Scar tissue that I wish you saw,
Sarcastic Mister Know it all,
Close your eyes, and I'll kiss you cause,
With the birds I share
This lonely view…

Night swirled around, cloaking, choking, hiding the gathering on the hills. The moon, low and full hung lazily in the sky, a sickly yellow, casting a tinted glow over the sleeping forms knotted around, huddled together for warmth. Sleep had wound its way through the hills, enchanting all. Exhausted, humanity slept.

The air, cold and smoky from the recently extinguished flames tickled the throats of the people all around. There was faint snoring, quiet talking, and the occasional sound of a crying child. On the plains wild animals howled, disturbed from their own lives from the shock from the meteor.

Oblivious to this all, Reno slept comfortably, nestled next to a face of rock, warmed by the embers of a fire, and by the young woman cradled in the crook of his arm. The chaos of the past week hadn't dampened his enthusiasm for the ladies, and several confused and heartbroken women had been comforted by his unsubtle charms.

His suit jacket was bundled into a makeshift pillow, shielding his temple from the hard rock, and a small blanket draped over the two of them completed his cosy arrangement. He slept soundly, his brow furrowed as if in thought. Mouth slightly open, breathing deeply, unkempt hair flapping in the breeze of his breath.

He dreamt on…

* * *

There was only darkness to begin with. And then a cold surface pressed against his back. As soon as his senses became more aware, he realised that he was bound to the metal below him with some kind of leather restraint. His legs were numb, and his mind groggy. He tried to call for help, but his words came out a jumbled slur, indecipherable, even to him.

He was scared, that much was for sure. He tried to tilt his head, to strain his eyes into the darkness, to see something… to see anything, around him. It was of no use, a brace holding him still in every direction.

A sound was heard, a metal clinking, directly behind his head. An unfathomable terror washed over him. A machine whirred into life, a light flickered above him. It soon became too bright for his eyes to adjust; he squinted to try to see who was there.

"Hello Reno," a disembodied voice called to him mockingly, even maliciously. A figure strode into his view.

The man above him was short and spindly with long greasy black hair, and bulbous grey eyes. A surgical hairnet wrapped his head, and a mask covered his mouth, muffling his voice. An off white lab coat, and a set of scrubs completed the outfit. Metal surgical implements jangled jarringly in the pockets. They looked sharp, and ominous.

"What? No hello from you Reno? How rude of you." The man prodded the side of Reno's face roughly, fingernail jabbing into soft flesh. "Not that I expected any, you are always such an egotistical pratt."

Reno strained hard against his restraints, concentrated hard on trying to yell, to make himself known to others in the facility. If there were others that was…

"Hojo," he finally managed to gasp out.

"Oh, so you do recognise me." Ever so casual, like this was just a meeting in a public place. However the glinting metal scalpel in the Doctor's hands said otherwise. "Well Reno, I know you thought you were coming here for a physical, and some Mako implementation before you started your work in the Turks, but I've decided that there is another procedure you would benefit from just as much."

The evil grin chilled Reno to the bone. "You know that pretty nurse that you were talking to earlier, the brunette? The one that you agreed to meet later on?"

Reno's eyes widened in horror. Hojo's smiling mask covered an evil; he could see it in his eyes.

"Oh, she had to cancel, she's dead."

Bile rose in Reno's throat. "Why?" he managed to croak out.

"Because…" Hojo began to hold up several different razor sharp scalpels to the light, examining each separately, "…because I hate your kind. So handsome, yet so stupid. Getting by on looks and brute force, talking their way out of every situation, weaselling their way into people's good books. Whereas good people, hard workers like me, who had to fight every inch to get where they have don't get any thanks at all. All we get is orders, orders, orders. Make this guy stronger, this guy tougher, and this man's handsome, why don't we give him super strength as well? Well? Should I? Create a being that gets everything he wants, everyone he wants? I think not!" He paused for breath and glanced down at the prone figure below him. "Now don't worry Reno. I'm not going to kill you. Just make you a little… prettier."

Hojo loomed large over Reno, blade glistening in his hand.

"This wont hurt a bit."

* * *

Reno jerked himself awake, just in time to bite back the scream. Cold sweat ran down his neck to the small of his back, and he felt himself shaking uncontrollably. The girl in his arms stirred in her sleep.

Every night it was the same.

Every night he had the same dream.

The same nightmare.

Always ending in the same place.

He pulled an arm free, and ran long pale fingers over the two deep scars that marred his cheekbones. They had never healed well, nor were they ever intended to, and so stood out prominently on the otherwise handsome face. Tears shone unshed in the aquamarine blue eyes, despite his hardest attempts to bite them back.

"Damn Hojo to hell," he murmured, "if he isn't there already."

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Hey hey, I actually did a chapter two! Applaud me peoples! Or even just review me. Actually, I think I'd prefer the reviews on reflection. Like it? Hate it? Tell me!
Lyrics this time from "Scar Tissue" by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

I need input! Feed me!

Thanks for the reviews so far.

Lady_