*
Lunch came and went, but Natalie didn't emerge from the mansion.
Vincent waited by the gate until dusk had fully settled upon the town, then he gave the mansion one last look before turning toward Cloud's house. He was inside sharpening one of the many swords in his collection.
Cloud looked up at Vincent's entrance. "Hey. How was lunch?" He looked at the time on the wall and smirked. "How was dinner and dessert, for that matter."
"She didn't come."
Cloud lowered the weapon with an incredulous expression. "She stood you up? Are you serious?"
Vincent stiffly sat at the kitchen table. "No. She didn't come. It wasn't intentional. She is a scientist. Her work distracted her."
"Did you go in to let her know you'd been waiting?"
"No."
"Why not?" Vincent cast Cloud a look, who smiled with a knowing expression. "I see. Just a little too close and personal down there, huh?" Vincent looked away. Cloud chuckled, carefully sliding the weapon back into its scabbard before setting it aside. "You know, she's got to eat. You should take something down there. If you're not so sure going down alone is a good idea, I'll go too."
"It isn't necessary. When she's hungry, she'll come out."
Cloud smirked. "Just be ready to wait. It may take a couple days. The tension may kill you."
Vincent had already suspected much the same. In fact, he had nearly done himself in that morning.
"You curious about what's got her so distracted?"
"Yes. She took a blood sample and an X-ray this morning."
"Of your claw?"
Vincent nodded and lifted up the golden atrocity to view it. "I wonder what she's found beneath its cold loveliness."
"Why don't you go down there and ask her?" Cloud smirked. "I'm sure she'd be more than willing to show you."
Vincent stared at it a moment longer before lowering it to his side. He stood. "Perhaps tomorrow."
"You going to bed?"
"Yes."
"You know you probably won't sleep much."
Vincent's lips twisted in a smirk as he made his way to the back bedroom. He would sleep. He would sleep and dream as he always did, but this time she would be waiting there for him.
XIII
AN ODD DISCOVERY
Natalie scrawled the notes on the quickly filling desk blotter before looking for the other blood sample. She placed the slide under the microscope and zoomed in. "That is so odd. How can that be right? Did I date them wrong?" She sat back in the chair, gnawing on her lower lip as she twirled a curl around her finger. Then she nibbled on the end. "It's like looking at samples from three different people; Vincent's original sample, his present one, and the one taken directly after the experiment done by Hojo."
Natalie couldn't understand it. The one she had taken more closely resembled his original, but with definite traces of the Jenova cells forcefully inserted into his protein makeup, only not as pronounced. Natalie pulled her hair back into a bun, fastening it with a pencil as she navigated the piles and stacks once again view Vincent's X-ray. Thanks to Shinra technology, she had been able to scan through the claw to see the human skeletal structure beneath. What she had assumed would hide a Jenova graft, did nothing of the kind.
"It's his arm! But there must be a reason for the claw's presence, and by looking at these wavering Jenova traces in his blood, I'm beginning to think--could it be that simple?"
Natalie turned away, frowning as she scratching at her scalp. "I simply must remove the outer covering. I need to know, beyond any doubt, what is under that shell before I can think anything else."
She nodded brusquely and hurried from the lab, rushing down the hallway to climb the spiral stairs and hurry out of the mansion to Cloud's house. She didn't notice the stars twinkling in the sky, the still silence of the town as the people slept, nor the fact it was close to two o'clock in the morning.
She knocked. The door was immediately opened by Vincent. Natalie didn't notice the concern in his eyes nor the lack of sleep and haggardness which marked his face. All she focused on were reasons and possibilities. "Vincent, I need you to come to the lab."
He shut the door behind him. "Is something wrong?"
Natalie shook her head, absently taking his hand and pulling him toward the nansion. "No. Nothing's wrong. I just need to see about taking off the outer covering of your claw."
"Take off the outer covering?"
Natalie gave a nod, offering nothing more and oblivious to his puzzled scrutiny of her face.
