Work Text:
Lucrecia was leaning over the operating table with a mixture of amazement and frustration, “Four drops of raw mako and no sign of tissue erosion. It's practically a miracle.”
There was a subject on the table, a male in his early twenties, his brain partially exposed. There was an array of power tools, hand saws, and incision devices spread out for use. The subject's eyes were open and he was aware of what was happening, but sedated enough to lie there without restraint.
“A miracle is anything that happens with the probability of less than twenty percent,” Dr. Hojo eventually responded, seated beside the table with his ankle over one knee and deep in taking notes. “Do you know who said that?”
“I don't have to answer that, because I'm not one of your students,” she tore away the wrapper of a honey bun and bit into it.
“Any student of mine would know better than to eat in my lab,” he warned her, but the dark sideways glance he received told him that it wasn't worth pursuing lab protocol at this particular moment in time. He couldn't help but be lenient and forgiving where Lucrecia was concerned. “It was Enrico Fermi.”
“Oh yeah,” she nodded, licking the side of her mouth and sliding her goggles up onto her forehead. “I remember having to study some of his theories on... whatever his theories were on. I remember the name, anyway.”
“He said that -”
“Spare me, it's too hot in here to listen to a lecture. Aren't you hot?” she wasn't usually so blunt, but she was heavily pregnant and it was taking a toll on her. Every move she made was deliberate and strained. She was well past the point in her pregnancy where she wasn't expected to come into the research labs, but she chose to keep working as long as she could. She forced her spine straight for another moment while fanning her flushed face before jerking her goggles back down to return to observation.
Drops of raw mako were being applied to key areas of the exposed brain - this was a series of tests they were performing under Project Antidote. Some of their findings suggested that this enhanced speech, motor functions, and obedience without completely destroying the personality. Other areas left the subject without basic motor functions, catatonic, or even brain dead. But the fascinating part was that the effects weren't permanent, positive or negative. Something in the brain was eventually neutralizing the mako, and it might have been useful in treating mako poisoning.
The volunteer subjects weren't aware of any of this. All they knew was that they were getting full service medical care, a four week luxury medical lab stay, and five hundred gil to be paid upon the completion of the volunteer term – a very attractive arrangement for those living in the slums below the plate. Not one of the subjects actually stayed (or survived) long enough to collect on that, though. Most of them were out of the lab the moment they were able to walk again.
Lucrecia was finishing her honey bun and leaning in for a close look at the exposed brain. “Still no tissue erosion!”
Dr. Hojo was looking over the brain activity read out, “Two more drops is the average amount for long term motor damage.”
She grinned, “Feeling lucky?”
Hojo nodded slowly as he continued to study the print out, “Four more drops. And give it a few minutes – see if that erosion catches up before we overdo it and waste the subject.”
“This is fun,” she groaned as she dropped down onto the rolling chair beside him and pulled off her gloves. “We never get to work alone without students. Feels like playing instead of working.”
“Speaking of which, you should use your leave to catch up on his writings.”
“Whose?” she asked, already absorbed in note taking and using her stomach as a prop for her clipboard.
“Fermi. You can borrow my copy of Notes on Quantum Mechanics if you like.”
“That's exactly the opposite of what I plan on doing on my vacation,” she muttered. “Do you think we should try adding an additional drop near the broca and see if he can still talk? Wait, no. We can't if we want to keep him in the control group... damn. Would have been interesting on this one.”
“What do you plan on doing?”
“Three drops on the broca during the next procedure if he's still around for it -”
“I meant on your maternity leave.”
One of her shoulders lifted into a shrug as she kept writing, “Sleeping an entire night will be a nice start.”
“You're having difficulty sleeping?”
“Very hard to sleep with something moving inside you,” she admitted, and the ridiculousness of it made her laugh. After volunteering to carry the specimen, she made a point not to complain about the side effects of pregnancy, especially to a mostly male laboratory. “... I guess I'd like to go to the beach. Sounds nice right about now. Don't you think it's hot in here?”
“Want to take home some Project S files?”
She smirked as she kept writing, “I'm not interested.”
“You're not at all curious about my project outline?”
“I want nothing to do with Project S in the foreseeable future.”
Hojo had a private, perverse curiosity about Jenova's influence on Lucrecia's pregnancy. Was Jenova a jealous mother? Was she turning Lucrecia's interest away from her son? Or was it all a human act on Lucrecia's part to distance herself from the specimen? They were alone for the first time in a long time, and the specimen would likely arrive before they'd have the chance to speak privately again.
"We have an opportunity to create a supreme being thanks to you, and you're suddenly uninterested. I'm left wondering why I have to miss citing my favorite lab partner in what will be my greatest achievement.”
