Perfectly Formed, Imperfectly Rounded [Violet]

[William Talbot]

Will sat back in the bed, one leg suspended up at a slight angle, a plastic like tube surrounding his injured knee, tubes and a few wires running into it as a monitor beeped, keeping time with his slow steady and powerful heartbeat, adding a slightly over dramatic tone to the fact that he was bandaged up, more to keep the mess down than help him heal, the various strips of white cloth stained a metallic blue in places where his skin had been severely gashed more than once.


His steely blue eyes blinked slowly, mostly out of boredom but also from fatigue as healing from so many small wounds took some effort, but the few major injuries he had suffered had already tapped most of his remaining energy reserves, his more powerful (and honestly experimental) attacks following the blows having used up the lions share of his energy back at the mall.

Laying his head back, Will replayed the events in the Mall over in his mind, picking everything apart, looking for any kind of memory that stuck out as important, anything that he could learn from, and while he reasoned that some of his actions had been ill-advised, the one thing that stuck in his mind, was that one Commando, the way it was different than the others, and the way it's mask seemed to claw and slash at a hidden part of his mind, deep in the dark and dusty recesses that stayed hidden for reasons he wished he knew.

Letting a sigh out he then raised his head as he felt an ever-growing familiar presence close in, and pause at the door.
"Violet?" he asked as he tilted his head, his senses telling him she was close by...

[Violet Schultz]

Violet headed down the hallway, feeling oddly relieved at the strength she felt in the inner flame of her friend in the infirmary. She knew of his incredible recuperative abilities, so why had she felt so anxious after the battle, wanting to know if he was alright? She wasn't that anxious about Robin. She didn't want to admit it, but maybe she was beginning to like him as more than a friend. She didn't think that she was ready for something like that, but something was changing without her permission and without her fully realizing what was happening. She didn't really want to think about it at that second. She had more urgent matters to attend to.

She opened the door and headed in, her face set in its usual quiet reserve, only a trace of exasperation in her eyes. If she'd known he was going to do something so stupidly risky and reckless, she would've insisted that he come with her to find the bomb. It had turned out to be the safer of the jobs. Instead, he was in the infirmary because of the severity of his injuries and the exhaustion he'd experienced. She could definitely relate to that.

"Hey, Will," she said, coming to stand beside the bed. "You feeling better?"

Her blue eyes were a little more guarded than usual, though a very small smile was on her face. Her arm had healed during the night, and she was completely recovered from the battle. He, on the other hand, wasn't quite there yet.

[William Talbot]

Will's head tilted back the other way and his steely blue eyes danced for a heartbeat as he shifted some, well, as much as he could anyway, and sat up some more, his arm coming up into a tiny wave of greeting at the sight of the sleek, dark haired Pyro, the IV tube that had been practically drilled into the crook of his arm clacking against the side of the bed some, the clear golden fluid that ran into his body under pressure to overcome both his naturally high blood pressure and help replenish the unbelievable amounts of nutrition he had burned through in a bold and daring attack on the lead commando's which halted all the other robot's in their tracks, but also extracted a heavy toll on him, but the fact that he had almost single-handedlly held off the counter attack on Tim and Violet, made him proud, and glad that he could have stood in the gap for his friends...


"Hello yourself, I see your arm's all perfect and pretty again, good to know I'm not the only one who can bounce back from an injury." he smiled and nodded toward her arm, which had been hurt in the early stages of the Slade-bot's counterattack, nothing as bad as he had gotten hit with, but she had been in a sling that first night, and the last time he'd seen her Robin had been taking the bandages off to check for infection. She had bounced back with sleep and food, but then she hadn't been shot almost a dozen times with yo-yo sized bladed disks, steel spikes and energy beams.

He had.

Yet still he had fought hard, and held off the flood of mechanized death long enough for the bomb to be shut down, and then he launched his own counter attack before falling over from exhaustion and passing out, then waking up in the Med lab, tired and starving hungry.
"So what brings you here Vi?" He asked as he reached for a pouch of fruit flavored protein snacks Tim had left with him to help him heal and regain his strength.

