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The Other Man

Hojo sneezed as his efforts to move a pile of books raised another billowing dust cloud. He had been working steadily for two days now, packing the last of his books and files from the dusty library in the Shinra Mansion. For the umpteenth time, he cursed his lack of foresight in not packing his books and putting them into storage for easy removal later. The Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim had lain largely abandoned for nearly a decade, and there was now enough dust and cobwebs over the contents of the mansion to give mute evidence of the musty misery he was now in.

Staring at the mountain of boxes that now stood in the denuded library, Hojo smeared his dusty hand over his forehead and turned to retire to the room he'd stayed in since he left Lucrecia's waterfall. Despite his tiredness, he couldn't help but chuckle as he picked his way though the rubble that was left after Cloud's party had blown through with their battles against his perfunctory guardians.

The abandoning of the Shinra mansion had been a stroke of genius, which protected his secrets for years without his need to keep close attention to stop intruders. Indeed, Sephiroth's accidental discovery of Vincent while they were still using the building reminded him that he had already been fortunate to be able to hide him for that long without anyone the wiser. Since the Shinra mansion was a constant hive of activity with the SOLDIERS, it was a wonder that no one had stumbled into Vincent earlier.

No one in Shinra could rightly remember why management decided to quit the building, but persistent rumours did abound that an unauthorised experiment lay buried in the bowels of the basement. Hojo had to admit that the obscure note he left on their final parting with the building about the 'missing' Turk was overkill, and really a tasteless milking of the urban legend that grew around Vincent's disappearance twenty years earlier. But the ruse did work. Only adolescents were ever curious enough to want to explore the abandoned building and of them, none ever made it past the first sentinel he had planted to guard the way to Vincent's tomb. So Vincent had lain safe and undiscovered for another 12 years.

Hojo shook his head in mute frustration. If Cloud and his party had only delayed their visit to the mansion by two days, he could have had Vincent removed without anyone the wiser. Instead, the Chocobo boy dragged the ex-Turk into his grand quest, leaving Hojo in their dust. The only consolation Hojo had in the whole affair was that they had inevitably led him to Lucrecia, and facilitated the confrontation that had been a long time waiting. A grin pulled at his lips at the memory of how he had left her; A decrepit, old woman bequest with near immortality. Revenge was sweet.

From the terminal in his room, Hojo wanted to make one last sweep of the mansion, with the help of the ancient but still operational cameras, before he arranged to move his belongings to more pleasant surroundings. Then he could concentrate on the project of receiving his expected guest. Hojo hummed happily at his thoughts of the future. Unfortunately, he wasn't yet paying attention to the idly flipping channels since he was instead studying the dubious pot of coffee sitting on the warmer. So he missed seeing the red-cloaked visitor tying the reins of his Chocobo to the crumbling fence. As the terminal continued displaying images of the visitor entering the mansion to his back, Hojo debated whether or not he should risk finishing the day-old coffee.

If there was one thing Hojo did like about Lucrecia, it was her coffee making expertise. Of the three scientists and one Turk who started out together in the Shinra mansion, Lucrecia made the best coffee. It was a standing joke among them that Hojo's efforts swung between a comparison to drinking old dishwater, and consuming a sentient being which tried to choke you as it made its way down your throat. His current efforts fitted into the latter category. He was quite sure that if he left it for another day, the resulting... thing... would be capable of bursting free of the pot and taking over the world.

Hojo sighed to himself as he poured out the last cup of the bitter brew. "Other people save the world by packing guns and swinging swords, I do it by consuming this. Oh, for the love of humanity do I sacrifice myself to this endeavour." He lifted the cup in salute to an imaginary audience.

As he braced himself to drink the brew and try and get it down as quickly as possible, Hojo reminded himself rather hopefully that Vincent could brew a mean cup too. Or at least Hojo remembered his attempts to be close to Lucrecia's average efforts. So with that happy thought, Hojo took a huge gulp and turned back towards the terminal.

At a later date, Dr. Simon Hojo would swear that the sentient being he mistakenly thought was coffee came the closest to taking his life of any other foe he could remember. The last time Hojo could recall shooting any sort of liquid through his nose was at five years of age when a playmate had startled him in the schoolyard. That had been milk. Having the sentient being he called coffee follow that same route felt infinitely worse.

He was in a whimsical mood. That was the only explanation Hojo had to account for his thoughts of sentient beings and failed assassination attempts. As he coughed and hacked over the coffee splattered terminal in his efforts to clear the last of the offending brew from his air passages, he still managed to command his body to tap in the necessary commands that halted the random display from the cameras. Hojo soon had the cause of his current state displayed on the screen as he picked his way through the rubble of the mansion towards a special room that held the secret passage to the basement. The man was unmistakable with his all black attire, red cloak and golden claw.

