Who: Lucrecia, AU2!flirty!Vincent, and AU2!familyman!Hojo
What: Lucrecia finds a way to deal with flirt!Vincent while Hojo drops by to see his lovely wife.
When: Last week, during the plot! :D
Where: Lucrecia and Vincent's quad
Warnings: Vincent's pick-up lines, Hojo's cutesy nicknames.


To say that Vincent was confused was an understatement. He didn't understand how any of this was possible. The woman certainly looked and sounded like Lucrecia. She even acted like her in ways, though there was enough that was slightly different that he couldn't be sure. It was like a dream-version of her- nearly real but not quite. He wanted her to be real more than anything.

No, actually... at the moment, he wanted her to stop trying to drag him toward the closet, which was where she planned to confine him. "Stop doing this! I don't understand why it's necessary..." Vincent sighed. He had the most nagging feeling that he had spent long enough in a confined space recently. Which was odd in itself, he barely remembered the events leading up to his ending up here.

"Please... let's discuss this... Lucrecia." Vincent used her name as a last minute tactic, trying to move away from the path that would lead him straight to that closet.

And drag him toward the closet she did. How she longed to throw him in there and just let him turn back to normal so he could emerge from his closet dungeon the way he should be. Still, Lucrecia struggled against him; despite him being completely different in his mind, his body was the same and he could easily overpower her. But she was still horribly determined to get him locked away so he wouldn't do anything further to make her upset.

"It's necessary because you're too flirtatious with other women! If you're married to me, why would you do that?! That's terrible!" He said that she was the only one for him, but... his actions said differently! At least that was her logic. So, shoving him where he couldn't escape so easily (after she blocked it off that is) was the only course of action she could even think of. She wanted Vincent to herself, and didn't want anyone else getting the wrong idea, especially if they were being strange like he was. The idea of him getting close to any other female... that was horrifying!

"There's nothing to discuss," she said quietly as she tried to physically push him into the actual closet space. There really wasn't. He would feel the same if they were in each other's shoes! Still, he just needed to stay away from everyone until he was normal. Until he was the Vincent Valentine that she married.

"But I'm telling you, I've always been this way! You never minded before! It wasn't as if we- I mean, we sort of were having a thing until you disappeared, but... still... it's never been an issue!" Vincent indeed could just shove her aside if he wanted, or worse. But he couldn't and wouldn't do that because she was a woman, first and foremost, and it wasn't right to treat a lady like that. The other reason... was her resemblance to Lucrecia. He couldn't harm someone who might well be his beloved!

Vincent sighed and stepped back a little, almost fully within the closet. He doubted anything would change when he came out of the closet, which was inevitably going to have to happen when Lucrecia wasn't watching. Looking her in the eye, he took one of her hands in his. "We can do this right, if you'd like. I don't recall marriage, but... maybe we can have something eventually... For now... I think there's only one way for me to tell if you're really her."

She'd told him a mix of facts, some real and some not. But that didn't prove much. Now, putting his arms around her, he leaned in closer and attempted to kiss her. It wasn't just a light, friendly kiss... but a flirtatious, passion-filled one, something Vincent Valentine was the expert in.

Lucrecia frowned at Vincent's pleas, before shooting him a hurt look. "If it were me, and you were in my shoes, how would you feel if I were flirting with every male I saw?! Despite my telling you it's how I always have been, and you're the only one I care for? Being friendly is fine, but being overly friendly is another thing entirely!"

This was getting annoying though. He may not be trying to overpower her, but he wasn't going into the closet so easily. But Lucrecia wasn't expecting him to take one of her hands and try to pull his moves on her! While he did that, she stared at him wide-eyed, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Vincent had never been this straightforward, even to her after they had been dating and married. "Do this right? What in the world are you talking about? And of course I'm Lucrecia! Do I have to drag you along to my lab and--"

But she was cut off by Vincent's physical movement toward her. Was this how he expected her to show him that she was who she said she was? This was absurd! When he leaned in to kiss her, she let him do so for a moment, kissing back just slightly. It was still Vincent, so it wasn't like she was cheating on him! ...right? Of course not. She still wore the ring he had given her on their wedding day, and...

Right! Their wedding day! She had one of her favourite pictures from that day with some of her things! She was also sure she had their marriage certificate around as well! If he wanted proof, that was more than enough! "Mm!" She broke away from him, looking up to him. "I can prove it," she started, smiling faintly. "That not only are we married, but I'm Lucrecia."

It had been a very pleasant kiss, and Vincent had been tempted to take things a little further when she broke away. Well! Vincent had not ever had that happen to him before, being the attractive man that he was. This woman here was constantly taking him by surprise as Lucrecia tended to. That and... kissing her was a lot like the times he'd kissed Lucrecia. There was an irresistible familiarity to it. This troubled him more than if it had ended up having no effect.

While Lucrecia went to retrieve the proof, Vincent stepped away from the closet, bringing himself closer to the table with the computer on it. He may as well check on any new messages from the people here. The women here seemed to be welcoming, and in some cases just as confused as him.

