The Scientist
001 of 002
5.3.04
***********************************
Lucrecia sat at her window, staring dreamily off into the little town of Nibleheim. It was amazing how the deserted streets could be so alive. Not a footstep could be heard on the cobblestone street, but the night air was filled with life. The trees whispered their soft rustling secrets to each other, aided by the cool mountain breeze that kissed her face gently. She could hear the lonely howls of wolves further up in the Nibleheim mountain range, their melancholy song drifting down to her as if they stood directly below. The moon hung lazily in the sky, round and fat. If she squinted just right she could make out its face, the man in the moon smiling sleepily back at her.
It felt good to just sit here and do nothing. These past few months had been rather hectic at best; in only three months they'd discovered the frozen Ancient buried deep in the northern crater, requested and received the grant necessary to study it more closely, and moved from the bright lights of Midgar to this sleepy little village. And that was only her professional life. She'd also married Simon, moved from her small apartment to his more spacious ShinRa housing, and now to this enormous house. It was only temporary; this house, but it was a nice change from the glaring lights of the city.
A tapping at the door now. She couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. They'd been married three months now, after knowing each other professionally and socially for the better part of two years, and yet Simon felt the need to knock.
Come up to meet ya, tell you I'm sorry You don't know how lovely you are
"Do I hear a rap-rap-rapping at my chamber door?" She asked playfully. The door creaked open, and there he stood. He grinned a bit sheepishly, his untidy black hair a fuzzy halo set off in the light. He walked over to the window seat and planted a small kiss on her forehead.
"Sorry I'm so late, 'Crecia. It's just well... you know how hard it is for me to just get up and go right when I'm making progress. "He'd never looked so much like a little boy with his hand in the cookie jar as he did right then. Again she couldn't help but smile. She'd not been angry with him, mainly concerned that he put in too many late hours. Lucrecia herself was a bit of a workaholic, but she drew the line when her eyes became sticky with fatigue and the world seemed hazy beyond her glasses. Simon on the other hand would work until he literally dropped from exhaustion if he felt he was accomplishing something.
She privately wondered if moving here hadn't aggravated this obsession with his work. True, it was convenient to only have to throw on clothes and go downstairs to get to work, but how were they expected to unwind knowing that some unfinished task, now matter how minute lay only a few feet below? It was hard enough to separate work from leisure.
"What am I going to do with you, Simon?" She scolded, poking a finger into his ribs playfully.
"Make me a cup of tea and sit with me for a little while before we both pass out?" He grinned, taking her hand in his. The kidding smile melted into a more thoughtful one.
"You have beautiful hands, 'Crecia." He tilted the hand from side to side, light catching on the tiny diamond on her ring finger. He let it go, eyes locked on that glittering stone wistfully. "I really am sorry. I know I haven't spent much time with you lately. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"You already have." She leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair out of his face, the pulled him in for a soft kiss.
"How about that tea now, Simon?"
"Sounds good. Sounds really good."
I had to find you, tell you I need ya And tell you I set you apart
"Don't we look happy this evening?" He'd just rushed in, face flushed with excitement, his eyes fairly glowing. It was two in the morning, and Lucrecia had dozed off hours ago. She'd woken to use the bathroom, and had just settled back into the painfully empty bed just as he'd come dashing in.
"I don't even know where to start, Lucrecia, but I've hit on something big...!" He was nearly breathless, struggling to force all the words out in his excitement.
"Well, don't leave me in the dark, Simon. Do tell." She wrapped her bathrobe around her to guard against the chilly night air, and set about boiling water for tea.
They sat awake most of the night, he rattling off figures and estimates while she listened and offered her own input. It all made sense really; she could see how he had indeed hit upon 'something big'. As flawless and perfectly researched as this all sounded, there was one major question she had to ask.
"But where are we going to get this fetus?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
He looked at her for a long moment, the words lodged in his throat yet on the tip of his tongue. Before he could even speak, she pressed a slim finger to his lips.
"I understand."
Relieved that the worst was over he launched into quick explanations and reassurances. It was perfectly safe of course; would he even think about letting her participate if it weren't? He had the utmost faith in his theories; it was almost guaranteed to bring about the desired results. She listened patiently as always, nodding occasionally and wrinkling her brow at times.
"..and what I'm basically saying is, I want you to have this honour, Lucrecia. Imagine what a shot in the arm this could be for you, for both of us. We wouldn't have any trouble at all getting funding after we pull this one off. Don't ::you:: want to get out from under Gast's shadow? Aren't you sick of being assigned thoughtless busy work all of the time when you know you could be doing so much more with your time? I know you are capable of so much more than what you are doing now, which is really just a few steps up from grunt work..."