*Wheeze* *cough* "Vincent?" *Wheeze*

Once his coughing was under control, Hojo's fingers quickly started tapping the keys on the coffee-deluged keyboard, wincing as sizzling sparks spurted at him. To his relief, the controls were responding and he was able to have the cameras follow the movements of the ex-Turk. "Don't die on me, don't die on me." He prayed rather reverently that the terminal would survive the coffee abuse.

"Why did you have to come now, Vincent?" Hojo groaned as he glanced at his dirt and coffee smeared overalls. "F$%k, I can't let you see me like this, I look disgusti--" He paused in mid-sentence when he realised where his thoughts were going. "I'm acting like a school girl with her first crush, this is so undignified!"

It was to Hojo's great relief that he could open a small window on the screen, which showed a meteor still on its inexorable path towards them, while the main screen tracked the red cloaked man. It was obvious to him that Sephiroth was still at large, so why was Vincent Valentine here now?

As Hojo watched curiously, Vincent walked up to the coffin in which he had lain for thirty years and stroked the velvet lined interior. The coffin had not been a cheap or tacky thing in construction, Hojo was insistent on that. Instead, Hojo had taken great pains to order one made with a rich, soft and lasting lining as if to receive a precious treasure. Which in truth it was, since that was where he had laid Vincent to sleep thirty years ago.

"So... are you only now noticing the attention I gave to your bed, my love?" Hojo asked softly as Vincent continued to run his fingers over the cushioned interior. Then to his utmost surprise, Vincent leaped into a lazy somersault that landed him in the coffin just as he had lain before Cloud found him. Hojo's hands were on his terminal screen in shock. "Vincent, what in the world...? Why would you want to return to this?"

Hojo winced as the terminal sparked at him again when he typed in a couple of commands, directing the cameras to zoom in on the coffin's contents. "Don't die on me. Please, I'll polish you up nice and shiny and take you with me." He continued to mutter pleadingly to the much-abused terminal. "Just keep working for another-- thirty minutes? I think that's all I need. F$%k! What do I do now? I never even thought to rig the coffin to receive him agai--'

Hojo's words trailed off as Vincent's face came into focus on the flickering screen. All other thoughts fled his mind to see this beautiful face before him again. A face that he had not seen up close since Vincent fled the labs to hide from him and Sephiroth nearly 12 years ago; when he had made one last check on the sleeping man before sealing the coffin that second time. Guilt ate at Hojo from that memory of his gently cleaning away the tearstains from the cheeks of the finally relaxed and peaceful face. His brow no longer furrowed with wretchedness as sleep stole his senses and muffled all expression of pain.

For just a moment, Hojo gazed upon that unrevealing expression again. Then it shifted. There was little reason for Vincent to think that he was being observed, so he let down his guard and Hojo found himself suddenly staring straight into the ex-Turk's soul. A tightness in his throat made Hojo feel short of breath as he studied the crimson eyes which seemed to stare unseeingly at him. They didn't look very much different to what he remembered, when he had first cradled Vincent to him the morning after Sephiroth raped him. Their depths were still filled with all the pain, anguish and confusion his suffering had wrought on him.

Hojo swallowed hard as guilt rose in his gullet, reminding him of his unintended part in the man's suffering. "If only..." Those words never sounded more sad to him than any other time. If only... there was some way he could turn back the clock. Worked up the courage then to woo the Turk and make him understand that Lucrecia had no interest in him at all, instead of playing all those games. If he hadn't been--been stupid enough to keep a loaded gun in the lab. If the gun hadn't accidentally gone off. If he hadn't thrown it away from him and allowed it to discharge again on impact with the ground. If that second shot hadn't nearly severed Vincent's arm. 'If only...'

As he watched, Vincent's right hand tremblingly stroked the length of his left appendage, which ended in the golden claw that now lay across his breast. Hojo had to wonder what was currently running through the man's mind. But again, when Vincent closed his eyes and relaxed into the depths of the coffin, Hojo felt his breath taken away to see him in peaceful repose. His lips parted slightly as he dozed in the comfortable embrace of the red velvet lining.