[Violet Schultz]

"Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out this whole 'healing factor' thing, actually," she admitted, holding up her arm and examining the place where the wound had been.

All there was left from the wound was the thinnest of red lines where her body was still healing. Dropping her arm back to her side, she looked up at his question. In her peripheral, she could see the IV's, the moniters to which he was hooked, the angry blue cuts that were still healing because he had used so much energy in the fight. She knew that he would've healed faster if he hadn't worn himself out so thoroughly. She didn't mention her train of thought.

"Robin is busy tracking down that lab, so he asked me to check up on you," she explained. "You healing up okay?"

The exasperation was still just visible in her eyes. She didn't think the risk had been entirely necessary, and his recklessness had gotten him badly hurt. Pushing the thought aside, she picked up the chart on the table and checked the moniters against the target readings which Robin had written in. Will's body was hardly normal, but with the readings they usually got, it was a bit easier to judge what was in the healthy range. He had lost a lot of blood, and that could play havoc on his blood pressure.

"Looks like your blood pressure's getting back to normal," she said. "Well...normal for you, anyway."

[William Talbot]

Will nodded and smiled ironically at her as he munched on a few fruity snacks then swallowed and laughed; "Ha, yeah, it's not like powers come with an instruction manual right?" he tilted his head slightly and arched his eyebrows some before he looked off shaking his head and popping a few more of the snacks into his mouth and chewed them, licking at his lower lip and making a slight face.

"These things taste like wax fruit, but I can tell they're helping, I'm resting better and not as achy as I was last night." he said at her explanation, the tiny little boy way back in the back of his mind simply saying "Oh." in mild disappointment at her answer, not that it was a bad one, just not the one he was hoping for, and for once, he managed to keep his inner most emotions hidden, although he was sure there was some echos of them reverberating through the link to her, just as her deeply hidden emotions, wanderings and thoughts whispered in softly hidden wisps to him, her exasperation not as well hidden as her inner inquiry of herself and her feelings towards him, which he honestly was only guessing at, since he had sensed her kiss on his forehead after he had passed out, rather than fully experienced it...

Maybe he was reading too much into that, she was after all from France, and while she had spent most of her life in America, he also knew that there where some traits and personal quarks that where a part of her, being a part of her early years, and that some things would never change, so maybe the kiss on his forehead was more a gesture of thanks for what he had done rather than a slightly cloaked sign of affection.
Either way, he really didn't know, and wondering got nothing.

His attention was snapped back into the here and now at her observation, his gaze falling on her as she stood there, looking quiet cute and appealing, her dark blue eyes scanning the electronic clipboard, her weight shifting to the one side as she checked the numbers.

Laughing again, Will laid back and sighed bemusedly; "Hmm, I seem to remember my mom saying that the only time normal ever applied to our family was when she was running the clothes dryer." he smiled sadly as he closed his eyes and just soaked in the deep hidden warmth that she held deep in her being, her close proximity putting him at ease somehow, his body relaxing, and the mild pain ebbing away, as if just her being there gave him extra strength. Opening his eyes and looking at her, he spoke softly to her; "Vi, could you... Could you stay with me for a little?" he felt kinda silly asking that, he really didn't know how to phrase why he wanted her to stick around, since he wasn't fully sure as to why himself, he just knew that he wanted her close because it was comforting, and in a way rewarding to see her up and about, thanks in part to his efforts.

It fed the little inner boy hero in him...

[Violet Schultz]

Violet chuckled once at his words, her brilliant white teeth showing through the tight gap between her lips as she smiled and then spoke, not looking up from the chart. She marked on the chart in several places, taking down the new readings so that they could accurately chart his rate of healing. If they did it right, they could estimate how quickly he would be out of the infirmary and back on normal food again. She was sure he wouldn't mind putting the last of the IV's behind him, not to mention the disgusting protein chews he had to eat.

