we caught the murderer.”

“Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”

He shook his head. “Everything I told you, except about my job and why I was here, is all true.”

“What about Gil and Catherine? Are they cops too?”

“No. They’re criminalists. They sift through and interpret all the evidence.” Alex paused and decided he had to be completely honest with her. “They’re not married, either. Or at least they weren’t before they came here. It seems things have changed between them.”

“And their friends Sofia and Jim?”

“Detectives. Jim is a captain.”

Bree nodded. “And they’re trying to catch Rex’s killer?”

“Yeah. They’ve been working the case since they arrived.”

She took a deep breath. “Was I ever considered a suspect?”

“I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know.” He smiled. “I can assure you that you aren’t now.”

“Well that’s a relief.”

Alex leaned forward in the chair. “What about us, Bree?”

She looked at him.

“I don’t want to lose what we have. I love you, and I want to be with you.”

Bree’s eyes closed momentarily. She loved him, of that she was sure, but she couldn’t so easily dismiss the lies that had existed between them. Her eyes opened. “Give me time, Alex. Please.”

He looked like he was going to fall apart. “How much?”

“Just a couple of days.” She felt her heart break at his expression. “Please, Alex. I’ve been hurt before, I just need some time. To think about this, and to think about us.”

Alex stood up. “Of course. I’ll, uh, you know where I’ll be.”

Bree watched him go, and bit her lip. She needed help.

–

Catherine hovered anxiously as Gil got out of their car and began to walk up the sidewalk to their home. Ever since the shooting and their subsequent love-making in the hospital, she’d become his shadow and was even starting to get a little overprotective.

“I’ll get the door.” She took the keys from him to unlock the door.

Maybe more than a little.

“Cath, honey, you did hear when the doctor said I was fine, right?”

She looked over at him. “I heard.”

Gil followed her into the house. “You’re not yourself. Don’t you believe him?”

“Of course I do. I just…” Catherine’s shoulders fell. “I don’t know. Every time I close my eyes I can still feel you against me, when you were shot. I can still hear the ambulance and the way they bundled you up and started talking about stats and levels. I guess I’m just having a hard time getting it all to go away.”

Gil looked at her, intrigued for a minute. Then he took her hand and led her upstairs.

“What are we doing?”

“Just trust me.” When they got to the bedroom, Gil sat Catherine on the bed. He gave her a reassuring smile and took his shirt off. The bandage covered the minor wound, and it was a very clean wound. He gestured to it. “Touch it.”

Catherine reached her hand out, resting it over the bandage. “Gil, I don’t see…”

“That’s it, Catherine. That’s all I got. I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

“You could have been killed.”

Gil sat down beside her. “We don’t play what if’s, Catherine. That’s not a game I ever want us to play. We concentrate on what’s here and now. And what is here and now is that I’m fine, you’re fine. We’re going to get married and have a baby together. And you and I stuck with each other for a long, long time.”

“Promise?”

He nodded, taking her hand and kissing it. “Promise.” He kissed her lips tenderly. “Now I want you to do something for me.”

“Okay.”

“Take your shirt off.”

Catherine lifted an eyebrow. “That’s going to be the way things go in our house is it? You’re horny so you tell me to take my shirt off?”

He smirked at her. “As wonderful as that sounds, I wasn’t thinking of sex.” Gil’s hand slipped underneath her shirt. “I want to see our baby.”

Her eyes softened and she nodded, slowly unbuttoning the buttons of her shirt. She shrugged the material off and stood up in front of him. “How’s this?”

Gil allowed himself just to look for a moment, and finally one of his hands rested on her belly. She had a distinct bump now, and he was in awe at the way her body was changing. He ran his hand over the bump, feeling Catherine shiver beneath him.

“You know, even though I’m a scientist and I know how this works – it amazes me that we made a baby and you’re carrying our child inside you.”

Catherine smiled softly, her hand running through his curls. “Believe it, Bugman. We made love, we made a baby, and in under five months we’re going to meet this person.”

Gil leant forward and kissed her belly. “Half you and half me.”