It was little comfort to Hojo that he had predicted Vincent's return correctly. He wasn't anywhere ready to receive the man. It was quite a bit of trouble to build, but Hojo had intended to rig the ventilation system at the mansion to slowly introduce a sleeping gas upon Vincent's arrival, which would encourage him to take a rest. Once the man was dozing, Hojo could then step in to send the man the rest of the way into hibernation and arrange to move him. That was the preliminary plan, which admittedly wasn't the best of arrangements, but watching the man now... Hojo had to admit that he hadn't even thought to rig the coffin, which would have been so much easier to set up. He wouldn't have guessed that Vincent would voluntarily lie down in his coffin again. If the truth was to be told, he was shocked and deeply worried about the man's mental health. Was Vincent so troubled that he actually found peace of mind in his coffin? Hojo had to close his eyes at that thought. The coffin *was* where Vincent had first fled to after that-- unfortunate incident with Sephiroth. How messed up did he and Lucrecia make the man to have him associate comfort and security with the coffin?

The sparking of the terminal awakened Hojo from his reverie enough to set his mind racing with plans. Vincent was here *now*, apparently dozing in his coffin. Whatever it was that made Vincent want to seek a retreat in the confining 'prison', Hojo promised himself he'd deal with later; He had a chance to secure the man *now*. He had faith in Vincent, Hojo tried to tell himself, he really did believe the man capable of facing his 'son' and surviving the encounter. But why take the chance? Why should he risk Vincent coming to any harm with the mad man? Only how was he to go about sending Vincent back into hibernation without appearing before him? The man would never agree to trust Hojo now, he was sure of it. And he wasn't about to approach the ex-Turk in his current state either. Hojo looked in disgust at his dusty and coffee splattered attire. "Damn it, Valentine, why did you have to arrive *before* I prepared anythin--"

"What the $%#@ do ya think yer doing?!"

Hojo's started as a brown gloved hand streaked into his view of the screen and closed on the front of Vincent's cape. He only had time to catch a glimpse of Vincent's startled expression before the man was pulled out of the camera's focus range. Hojo's frantic pounding of the sparking terminal's keys made the camera zoom out and allowed him to see one Cid Highwind roughly pulling the ex-Turk out of his retreat. He apparently wasn't the only one surprised by the sudden appearance of the pilot. Vincent's eyes were wide with shock to find himself slung over the shoulder of the gruff man.

"Ya stupid @$#%. Ya were already sleeping in that %@#$ thing for thirty @$%# years before we woke ya up. Why the @%#$ do ya want to get in the #%@$ thing again?"

The man had presence, Hojo had to give that to him. Vincent appeared too stunned and disorientated by the pilot's sudden presence to respond as Cid carried him across the room before dumping him on one of the abandoned coffins.

"Why the @$#% did ya come back to this @$%# place?" The pilot towered over Vincent and gripped him about his arms.

"Cid?"

"I thought ya were going to wait for me. I went tearing through the %$#@ whole of Rocket Town looking for ya before Shera told me your Chocobo was missing."

"Cid."

"Guessed that ya'd end up in this #$@% place."

"Cid."

Hojo growled softly to himself as Cid started to shake the stunned man. "And what do I find when I get here? Ya getting all cosy back in that %#$@ coffin."

"Cid!" Vincent's hands had come up between them to rest on Cid's chest as if holding him back; The claws on his left hand he carefully curled away from his angry friend so as not to hurt him..

"What the $#@% were ya thinking of?" Cid was almost nose to nose with Vincent now, breathing heavily.

"I-- Cid--"

"I was worried about ya." The voice in contrast to the earlier tones gentled and held a concerned warmth.

Hojo felt the blood rushing to his face in a heat of possessiveness. He had previously endured for thirty years, and once again, a rival appeared to try and take Vincent away from him. He was incensed. "F$%k! No, not again. I will not let anyone come between us again!"

"I'm not helpless!" The pale man broke free of Cid's hold before darting around him and rounding on him angrily. "I may be thirty years behind my time, but I can take care of myself." Hojo cheered him silently, his blood cooling as he observed this rejection.

"Aw %$#, Vince, that's not what I mean! I was just-- I just wanted to know where ya'd gone."

"Cloud told us to go wherever we felt like to-- think about whether or not we wanted to fight Sephroith." Vincent reminded him. "You had Rocket Town... This is the only place I know-- that still exists."

"Why here? And not the falls?" Cid rolled his eyes as he waved his hands at the gloomy surroundings. "Why this $%^# crypt for #$%& sakes?"

"Lucrecia..." Vincent turned away to stared at the coffin in the centre of the room. "I realised that-- some things may not have been how I remembered them to be."

Hojo turned up the volume of the speakers in interest. The possibility he had taunted Lucrecia with in her hideout at the Falls sounded closer to fruition than he dared hoped.

"I-- may have been wrong about-- about Hojo."

"What?! The %#$@ freak who stuck ya down here for thirty years? Who gave ya that ar--?"