"Yeah, normal is one of those things that are beyond either of our grasps," she agreed, making a last mark before closing the chart.

Placing it on the desk just outside the door, she checked the bags and tubes to make sure that they were doing everything that they should. They were both silent as she went about her work, but the link gave her a bit of insight into his emotions, and she suppressed the regret she felt about his disappointment, not wanting to explore the reason behind it. She stubbornly refused to let her self-discipline waver enough that he would feel the strength of her emotions, though he could probably feel the tenor of her feelings.

She looked up at his request. She saw the hint of pleading in his baby blue eyes and she nodded once. She would stay with him. She wasn't due for a patrol for a while, and she had already finished her morning workout. She wouldn't be missed. Besides, he was one of her only friends, and she felt strangely relaxed when he was around. It was like releasing a deeply held breath. Not that she would ever admit it to herself.

[William Talbot]

His steely blue eyes watched her as she checked everything off on the list, and gave his IV's a once over, a part of him appreciating both the care she took, and the natural grace she had in her movements, the latter something he realized he had always noticed, from the first time they had met, the way she moved was just...
Well, borderline poetic it seemed.

Will smiled softly at her once she nodded at his request, a wave of relief slipping through his body like a ripple of soothing warmth that felt oh so good and relaxing.
"Thanks Violet." he said thankfully as he gazed at her lean, pretty face and caught the light that glinted in her dark blue eyes, and surrounded her whole body for a moment, giving her an angelic glow, and for that heartbeat, Will was totally transfixed and smitten with her.


But the moment passed as fast as it had happened and William blinked slightly as he looked away, so as not to stare and make a pleasant situation awkward, which would have embarrassed him to no end.

Settling himself back into a more comfortable position, Will let a small sigh out and closed his eyes as he took a few deep breaths and relaxed, his eyes deep and softly glowing as they opened slowly and he tilted his head back to her in thought before speaking softly to her; "You don't like it when I take such big chances do you?"
His eyes shimmered slightly as he looked at her, the link suddenly seemed to tremble and vibrate with varying tones of emotion, on both ends, the strength of which was undefinable, despite the fact that the sources where so clear and defined, or at least, they seemed to be...

[Violet Schultz]

"What d'you think?" Violet asked, her eyes going flat. "I have enough things to worry about without wondering who's going to get you killed first, Slade or your recklessness."

Her face was absolutely neutral, and if Will knew her, then he knew that the less emotion she showed on her face, the more she was feeling. Only her mental barriers kept her fear for him from creeping across the link. He could probably feel that some strong emotion was boiling beneath the surface, but they hadn't known each other long enough for him to be able to place it. She usually covered those kinds of emotions in irritation or anger, out of some type of learned self-defense. If he didn't recognize it yet, he would probably be hurt by her tone, but with the link, he probably had a bit of a better view of her mind than most.

"Mark my words, Wolf Boy," she continued, her eyes deadly serious. "If you ever do something that stupid again, a robot army will look tame compared to the can of whoop-ass I'm gonna be bringing you."

Her eyes literally flashed purple as she spoke. There was no hint of teasing in her expression.

[William Talbot]

Will looked to her, his own eyes almost sparkling as his right eyebrow arched up slightly at her reply, his head pivoting slightly so that he was facing her directly, a tiny tilt holding him there, as the link seemed to glow and shudder with the amount of emotion that was pushing on it, as if some unseen or felt emotion was trying to force its way out onto the airways, but was being firmly held in check, the ripples working out through other feelings and thoughts.

Will noted that her face was as impassive as he'd ever seen it, and based on how well he knew her, she was straining now, her emotions where likely stirred up like an angry hornets nest on the inside, but on the outside, she was almost statuesque save for the glowing lavender eyes and the barely teased straight raven locks that framed her face.

"I'm alive aren't I?" he whispered to her as he slowly crossed his arms over his broad chest, his mind suddenly racing, and his heart starting quiver deep down, his gut tightening around the butterfly's that had magically exploded in his insides and started attacking his nerve endings like little buzz saws on nitro.

