Wish I Had An Angel

AN:

What's this? A story about Hojo? Hojo falling in love? Surely it cannot be? But it is! And simply because I wanted to try something new besides stereotyping the villain we all love to hate. For the record, I'm not pleased with this first chapter at all, but I was too impatient to do it properly, as I just want to start on chapter two where the fun starts! So, I challenge you all to read this with an open mind and suffer through my bad grammar, as I promise I will get a beta to go over it when it's done and correct the horrors. I just want to see how this works!

Disclaimer; None of the FF7 characters are mine, just borrowing them for an experiment! Just for fun, no profit in it for me...

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1. DEEP INTO A DYING DAY


Oh, there had to be some way he could kill him and get away with it. Hojo considered it while absently tapping the back of his pen to his lips. There would be no judge nor jury in this world that would punish him! He had a vague suspicion that they'd even give him a medal, for doing the community a favour!

"Pfeep..."

Hojo cringed and tightened his grip on the pen. Surely there had to be some law against it? There was no way that it was legal! It only needed a few cells working in the top floor to realise that something like that should not be loose in certain surroundings! People were bound to snap!

"Pfeep..."

Closing his eyes hard, Hojo drew a deep breath before glancing at the watch on the wall. Only ten minutes left. Granted, he'd finished about an hour ago, but there was no way this moron could know that! Besides, they weren't the only ones there, and others were bound to share Hojo's sentiments. Maybe they would give him an alibi if he made it stop? He was no unreasonable man, but...

"Pfeep..."

There was a sharp sound as the pencil snapped, but Hojo knew no one really noticed it as they all were busy hating the very source of Hojo's anger as well. This was a very important day for every one in that room! Their final exam that would determine their futures, and it was jeopardized because of one single individ that failed to take other people into consideration! Hojo knew there was no way he was going to fail, but if this one person caused him to get anything less than beyond perfect; Hojo swore to hunt him down and kill him!

"Pfeep..."

Golden brown eyes shot over to the source of the noise and Hojo wished for nothing else than the power to kill with nothing more than a stare. The student two desks away from him seemed unaware of the look of pure hatred, and merely continued his writing. By appearance, the culprit seemed quite innocent enough, forgettable even, but Hojo knew he'd never forget that face. The face belonging to Mr Squeaky Nose!

"Pfeep..."

From the second silence had fallen over the class and they had started their test, Hojo had become aware of the sound. Strange how a sound doesn't affect you unless you start paying attention? And it was impossible not to notice! So, it started to annoy him, and hours later it was grating on his last nerve! To add more fuel to the fire, there wasn't even a pattern in the torture! At moments, the damn tweeting came at every exhale the derelict made, but then it would change to every second or third, thus making it impossible to block out!

"Pfeep..."

Mr Squeaky Nose made his final notes, grinned to himself, leaned back and actually had the audacity to pass his grin on to Hojo. It took everything in Hojo to keep himself from jumping over and ram Squeaky Nose's test paper into his damn honker, but forced himself to merely stare at his own test. This would actually determine if he would get that job at ShinRa or not, but Hojo knew it was a mere formality really. His position at the research team was basically determined last year, but it would look better if Hojo did finish his last year before entering the coveted job of working for the great Professor Gast! The man was something of an icon to everyone studying biology and chemistry! He was the only man Hojo found worth making an effort to please, as he was usually surrounded by idiots.

"Pfeep..."

Eight minutes left... Hojo knew he was going to snap, just like his pencil. He couldn't take much more! But something inside him also reeled against the notion that Hojo would be defeated by someone like Mr Squeaky Nose! It was only a matter of keeping himself occupied these last minutes, right? If he'd managed to withstand the tweeting sound for hours, then he should be able to last a few minutes more! Right, if he couldn't actually kill Mr Squeaky Nose, Hojo could at least marvel in how many ways he could make him suffer...!