Lucrecia hurried over to where her dresser was in their room, going through her things to find the marriage license. After going through a few drawers (and throwing papers and notes around), she was victorious in that. A triumphant cry was heard from where she was in their shared room, before she went to where she kept her photos and other treasured belongings. At least the photo wasn't difficult to locate! Lucrecia let her gaze linger on the photo, already beginning to recall the events of the day she and Vincent had gotten married. It was a nice thought, but one that had to wait. She was a woman on a mission, and that mission was currently--

...currently, to stop Vincent from his flirting more with the women around campus! Ohh, that was it. Practically storming over to where he was, she slammed the top to the computer down, and frowned at him. "Can't you go five minutes without flirting with someone?" And with that, the photo of the two of them on their wedding day was shoved at him. It was her favourite for numerous reasons, but the main reason being that Vincent was actually sort of smiling in the photo almost as brightly (in his own way) as she was. They had been looking at each other, and the shot definitely conveyed that whatever feelings they had during the day were completely real for each other. "Here." Was all she said.

Vincent jumped when she did that, sighing. That conversation had been going so well too. Oh, well, there would be time later. Deep down, Vincent sort of hoped that Lucrecia was right. That he was suffering some sort of amnesia or similar and that her insistence was real. But as he stared at the photo, he felt no feelings of familiarity.

"It's a beautiful picture, such an expression of love and devotion..." Of him and Lucrecia. Or people who appeared to be... "A wonderful daydream of what may have been. What should have been, perhaps. A union of two souls bound together by their passion... I... I'm sorry, but I don't remember this at all. In fact it- it's a little troubling, having what looks to be an image of one's self doing something they have no recollection of."

Vincent stood and looked at her. Already, his deductive reasoning was going into gear. "How do I know you're not the one having the problems with remembering what's real. Think of it, Lucrecia. You disappeared. Perhaps during that time, you were given false memories, and even artifacts such as this picture to strengthen the delusion... Why? Well, I'm not certain, but keeping you complacent is certainly a good reason. Hojo is going to suffer for warping your mind like this..."

A daydream? Lucrecia nearly hit the ceiling at that. "A daydream?! How dare you call it a daydream!" As he talked more, she decided that she would shove the marriage license at him with her left hand, taking care that her wedding ring was definitely showing as she did so. "Because I remember this day vividly for one, for two you went off and did the most idiotic thing before we were supposed to be married, leading me to believe you didn't love me any longer and desired to not actually go through with things, and we had the most amazing love-making session the night you proposed to me on the beach, Christmas Eve." Her frown only deepened when he went on. "And if it were Hojo who did this, why would it be to you and not him? That makes no sense, Vincent."

Of course, she was SO close to just calling him "Bizarro-Vincent" and being done with it.

"If Hojo wanted to give me false memories, he'd do so with him in place of you if he wanted me to himself." In fact, he had sort of done that, in a way, before: when they were at their old school, and he had Jenova override her actions and words. But she wasn't going to mention that. She was going to keep arguing with him about this.

"I don't know why, perhaps it's easier to make you believe you were with someone you wanted to be than not. Tricking the mind into believing something would be a delicate process! I don't know!" Vincent was shouting in frustration now, trying to make her see reason. Obviously, he wasn't getting through to her, and that was difficult to see. He just wanted to make her back to normal again. "I'm... I'm sorry, I don't remember that, I don't! I... don't..."

Why couldn't he remember what happened after confronting Hojo? Why was Lucrecia altered to believe false memories? Vincent tried to relax, because the angrier he became, the stranger he felt. It was like something was clawing inside his head, demanding freedom. This was making him physically ill, apparently. He reached for the computer again. "Apparently I have a great deal of research to accomplish. I'm sorry, Lucrecia, but I'm sure I can find a cure for you if I look into it..."

He... he was shouting at her? Vincent had never done that, not that she could immediately remember! It was definitely something she didn't like, and the more he shouted, the more she backed away from him, looking both hurt and frightened. But his words about finding a "cure"... he was just as bad as Hojo was in that regard! "I... I don't need to be 'cured' of anything...! I'm myself, I'm how I should be! I don't... I don't need anything, I just... I just want my husband back to normal! I don't want him flirting with other women, he's supposed to have eyes only for me!" Jealousy was definitely raging, considering how Vincent flirted relentlessly with other women, even though he claimed she was the only one he wanted. That wasn't how she felt, not at all.

So, again, she started trying to shove him back into the closet in his room, this time a little shakier and not as confident as before, and this time, with tears. "You'd hate if I- if I were doing that! I-if I told you that I l-loved you and th-then went and... and...!" ...at least, that's what she was sure of. He would be upset at the fact that she was flirting with men that were not him if she said she loved him, right? ...right?

Vincent didn't understand why she was so angry at him. It wasn't like he couldn't just look a bit and enjoy himself. But he did feel bad for raising his voice; he didn't like to do that with Lucrecia, and never had before. The stress of the situation might explain it. Or perhaps the fact that he could barely hear his own voice above the roaring in his head. Roaring...? That was peculiar. Maybe it was simply more of a pounding, yes, that was it.