Looking her square in the eye Will opened his mouth and fired, without thinking twice, his gut telling him to go with his heart, and not over think this too much: "You're safe, Robin's safe, the Mall's mostly intact, the new guy's alive and so's sparky, we stopped the bombs, and saved the city from a robot invasion, so long as we're all still breathing and the people aren't pissed, I don't see the problem." tilting his head back to level Will didn't break his gaze, his glowing steely blue eyes probing, searching, digging even, almost begging for some show of emotion from her, the link suddenly becoming almost oppressive from all the noise from both him and her, which if he had stopped to think about some more, would have been rather disturbing to realize that he was feeling his own emotions being reflected back onto himself from her, but at the moment he didn't care about that trifle of a detail, he wanted to know just what this was truly about...

"I really don't see the issue here Vi, I can hack it, you and Robin can't, why worry about it? We each have our area's of strength, things we do better then the others, it just so happens I can take the hit and shrug it off, if you're jealous then I'm sorry I didn't ask to be born like this, I had no input as to my personal mix of DNA, so unless you plan on just plain out telling me why you're so twisted up about this, then all I can say is if I have a choice between you and Slade, I'd say bring it hot stuff, I got plenty for you and Slade, and any other crazy out there... Dangling..."

He gave her a calm, honest, and wide open look, his voice soft, calm and even, the blazing glow of his eyes the only tell he had at this point.

[Violet Schultz]

"The problem is that someone did die that day," Violet all but growled. "These people are not pulling their punches; they're trying to kill us. The harder you make it for them, the better."

She was beginning to talk faster, which she often did when agitated. Like most native Europeans, she had the ability to speak a lot faster than she generally did. The French were infamous for talking so quickly in their native tongue that no one else could understand half of it. The hint of an accent grew more pronounced than usual as well, something that rarely happened. She always dreamed in French, and it kept her native language from being forgotten, but it also kept her accent present, despite the numerous years of living among Americans. Jeez, if he got her any more angry, she'd be cursing him in French.

Her demeanor bespoke someone holding a strict leash on their passion, and her powers responded to the inner turmoil. She had long since conquered the tendency to make things explode when she was upset, but her eyes still flared. The paler the color, the more angry she was. She was furious that he refused to see the danger he put himself in, and even more upset that he thought it was because she was jealous. Jealous?! Her jaw clenched and her gleaming eyes were cold.

She was about an inch from dropping the self-control and really laying into him...

[William Talbot]

Will looked off for a moment in thought, he'd almost forgotten about Ferus, or rather had pushed it from the forefront of his mind, but now she had reminded him of it, and...

"That was his choice, and had I seen the sniper first, I would have taken the hit, and he would still be alive, but then I'm sure you didn't think that maybe that's why you're standing here now to point fingers at me? Because I shielded you from that ambush, or did the seven blade disks you pulled out of me slip from your mind? No? What about the foot long spike that had your name on it? I guess having your head inside a bomb with the boy wonder might have distracted you from that little broadside the Chick-Fil-A took, or rather DIDN'T take..."
He was getting aggravated, and it was clear to him, link or no that she was as well, and as upset as he felt right now, he didn't want to fight with her, they had done plenty of that before he had regained his memories, he really didn't want to revisit that now.

Looking back to her he squinted up at the pale violet glow in her eyes, his own eyes now a soft pale baby blue, the pulsed slightly before turning soft and darker, a royal blue tone that slowly faded away as he took in a breath and spoke evenly; "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you... I just..."