"I've been with this specimen for eight months, and now it's just boring," was her reply. “Besides, I'm more interested in the limit breaks of the human body. I'm focusing on Project Chaos when I get back. I already have the perfect subject in mind.”
Dr. Hojo made a disdainful noise. “Clumsy. Shoving a demon into a limit break has nothing to do with- “
“Limit breaks are important! I'm sure your supreme being would love to have a few demons in his limit break someday, and then you can reference my findings and finally use me as a citation your report. Everyone will get what they want.”
“I want you on Project S.”
Lucrecia rolled her eyes towards the ceiling, and then turned them to Hojo. “I can't promise you anything right now.”
The doctor was frowning at her. “If you had any reservations about doing this, you should never have volunteered. Women have different feelings than men about - ”
“You really want to know why I'm backing off?”
He lifted his hands in invitation.
She sighed, “I've already read your initial outline for the first year of his life. He won't be held for six months. Do you know how hard that will be for me from a biological standpoint?”
“To what? Not hold him? That's it?”
“You can't understand, Hojo,” a look crossed her face that was deadly. “It isn't a want, it's a - ” she cut off the sentence by using the clipboard to fan her face. It was flushed, and her eyes were glassy.
He removed his glasses to give her a moment of privacy to collect herself. He rubbed the corners of his eyes, and slowly put them back on. “Sensory deprivation would be useful in simulating the environment Jenova exists in, but since the specimen is of a human origin we could revise the six month plan - ”
“If you bend on this, what else will you revise?” Lucrecia was shaking her head, “Absolutely not, this is too important. This specimen needs to be handled the right way, and if I have to be out of the picture then so be it. Make fun of me and condescend to me all you want.”
“Not at all. Now that I fully understand, I respect you for recognizing your short term emotional handicap and martyring your involvement in the project.”
Her face was lovely and open, unburdened for the first time in months. “... Thank you.”
“Perhaps you'll be able to join us in time.”
“Maybe when I get pregnant again and can project my emotional needs onto something else.”
Hojo's brow lifted, “Again?”
“I want a baby,” was the simple response. "As soon as possible."
“It'd be great to have a second Jenova child to use as a control specimen. Hold that one all you want.”
She made a face like she was going to have a sarcastic retort, but it fell into one of consideration. “It'd be even better to have twins for that, wouldn't it?”
He made a low noise of appreciation, “Twins are always the ideal.”
“Alright, if by some chance I conceive twins, the lab can have one of them.”
“We can force twins if you're willing to carry them.”
“Let's make it triplets then. To hell with my body.”
They both laughed harder than they should have at the mild joke. They were laughing at something that wasn't being said out loud.
The test subject let out a gurgling groan from the operating table.
“Oh gosh that's right, we still have meat on the table,” Lucrecia winced with effort to stand back up. She threw up a hand when she saw the test subject's brain. “And still no tissue erosion! We can't let this guy out of here, I want to get back into this brain at least one more time.”
“Agreed.”
There was a buzz at the door. Dr. Hojo spoke into the microphone on his collar, “Clear to enter.”
Vincent Valentine poked his dark, disheveled head in, but knew not to cross the white line on the floor without a lab coat. His suit looked worse for the wear from whatever he'd been getting into that day. He appeared to have recently been patched up by the labs, and was sporting a black eye an stitches on the corner of his mouth.
Lucrecia chuckled at the sight of him, "Rough morning?"
He didn't smile. “Me and the OG's are going to get some lunch. I need a drink.”
The “OG's” referred to Vincent's father Grimoire and Lucrecia's mentor, Dr. Gast. Original gangsters or old geezers, both were a tidy description of the pair. Lucrecia's eyes illuminated at the suggestion of food and friendly company, but she glanced at Hojo and shook her head. “... Sorry kid, we're right in the middle of a procedure.”
“I'd say we're done here,” Hojo put his clipboard down with finality and stood up. “No tissue erosion. A miracle, as they say. I'll finish him up.”
She gave him a grateful smile, “Let's keep this subject in the keeper wing.”
“Agreed. Enjoy your lunch.”
She hung her lab gear and coat at the exit. Vincent put all his attention on her as she walked carefully and heavily out of the lab. He put his hand on the small of her back to lead her, backing off only a little when she scolding him for helping too much.
There was abrupt silence when the door closed, and the doctor rose to his feet to approach the subject. The man's eyes were open, frightened and wet as the sedative began to wear off.
Hojo smiled down at him as he pulled a pair of surgical gloves on, “You think Valentine has any clue the kid is mine?”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Happy Fanworks Exchange, ClementRage! I really hope you like it! I'm definitely not the best at observing canon, especially when canon is stupid, so I definitely think that both Grimoire and Gast should have lived and I will inject that desire into anything I touch. Also Lucrecia is a wicked snake woman and Turk!Vincent is oblivious and in love.