Catherine pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re adorable.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Adorable? What about manly and macho?”

She giggled and pressed a tender kiss to his lips. “Did you feel me shiver when you touched me?”

He nodded.

“You turn me on when you touch me.” She kissed his forehead. “Just a simple touch like that.”

Gil seemed intrigued by this idea and tenderly ran a finger across the top of her breast and around the lace that encased it. “Like this?”

Her eyes closed momentarily. “Mhm.”

His hand then moved to slide up the inside of her thigh. Even through her pants he could feel the warmth of her skin and it made him smile. “And this?”

“Gil…”

He kissed the side of her neck. “I think we both need to get undressed. Quickly.”

Catherine nodded and started to unbutton her pants. Gil smiled as he realized she was as eager as he was. He stilled her hands and took over the undressing – although they were both eager, he enjoyed taking his time with undressing her.

He unclasped her bra and as he took it off, his knuckles gently brushed against her right breast. Catherine inhaled sharply, her sensitive skin reacting to the accidental touch. Gil smile at her and instead of continuing to undress her, his hands cupped each breast.

Her head fell back and she moaned, arching her body forward. “Gil…”

Still touching her, he pressed a kiss to her left breast. He felt her shudder against him and he grinned. “Something tells me your breasts are still sensitive to touch.”

Catherine was about to inform him that it was because she was pregnant, but when she opened her mouth only a low moan came out. His tongue darted out and flicked across her left nipple.

“Were you going to say something, Cath?”

She shook her head, content for him to just touch her. Gil smirked and ran one hand down her body, cupping her through her pants. Finally, she found her voice.

“Take it off, Gil. All of it.”

“Good idea,” he replied, and made quick work of her pants and panties.

Catherine had expected him to undress also, but once she was naked, his attention was fixed elsewhere. As were his lips. When his mouth closed over her left nipple again she cried out, feeling a sharp shot of arousal go straight to her center.

He felt her widen her stance and knew she was steadying herself against the pleasure she was feeling. One free hand cupped her center, rubbing gently and he grinned as she moaned.

“Gil…too fast.”

“Not possible,” he decided, his mouth moving to her other breast.

“Oh god…” Catherine bit down on her lip as she felt her legs start to get wobbly. “Gil…I mean it. Undress. Now.”

He looked at her, smiling when he realized how turned on she was. He could feel the heat from her center without even touching her, and so he stood up, taking off his pants and boxers. She grinned when she saw how aroused he was.

“You were holding out on me.”

Gil reached for her. “Come here, I want to touch you some more.”

She shook her head. “No way. Anymore touching and I’m going to explode.”

He gave her a sideways glance. “Isn’t that the idea?”

“Not tonight.” She reached out and touched his cheek. “I’m still…I just want to be close. Instead of…you know.”

Gil nodded and scooted back further on the bed with his legs bent. “Come here, sweetheart.”

Her entire body relaxed and she crawled up beside him, kissing him lightly before straddling his hips. They kissed, long and slow, before Catherine positioned herself above him. With Gil’s hands resting on her hips, she finally lowered herself onto his arousal.

“Oh…Gil…” Her head fell forward resting against his chest as he completely filled her. “Yes.”

He put his arms around her waist but he didn’t move for a moment. His fingers caressed her spine, and he peppered her shoulders with kisses. “I’m here, Cath. Everything’s okay.”

Catherine lifted her head and they shared a long, hot kiss. Gil smiled at her, cupping her face.

“I love you.”

“I love you back,” she whispered, kissing him again.

He began moving inside her, slowly but surely. One hand rested on her hip, anchoring her to his body while the other began to tenderly fondle her breast again. Catherine whimpered, pushing back down on him as the pleasure built up inside her.

Their lovemaking was long and intense as they continued to touch and caress each other to distraction. Their kisses were loving and tender as they erased the previous days events and replaced them with different memories.

Catherine soon gripped tightly to Gil, signaling that her orgasm was near. He tipped her chin so that she stared him in the eyes, and he watched in fascination as her eyes started to blur and glaze over.