When they reached the basement laboratory, she sat him in the chair and went in search of the tools seen. "Here they are." She returned to his side, set out the tools she would need, and then set to work. "This shouldn't hurt."
It didn't. At least he didn't complain. The claw, much to Natalie's surprise, was very easy to dismantle. All she had to do was press a switch here, release a catch there, slide off a restraining chain from a screw, and the claw slipped free--to a certain extent. It seemed to catch on something and, when she attempted to pull it the remaining way, Vincent winced.
"Sorry," she said absently, and immediately began analyzing the problem. "There seems to be something connected in there. Hold on a second." Natalie touched her upper lip with the tip of her tongue, closing her eyes to aid in her concentration as she gingerly felt up his arm. Her eyes flew open at the slight touch--"Oh my goodness!" She knelt, almost desperate in her attempt to visually confirm what her fingers had discovered, and sat back on her heels. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?"
Natalie laughed and rushed to her feet, hurrying to the other side of the laboratory while muttering under her breath about "chemical reactions" and the "possibility of rejection" being "too great to risk anything else." Vincent could only watch her--when she was very occasionally in his view--desperately attempting to reason out why his arm had been hidden by a claw and not a grotesque portion of Jenova grafted to his body, as he had supposed for years.
Finally, Natalie came to kneel in front of him again. Her hands disappeared under his shirt to his underarm to feel for the things she'd found before. "Now, Vincent," she told him matter-of-fact, eyes closed, "there are tubes inserted into different arteries in your arms that are, apparently, circulating the Jenova cells into your system on a semi-continuous basis."
Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips before she opened her eyes, smiling as she withdrew her hands. She sat back on her heels, and her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "Do you know what this means? It means your body rejects Jenova cells when left to its own devices! The chemical matrix of your body and that of Jenova aren't compatible. So Hojo had to create this device, which works like a dialysis system, in order to continually introduce the Jenova cells that have kept you this way."
"What . . . what made you think of this?"
"I noticed that your blood chemistry was different in ways that it shouldn't have been. It is as if the claw is set to introduce the Jenova cells only at certain times."
"If you remove the claw and the tubes that have been inserted . . . I should revert to my original form?"
Natalie laughed, leaning forward to rest her elbows on his knees as she gazed up at him. "No, no. You, sir, are in your original form as we speak. You will simply lose the characteristics Jenova gave you: the red eyes, longevity of life, flight, and who knows what else."
Vincent shifted his focus from her face to the claw dangling precariously within his grasp. Tubing snaked from its hollow shell to disappear up his arm. Every once and a while he felt a slight twinge of pain, but this only came when he attempted to move. "I . . . I . . . ."
Natalie's expression softened as she stood, carefully reassembling the claw over his arm. He placed a hand on hers to stop her, and she looked over at him. "It's all right, Vincent. I am only going to put it on temporarily. I don't want to hurt you with all the jostling about. Besides, I need to do a little bit more research into how it's inserted into your arm before I go poking
around in there."
Vincent removed his hand and watched her own as they worked, gently reconstructing the cool, golden claw. "Could it be? Could my answer be so simple?"
Her smile remained as her hands tenderly held the claw in place. "Come with me. I need you to move over there. I will hold this to make sure it doesn't pull."
Vincent stood, allowing himself to be led to the examination table beside the X-ray machine. He laid back and rest his arm on a side table. Natalie again dissembled the claw and arranged it as painlessly as possible around his arm.
"Natalie," Vincent said in a quiet tone, "could the cure be as simple as this?"
She set the pieces of the claw aside, staring down at it for a long moment before pulling a chair close. She took his previously glove-covered hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We are the ones who usually believe science must be complicated. Oftentimes it isn't. Just like this. The most difficult thing will be the removal procedure. I am not a surgeon, and it has been a long time since I studied anatomy in school. But." Natalie squeezed his hand again. "I don't want to take them out just yet. I am going to clamp them off first. I don't want to take them out only to find that you go into some type of horrid withdrawal. It would be just my luck that Hojo used an addictive chemical base." Natalie's smile faded to hesitation. "Is that all right?"