He sighed deeply on seeing Lucrecia's reaction. Her attempts might have become more feeble, but the crying was effective on him. He stepped backward, toward the closet. "I... I'm... I am sorry, Lucrecia. If it's any consolation, I never would bed another woman, and never have. I've saved myself for you." He was starting to feel very off, anyway. Perhaps... he could use some darkness and quiet. He stepped all the way into the closet.

Hojo had meanwhile deduced that since he'd been assigned a quad on campus, Lucrecia had as well. Sure enough, he located the place readily enough. Now, to attempt to convince her of her true memories. He had not picked up any traces of mako in the area of the quads, so they had to be safe from contamination... but he worried all the same. He must help Lucrecia, find Sephiroth and return them home. Humming to himself, he strolled closer to Lucrecia's quad.

"That's a lie! You were with that other woman before! Before we met again! You... you..." That was a terrible lie right there from him; he had been with that Paine woman before, something that still hurt her on occasion to think about, despite being married to him. At least she didn't have to do much to get him into the closet this time. He wasn't fighting back, and he even went willingly. "Wh-when you're normal, when you're mine again, I... I'll let you b-back out, but... I... I don't want you to look at anyone else, just me! I don't... I don't want to see anyone else be talked to like that, n-not... not when you... you..." When you only love me. Not that she could finish saying it.

Still, when she was done talking, Lucrecia practically slammed the door in Vincent's face, before moving things to block him from escaping (at least, hopefully blocking his escape!) Once she was done, she left the room, setting herself out in the common room for a few minutes. Getting out of the room where she had been lessened the emotions that Jenova was currently cackling at, seeing how hurt her host currently was. Lucrecia tried to ignore it the best she could, for now, and returned to Vincent's room to sit herself on their bed, grabbing Galian the Second to cling to for a little while.

It was relatively dark in the closet, not to mention enclosed. That strangely enough comforted Vincent. He deserved to be in here, to be confined for causing his beloved to suffer. Her last words confused him, though. He'd never been with anyone else, as much as he teased other women. This situation was becoming very frustrating. But he could wait it out. Perhaps this noise in his head would soon go away. Vincent went to a corner and sat.

Hojo had taken off his lab coat, and even dressed up a little. He wanted to look his best for his dear wife. His poor, confused wife. He'd help her get through this! He crossed his fingers. Maybe just seeing him would spark some recognition in her. He could only hope! Finally, after a moment of fidgeting nervously about the potential outcome, he knocked on the door.

The knock on the door startled Lucrecia. She had been lost in her own thoughts, halfway burying her face into the top of Galian the Second's head as she thought. What was she going to do with Vincent? She couldn't just... keep him there, right? But then the sound of the knock jolted her out of those thoughts, and she stared at the door. Who was this at the door? Who would be here anyway? With a frown, Lucrecia got up and went to the door, her stuffed dog still in her arms, opening it.

...and to her surprise, Hojo was on the other side! Her hold on the stuffed dog only got tighter as she looked at him. "H-Hojo...?!" What was he doing here?! She had been hoping he wouldn't find her, but it looked like her luck was pretty much gone. Mentally facepalming, Lucrecia frowned some. "Wh... what re you doing here?"

"Lulu-Bear!" Hojo threw his arms around her in an enthusiastic hug. Then, practically shoved his way inside. He apologized profusely after that. It wasn't that he'd wanted to hurt her, but he knew with the way she was acting... anyway. He had to start his plan. He headed inside, talking as he went. "Have you found Sephy yet? Oh, I'm so worried! What about you, how are you holding up?" Hojo gave her a searching stare as he took one of her hands in his. "You seem upset, have you been crying? What's wrong, Lu? I'll do everything I can to fix it."

In the closet, Vincent heard that familiar voice and was on his feet at once. Unfortunately, Lucrecia had blocked the door all too well. He pushed against the door to no avail. Sighing, he sank to the floor again and listened. Maybe she'd be able to make Hojo leave on her own.

What the hell?! Hojo had never been like this before at her! Well, maybe when he wasn't batshit for Jenova he was, but not now! Lucrecia stumbled back when he hugged her and made his way into the quad, nearly dropping her stuffed animal in the process. When he spoke, Lucrecia had no idea what to even say to all of that. What could she say? She had no idea who "Sephy" was, despite his repeated attempts to tell her who he was. But when he took her hand into his, she nearly snatched it back from him. This was so weird! It was like he was turned back into the person he would have been, had he and Gast not found Jenova. "Of course I've been crying, what--" Ok, she didn't need to be too mean. Stopping herself, she just sighed some and pulled away from him, only to turn away. This was getting bad. "I... I just want to be alone right now, things aren't right."

...that was sort of the understatement of the year, wasn't it? Hopefully, Vincent couldn't hear what was going on, but... Hojo was loud, wasn't he? Ugh, this was bad.

Vincent could indeed hear everything that went on. He sighed and leaned closer to the door...