“I’ve got you, Cath. I’ve got you. You’re mine and I love you. Always.”

She arched her back and came violently around him, his hands holding her tightly against him. Gil wasn’t far behind her; he thrust deeply and let the intense pleasure overwhelm him.

They stayed like that for a while – Catherine wanted to be close and Gil certainly enjoyed it. She had managed to tangle and entwine herself around him so that he had no idea where he ended and she began, and he was quite happy for it to stay that way.

–

Sofia watched Jim pace the pavement. “Would you stop doing that? You’re driving me insane?”

“Vartann’s an idiot.”

“Yes, that really helps the situation.” Sofia sat down on the kerb. “Just sit down, Jim.”

He sat down beside her. “He’s put me in a difficult position.”

“You’ve been in difficult positions before,” she reminded him.

“That’s not helpful.”

Sofia reached over and covered his hand with hers. “Then how’s this – you can’t help who you fall in love with.”

Jim smiled at her and lifted her hand, kissing it tenderly. “Sofie…”

Kissing his cheek, she then squeezed his hand. “I know.”

“If everyone would just stop getting murdered in this nutty street, I could take you home and have you to myself.”

“You’ve got me.” Sofia grinned. “Wherever we are.”

–

Lynnette watched curiously as Bree fidgeted on the sofa. “Bree?”

“Hmm?”

“You said you wanted to talk about something important. And you’re fidgeting. What’s on your mind?”

Bree looked up at her friend. “Alex told me that he loved me.”

Lynette smiled. “Well, that’s a good thing, right? He seems like a nice guy…”

“He’s a cop.”

“That complicates things a little.”

Bree sighed. “He’s a cop, Gil and Catherine are criminalists, their friends Jim and Sofia are cops and I slept with Alex.”

Lynette opened her mouth and shut it again. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say. “Uh…”

“They’re investigating all the deaths here. They’re from Las Vegas. I’m in love with a cop from Las Vegas…oh and apparently I’m not a suspect.”

“Am I suspect?”

Bree looked surprised. “Oh. Uh, I’m not sure. Alex didn’t say.”

“Huh.” Lynette thought about that for a minute. “Bree, you just said earlier that you loved him. He loves you. Did he apologize?”

“Yes. He was…so sweet about it, so loving and kind. And I do love him but…he lied to me.”

“Seems to me like he really didn’t have a choice.”

“True. But he did lie to me…”

“Bree. How much do you love him?”

Bree said nothing for a moment, but just smiled. Finally she looked up at her friend. “He’s made me feel things I haven’t felt for a long time. We did something spontaneous, he showed me it was alright to do things without planning. We went to a fun fair!” She paused. “And the sex…I haven’t been with someone like that in a long time.”

Lynette smiled. “Sounds to me like you don’t need my advice after all.”

–

As the doorbell rang the next morning, Catherine made her way downstairs. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes – she and Gil had slept late. Then again, they had gone to bed pretty late. She opened the door to find Bree, Edie, Lynette, Susan and Gabrielle on the other side.

“Oh dear.”

“You got that right,” Edie said.

Susan rolled her eyes. “Power down, Edie.”

Catherine opened the door wider. “You better come in.”

As they walked inside the house, Bree turned to Catherine. “How’s Gil?”

Catherine seemed surprised that the woman was talking to her, let alone being concerned about Gil. “He’s, he’s going to be fine. Just a flesh wound, thank goodness.”

“Let’s talk about suspects,” Edie said, butting in. “Which ones are and which ones aren’t?”

“I’m sure we can all make a pretty good guess,” Gabrielle muttered.

“None of you,” Catherine quickly assured them. “You’re all cleared and so are your significant others.”

Edie looked disappointed. “Oh.”

“The suspect list is very short right now.”

“I understand why you didn’t tell us,” Bree said.

“Well, I’m glad someone does!” Edie growled.

“You had to make sure we were all safe, right?” Lynette asked.

Catherine nodded. “I didn’t like lying to you all. I don’t like lying at the best of times. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier.”

“Is there any way we can help?” Susan asked. “I mean, there are a lot of strange people on this street.”