He took a breath and then just opened his mouth, trusting that he would say what he needed to say; "I'm sorry, I just don't understand why you're so bent out of shape, I'm not trying to make it easy for Slade or others to kill me, I'm just trying to protect my friends... I mean..."
He paused and looked off at his feet for a moment before he looked up at her, his eyes deep, the link suddenly trembling with his emotion; "You and Robin are all I have, there isn't anyone else for me, to turn to, I mean, I don't want either of you hurt, and... And..." He bit his lip as he stared up into her pale violet eyes, so cold and frustrated, yet amazingly beautiful, just like the rest of her, his heart pounded the back of his eyes and ears as he took a quick short breath then whispered out; "And I don't think I could survive loosing you... Especially you Violet, I... I really like you and I care about you... Probably more than I should but..." he turned his head away and tried to pull himself back from the link, but failed as the next words tumbled from his lips in a torrent of unlocked emotion he couldn't contain even if he wanted to; "I think I'm in love with you..."

His cheek flushed to a bright red and the air around him started to shimmer with heat, the temperature in the room rising suddenly...

[Violet Schultz]

She didn't want to admit it, not even to herself. She couldn't. She knew that every word he spoke was the truth, and yet... Why was she so upset about this? He could take these hits and still survive, just like she could walk through a firestorm and not be hurt. But that was the difference. He could feel it. He was submitting himself to all of this pain, agonizing pain, to keep them safe. She wasn't used to being looked after. And yet she knew that still wasn't the reason. Jeez, beating around the bush had never been her style, so what was her problem? She couldn't admit it to herself. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true... It was true. She knew it was true.

She was in love with him. She had been all along. It was the reason she had stuck her neck out for him, even after he'd tried to kill her, when he was under Slade's control. It was the reason that she had stopped in the middle of a battle to tie his knee. It was the reason that she got so angry when he threw himself into danger. It was the reason that her throat got tight when she saw him lying in the hospital-esque bed. It had happened before she was aware of it, and she wasn't ready. She knew that, too. As much as she knew that she loved him, fear shook her to the core. The last man she'd fallen for had been the one who betrayed her.

It was that betrayal that defined her relationships anymore. Trust was something all but beyond her capacity. She loved him, yes. But she didn't trust him, and that hurt. It hurt that she knew that he didn't do anything to deserve her mistrust, and yet something wouldn't let her give him her trust. It hurt even more that he could probably sense that fact and be hurt by it himself. Her rigid barrier wavered for a moment to show him all of the confliction and emotions she was feeling, and it was in her eyes as well as she turned and left the room without a word.

She hurried to her own room and broke down into the tears she wouldn't show anyone.

[William Talbot]

Will felt like the swimming pool in the ground floor of Titans tower had been dumped on him, only instead of water it was filled with hot coals and lava, a heavy heat seeming to crush every part of his being as he looked at her, saw her eyes flash and felt the ever present barrier at her end of the link waver, crumble for a heartbeat then grow suddenly before she turned, her long, dark silken tresses flaring out behind her and trailing behind her curved figure as she walked out, a shudder of emotions reverberating in his mind and pushing into his awareness like the scent of fresh hot food invading his nose and the sight of shimmering gold to his eyes, something like an overload pushing at him, blocking out all but her sweet, hot inner flame, the sense of raging passions rampant feelings and conflicting emotions stagnating the air with more fake feelings, scents and colors (which was a new thing for his sixth sense to do) then he cared to deal with just yet...


Closing his eyes Will felt his heart start beating again, and the feeling returning to his extremity's, and he felt the quivering of Violet's inner flame, and he could even feel the tears as they fell from her eyes, a deep sadness forming in the pit of her stomach formed and a name whispered from the recesses of the link: Elias...


Will could see the other boys face, he could feel the betrayal, the shock and the pain, as well as the sharp bite of cold steel into flesh, the hot coppery smell of blood, and the sounds of gun fire, the world spinning and darkness, like a faint and almost unreal memory or dream, he could see it, all in a single flash, and it tugged at his heartstrings with an unmerciful pull that would not let go.

Looking down at the IV, Will grabbed it and yanked it out, a slight grunt slipping past his lips as he took the large bottle of water next to his bed and then chugged half of it before he swallowed a whole package of the crappy fruity protein snacks in a single gulp then downed the other half of the water, and then pulled his leg from the sling, and swung his feet off the side of the bed and stood for a moment, then limped slowly out of the Med-Lab and down the halls until he got to the door to Violet's room, a small name plate that read "Darkbrand" on the door, and it was right on that name plate that he knocked softly, and called out to her; "Violet? Vi... Please... Talk to me..." he felt his breath quicken slightly and his heart beat a little harder, if not faster as he reached out to her over the link, almost apologetically; "Please Violet..."