"I'll do it, Simon."
She smiled reassuringly. She didn't doubt him a bit, and what he was saying made enough sense; it wasn't as if she were some naïve child that had to be coaxed and cajoled into doing something unpleasant. They both recognized that she was his intellectual equal, no matter how the work on the project was currently being distributed.
He gave her a look of utter adoration, and leaned over to stroke her hair.
"No time like the present, is there?"
"I should think not."
Tell me your secrets, and nurse me your questions Oh lets go back to the start
"How do you feel?"
"Tired, mostly. A little bit nauseous, but mostly tired." She nibbled at a saltine, perched in the window seat. Her stomach was beginning to swell visibly now, its smooth contour visible through her dress.
"You really should cover up if you want to sit in that window. Wouldn't want you to catch cold." He draped a soft blue throw over her lap, tucking it around her. She waved him away, her eyes twinkling with mischief despite the faint circles that had recently began to surround them.
"Surely you know that the common cold is caused by a virus and not cold window panes." She taunted, tossing a cracker at his head.
"Surely you know that the cold lowers your immune system, and can therefore make the body more susceptible to a viral infection than it would have been otherwise." He returned, snapping the cracker in half. He poked the bit of cracker into her open mouth and smiled.
"Tell me something."
"Anything."
"Are we right?"
"Of course we are. How could we not be?"
Running in circles, coming in tails Heads on a science apart
"I'm against it! Why experiment on humans?" The Turk's words where bated, his eyes narrowed menacingly. Hojo stiffened, meeting the cold gaze with an equally icy one.
"She and I are both scientists. Do not presume you have the authority to judge in that which you do not have the slightest comprehension of."
"But this is utter madness! You can't just play god!" His fists were clenching of their own accord, yet he kept them stiffly at his sides. It was difficult to have to resort to using only words to do his battles, as he'd been accustomed to less eloquent means of communication. It was what Turks did, after all.
"Whoever said anything about 'playing god'? That statement alone bares your ignorance of this whole situation."
"You're a fucking lunatic," he growled. "Lucrecia... surely you don't buy all of this bullshit?" He gave her a pleading look that she would not acknowledge. Her mouth remained set in a grim line, unwilling or unable to validate his argument.
"You would do well to realize that these matters are none of your concern."
The Turk looked ready to explode, baited on by Hojo's cutting statements as well as Lucrecia's silence. Throwing his hands up in frustration, he stalked out the doorway. He turned to give Lucrecia one last beseeching look, only to be met with a guilty silence.
"You're both fucking crazy." He shook his head angrily, and then he was gone, his footsteps echoing down the hall.
"Simon..."
"Yes?"
"What if he is right...?"
He gave her a look of disbelief, eyes flashing angrily. She immediately wished she'd said nothing, but that wasn't possible. Vincent's words did indeed weigh on her heart, even if she wasn't quite ready to admit that at this point.
"Lucrecia..." His voice was tight with restraint. "The last thing I...we need right now is for you to go questioning me now. What does he know, other than how to point a gun? Did he go through years of schooling and sacrifice to get where we are now? Of course not. I can somewhat understand ::his:: ignorance... but I couldn't understand ::yours::."
He was right, of course. A Turk couldn't be expected to understand the project; he was only there for security. She however, could understand, and she did. Then why did his words sting her so?
"...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap." He put an arm over her shoulder, and pulled her close. "Let's go take a break now, shall we?"
"All right." A quick kiss, and they were on their way, her heart feeling lighter and somewhat heavier.
Nobody said it was easy It's such a shame for us to part
"You're fucking insane...!"
"She knew what she was getting into. Nobody forced her into anything." His back was stiff, his eyes itchy and red. It wouldn't do to cry in front of this moronic meddling Turk. He vaguely wondered if he had any tears left to cry. He didn't think so.
"...murdering, disgusting piece of shit...!" God. Was that Turk still droning on? Couldn't he see that his words were nothing to him? Words meant to inflame and pierce him could never penetrate a soul so numb. Losing Lucrecia had already taken every tear. All there was now was anger.
Valentine was still ranting. God it made his head hurt. Who was he kidding? Nothing either of them said or did would bring her back now. He could, however, shut this Turk up...
One quick pull of the trigger, one thunderous boom, one quickly spreading bloom of red, and all was silent.
He dropped the gun, more out of a desire to hear the sound of it hitting the floor than from shock. Then he sat with the bleeding, twitching form at his feet, and waited.
Nobody said it was easy No one ever said it would be this hard Oh take me back to the start
*******************************
AN: There will be a second part to this fic, which is why it ends here so abruptly. Look for the second part later this week. The song, as you probably already know is 'The Scientist' by Coldplay.