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One month later...
If Hojo had been someone who got elated, he probably would have been when he entered the ShinRa tower after passing his final exam with only top scores. However, it took a lot to elicit any kind of emotion from the young man, and Hojo intended to keep it that way as feelings only got in the way. Something he was certain that a man like Gast would understand.
Passing through security went a little too easily, and Hojo was still frowning at the lax guards as the elevator brought him up towards the floor where he would meet the famous Gast and his team. Rumours would have it that Gast was working on projects that were so top secret that not even President ShinRa himself knew about them, so surely they had to make sure intruders didn't make it into the labs, didn't they? His mind was busy going through lacks and faults with the security when the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. While being a man who prided himself in not feeling, Hojo swallowed nervously as he stepped out to enter what he knew would be his future.

"Hojo, right?"

Quickly glancing over at the voice calling his name, Hojo managed a faint nod. "Yes. I am Hojo." He measured the other man drily, seeing someone slightly older than himself with brown hair and a thick moustache wearing a tattered lab coat. The man was also wearing a silly grin. "And you are?"

"Forgive me. My name is Gast." The words came with a slight bow, but the grin never wavered. "You will be on my team. If you care to come with me?"

Hojo was completely stunned for a moment, then started to life as he realised that Gast was walking towards a door and hurried to follow. That was Professor Gast? The most famous scientist in entire Midgar? In the world! As they were walking down halls, Hojo's mind was reeling to connect the things he'd heard about Gast with the man he'd just met... The man seemed so... common! How could a genius look like some janitor?

"Let me introduce you to the gang!" Gast said as he pushed open the door to the lab, allowing the slightly curious Hojo into the inner sanctum of the research team. At the sound of his voice, the people inside halted their ministrations to gaze over at the two. Once again Hojo's expectations were shattered. Three men and two women appeared to be Gast's assistants, and none of them seemed to be over at least 30 years old! These were the brightest minds of Midgar? But...

"The two lovely ladies over there," Gast continued and pointed first at a blonde woman, "Ayeka, as beautiful as she is intelligent!" Then he pointed towards the one with brown hair and a pair of glasses perched on her nose. "And gorgeous Lucrecia, with a tongue as sharp as her brilliant mind!"

Hojo gazed impassively at the two smiling women. He didn't particularly care about their names or their brains, as long as they did their part of the work then they could be ogres and morons without it bothering him.

A dark haired man waved cheerfully as Gast introduced him as Yuki, the second was a Wutaian named Hwang and the last to be introduced was the one with the most unruly hair Hojo had ever seen, Leo.

"What will be my assignment?" Hojo muttered, ignoring the others as he turned to face Gast again. Dreading that all this grinning was something they tended to do every day. They were there to create miracles, not be sociable!

Gast laughed silently, slamming a friendly hand down on Hojo's shoulder. "People, this little ray of sunshine is the Hojo we have been waiting for!" He tugged the younger man along, winking to the giggling Ayeka. "Your presence has been eagerly awaited since last month, Hojo! We've all heard about the child prodigy!"

Stumbling along, Hojo was wondering when the hidden-camera-crew would pop out. "I'm... honoured, Professor Gast, but..."
"You will be working with Hwang," Gast announced, coming to an abrupt halt beside said man. "He's currently working on the project to determine if the latest monster mutations around the reactors has actually something to do with mako-exposure."

Finally there flickered a glimmer of interest in the golden brown eyes belonging to Hojo and the angry lines vanished from his face. He'd written an assignment on mako and how it could be used in genetics! The possibilities!

Hwang gave an encouraging smile, gesticulating towards the microscope beside him. "Wanna have a look? I got these new samples from Gongaga yesterday, and it's simply fascinating!"

Hojo mumbled something, pushed his glasses firmer up on his nose and wandered over. He failed to see the grins exchanged between Gast and Hwang, the two having betted that the newcomer weren't such a up-tight bore that Leo and Yuki had heard he was. The boy just needed to settle in, and he would probably equally fun to work with as the others!

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Working on Gast's team was not what Hojo had expected it to be, but he could not deny that every person in that lab had the right to be there. He did not think for a moment that anyone of them competed with his and Gast's brilliance, but they were a pretty smart bunch. It was actually possible to discuss and preform tests with their aid, and Hojo found their company tolerable if not agreeable.