"You are the professor, Natalie. This is your field of expertise."
She smiled. "You just want the easy way out."
Vincent reluctantly smiled. "I would never recognize the easy way."
"No. I guess you wouldn't." Natalie sighed, leaning forward to caress his cheek with her fingers. "If something bad happens, to spite Hojo I'll design a way to use this thing to reintroduce your original DNA, or plasma, or blood, or whatever needs to be done. It serves him right."
"And once Jenova is removed from my system?"
Natalie gave a slight shrug as she smiled. "Knowing you, rejection won't take too long. So I would recommend bed-rest for at least a week or two." She gave his hand another gentle squeeze. "Don't worry, though. I will take care of you."
Vincent continued to stare at the hand and arm freed from the chilled metal of the claw. Natalie's eyes brimmed with tears as she watched him. Her other hand reached out to brush some hair from his cheek. His hand tightened on hers as his gaze shifted to her face.
"Are you going to be all right?" Natalie asked softly. "This is a lot of information to be sprung on you, I know."
Vincent's eyes once again focused on his hand as it held hers. "Could it be so simple?"
"Sure. Why not?" Natalie propped her chin on her hand, watching him with a slight smile. "You have never led a simple life, have you?"
He laid his head back and closed his eyes. His hand tightened on hers again. "No."
"I would love to break your record, Vincent," she whispered. Her thumb continued to caress his hand. "You deserve a break. Don't you think?"
Vincent's lips twitched upward. "Perhaps." Her presence eased the tension. His eyes drifted open long enough to catch her gaze. "I was concerned for you. You missed lunch."
"I am sorry, Vincent. You're not mad, are you?"
"No. I knew that you were working." His eyes closed again. "I tried to meet you in my dreams instead."
"Couldn't sleep?"
He released a long breath. "No. Your voice wasn't there."
Natalie pinched her lower lip. Then she stood and eased herself up beside him, draping her arm across him as she laid her cheek on his chest. His heartbeat was rhythmic and strong. "I am here now, Vincent. Go to sleep."
"Am I not already? Are you sure this is no dream?"
Her eyelids began to droop, and she fought back a yawn. "Positive. I'm too sleepy." She surrendered to the yawn and let her eyes close. "I do believe I will take a nap. You are incredibly warm. I will cure you in the morning." She snuggled closer. "I love you, Vincent."
Vincent pressed his lips against her hair, and Natalie released a long breath as reality faded to dreams. He stared down at her for a moment once sleep had beckoned her away. Then he moved his gaze to the claw representing his separation from gentleness. The urge to tear it from his arm was so strong--He turned his face away and clenched his fist. He had waited this long. A few more weeks or days would be a mere blink, especially when Natalie would be so close. What else mattered?
"The realization of my freedom," he muttered harshly. "Don't forget that."
But that desire already faded to a distant second. He knew that if the cure would cause his death, he would be content to remain as he was. After all, how could he not be content when Natalie loved him for who and what he was: darkness and light.
Vincent took in a deep breath of the scent of her. With each draw his humanness forced its way through the mired sludge that had once choked his compassion to nonexistence. Now . . . every laugh. Every smile. Every intentional touch of her hand on his revived what he once thought lost forever.
A voice pushed through to whisper 'I am becoming less human . . .'
Yes. He had thought that when taking on his final form: Chaos. Now he remembered it again, as he told himself he would. Vincent shifted his focus to Natalie's peaceful face. "You have lost, Hojo. Your final defeat lies within her control. Her tender touch will render your twisted accomplishment void, and you will be forgotten. You will be forgotten and not I." That admission caused a wave of warmth and freedom.
A smile danced on his lips, easing the chill coolness of his features and amber eyes. He drew her closer, pressing his lips against her hair. Then he surrendered to the beckoning darkness of a sleep with no fear.