5.3.04
***********************************
Lucrecia sat at her window, staring dreamily off into the little town of Nibleheim. It was amazing how the deserted streets could be so alive. Not a footstep could be heard on the cobblestone street, but the night air was filled with life. The trees whispered their soft rustling secrets to each other, aided by the cool mountain breeze that kissed her face gently. She could hear the lonely howls of wolves further up in the Nibleheim mountain range, their melancholy song drifting down to her as if they stood directly below. The moon hung lazily in the sky, round and fat. If she squinted just right she could make out its face, the man in the moon smiling sleepily back at her.
It felt good to just sit here and do nothing. These past few months had been rather hectic at best; in only three months they'd discovered the frozen Ancient buried deep in the northern crater, requested and received the grant necessary to study it more closely, and moved from the bright lights of Midgar to this sleepy little village. And that was only her professional life. She'd also married Simon, moved from her small apartment to his more spacious ShinRa housing, and now to this enormous house. It was only temporary; this house, but it was a nice change from the glaring lights of the city.
A tapping at the door now. She couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. They'd been married three months now, after knowing each other professionally and socially for the better part of two years, and yet Simon felt the need to knock.
Come up to meet ya, tell you I'm sorry You don't know how lovely you are
"Do I hear a rap-rap-rapping at my chamber door?" She asked playfully. The door creaked open, and there he stood. He grinned a bit sheepishly, his untidy black hair a fuzzy halo set off in the light. He walked over to the window seat and planted a small kiss on her forehead.
"Sorry I'm so late, 'Crecia. It's just well... you know how hard it is for me to just get up and go right when I'm making progress. "He'd never looked so much like a little boy with his hand in the cookie jar as he did right then. Again she couldn't help but smile. She'd not been angry with him, mainly concerned that he put in too many late hours. Lucrecia herself was a bit of a workaholic, but she drew the line when her eyes became sticky with fatigue and the world seemed hazy beyond her glasses. Simon on the other hand would work until he literally dropped from exhaustion if he felt he was accomplishing something.
She privately wondered if moving here hadn't aggravated this obsession with his work. True, it was convenient to only have to throw on clothes and go downstairs to get to work, but how were they expected to unwind knowing that some unfinished task, now matter how minute lay only a few feet below? It was hard enough to separate work from leisure.
"What am I going to do with you, Simon?" She scolded, poking a finger into his ribs playfully.
"Make me a cup of tea and sit with me for a little while before we both pass out?" He grinned, taking her hand in his. The kidding smile melted into a more thoughtful one.
"You have beautiful hands, 'Crecia." He tilted the hand from side to side, light catching on the tiny diamond on her ring finger. He let it go, eyes locked on that glittering stone wistfully. "I really am sorry. I know I haven't spent much time with you lately. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"You already have." She leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair out of his face, the pulled him in for a soft kiss.
"How about that tea now, Simon?"
"Sounds good. Sounds really good."
I had to find you, tell you I need ya And tell you I set you apart
"Don't we look happy this evening?" He'd just rushed in, face flushed with excitement, his eyes fairly glowing. It was two in the morning, and Lucrecia had dozed off hours ago. She'd woken to use the bathroom, and had just settled back into the painfully empty bed just as he'd come dashing in.
"I don't even know where to start, Lucrecia, but I've hit on something big...!" He was nearly breathless, struggling to force all the words out in his excitement.
"Well, don't leave me in the dark, Simon. Do tell." She wrapped her bathrobe around her to guard against the chilly night air, and set about boiling water for tea.
They sat awake most of the night, he rattling off figures and estimates while she listened and offered her own input. It all made sense really; she could see how he had indeed hit upon 'something big'. As flawless and perfectly researched as this all sounded, there was one major question she had to ask.
"But where are we going to get this fetus?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
He looked at her for a long moment, the words lodged in his throat yet on the tip of his tongue. Before he could even speak, she pressed a slim finger to his lips.
"I understand."
Relieved that the worst was over he launched into quick explanations and reassurances. It was perfectly safe of course; would he even think about letting her participate if it weren't? He had the utmost faith in his theories; it was almost guaranteed to bring about the desired results. She listened patiently as always, nodding occasionally and wrinkling her brow at times.
"..and what I'm basically saying is, I want you to have this honour, Lucrecia. Imagine what a shot in the arm this could be for you, for both of us. We wouldn't have any trouble at all getting funding after we pull this one off. Don't ::you:: want to get out from under Gast's shadow? Aren't you sick of being assigned thoughtless busy work all of the time when you know you could be doing so much more with your time? I know you are capable of so much more than what you are doing now, which is really just a few steps up from grunt work..."
