Wish I Had An Angel

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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2. I TOOK A STEP OUTSIDE AN INNOCENT HEART


The equipment in the Nibelheim lab was outdated. Their new equipment was arriving sporadically. Hwang, Ayeka and Leo were delayed because of a virus outbreak in the Midgar slums. But the three scientists in the ShinRa Mansion were beyond letting such mere details bother them.

Jenova, a strange creature of unknown origin, had some vague resemblance to a human by appearance, but it's body was undeniably mutated. There was no way it was human, but it almost looked like it was trying to be.

Sleep was quickly becoming merely a legend to them, and Lucrecia had to order Hojo out of the lab to get some rest several times. But every day was spent testing and collecting data, leaving the lone female to make sure her co-worker remembered to eat as well. She dodged Gast's grinning suggestions and Hojo's sour remarks with utmost confidence. Hojo finally had to, reluctantly, admit that he didn't mind her presence.

It puzzled him sometimes when she would hand him his coffee cup, and met his grumbled thanks with a smile. Or how she would touch his arm when she was explaining something to him. Hojo found this woman almost more mysterious than the creature in the container. Usually people would shy away after a while when Hojo had snapped enough at them, though he refrained from doing so with Gast, Lucrecia merely brushed off his cranky behavior and continued to give him her smiles. Most unsettling!
Still, his mind was on his work! Hojo knew it was no time to let his thoughts wander, burying himself deeper into his research.

Which was what he told himself as Hojo scoffed at Gast's request that he'd join them at the inn where the townsfolk were throwing a party. "If you don't mind, Professor, I will stay here and finish up on these last tests."

"We have been working non-stop for over a week now!" Gast laughed wearily, crossing his arms amused. "Surely even you feel the need to get out of this basement, Hojo?"

Hojo adjusted his microscope before glancing over at the other man. "No."

Raising his hands in defeat, Gast merely shook his head before sauntering out. At least he and Lucrecia knew what it meant to be alive, but he was starting to doubt if the boy was ever going to thaw!

Left to work alone in the lab, Hojo spent hours experimenting with chemicals and wrote countless notes on his pad, when suddenly the door opened. He started slightly at the sound after getting used to the silence, but his surprise didn't decrease as he saw who it was.

"Hello," Lucrecia smiled, absently brushing back a few of her bangs from her flustered face. "Still here, huh?" She was wearing a pretty blouse and a dark skirt instead of her usual lab-outfit.

Hojo nodded. He watched her as she walked into the room, entertained by the realisation that she was slightly tipsy and wondered what had brought her to the lab.

Halting beside him, Lucrecia gazed over the workbench surface. "Always working, Hojo... You really should consider loosening up once in a while. You have a sweet smile, you know?"

Now Hojo was worried that she was slightly crazy as well.

"Ah!" Lucrecia reached out and snatched up something before showing it to Hojo. "I forgot my watch earlier! Silly me!" She giggled and unsteadily tried to fasten it around her wrist.

Tentatively reaching out, Hojo brushed her hand away and fastened the watch around her delicate wrist. "You should take better care of your things, Lucrecia. And I suggest you retreat to your room now if you are to be fit for work tomorrow."

Giggling once again, Lucrecia glanced up at him. "Try telling that to Professor Gast!" She then hummed merrily on some tune, and suddenly placed her hands on Hojo's hips. "You should come out with us one time! It'll be fun!"

Hojo tensed startled and stared wide-eyed at the smiling woman.

Her smiled turned slightly devious as Lucrecia tugged Hojo close, to stand snuggly against him from the waist and down. "You're awfully cute, Hojo!"

To his utmost horror, Hojo felt the blush spreading in his face and he stuttered something unintelligible. He'd been called a lot of things in his life, but no woman had ever just grabbed a hold of him and said he was cute! His usually so razor sharp wit flew out the window. He'd been lanky from childhood, and was now lean at best. His black hair was always meticulously combed back, never a single stray out of place. And his eyes were an odd mixture of deep brown and feline gold. His major interests were reading, science experiments and picking on weaker people. How was that cute?

His expression was simply priceless, and probably the most honest one she'd seen on him, so Lucrecia leaned closer and placed a light kiss on his lips.

Hojo had been prepared for just about anything, except this situation. He was physically unable to stop the shiver that ran through him at the feeling of Lucrecia's lips brushing briefly against his, then grew increasingly uncomfortable as he felt a tingle of desire that followed due to her close proximity. He swallowed hard, certain his face was a deep crimson by now, but didn't object when her lips returned to his.

Soft, and teasing. Those two words described the second kiss.

Hojo wasn't quite sure how it happened, but a barely perceptible groan escaped from deep in his throat when Lucrecia's tongue entered his mouth for a short visit, to touch his, then withdrawing back into it's own territory.
Not enough, Hojo's mind scrambled. More.
Before he could embarrass himself by trying to speak, she did it again. Only this time, did Hojo tentatively meet her. Yes. Again. More eagerly now. A trying kiss was soon developing into a battle between two strong will powers. Tongues explored, taunted and played.

Unaware of his eyelashes lowering until his eyes were closed, Hojo lost himself in the feeling.
Sure, he'd kissed women before, but it had only been something to keep himself occupied with until they got to the good stuff.
However, with the things she did with her lips and tongue made his heart pick up it's pace and his breathing turned uneven.

Sweet mercy, she probably could make him come in his pants without moving her hands or releasing his lips.

Was it one kiss, or several that followed? It was hard to tell, but it became even more difficult to stop. Hojo's hands lifted by their own accord to cup her face, pulling her even closer, and every trace of shyness was completely gone. Had her scent always been this alluring?