Catherine smiled. “So Gil and I have noticed. And I appreciate the offer, but we have CSIs working on the evidence.”

Lynette looked upwards. “Here?”

“No. On a completely different street. The only people living on this street are Gil and I.”

“And apparently Alex Vartann, the cop,” Edie said under her breath.

Catherine shot Bree a curious look. The other redhead blushed and quickly changed the topic.

“So, how long are you and Gil going to be here for?”

Before Catherine could reply, Gabrielle butted in. “Until the baby is born?”

Edie looked confused. “What baby? Your baby?”

Lynette grinned. “No, Catherine’s.”

Catherine blushed deeply. “Right. That.” She unconsciously rested her hand over the bump. “Uh, Gil and I will be here until the murderer is caught. Then we have to go back to Vegas.”

Bree’s face fell. “Oh. But you will be coming back to visit, right?”

“I think we’ll have to,” Catherine replied. “Especially if you’re keeping Vartann here.”

Edie stood up in a huff. “Right, that’s it, I’m out of here. I have absolutely no idea what you’re all gabbling on about!”

The others soon started to trickle out after her, some to placate, some to be amused, and others to give Catherine and Bree some time together.

“I’m sorry I had to lie to you,” Catherine said. “And I’m sorry that Vartann did as well.”

Bree nodded. “It’s okay. I understand why you had to, but there is something I want to ask.”

“Anything.”

“Was becoming friends with me just part of your job?”

Catherine shook her head. “No. Becoming friends with you was a really great benefit to me coming here in the first place.”

Bree smiled. “I’m glad.”

After the two had chatted for a while, Bree had mentioned she had someone she needed to see. Catherine was about to make her way upstairs when she found Gil hovering in the kitchen.

“Gil? Is everything okay? You should have come out and…”

He smiled. “I’m fine. I thought that maybe you and the ladies needed some “girl” time.”

“Bree and I are okay. I was worried, but we’re okay.” Catherine gestured to her belly. “They also know about the baby.”

Gil nodded. “While you were talking to the girls, I got a call from Greg. He was trying to match some latex found at the scene of my shooting with latex found at the scene of the earlier murders. It’s a match.”

“So the same person who shot at you is the same person who murdered all those men.” Catherine folded her arms. “We sort of knew that, didn’t we?”

“But now we have confirmation. Evidence is important, Catherine.”

“I know, but so is finding the person who shot you so that they can’t do it again.”

“They have bullet casings as well…”

“Big deal, Gil. We’ve got the actual bullets. From the murder victims.” She shifted from side to side. “How do we know that you’re not next on this person’s list?”

Gil put his hands on her shoulders. “Catherine, breathe. We’ll catch whoever this is. We’re close.”

“If we’re so close, why did you…” Catherine paused. “Oh. You think you got shot because we’re close to finding out who it is?”

He smiled. “Either that, or the person thinks we’re getting too close to them and has just pointed us into the right direction.”

She nodded. “Okay, so where do we go from here?”

“We’ve ruled out almost everyone. And although Andrew Van De Kamp has motive and access to a gun, his house is in the opposite direction from where I was shot. And there wasn’t enough room for him to hide near where we found him.”

“Plus there’s the trash bags.”

Gil blinked. “Huh?”

“Think about it, Gil. You just said that you were shot for getting too close to the murderer. What were we doing right before you got shot?”

“Talking about sex.”

Catherine rolled her eyes. “Get your head out of the gutter for one minute. I stopped talking to you and pointed to the trash bags in the SVU.”

Gil paused. “Keep going.”

“You said that maybe Maisy Gibbons was doing a cleanout, and that’s when I saw the metal of the gun.”

“And you’re sure it was coming from that direction?”

“After watching you get shot by it, I’m not likely to forget it anytime soon.”

“I love you, Catherine. And I promise you, nothing is going to happen to me.” His hand palmed over her belly while his other carefully pulled her closer. “I’ve got too much to live for.”

She kissed him long and hard, cupping his face with her hands. “I love you too.”

–