[Violet Schultz]

Curled up on her bed, she was oblivious to all but the terrible ache in her heart, the pain that she felt at the pit of her stomach. Whoever said that time healed all wounds was an idiot. The pain that she felt was as potent that day as it had been on the day that it'd happened. She'd loved him. God, how she'd loved him. When she had been alone in the world, he'd been her first friend in the Shadows. They had spent every day fighting for each other and their right to exist in their part of the city. They'd watch each other's backs for years, and she had trusted him above all other. Then... He had wanted money from the drug trade, and he'd been willing to kill her because she stood between him and that money. She'd given her heart to him, and he had shattered it.

She'd pushed away that pain for so many years... The effort she put into not thinking about it, not dwelling on how much it hurt... It all came crashing down on her, and she felt as if her heart would burst from the pain of it. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her narrow shoulders shook. How could she have known that he would turn on her like that? How could she have known that she'd meant that little to him, that her life was worth less to him than a few hundred bucks? She could tell herself that it was others that she didn't trust, but the truth was that it was her own judgment that she didn't trust anymore. Elias had wounded so much more than just her back.

She could vaguely feel Will trying to get her attention through the link, but she couldn't answer the door. She couldn't let him see her like this. She was supposed to be strong. She was supposed to be the one who could control her emotions. Her control was spent. Only the fact that she was physically still recovering from the battle kept her powers from acting up.

[William Talbot]

Will stood outside her door, leaning on the frame, his knee starting to throb, the super powerful pain killers Robin had given him had only dulled the pain and made him tired, but how, his body was starting to FORCE it' self to recover, his head feeling mildly light, as a tingling washed over his body, a faint glow covering his skin as he looked down at where her door met the floor, the shades of gray made it easy to zone out, and focus himself, a kind of trance falling over him as his body healed, his mind drifting along, this senses reaching out, all seven of them, his skin tingling with the feeling of the air in the tower, his ears almost ringing as he heard every aspect of the tower, from the plumbing to the electrical wiring, to the massive glass panels that covered it, even to the point that he could sense the grass and trees on the small rocky island, and the dust that was kicked up by the sea breeze outside...


But all of the background noise faded one he had zeroed in on the soft crying of Violet, and the slow pound of her heart, the noises of air being sucked in and blown out of her body, the flicker of her inner fire like a beacon to his soul, drawing his own inner flame out, his powers flaring slightly, his eyes glowing an almost white powdery blue tint that filled the hallway with light, as he rested his hand on the door and gave a gentle push, but not with his hand, with his mind, he pushed the stormy knot of emotion that clogged their link back, gently, slowly, and surely, until he felt the heat of her mind touching his own, softly, and when that deeper connection was made, a hissing sound began to sound softly, as his tears, which with any normal boy, would have flooded down his cheeks, instead turned to steam as he slowly rested his forehead on the door and let a sob out; "Violet please... I could never hurt you... Not like that..."

And yet, somehow he felt as if by just admitting his feelings, he had somehow, in some way, hurt her, even if all he had done was remind her of a past injury, it was now his fault, and that made him feel low indeed.


Pushing on the door again, the electric locked buzzed at him, asking for a pass code, a code he only had for his own room, and not Violet's. Hitting the lock with what he thought to be light force, it cracked and spat a few sparks at him, before all the lights flashed and the door made a clicking sound and then the lock died.

Well great, he had just locked Violet into her room and broken the door lock...

Or had he?

Tapping on the key pad it lit up again and the lock chirped at him and lit up a bunch of zeros before the door opened up quite randomly, startling him, and reveling Violet curled up and crying on her bed, a sigh that broke Will's heart clean in two...