AN: Carrying on with this fic, thanks to all those who supported me.
Summary: Hojo has agreed to help Vincent with what has been done to him, but now has disappeared.
Warnings: Language, minor violence

Vincent stretched his wings, soaring back up into the air, initially heading away from the direction in which he had hidden Hojo before dropping below the line of the trees and turning, making his way back to the hollow tree.

As he approached, something didn't feel right. He dropped the files to the ground, calling out in a hissed whisper.
"Hojo?" At no response, he repeated it louder, approaching the wooden log. His knees bent and he crouched to look inside, only to find it empty, aside from a lab coat. Hojo had gone.

He spun, gazing at the forest, looking for any sign of the man.

Vincent looked around, staring at the woodland, crouching to pick the files back up. Hojo could be anywhere in here, and he wouldn't be able to see him. Less than a minute's running would have hidden the other from view in the dense woodland, especially now that he had removed his lab coat.

He could remember when they had both been humans, Hojo had hated being alone Not just that, but as they'd discovered one particularly disastrous camping trip, Hojo was scared of dark forests. Vincent felt a ball of guilt lodge firmly in his throat as he imagined Hojo somewhere in the woodland, cowering and waiting for the monsters to find him and tear him limb from limb. Vincent realized with horror that he couldn't let that happen. Hojo didn't deserve it, no one did. Even when he was at his most insane, leaving Vincent in constant terror, the gunner wouldn't have wanted Hojo to be left in the dark wood for the beasts.

Vincent knew he wouldn't be able to find him, but he wasn't alone. The demons would be able to track him.

Feeling guilt, he closed his eyes, speaking to the creatures within himself.
"I need you."
"We know that host. But we do not need you."

Vincent shuddered, recognizing Chaos's cocky and confident voice. He disliked the demon a great deal, as the two of them had rapidly become enemies. Chaos blamed Vincent for being his biological prison, and Vincent hated the way Chaos permeated his thoughts, whispering filth to him. But right now, he needed his assistance
"I need you to track the scientist."

There was a frightened whimper from Galian, and the sound of a revving chain saw. Chaos, who had ended up as spokes-demon due to his own feelings of superiority, simply laughed.
"Chaos!" Vincent mentally reprimanded the creature, and the voice when it spoke was cold and cruel.
"We can't help you. The Scientist should die. He is a monster, life is not befitting to him."

Vincent could tell the conviction the other held behind such a view, and he could understand it. He had suffered as much of any of them, but they had not seen Hojo when he was sane, they had not seen the kindness that was part of him. But he still needed to find something to say, to help them understand that. He tried to appeal to their deepest desire – freedom.

"He will work to heal us. He dies, and we are fused like this forever."

Galian's whimpers escalated in pitch, the young creature distressed at the thought of choosing between being at Hojo's mercy and being trapped forever. The other demons were silent, murmuring between themselves.

Hellmasker growled.
"I want to get the right to kill him once we are free." The voice was low, rumbling and piercing deep into Vincent's mind.
"That should be my role Hellmasker." Chaos's voice spoke calmly, softly and in control. "I have suffered greatly from that creature."
"We both kill him." Hellmasker offered, and Vincent felt Chaos consider.
"That is acceptable."

Vincent waited for the demons' attention to be back on him.
"We find him now. And we work with him until we're free." He was hoping he would manage to persuade the demons to spare the scientist, but if he couldn't then he would have to accept their judgment. It would be kinder, he told himself, for Hojo to die than for another human to suffer as he had.

The agreement reached, Chaos took over Vincent's body, sniffing the air to pick up Hojo's scent and then chasing after it, hovering through the air without flying, as the trees were too thick for that. The scientist had done what he could to escape, doubling back on himself to lay a false trail, and at one point had run backwards through thick mud. But Chaos followed him unswervingly, not the least disturbed by the other's tricks. Chaos eventually stopped, outside a small deserted-looking cottage.
"He is in here host."

Vincent nodded his thanks as his body was relinquished to him. He looked at the scene in front of him. The house had been abandoned quickly, probably the victim of a monster attack. There were cultivated plants mixed with the weeds in the garden, and some faded clothes were still hung on the line. The door was unlocked, opened a crack. Whoever had been here had left quickly and left everything here.

As soon as Vincent felt the wings sink back into his shoulders, he ran up to the house, slamming the door open and racing inside.

Hojo was standing at the sink, a glass in his hand. Even from this distance Vincent could smell the strong scent of lemons, emanating from the glass. He ran to Hojo, knocking the glass out of his hand. It fell into the sink and shattered, the liquid fizzing down the plug hole. Hojo stared in confusion at Vincent, before looking back at the fizzing liquid and broken glass.

Hojo reached out towards one of the larger shards, planning on using it to end his pain, so that he would be able to be free and remove his corrupted influence from Vincent's life. Vincent reached out, grabbing his wrist hard enough to make the bones creak against each other.

Vincent's eyes had a yellow tint to them, caused by his sheer anger at Hojo's attempt to die.
"You coward!" He shouted. "You didn't even say goodbye, you just left me to find you like this, you didn't care at all. You bastard."

Hojo raised his hands, backing away from Vincent, frightened for him.
"I was trying to help. I am a monster, I can't live with this."
"Stop being so selfish Hojo." Vincent snarled.

"I'm not being selfish!" Hojo protested, hurt by Vincent's accusation. "I'm doing what's best for you, for everyone."
"You're leaving me like this, with my monsters and my pain. You're sentencing me to an eternity of pain." Vincent's voice was a guttural snarl as he fought with Hellmasker for control.
"I was helping you!" Hojo protested.

Vincent slammed the notes down on the desk in front of him.
"You can help me by working out how to fix me." He shouted, voice calming as he carried on. "I need you to do this for me."

Hojo opened his mouth to protest, but Vincent was too quick for him. He reached out with his good arm, holding Hojo's head so that the other was forced to look into his eyes.
"You're the only one who can save me Hojo, I need you. You did something awful, but you're being offered a chance to fix it. Please. Don't leave me up like this."

Hojo closed his eyes to avoid his gaze, and Vincent carried on.
"Hojo, please. You've heard me beg so many times and ignored it. Don't ignore it this time as well."

Defeated, Hojo lowered his head. "Alright. We can use this cottage for now at least, so that I can look over his…over my notes. Then I'll tell you what I need, and we'll see if we can continue working here or if I'll need a proper lab."

"Alright." Vincent held out his hand towards him, and Hojo shook. "Now, I need you to show me where you got the bleach Hojo."

Hojo showed him, then sat at a table with the files, to try and decipher what had happened, to find clues as to how to fix Vincent. Whilst he worked, Vincent carefully cleared away any cleaning products Hojo could use as poisons. When they were removed, he allowed Galian out to chase away the local monsters, and tried to settle into his role of protecting the lab and Hojo's work.