Hojo frowned. Seeing Lucrecia like this was very upsetting. He needed to find some way to make things right again. For both their sakes. Of course, it wasn't going to be easy. He'd ascertained that the problem likely wasn't merely psychological. Perhaps psychological with an underlying biological cause... In any event, he had to keep trying anything he could to snap her out of it. He approached her cautiously, and started to take out his wallet. "Lulu? Honey? I want you to look at something... If you would please? I won't hurt you, I promise."

'Look at something!?' Vincent clawed against the door, since he didn't like the implications of that. He stopped his motions, however, when something inside his head roared agreement to his anger. ...disturbing... He'd been hearing things a lot recently, but never this loud.

Oh god, anytime he said something like that, there was almost always a syringe involved. It made Lucrecia turn around really fast and look at him, expecting him to come at her like he was a madman again, but instead... "...why are you taking out your wallet, Hojo?" She asked as she backed up from him. But her attention was drawn to the sound of something clawing at the closet door. Oh damn it, that was Vincent, wasn't it? Was he trying to get out? Arrgh, that was frustrating! Lucrecia backed up more, intent on going back to Vincent to get him to stop what he was doing.

However, Hojo being in the same room with her made her nervous, and-- oh, that's right, he had been taking out his wallet, and she had taken her attention off of him. That probably wasn't the smartest idea ever! So, turning her attention back toward Hojo, Lucrecia almost looked like she was frightened for a moment, before she glanced at what Hojo had in his hand. ...were those... what she thought they were...?

Hojo smiled- a charming, entirely innocent expression devoid of the madness Lucrecia would expect to see there. He opened the wallet, and began to pull out an impossibly long strand of photos. He'd had the thing specially made to contain so many! Moving closer to Lucrecia, he began showing off his various family pictures. They were arranged chronologically, according to Hojo's obsessive-compulsiveness. He began to go through them, explaining them as he went.

"Here we are, when we met! It was day one of the project we were assigned to. Oh! This is the annual Shinra Christmas party. Here we are goofing off in the lab. A fancy dinner date. Hehehehe, and this is when I ~proposed~ to you!" The singsong tone in his voice didn't go away as he proceeded to show off all of the wedding-related images, and then those taken during Lucrecia's pregnancy. Finally, he got to... "Our Widdle Feffiroth! This is him as a newborn. Oh! Look, when we brought him home. Here he is dressed like daddy! Aw, look at those little toeses. He's playing with your hair in this one... Am I going too fast, sweetums?" Hojo didn't want to overwhelm her, after all.

Vincent listened intently to the voices in his head, Hojo's rambling in the background only fueling them on all the more. Gripping his forehead now, he tried to keep focus on the world in front of him. But whatever was inside him struggled harder for release...

...oh god, it was what she thought it was! The smile wasn't creepy, but his sudden picture attack stunned her into a stupor, for sure! Oh god, he wasn't insane from Jenova, he was insane from loving his family way too much! Lucrecia stared at the photos, not even blinking as he went through the photos at super speed. Even worse was that they were in chronological order! It was like looking at some bizarro version of her life where Hojo didn't have Jenova in his life, nor did they do the experiments on her, and they got together and had a kid. It was almost disturbing, in way.

...even worse was the fact that she knew the Hojo she knew, the crazy for Jenova one, had pictures of them at the Shinra Christmas party, and a few others that were similar to the ones Lucrecia was being shown now. It was only getting really bizarre from there. "...y-yeah, you are, but... I don't... I don't remember any of this, and..." And she really, really needed to escape. Like five minutes ago. She finally got up the urge to move away from Hojo, slowly at first, before she retreated back to Vincent's room.

Hojo had been getting on a roll with the photos, but now he frowned sadly when she moved away from him. It really was going to be harder than he'd anticipated. It was a good excuse to look at all these old photos, though? At the same time, it made him miss home. He gathered his resolve and followed her. "Lucrecia, please! You... you have to remember something? Surely you remember Sephy's first steps? His first mini-scientist play kit? His first day of preschool? Flying a kite at a family picnic?" One by one he unleashed the photographs at her, in hopes that they'd help his cause.

While Hojo talked and Lucrecia sounded more distressed, the storm in Vincent's head raged. Its consciousness surfaced, and realization broke through. The dark presence that haunted his nightmares was real.

Lucrecia merely shook her head as Hojo asked her questions regarding a son she didn't even have. At this point, she had been ignoring him, trying to avoid looking at these pictures of things she didn't know, a son she didn't recognize (and didn't have, for that matter!) and she was worried about her real husband who she was sure she had heard clawing at the door. "Hojo, I... no, I don't remember any of those things happening, please, just... put the photos away." It was bad enough that all of this was happening, but with Hojo harassing her in a different way, it was making things not too good. Still, Lucrecia took a glance toward where Vincent was currently locked away from things, hoping he was all right. A good thought came to mind, on how he would stay alive until he was back to how he should be, however long that would take.

That and there were the... other problems of keeping him in there. Really, locking him up there was just a temporary fix, and it was the only thing she could think of regarding things. She could have thought of something beyond that, but... well, that was the problem: how else was she supposed to keep him from flirting with other women?! Lucrecia let out a sigh, unsure of what to do at the moment.