Hwang and Lucrecia were the two that appealed most to him with their calm natures, Yuki and Ayeka could test his patience sometimes, but Leo was definitely best to avoid as much as possible. Loud laughter and crude jokes was not something Hojo found appropriate in their work place!
Yet, Leo was exceptional good to have around as Hojo found out, by a pure stroke of luck, that his old friend Mr Squeaky Nose had actually found work within the ShinRa tower as well! Leo's scheme involving a live fish, dutch tape, a soda can and a chocobo doll was a work of pure evil that even Hojo had to respect. It certainly gave him the satisfaction of finally getting back at Mr Squeaky Nose for almost ruining his exam! It also confirmed Hojo's fears that Gast and his team were starting to have a bad influence on him...

Yes, even Gast himself were telling Hojo, not very discretely, to live a little! To ease up! To enjoy life! He made a point of trying to set Hojo up with women, but only once as the younger man had nearly thrown a fit. If Hojo wanted a female companion, he was perfectly capable of finding one himself, but for the moment he had yet to find a woman as fascinating as his work!
Gast, however, did not appear to share that problem.
The infamous genius of Midgar was, putting it plainly, a flirt. The man ran after just about anything in a skirt, and was giving Hojo an ulcer in the process. Dammit, this was not how his hero was supposed to be! Laughing, smiling and joking like some common man! It just wasn't suitable for an idol!

Hojo struggled to find if he was thriving or miserable in his job, probably a little bit of both, when the big news finally came! He'd only been working there for about fourteen days when his life would change forever...

Some unknown creature had been found! Speculations were running wild, even going as far as claiming it was an Ancient! The last of the Cetra!

The specimen was now being brought to the lab in Nibelheim, and Gast announced that he was to bring two assistants in order to investigate, and that they would be leaving as soon as possible. The others would finish up on their projects before following.
Hojo and Lucrecia actually shared a small smile when they heard their names as the ones following Gast to the small town. The two had equally high ambitions when it came to their futures and for a moment he felt that he might not be the only sane one in Gast's group.

A few hours of packing, then the three were placed in a helicopter and flown to Nibelheim. The lab there hadn't been fully operational for years, so new equipment would be arriving as they started up on their research.
Hojo found the entire event a bit too hurried, but the President wanted results as fast as possible. If the creature proved to actually be a Cetra, then all the legends would prove to be true! Not even the most realistic scientist was able to completely ignore the exciting possibilities that would follow such a result! The flight was done in silence as the three were lost in their own thoughts of what was waiting for them at their destination.

Hojo fought to remain realistic as they were ushered out of the helicopter in the small, god-forsaken town in the middle of nowhere. Telling himself that it most likely was just a mutated monster discovered by some hick, and it was not worth getting himself excited over. A Cetra? Surely not.
Yet, as he kept his mental monologue going, the young scientist did not hesitate to follow Gast and Lucrecia as they entered through the gate of the ShinRa Mansion.
Even made a valiant effort to completely block out Gast and Lucrecia discussing the benefits of having an entire house at their disposal, and how they loved the atmosphere in the town! He was on the verge of asking his superior if Gast remembered the reason for them being there, when they reached the end of the spiral stairs and their guide announced that the lab was inside the door at the end. Finally.

"Do you really think it's a Cetra?" Lucrecia asked Gast as he rested his hand on the door handle, and the man only answered her with a smile before entering the room.

Hojo clenched and unclenched his hands tensely as he followed them, his eyes instantly drawn to the huge container inside lab. "We won't know anything until we've run sufficient tests, so there is little use in speculating..."

However, the three of them was unable to fight against the feeling of awe as they halted in front of the container. Despite all of them being scientists, the aura radiating from the being could only be called ethereal.

But it was Gast that finally broke the silence and placed a light hand against the glass. "Jenova."

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Next chapter; I TOOK A STEP OUTSIDE AN INNOCENT HEART. (Things start to happen in Nibelheim!)