"That's who I thought was responsible." Vincent turned back to Cid, a troubled frown creased his brow. "I'm... not sure anymore."

Hojo wanted to crow with joy. Vincent was having doubts without any external prompting. There was hope for them after all.

"What 'not responsible'? Who @#%$ else was ther--?"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!"

Both Cid and Hojo were stunned... knocked off their socks really. This was the first time either could recall Vincent having raised his voice to scream at anyone. He had turned away from Cid almost immediately, his arms wrapped around his body as he trembled, obviously upset.

Hojo reached for the screen and stroked the back of a finger on the glass over Vincent's image tenderly. He could guess what Vincent was trying not to acknowledge right now. The idea that all the pain and torture of the past was misplaced. It was obvious though, that Cid hadn't the faintest idea what was going on. But the man looked like he was going to try to offer whatever comfort he could anyway.

"Hey, I'm not asking." Cid shuffled his feet as he approached to allow Vincent to hear him before he placed his hand on the red cloaked shoulder. Vincent accepted the touch.

A low growl rumbled in Hojo's throat as he noted this and he found himself leaning closer to the sparking terminal. There was no mistaking the body language of the pilot as he approached the ex-Turk. If his sudden appearance hadn't screamed it out already, Hojo could see clear signs of a man in love in Cid Highwind.

Hojo's mind had seemed to cease working. The scientist was suddenly seeing red as he recognised the confirmed appearance of a rival. He hardly noticed the responding body language of the 'target'. Didn't stop to think or identify the expression in Vincent's eyes as the two men faced each other.

"Vincent..." The timbre in the pilot's voice was unmistakable.

The terminal chose that moment to expire. "NOOO! %$#@#$%#&@# piece of crap!" Hojo pounded the monitor in frustration. "Not now! %$#@%$"

He spun around furiously taking in the contents of his room at a glance. "My mobile unit! Where did I put the f@%king mobile unit?!" Hojo dived at the stack of boxes and supplies he had piled beside the bed and started to dig frantically for the little device. Finally unearthing it from the bottom of his clothes bag, after having upended three boxes of computer printouts and files, he muttered, "Of course it'll be in the *last* place I'll ever look. Had to be smart and put it with my clean shirts and towels for cushioning. mumble, grumble> Should have brought the proper carry case."

It took him a precious few minutes more to disconnect the dead terminal and wire his mobile computer into the network. "Come on, come on. I want to know what's happening down there!" Hojo winced to himself as he tried to control the speed of his furious typing. Making spelling mistakes in the commands, he reminded himself, would further delay the start up of the system. However, even as one part of him was frantic to learn what transpired between the two men, Hojo could not deny the fear of the other part of him that did not want to know if the one he wanted was in love with someone else.

Hojo took a deep breath to brace himself as he waited for the screen to come online. He kept trying to reassure himself that Valentine was not the kind to fall for someone as crude and uncouth as Cid Highwind... Mayor of Rocket Town... reputed to be one of the best pilots on the planet... A man with a dream of viable space travel. Hojo could recall coming across a report on that abortive project which Shinra eventually pulled the funding on. Hojo hated to admit it, but to be fair the man, like it or not, was a catch in himself.

"Not. Without. A. Fight." Hojo gritted as the screen finally started to flicker and a window on the small screen started to focus on the happenings in the basement. The sight that greeted him was definitely un-welcomed. Cid Highwind had backed the ex-Turk against a wall and was currently holding him there in a passionate lip lock.

Hojo had to sit down. He felt as if his whole world had come crashing down on him. That life was playing a cruel joke on him in not ever letting him have the one he loved. He quietly swore to himself, "Not! Without! A! Fight!" He looked up to stare intently at the screen again with a determined air. It was only then that he noticed the aberration in what he initially thought was a passionate kiss. Vincent was trembling, but it wasn't in passion. The man was tensed, but it wasn't arousal. If Hojo was to hazard a guess, it almost seemed like he was-- Vincent looked-- frightened.

It was at that same moment that the pilot broke the kiss to look at the man he had pressed against the wall. To the surprise of both observing men, Vincent did not even open his eyes at his withdrawal.

"Vince? Wha-- what's wrong?"

"What?" Vincent blinked and stared at Cid in confusion.

Cid eased back on his pressure against him. "Ya didn't kiss back-- yer all tensed..." The pilot released him and took a step back in confusion. "If ya didn't want me to kiss ya, why didn't ya just tell me 'no' or push me away?"

"No?"

By now even Hojo was curious, he didn't understand why Vincent had suddenly become so passive and unresponsive either.