Hojo sighed, but very grudgingly put away all of the photos. More drastic measures were obviously needed, but what? He was afraid at this rate that he might lose Lucrecia for good. That wouldn't help either of them! He rubbed at his forehead to alleviate the headache that was building up. What to try now... Wait! Maybe if he tried to work on other memories, tangible ones related to how her body reacted to his...

"Lucrecia... My lovely wife, I promised to restore you, and I will, no matter what it might take. Please don't take this the wrong way." Hojo closed the distance between them, and then wrapped his arms around her. Hugging her gently, he looked at her with longing in his eyes... and then drew closer to her to attempt to make out with her.

Obviously his ideas were not so much different from Vincent's! The man in the closet heard Hojo continue to talk, and then the sounds of... what was he doing!? A low growl started in Vincent's throat... and instantly he transformed, the human shape morphing into a large, hairy beast. Galian took one look at the door and grunted. Then he began to push it. While this version of Galian wasn't familiar with Lucrecia, he didn't like being confined, nor did he like anything to do with Hojo.

"Take what the-" Lucrecia was cut off by Hojo suddenly embracing her, and she backed up some as he did, into the closet door. This was so awkward! Hojo's trying to make out with her threw her off, and this time, her stuffed version of Galian fell from her grasp and on to the floor. Lucrecia was stunned, to say the least by what Hojo was currently doing, and she didn't do much in the way of reciprocating his feelings. It wasn't until she heard something that didn't sound... right coming from inside of the closet. She knew that sound, and it wasn't a good one.

So, she pushed at Hojo some, trying to push him back. Despite the fact that it brought back a lot of pleasant memories concerning the two of them from a long time ago, this Hojo wasn't too crazy in terms of being affected by the Jenova Project and she didn't want him to get hurt. "N-no, you have to stop, Hojo, I- I don't want you to get hurt!" The sound of Galian was one that Lucrecia knew all too well, and another fact about Galian that she knew was that he disliked Hojo a great deal.

Of course, the feeling of him pushing against the door was really disturbing. Oh god, he was going to get out and kill Hojo if she didn't get him out of here now! "You have to go, you'll get hurt if you stay!"

Hojo was going to try a little more persuasion with her, but then was caught off guard by the noise coming from the closet. "Wha- but- but Lucrecia! You'll get hurt as well! I can't allow that. Please, stand back!" Hojo was now the one trying to push Lucrecia back, as he drew his pistol. He'd started carrying it out of self defense, and now it would be put to good use. Hopefully, whatever sort of monster it was, he could manage a non-fatal shot on it. Then he might be able to study it further! He'd take care not to harm it through experimentation, of course, and then later on release it into the wild where it couldn't hurt anyone else.

...Anyway! Hojo assumed a protective stance, trying to keep Lucrecia back from the emerging creature...

Galian Beast gave the door a mighty shove and then came tumbling out. He growled, then set his sights on the humans in front of him. He especially kept his eyes on Hojo. It was his fault that he was trapped in this existence, bound to live inside a human's consciousness forever. He'd make sure Hojo suffered especially. The other human as well. Galian was a hunter, a monster who killed like a wild animal.

"Lu- Lucrecia- get down!" Hojo leapt to push Lucrecia down and shield her with his body as the beast charged. Claws slashed out at the two of them, and Hojo fired the gun, the shot flying wildly off target and hitting the wall.

"No, I-- Oh god, don't shoot it, Hojo!" Lucrecia knew the growl, but it was probably better that she didn't let on that she knew the creature, right? She wasn't sure, but for the moment, getting Hojo out of here was her best bet. When Hojo got into his protective stance, Lucrecia pulled on him, trying to get him away from the now-emerging monster. The look in Galian's eyes was the same look that he had when Lucrecia had first met him some time ago, before he became the giant puppy that she loved now.

"Puppy! Wait, don't--" But it was much too late, he was already coming toward them, claws at a ready, and--

...and then, she was on the floor, Hojo shielding her from the beast that had charged at them. But it was the gunshots that made her scream. "No, don't shoot him! Don't shoot Galian!" She screamed at Hojo, trying to grab the pistol he held. He couldn't shoot Galian, she didn't want that. It would be the same as shooting Vincent!

But this Hojo had never seen Galian Beast, nor had he done horrific experiments on Vincent. So he had no idea who he was attacking. At the moment, it was an act of self defense, anyway! He wished he'd had time to perfect a tranquilizer gun- while he carried tranquilizers on him, they weren't handy for a combat situation. He'd just have to immobilize it this way first. Hojo shrieked as the beast's claws nearly took his head off. "What!? But Lucrecia- did you see its eyes!? It wants to kill us!" He had experience with monster behavior, and this one was furious from all observations.

Galian continued the clawing frenzy, fire gathering at the tips of his hands as he attacked. All he knew was that Hojo must die. If the other human got in the way... so be it. Vincent's mind was barely audible under the rage. This Vincent hadn't learned to coexist with any of the monsters yet... and was too shocked to do anything but remain in the background.

