AN: Thank you for reading, I'd love to know what you think of this chapter.
Warnings: Violence, suicide threats and mental illness.

"Were we both being experimented on? Vin-vin, I had this dream where…where I hurt you…" He watched his love for a reaction.
Vincent moved away from the other's gentle hand. He couldn't look the other in the eye.
"Vin-vin? Were we both being hurt by the scientists?"Hojo frowned, trying to piece everything together. Those dreams which had been keeping him awake, the memories that wouldn't quite piece together. He was terrified of what he would find out, but he had to know, had to understand what had happened. He couldn't carry on in ignorance.
"What happened Vincent?" He couldn't smile any more.

Vincent shook his head slowly.
"No." He whispered, dreams shattering at his feet.

Vincent trembled, stepping away, letting Hojo's hand fall.
"Forget it." He smiled weakly, trying to distract him, to make him stop this line of questioning. He didn't know where it was going to lead, but he couldn't face stepping down that path any more than Hojo could let him avoid it.

"Please Vince, tell me…I'm begging you…please…" Hojo's voice was harsh, full of emotion. He reached out, grabbing Vincent's wrist tightly, eyes fierce. He had to know, he needed to know. He wouldn't let Vincent avoid it any more. Since he had woken remembering Vincent, he had been frightened of where they were, of what was happening to him and his lover. But he hadn't been scared of himself until now. He'd never felt as scared of himself as he did now.

Vincent screamed in terror when he was grabbed, shaking his arm vigorously, trying to escape the other's grip. He hyperventilated as he snatched his arm away, holding it up to his chest to stop Hojo from touching it. He was panicking, only calming slightly as Hojo took frantic steps backwards to get out of his way.

Hojo watched, wide eyed, as his lover began to break down in front of him. The other was petrified. The scientist knew he couldn't let this go on, took a deep breath then spoke to him.
"Vincent, either you tell me what's happened, in its entirety, or I'm going to assume I'm too dangerous to be around you, and …and I'll get myself out of the picture permanently. If the only way you can be safe is if I die, then I will die."

The other man gasped in shock at the offer, shaking his head. He sunk down to the floor, drawing his knees up to his chest, tears glistening in his eyes but not falling yet.
"Don't die Hojo…please…" He gulped. "I need you."

Hojo paused, crouching down beside Vincent, but not touching him.
"Then tell me."

Vincent whimpered, rocking slightly as the memories threatened to overwhelm him. He searched his mind desperately for where to start, which of the delicate memories threatened to cut him least. He realized he'd have to start at the beginning, took a deep breath and began to tell him.

"Hojo…it…It started with the pregnancy. As soon as Lucrecia told you that she was carrying our child, you seemed different… to start with, we'd been planning to raise the child the two of you had together, the two of us, but as time went on, you got more and more distant, no longer caring about our plans for the baby." Vincent shuddered, took a deep breath and then continued.

"By the time she was two months pregnant, you wanted it to be a test subject. I said no, that it was wrong… that the baby was our child." His hands clenched into fists, the wounded arm bleeding slightly from the movement. "By her first scan, you were distracted, muttering to yourself about the experiments. I didn't want to, but you didn't listen."

Hojo flinched, listening and feeling sick. Vincent didn't seem to notice his distress, or if he had noticed he didn't react.
"Lucrecia got really scared Hojo. She didn't want us to have her child if we were going to experiment on it. I went to ask you to stop. You were upset, panicking. You weren't insane then though. You shot me. You took my gun and shot me. I remember collapsing to the floor, and you crouched down beside me… you were begging for forgiveness, apologizing…then I collapsed and I heard you scream…it…it didn't sound human…it was like an animal." For a few seconds, Vincent just rocked in silence. Hojo opened his mouth to prompt him to carry on, but he began to speak before Hojo could make a noise.

"I drifted in and out of consciousness, watching you degenerate. You'd wander the labs, screaming and ranting, threaten to kill me if I got in your way…I was terrified, strapped down, helpless. You injected me, cut into me and placed materia in my chest. You made me immortal. I knew I couldn't escape then. You wouldn't let me die." Vincent was lost in his memories, not noticing the effect it was having on the other man, how ill it was making him feel, how helpless. "You said I was your property, that I belonged to you…that I could never leave."

"It hurt. Every time you cut into me or touched me, you never used pain relief, never let me rest. You just wanted me to suffer. On the day that my official funeral was held, with an empty casket… you … you decided it was time for an autopsy. You…you cut my chest open, cracked my ribs back.."

"Stop…" Hojo whispered, feeling sick, unable to recognize himself in the madman Vincent described. "Please stop…"

Vincent fell silent, seeing how much Hojo was hurting. He reached out, holding him, wrapping his arms around the scientist, stroking his hair. For a few minutes, the two of them sat in silence, trying to process what had been said, the way that their happy life together had been torn apart. After a while, it was Hojo who spoke.

"Vincent… you have to leave. You can't stay here, not with me, not now..." He shivered. "I…I'm a monster." He whimpered, resting his head on Vincent's chest. "I love you, but you can't stay here."