"I'll do it, Simon."
She smiled reassuringly. She didn't doubt him a bit, and what he was saying made enough sense; it wasn't as if she were some naïve child that had to be coaxed and cajoled into doing something unpleasant. They both recognized that she was his intellectual equal, no matter how the work on the project was currently being distributed.
He gave her a look of utter adoration, and leaned over to stroke her hair.
"No time like the present, is there?"
"I should think not."
Tell me your secrets, and nurse me your questions Oh lets go back to the start
"How do you feel?"
"Tired, mostly. A little bit nauseous, but mostly tired." She nibbled at a saltine, perched in the window seat. Her stomach was beginning to swell visibly now, its smooth contour visible through her dress.
"You really should cover up if you want to sit in that window. Wouldn't want you to catch cold." He draped a soft blue throw over her lap, tucking it around her. She waved him away, her eyes twinkling with mischief despite the faint circles that had recently began to surround them.
"Surely you know that the common cold is caused by a virus and not cold window panes." She taunted, tossing a cracker at his head.
"Surely you know that the cold lowers your immune system, and can therefore make the body more susceptible to a viral infection than it would have been otherwise." He returned, snapping the cracker in half. He poked the bit of cracker into her open mouth and smiled.
"Tell me something."
"Anything."
"Are we right?"
"Of course we are. How could we not be?"
Running in circles, coming in tails Heads on a science apart
"I'm against it! Why experiment on humans?" The Turk's words where bated, his eyes narrowed menacingly. Hojo stiffened, meeting the cold gaze with an equally icy one.
"She and I are both scientists. Do not presume you have the authority to judge in that which you do not have the slightest comprehension of."
"But this is utter madness! You can't just play god!" His fists were clenching of their own accord, yet he kept them stiffly at his sides. It was difficult to have to resort to using only words to do his battles, as he'd been accustomed to less eloquent means of communication. It was what Turks did, after all.
"Whoever said anything about 'playing god'? That statement alone bares your ignorance of this whole situation."
"You're a fucking lunatic," he growled. "Lucrecia... surely you don't buy all of this bullshit?" He gave her a pleading look that she would not acknowledge. Her mouth remained set in a grim line, unwilling or unable to validate his argument.
"You would do well to realize that these matters are none of your concern."
The Turk looked ready to explode, baited on by Hojo's cutting statements as well as Lucrecia's silence. Throwing his hands up in frustration, he stalked out the doorway. He turned to give Lucrecia one last beseeching look, only to be met with a guilty silence.
"You're both fucking crazy." He shook his head angrily, and then he was gone, his footsteps echoing down the hall.
"Simon..."
"Yes?"
"What if he is right...?"
He gave her a look of disbelief, eyes flashing angrily. She immediately wished she'd said nothing, but that wasn't possible. Vincent's words did indeed weigh on her heart, even if she wasn't quite ready to admit that at this point.
"Lucrecia..." His voice was tight with restraint. "The last thing I...we need right now is for you to go questioning me now. What does he know, other than how to point a gun? Did he go through years of schooling and sacrifice to get where we are now? Of course not. I can somewhat understand ::his:: ignorance... but I couldn't understand ::yours::."
He was right, of course. A Turk couldn't be expected to understand the project; he was only there for security. She however, could understand, and she did. Then why did his words sting her so?
"...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap." He put an arm over her shoulder, and pulled her close. "Let's go take a break now, shall we?"
"All right." A quick kiss, and they were on their way, her heart feeling lighter and somewhat heavier.
Nobody said it was easy It's such a shame for us to part
"You're fucking insane...!"
"She knew what she was getting into. Nobody forced her into anything." His back was stiff, his eyes itchy and red. It wouldn't do to cry in front of this moronic meddling Turk. He vaguely wondered if he had any tears left to cry. He didn't think so.
"...murdering, disgusting piece of shit...!" God. Was that Turk still droning on? Couldn't he see that his words were nothing to him? Words meant to inflame and pierce him could never penetrate a soul so numb. Losing Lucrecia had already taken every tear. All there was now was anger.
Valentine was still ranting. God it made his head hurt. Who was he kidding? Nothing either of them said or did would bring her back now. He could, however, shut this Turk up...
One quick pull of the trigger, one thunderous boom, one quickly spreading bloom of red, and all was silent.
He dropped the gun, more out of a desire to hear the sound of it hitting the floor than from shock. Then he sat with the bleeding, twitching form at his feet, and waited.
Nobody said it was easy No one ever said it would be this hard Oh take me back to the start
*******************************
AN: There will be a second part to this fic, which is why it ends here so abruptly. Look for the second part later this week. The song, as you probably already know is 'The Scientist' by Coldplay.