As Galian made a vicious swipe toward Lucrecia, Hojo panicked and shot repeatedly at the creature. This time, he didn't miss. Galian roared in pain, falling backward as blood gushed from the wounds.

Hojo was shaking in fear. "A- are... are you ok, Lulu-Bear?" He kept an eye on Galian in case he got up, but it seemed the gunshots had ended the assault.

Oh god, Galian was trying to kill Hojo now too, and she only tried to push him away when Galian kept up his attack to maybe keep him safe. "No, no Galian- Puppy, you need to stop!" Hopefully, he would stop if she heard him. Galian always listened to her, didn't he? He had before! But right now, he really wasn't stopping his attack on them. Not this time. She was wary to try to call out to Vincent, not to alert Hojo to the fact that he was shooting someone that was human. It wasn't until Galian came after her that it slipped. "Vincent stop!" It was an accident, but she immediately felt terrible.

But the gunshots made it worse. On instinct, after seeing Galian shot and the blood, Lucrecia grabbed on to Hojo to hide her face and scream into him. Oh god, he had shot Galian. He had shot Vincent! It terrified her, knowing that he had been hit, and how she hoped it wasn't fatal!

For the moment, Lucrecia clung to Hojo, beginning to sob uncontrollably into him. This was terrible! Would he be all right?! She knew he healed incredibly fast, but what if he didn't this time?! The 'what-if's' just kept coming into her thoughts, fueling her tears even more.

"V- Vincent!? What... what do you mean, Lu? Lu, honey...?" Hojo put away the pistol, as Galian seemed to be incapacitated for now. He focused his attention on Lucrecia. This was all very confusing, but maybe Lucrecia could explain in a moment. For now, he just held her close, keeping his arms around her to comfort her. He repeated soothing words at her as he tried to get her to calm down. All in all, he acted very gentle about calming her, not rushing it, but letting her get her feelings out. "It's ok, Lucrecia... the monster can't get us right now... it's ok... but why... why did you mention Vincent?"

Galian grunted a little, twitching painfully. He was losing consciousness and with it, his hold over the outer form. So unfortunate, in a few moments he may not be able to remain on the outside. He'd been glad to gain this taste of freedom. Too bad there'd be no further tearing of flesh. For now, the body needed rest in order to finish healing.

Lucrecia didn't say much after that, just kept crying and clinging to Hojo. The more she heard Galian make any sort of noise, she just freaked out further. After a few minutes of this, she sunk to the ground, hopefully bringing Hojo with her. Finally though, Lucrecia choked some words out.

"Th... that... that beast is-is Vincent. He... he was altered, made into an experiment, he--" She paused and looked over to where Galian was, which only made her turn back toward Hojo again to hide her face. She couldn't look at him like this. Not like this. It was too upsetting. "He... he has four other beings, one of them being... Galian Beast. The one you... you sh-shot. I..." Lucrecia had to stop talking to even think straight at this point. Her hold on Hojo only grew.

Hojo joined Lucrecia as she moved, taking a position on the floor with her, still keeping his arms around her. "Experiment!? What a horrible thing to do to someone..." Hojo felt sickened at the idea of someone harming the godfather of his child in that way. He wondered who would have done something so depraved.

Sighing, he hugged Lucrecia some more and turned his gaze to the beast. Galian stirred, then went quiet for a moment. "It- he- they?- he. He's still breathing, as far as I can tell. Perhaps if we give him immediate medical attention..." Hojo sounded almost as if he were about to cry from being so upset, himself. He kept hold on Lucrecia as he slowly moved closer to Galian. Observing the monster, he furrowed his brow. While there were still wounds gaping among the monster's fur, they seemed somehow less severe than they'd looked a moment ago. "Huh... that's strange... Is... does he have unusual healing capabilities that you're aware of?"

Lucrecia merely nodded to Hojo's question, unsure if she could speak at the moment. Once she composed herself enough to think right, she looked at him. "I- yes, he... he can heal really quickly normally, but..." But this version, she wasn't so sure. Of course, any wounds that Galian gave her were probably already healed. Hopefully, if she did have any, Hojo wouldn't see and ask about why they were already gone. That would be a whole other can of worms she didn't want open. "He... he sleeps. When he gets hurt, he... he sleeps." Well, her Vincent did that. It never stopped her from worrying, of course! She was worrying now, in fact, wondering if he would be all right, considering he was still bleeding.

"Hojo, I- we have to do something, I don't want anything bad to happen to him!" It was so strange to be asking Hojo for help concerning Vincent! Hojo, while normal (at least what was normal to Lucrecia) would never dream of helping Vincent, even if she were to beg, and he would probably laugh in her face. But now... now, Lucrecia was hoping that Hojo was going to stay like this, despite her wanting her own husband to become normal again.