Lucrecia pulling away made Hojo draw a shivering intake of oxygen, and she sent him a coy smile at his flustered look. "Cute. And a good kisser." The brunette giggled, winked at him, and sashayed out of the room. "See you tomorrow, hot stuff!"

As he'd been powerless to keep her from kissing him, Hojo found himself equally powerless to stop her from leaving. He merely gazed after her with a stunned look, all hot and bothered, with a usually so razor-sharp tongue still savoring the taste of her. Part liquor, and part something that he knew was simply Lucrecia.

Closing his eyes with a soft groan, Hojo shifted uneasily. How was he supposed to get any sleep now? And what had just happened? Why couldn't he control his racing pulse? Countless questions presented themselves before him, but the dark haired scientist could only meekly conclude that he wouldn't get any more work done and that he'd might as well retreat to his room. Walking over to turn off the light, Hojo thought he heard a faint sound.

Frowning, he glanced back at the container holding the Jenova creature, but nothing seemed out of place.
Hojo shrugged and flicked the light switch to let darkness fall over the laboratory. His mind was having a ball with playing tricks on him tonight!

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It had taken an ice cold shower to calm his body, but he'd been tossing and turning for hours before sleep would claim him, and when Hojo woke up the next morning he couldn't quite remember why he had this excited tingling teasing through him. His brain had always had a knack for solving mysteries, and the reason for his unusual state was soon revealed as it brought back the memory from the previous evening.

Sitting up in his bed, Hojo pulled his knees up and absently wrapped his arms around them. Why did Lucrecia kiss him? She was tipsy, yes, but not drunk. He was willing to bet quite a lot on the fact that it had been a conscious act on her part, but why? Surely Gast with his annoying charm was more attractive for a young woman than the uptight assistant? Hojo had once claimed that he didn't understand women, now he was more ready than ever to stand by that statement!

Dissecting the event for a few minutes longer, the dark haired scientist then got up and padded into the bath room. There was only one thing that was more tempting than to sit and ponder over the kiss, and that was to see Lucrecia's reaction to facing him again. Would she regret it? Pretend it never happened? He wasn't entirely comfortable with how he disliked the idea of her dismissing the episode completely. Better to focus on preparing himself for another work day...

Hojo always prided himself in being the first one to arrive down at the laboratory, and this morning was no exception. It didn't surprise him though, knowing Gast and Lucrecia had indulged in a little celebration of life while he had not, but this was the first time that he was impatiently listening for the sound of approaching footsteps. The dark haired scientist usually enjoyed his quiet-time all to himself, but everything was different this morning. And so he was almost waiting more than he was working.

The first person to enter the basement lab, to Hojo's disappointment, was a delivery boy handing over a small piece of equipment that was several days delayed.

But the second person got all of his attention as Lucrecia silently closed the door behind her after entering, and Hojo's heart nearly stopped when she glanced over and met his eyes.

Unable to speak or move, he felt like he was frozen in time.

The young woman held his gaze for a few seconds, knowing very well the reason for the curious expression on her co-worker's face, then Lucrecia gave him a smile.

Hojo was physically unable to keep from returning that smile. The woman was beautiful, just like Gast had claimed, how had Hojo failed to see that?

A part of him attempted to point out the fact that he rarely bothered to look at people long enough to make any opinion about them at all, but he decided to ignore that little fact. Instead, he watched as Lucrecia walked over to her work place and felt a sting of disappointment when Gast joined them as well.

But Lucrecia didn't disappoint him.

Glances. Smiles. Brief 'accidental' touches.

Hojo found himself so caught up in Lucrecia that it could have easily frightened him, if he hadn't been too busy to think of anything else beside the woman working in the same room as him. He didn't even bother to object when Gast came up with his theory that the Jenova-creature might not be a true Ancient after all, merely noted it down in his journal and glanced over to see the brunette's reaction. She was proving to be a greater mystery than anything Hojo had ever come across in his precious science! There was a sneaking suspicion that he'd actually never tire of studying her...

It was almost like receiving a bucket of cold water over his head when Lucrecia suddenly declared that she would be retiring to her room for the evening, and Hojo had to cast a quick glance at the watch on the wall to confirm what he refused to believe. But, yes, the entire day had passed and it was probably time for them all to call it quits before they did some flaw that would cost them several weeks to repair.

It was with no small amount of effort that Hojo didn't let his gaze follow Lucrecia as she left, but sighed lightly as he wrapped up his work.

"Hey, that girl would forget her head if it wasn't attached!" Gast suddenly declared with an amused voice.

Hojo glanced over at the other man. "What?"

Holding up a wrist watch, Gast chuckled good-humoured. "Lucrecia forgot her watch. Again. She forgets it all over the place, spends hours looking for it and does the same thing the next day!" He clutched his fingers lightly around it. "I guess I'd better return it to her before she starts another search mission."

"I'll do it!" Hojo exclaimed, a little too eagerly, and cleared his throat to try to regain some apparent indifference. "I mean, her room is nearer to mine anyway..."

Professor Gast was all grin as he walked over and handed the watch over to his assistant. "Alright, Hojo. You return the watch then." The words were drawled with the most horrid knowing look on his smug face.

Drawing a sharp breath, Hojo snatched the watch and darted out of the room.

Alright, so all he had to do was walk up to Lucrecia's room, knock on her door, deliver the watch and return to his room. A simple task. Right?

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A/N: Things will be heating up in Nibelheim in the next chapter: YOUR TOUCH, MY BLISS.