"'No'. I would have respected that. What do ya think I am?"

"But-- no one's ever listened before." Vincent frowned at him in confusion.

"S&%t, damn you, Lucrecia." Hojo cursed softly even as Cid threw himself back from crowding the trembling man.

"F$%k! What da ya mea--? What did--? Why didn't ya just push me away? Yer just as strong as I am. I woulda--"

"It would-- hurt less."

"Hurt les--?" Cid stared at him in confusion. "Can ya tell me what the f%$-- what ya mean by that?"

Vincent chewed on his lower lip as he looked away. "Didn't matter whether or not I was-- able... Happened anyway-- and-- it just-- hurt less if I didn't struggle. Never changed-- still-- happened..."

Hojo shook his head in remorse. It made sense to him now. He knew all too well what Vincent had suffered. It was certainly one of the reasons why he had thrown Lucrecia out of the mansion and banned her from ever approaching their son. Kept drugged or strapped down like a lab specimen, Vincent had no defence against Lucrecia's warped amusements. He could only guess that over the many months Vincent was her prisoner, she had conditioned him to passively accept whatever torture she wished to inflict. Hojo cursed himself again for entrusting Vincent to Lucrecia's care. He had been so tied up taking care of Sephiroth and his Jenovah project, he had never thought to even look in on Vincent to check on his recovery. It was certainly a huge oversight for him to forget how he had ignored Lucrecia's 'need' while he was saving Vincent's life. For him to place Vincent straight into her care following her discharge from the hospital... that was gross stupidity on his part. But even with Lucrecia gone, Vincent's later encounter with Sephiroth, Hojo guessed, could have served to reinforce the conditioning. From all evidence, Vincent did try to fight back. But Sephiroth got the upper hand somehow and Hojo had seen enough the next morning to understand that Sephiroth must have battered Vincent into submission before he raped him.

All this, Cid Highwind could not have known. But the pilot could still put two and two together and understand somehow that Vincent had been brutally abused in the past.

"Vince?" Cid's hand reached out to caress his cheek gently. "I'm sorry. Please believe me, I would never hurt ya. If ya-- don't want me, I-- I'll understand."

"Want? I-- don't know." The pale man turned away from him to hug himself. "I've only ever-- loved one person before... and now--" His right hand stroked the gleaming metal of the claw that made up his left appendage. "I-- don't know what to believe anymore, Cid."

Hojo closed his eyes, his own heart ached to reach out to enfold the hurting man in his arms, much as he could guess Cid wanted to do now. But they both knew that Vincent would not invite that kind of intimacy yet. They needed to let him have control of the situation, Hojo realised, let the man have the choice to make the first move. For now, they were intruders to his much needed privacy.

"I-- I'm gonna head back." Cid looked down as he scuffed the floor with his foot.

"To join Cloud?"

"Yeah, can't let the kid handle Sephiroth on his own. Not like I'm gonna let him take the Highwind without me at the helm either."

Vincent looked over his shoulder at the grizzled pilot. "I'll come with you."

"Ya sure? I interrupted--"

"Doesn't matter." Vincent already started towards the flight of stairs. "My life was on hold for thirty years, what difference will a few days make ? Facing-- Sephiroth-- saving the planet-- I guess that sounds like the only thing that adds any meaning to my life right now."

"Vincent--"

"Later." He looked down at the pilot for a moment before he continued the climb up. "It's-- not important."

Hojo could feel the frustration rolling off Cid at the man's defeatist attitude with his own life. But he didn't say anything, only muttering a low curse before hurrying after his departing friend.

Hojo made no move to stop them, instead watching silently as they saddled their Chocobos. If he were to make an observation, the two men did keep a respectful distance between them as they started their mounts into an easy trot. But Hojo doubted that Cid Highwind had given up. Now was just not the time to force the issue, Hojo eyed the approaching Meteor pointedly, but as soon as that business was over, Cid would try again. He was sure of it. Just like he was sure that Vincent would be back.

"I'll see you back here again when the confrontation with my 'son' is over, Vincent. But please *don't* bring that pilot with you." He still had his worries about Vincent's safety, but he reminded himself that he had faith in the man. Besides, it sounded like something Vincent wanted to do. Like it was the only sure thing he had in his life now.

"I'll be waiting for you, Vincent." Hojo said quietly to the monitor as he watched the two men riding away. "Things will get better, Vincent. I can promise you that. I can give you a new life.

"But I'm not going to let anyone come between us again. Not Lucrecia... Not Cid Highwind. I've waited thirty years, Vincent Valentine. This time I will get it right, and you *will* be *mine*."