Hojo nodded, gulping back a lump in his throat. He'd never willingly hurt a friend of his! To even think about it was terrible. "I- I can see what I can do to help. Especially in this form- the rehabilitation of monsters so they can be sent into the wild is another of my specialties. I've patched up quite a few in my time. Let me see here..." He gave Lucrecia one more comforting squeeze, then slowly released her. Moving now toward the beast, he did what he could to examine him. Galian shuddered a little, but didn't otherwise move. A war of consciousnesses was waging inside him, as the other monsters were trying to gain release instead of Vincent... despite their obvious lack of energy.

"It doesn't look nearly so bad now, but... he uses sleep, you said? Possibly as a means of speeding up the regeneration process, how fascinating... I can give him a tranquilizer for the time being? It'll knock him out for a few hours, anyway..." Hojo looked to Lucrecia to see what she thought. He'd not want to do anything too hastily, without her consent.

"Y-yes, he sleeps to... to heal. I... all right." A tranquilizer would be a good idea, wouldn't it? Lucrecia had used one on him before, last year in fact. She wasn't too adverse to using those, if it would help Vincent heal. After a few minutes of watching Hojo look over Galian, she finally crawled over to Galian to hesitantly try to at least stroke his fur a little. Maybe it would calm him? Calm Vincent? If he knew it was her...

"It's... fine. You can. It'll help. I just don't... I don't want him to be in pain." That was all that mattered. Knowing Vincent was in pain was a terrible thing. Knowing Galian was in pain was just as bad. Hopefully putting him to sleep for a little while would help and ease the pain he was likely in. But... what Hojo said intrigued her. "You... Hojo, do you think... mm... maybe not. I... I think the monsters are fused with Vincent's DNA. I don't know if you'd know what to do." It was a nice thought, though! If anything, to kill off Hellmasker and Chaos would be incredibly fantastic, and to save Galian and Gigas would be what she wanted most. But she wasn't sure it were even possible.

"Let's try that, then. It may hasten the healing process that much more, as well. I must say, it's a very intriguing adaptation. It's too bad we don't have such abilities normally..." There he went again, rambling on about way to save humanity. Or at least make their lives that much better overall. Hojo had a habit for thinking of such things in his spare time. He just revered life so much. Very carefully, he withdrew the items he'd need, finding the syringe and tranquilizer right away. It wasn't unusual to need it for a monster here and there. It ought to work in this case.

Gently, Hojo injected Galian with the substance. He was very careful, so as not to disturb or hurt him. This worked to calm the voices inside of him, and very gradually, the monster and the others inside found peace. Galian's hold released, and instantly he morphed back to human form. Hojo gasped. "But! But... he looks so different than the Vincent I know..." He reached toward his friend, lightly touching the golden claw that gauntleted one of his arms. But, to his relief, he saw that the wounds were still healing. The blood had dried and was no longer flowing out. "I- I don't think it'll take him long to heal completely, now. As for the monsters... I don't know. If they're fused on a genetic level, there wouldn't be much that could be done. I could still attempt, of course, to find some way to help him..."

"Oh..." At least she was trying! Trying to figure out how to get the monsters out of Vincent and on to the same living plane they were on was a difficult thing to do! Still, Lucrecia was trying, and even if she just kept Galian and Gigas around, she could destroy Chaos and Hellmasker before they materialized here! Ah, but that was still a difficult thing to do, but this Hojo was still willing to even think of trying to undo what his normal self did to Vincent! It was a step in the right direction, at least, and that made her happy enough. But maybe, like this, something could be done...? Lucrecia was hoping for that, at least! Picking up the stuffed dog she had dropped, she watched Hojo check over Vincent. "If... if you could, I'd... that would make me so happy. I don't like seeing him suffer." And really, that's what it was. Galian and Gigas weren't so bad, but it was the other two that made Vincent suffer so because of them. If Hojo could find a way to rid Vincent of the worst of the four, and to free the other two...

Vincent stirred in his sleep, surprising Hojo since the sedative should have been potent enough to prevent that... well, maybe for most entities, but this version must have abnormal DNA indeed. "What's your sign, baby?" Vincent mumbled, before once more going still and quiet.

Hojo continued his exam carefully, but of course, couldn't gather much externally. Vincent appeared very human. He glanced at Lucrecia. "I may be able to work something out. I'll have to get a blood sample and run a few tests, but I'm sure this won't be too complicated to resolve." He gave Lucrecia a hopeful grin. Then his expression grew worried. "Of course, that means I'll have to return to the lab to work. Will you be all right here? Vincent will be out of it for a few hours, but even so..."

Lucrecia stared at Vincent when he mumbled, and sighed some. That was not her Vincent. Not at all. Still, she worried for him all the same, considering he was still Vincent, just... some weird version of him, instead of the quiet and sort of shy one she knew. In fact, she really preferred that version to this one, for as much as she teased her husband about being so quiet. This version was much too strange and she didn't like it. But as she watched Hojo work, there was something that was still lifting her spirits. This one was willing to help. He wanted to help Vincent. "A blood sample? All right. I don't mind that, I... well, I don't know if this one is different from the one I know, so my own blood samples I have are probably not right. Mm, but... I'll be all right." Lucrecia couldn't help but smile a little at Hojo. This was the Hojo that she remembered. One that cared about her. It was a little nostalgic, though her love belonged to Vincent now. Still, seeing that a Hojo somewhere was sane made her happy.

