Guilt’s Cost: Part LXXXIX

Free Time

Hojo had spent the better part of the morning working at his microscope, examining the progress of the embryos he had created the night before. Everything seemed to be going well and it wouldn’t be long before he could place the most promising of his specimens in the accelerator he had set up in his more secure lab location on the plate amongst the solar panels. Very few people even knew about the existence of this second Midgar lab and Hojo preferred it that way. It was his own private retreat, where the most secret of his projects took place. Not even ASRIO knew of this other facility. The only people that had ever gone up there besides Hojo himself were President Harwin and his three personal guards, and Porter.

He had sent Porter off to escort Tifa to the train station and found himself alone in the lab. Hojo pushed his chair back from the microscope and took off his glasses for a moment. After rubbing his eyes briefly he put back on his glasses and stood up needing to do something else for a while. It would be several more hours before the embryos would be ready to transport up to the other lab for acceleration and Hojo found himself with some free time. He looked over toward the door to Vincent’s room and a smile came to his lips. He knew exactly what he could do to pass the time…

Vincent had been attempting in vain to get some much-needed sleep, but it wasn’t working. The pain in his right shoulder wasn’t going to allow him a moment’s rest and when the door to his room opened, he looked up with exhausted eyes. Upon seeing that it was Hojo, Vincent quickly looked away. A while before, Porter had popped in for a moment to tell him that he was personally going to be taking Tifa out of the lab. Vincent had been relieved to hear this, believing that the Turk was telling him the truth. Now knowing that Tifa was at a safe distance, Vincent no longer needed to bend to the madman’s every wish. If this meant that Vincent would lose his own life through disobedience, then so be it.

Hojo walked up to Vincent smiling and came to a stop next to one of the several machines hooked up to him at the moment. "How does this morning find you, Mr. Valentine?"

Vincent’s only response was to tense his jaw muscles, aching to rip the scientist apart.

"Oh, back to the silent treatment, I see." Hojo’s smile faltered momentarily. "You will be pleased to know that I have set your little bird free."

Already knowing this, Vincent again didn’t respond.

Hojo took this lack of expression as a sign of disbelief. "You doubt my honesty? I did let Tifa go."

Vincent turned his head to look at Hojo. "I know she’s out of here. My only question is why in the hell are you keeping me alive?"

Hojo raised his eyebrows upon hearing Vincent’s first words of the day. "Why am I keeping you? Because I’m not done with you yet. There are things I need to finish with you, Mr. Valentine. And because I can’t think of not having you here with me."

There was something very wrong in the tone Hojo used during the last sentence, and Vincent felt a chill on his skin. Oh my God, he’s in love with me…

Hojo licked his lips upon picking up on Vincent’s thoughts. "Yes, Mr. Valentine, I let you get away from me once, and I can’t stand the thought of that happening again. Now, I do have to go to another location off site for a few days, but before I go, I need to do some things for you. When I return we are going to have a lot of fun, I assure you."

Vincent turned his gaze back down to the floor, no longer able to stand looking at him. As much as he desperately wanted to get out of this lab, he hoped that Tifa wasn’t going to risk her life trying to get him out. He wondered if Reno and the other ASRIO team members had survived and escaped. These thoughts crushed in on him and he closed his eyes again.

Hojo sensed the downturn in Vincent’s emotional state and came closer. "What is on your mind, Mr. Valentine?"

Vincent sighed and opened his eyes just enough to glance over at his shoulder which was paining him dearly at the moment. He soon saw the reason why as Hojo was pulling the blood soaked dressing away from it. "Stop it!"

Hojo laughed to himself and kept at it, until the incision line was completely exposed. He inspected the row of surgical staples he had used to close the amputation site. "I need to get back to work on this before the nerves heal."

The thought of anymore pain or surgery made Vincent’s eyes go wide and the thrashed helplessly against his restraints. "Don’t touch me!"

"Now, now." Hojo took a step back and stooped down before one of the machines surrounding Vincent’s table. "I’m not about to make you suffer through this next project awake, don’t worry. You have caught me in a good mood today, thanks to the final commencement of the Neo-Jenova Project." He flicked a switch on the device and stood back up. "I will not make you suffer like that again… for now."

A terrified scream escaped Vincent’s lips as his world began to spin and his sight faded. After a few short seconds, Vincent’s head fell forward piteously as his consciousness was ripped from him.

Hojo stepped right up to Vincent and reached out to him, running a hand through Vincent’s tangled hair. The scientist stared at Vincent’s unconscious form and smiled to himself. "I do so enjoy having you back, Mr. Valentine."

After a few more moments of admiring his captive, Hojo left the room only to return pulling behind him a large crate containing the things that he would need to proceed with his work on Vincent.