Healing
Chapter 2
They settled down in the kitchen over some coffee.
"First of all," Rei started, "this is my house now. I paid a lot for it, and I have no intention of giving it up. However, that doesn't mean I'm just gonna kick you out just like that. It's a big house, and I don't mind sharing it. I can see you've done some work on it."
"Some; yes. And I was never aware that someone else owned it." Vincent replied, taking a sip of his coffee.
"ShinRa still did, but no one really cared about it after Hojo left. I had been trying to buy it for quite some time, but neither president ShinRa or his bastard son really paid any attention to me."
"You seem to know a lot about Hojo…"
"Yeah, we were related, I'm sorry to say. Never liked the old geezer. Glad he's dead."
Vincent took another sip of his coffee to hide the smile that was threatening to show on his lips.
"So am I. What are you planning to use the lab for, if I may ask?"
"Well, it so happens that I'm a surgeon specializing in reconstructive surgery. I'm planning on starting my own practice here. Even though he was deranged, Hojo was smart. The stuff he left behind is very good, even if it's old. I just have to clean the lab up and modify some things and I'm basically good to go."
Vincent grew quiet as he was thinking. Reconstructive surgery? Could she…? Did he dare ask? Dare to hope?
"Can you do anything about this?" he gestured to his claw.
"That's a prosthetic?" she asked with a frown. "I thought it was some kind of gauntlet."
"I think it is, but I am not entirely sure."
"Who did that?"
A grim smile crept over Vincent's face.
"Hojo."
Rei looked somewhat disbelieving at him.
"I was one of his experiments once." He said quietly.
"Then I can see why you're glad he's dead."
"Yes, it was a pleasure to put a bullet between his eyes." He muttered.
"Wait a minute… You're Vincent Valentine? The ex-turk who was with AVALANCHE?"
He nodded.
"I thought I recognized you from somewhere. Well, since Hojo did that, he should have some files on you. I'll go check them out and see what I can come up with."
Vincent just nodded. Seeing that the conversation was over, Rei made her way down to the basement again.
********
It took some time to dig out Vincent's files in the mess Sephiroth had made when he found out whom he was, but she managed to find a map labeled "Valentine". Inside, she found blueprints and reports of how the claw was made and grafted into Vincent's arm.
"You really didn't like him, did you Hojo?" she muttered as she continued to read.
Nearing the end of the report, she was very disturbed by the last few entries that Hojo had made.
"I have placed three entities inside V. It will be interesting to see how they evolve."
"The Galian almost emerged today, however V managed to contain it. I am still working on breaking V's will. It will be such a nice little tool once it obeys me."
"I am considering to add Chaos to V's internal residents. Requires some more thought though."
"Galian broke loose today. It was far more powerful than expected. It killed several guards before changing back into V.
Have no means of controlling it at this point. Will place V in stasis for the time being."
Rei was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Vincent until he tapped on her shoulder.
"I figured you would be hungry since you have been down here all day." He said when he saw her startled expression and placed a plate with a steak and potatoes in front of her.
The smell made her mouth water.
"Oh joy! I have a roommate - or rather housemate - that can cook. That is, if you accept my offer." She said and attacked the plate.
"I think I will for now." He dragged a chair over to the desk where she was sitting and sat down himself. "Have you found anything useful?"
She nodded, chewing on a piece of meat.
"I think I have a fairly good idea of what to do with that arm of yours. It's kinda tricky, though. You see, it's not really a prosthetic. It seems that Hojo just removed all the soft tissue from it, replacing it with mechanics and a bit of electronics. The bones themselves seem to be covered with a layer of metal. I'm guessing that it was liquid when added…"
"I am not sure I need to know all the details." Vincent interrupted, slightly paler than normal.
"Oh, sorry. There are some things in this report that puzzles me. He has written something about three, maybe four 'entities' that he has placed within you. Something about a Galian…? Chaos? Mean anything to you?"
Vincent's expression became very gloomy as she talked. This made Rei regret bringing it up.
"I'm sorry, maybe I don't need to know. I don't think it'll have any effect on my work on you arm."
"There were three he gave me." It surprised her that he spoke of it.
"Demons…" he continued. "The Galian Beast was the first, followed by Death Gigas and Hellmasker. I… change into them whenever I have been injured badly or am angry enough. I have little control over them.
The last one, Chaos, was given to me by his wife, Lucrecia, while I was with AVALANCHE. I took that vial and drank it willingly, although I regret it now. I have no control whatsoever over him, and he is much harder to keep inside."
"Why in the world would you willingly take a demon into you?"
"Because I loved her. She is also the reason Hojo did those experiments on me. He found out about our… I hate to call it affair, we never did do much more than talk…"
"I can guess the rest. I've always known my uncle to be the jealous type."
"Yes. Now, even if it in some strange way feels good to talk about it, I would like to leave the past alone, if you don't mind."
"Of course. Let's just concentrate on the task at hand then. I need to fix the lab before I can start working on your arm. Care to help?"
He nodded.
"We start tomorrow then."
A/N
I'm not that happy about how this chapter turned out. I feel like there's a big mary-Sue warning sign pointing at Rei. I have plans for her that will fix that though. And please forgive me for the lame medical terms.
GothicDJ has been my betareader for the first two chapters so far. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks to Rueacudarion for keeping my hopes up. ^_^
Reviews makes me happy. ^_^