But a thought crossed her mind, and the smile fell just a little. "Hojo...? I have a question. Were... you ever involved in the Jenova Project?" If he could help Vincent, maybe... he could help her too?

"I'll have to go collect some things then, so I can return for samples, and then... I'll get right to work. I'm sure I can find something out." Hojo remained optimistic about the possibility. He'd have to try for his friend's sake, as well as Lucrecia's.

Hojo glanced to Lucrecia at her question and furrowed his brow. "I can't say I recognize it..." He pondered a little longer, trying to recall even anything with a similar name, but nothing sprang to mind. There was something about that word that bothered him, though. Had he seen it somewhere...? He shook his head. He felt bad about that because the question had seemed important. "I'm sorry, I don't know. It's nothing I've worked on..." He trailed off, recalling some of the documents he'd seen while going through the office that was apparently his. Yes! That was where he'd seen it mentioned. "Is that something I- the Hojo you seem to know of?- was working on?"

"Thank you, Hojo." That was probably the one thing she never dreamed she would be saying to Hojo of all people! But this one was so much different, so much nicer and actually caring! Hearing that he would help...

But when he didn't seem to know anything about Jenova, some of her own hope that he could help her fell. It didn't seem like he would be able to help if he didn't know what the Jenova Project was. "...oh. You're lucky then, and so is your wife and child." Lucrecia only nodded when asked if what the Hojo she knew was working on. Of course it was. His life's work. His project. Jenova laughed quietly at her. "It seems you won't get help. Pity." It made her frown outwardly when the alien's voice echoed in her mind. This wasn't going to help anything, was it?

"You're welcome, Lulu." Hojo was beginning to suspect that this truly was... not quite the Lucrecia he had married. But no matter what, she was some version of the woman he loved, perhaps from some other world who had been trapped here herself. He'd need to research their predicament once he had finished his work on Vincent's mutations. Actually, no... the way Lucrecia brought the subject up, he couldn't just ignore it. "I can add that to my list of things to look into, of course. I'd do anything if it helped you."

Hojo reached toward her and took her hand gently in his. With utmost care and caution in case she fought him on it, he brought it to his lips and lightly kissed it. Then he moved away, ready to start heading out. "I'll go prepare, then. Is there anything else I can do for you? Perhaps bring you something when I return?"

With another nod, Lucrecia looked toward the ground, holding Galian the Second tighter and closer to her. At least... he could help Vincent, it seemed. If that's all he could do, then it was worth it. She could work to help herself, at least, if it made her life with Vincent better. But Hojo's words made her look back up to him, and her expression brightened a little. "You... you would do that? But you don't know anything of the project! I... I don't want you to become obsessed with it. Promise me you won't. You'd break my heart." It was true enough, considering her own Hojo had pretty much done that when he became so obsessed with Jenova and the fact that she could be a Cetra that he slowly lost his sanity. Lucrecia didn't want to see that happen with this Hojo, and have him potentially hurt the Lucrecia he had married and the son they apparently had together.

When he stood to leave, despite her being married to the man who was currently asleep, Lucrecia stood with him, not fighting his advance to at least kiss her hand. It didn't take much for her to grab on to him in a hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I... no, I don't think so. You're really very sweet." Why couldn't this version stay? He was so much better than the one they had here usually!

"Obsessed!? No, never! I promise I won't. I've long ago learned my lesson about working too much. Even if it's for a good cause, my family has to come first." Hojo gratefully returned the hug. "And thank you, Lucrecia. It's good to hear you say things like that." At least they'd made peace for the time being. He could figure out what had happened and set everything right.

After grudgingly pulling away, he smiled at her- a sincere, pleasant smile. "Everything will work out soon enough, you'll see! I'll be back and then I can start running those tests." Maybe soon he'd have his wife and son back, Vincent would no longer have that mutation... and he'd help Lucrecia with what she'd mentioned. Best to keep on the bright side of things. With these things in mind, he finally turned to leave. He had a lot of good science to get to!

"Good. I don't want to see that happen. I never want to see that happen. Not with you." Not with Jenova involved. If anything, she'd rather see him obsessed with watching his son grow up to be like mommy and daddy. That would be a better thing to see. That was normal. But for now, she had to let him go to do his work. When he smiled to her, Lucrecia smiled faintly. "All right. I'll be here. I won't leave. Thank you, Hojo. Good luck." She placed her hand on his shoulder, letting it slip from said shoulder when he left.

But, once Hojo had left, Lucrecia went to Vincent's side, taking his good hand in her own. "It hurts that you don't remember things and that you think I'm nuts. I just... want you back to normal, Vincent. I want you to remember everything. I want you to remember when you reproposed to me after everything that happened, and the day we got married. That's all I want." Still holding on to his hand with her own, Lucrecia leaned down to kiss him gently. All that was left to do now was... to wait.