So, it begins... | Open to Titans

[Violet Schultz]

"No, there's a lot that Aria left unsaid," Violet said quietly. "I was the only one that she confided in. It would have been a betrayal of her trust to divulge it to anyone without her permission."

At his words, she closed her eyes, guilt hitting her again as she sensed his discomfort. She breathed a small sigh before speaking again, this time in response to his question, though it wasn't the full answer. She wasn't going to tell anyone the full answer, even though Aria obviously already had inferred the truth. Still, she turned her head away slightly as she answered, not able to look him in the eyes, which was a truly unusual thing. In most cases, Violet was one to be completely direct in talking to people, almost rudely so at times. She rarely, if ever, was embarrassed, because she had such a natural self-confidence in her actions.

"I'm sorry you had to be there," she said. "If it wasn't for me, none of it would've happened to you."

There was pain just audible in her voice, but her face was as blank as it had ever been, the expression only in her averted eyes. There was a bleak sadness to them that stemmed from how truly helpless she had felt to protect him. It seemed that he was always there to help her, but she could do little to nothing to protect him when he needed it...

[William Talbot]

William nodded at her comments about Aria, he understood and agreed with that assertion wholeheartedly, but it seemed she did not understand his meaning, and what he was trying to say, still...


Looking over at her, he shook his head then reached up and gently turned her blank expressionless face to look at him as he leaned in and whispered; "Stop blaming yourself Violet... Had the rolls been reversed, and I had been taken first, it would still have worked out the same in the end... They wanted both of us, for very different goals, but for the same basic reasons... I don't blame you, and you should not blame yourself..."

Will leaned in and kissed her forehead softly before whispering once more; "I would have endured that a thousand times over just for you... Don't blame yourself for something you would have done just as gladly."

Moving back to his previous spot Will, then looked away himself before he spoke, in the quietest voice he'd ever used; "I... I know what they did Violet... I know... I saw it all, felt it all... And I know because they did it to me as well..."


He closed his eyes and just sat there looking off, as tears started to slowly slip down his cheeks.


There where not words to describe the mixture of emotions and feelings he was suddenly suffering under.

[Violet Schultz]

Although he was certainly right on that count, logic wouldn't banish what she felt, even if she knew that there would have been no force on earth that would have kept him from coming for her, just as she wouldn't have let any force stop her either. But she'd always been afraid that his selflessness would cost him his life, and that he would end up seriously hurt because of his love for her. Now that nightmare had almost come true, and she couldn't shake the horror of it.

At his last assertion, she turned back around to stare at him, alarm and horror mingling in her gaze. They didn't... they wouldn't have... did they? Rage sparked in her chest, but her face quickly hardened until it was expressionless but for the cold fury in her eyes. Her fist clenched and tightened before she said a word, the tears not escaping her notice. If those "men" did what they did to her to Will, there was no way in hell she was going to let them get away with it. As if she really needed another reason to hate them...

"All of what?" she asked, a sharp note creeping into her voice. "What did they do to you?"

The tightness of her chest hurt her sore ribs, but she barely noticed. Her eyes flared white.

[William Talbot]

William closed his eyes tighter and inhaled sharply through his nose, at her inquiry, his shoulders falling lower than ever before in his life it felt, as he felt himself suddenly feel very small, and powerless for a moment before he could feel the suddenly anger and outrage in Violet, and almost taste the scent of fury that started to roll off her body.


He had to tell her, it was for both of their good.


"I... You couldn't feel the link I'm guessing, but I... I could, I could like always, but, this time it was more powerful, because I was pouring everything I had into... I could see and feel and hear, everything you did, like it was a foggy memory, I could feel the haze you where under, and I could see the... People... Hear them... When the... When the old man... Did what he did to you, I fell, face first into the dirt of the desert, miles from the foot hills where the lab was, I was over come with such... Hurt... Anger... And shame..."

He kept his eyes closed, even as his head turned slowly back to her, the tears a slow but steady trickle down his face until he at last opened his glowing blue eyes and looked at her, his face almost a blank save for the total and abject hurt, fury and shame that marked his face like the fading scar over his left eye.

"Every single thing they did to you Violet... They did to me... More than once, and without any regard to the damage or pain they caused, not once... They cut, and stabbed, shocked and prodded... Probed and..."

His voice shattered into a warbling gulp like moan of anguish before he steadied himself and lowered his head and whispered out softly; "They raped you first... But they raped me more..."


At the admission, Will still pushed back at Violet's flaring of power, even as he himself fought to hold his own flames in check, the room suddenly dimming as his light powers fluctuated wildly for a moment, the tears that fell suddenly pouring out in a river that steamed with the heat of his darkened cheeks, his hand on the bed next to hers, almost glowing hot and trembling at the memories of pain, shame, and total subjection,,,

[Violet Schultz]

Violet's breath caught in her throat as she froze for a fraction of a second, her eyes blank with shock, but then she felt the rage surge back again, with the deadly potency that was common to all of her negative emotions. While she seemed emotively flat to most others, Will had the insight into her mind and her aura to know better. She controlled her anger tightly because of a hard-learned lesson, but it ran more deeply than in others, since she rarely allowed it to run its course. However, this... this enraged her far beyond anything before, and the anger was tainted by sadness and guilt. She had to close her eyes to push back her powers as she felt her inner flame raging wildly against her mental barriers, the brightness making the glow of her irises visible even from behind the lids.

She opened her eyes as soon as she felt her powers fall back to a safe level, and the expression on her face was subdued and pained. Ignoring the ache of her ribs, she sat up and turned to him, wiping the moisture from his cheek with gentle fingers as the heat steamed it away from her hand. Her other hand grasped his somewhat steadily, although it was shaking very slightly due to the tightness of the hold she was keeping on herself. She was extraordinarily skilled at keeping herself in check under most circumstances, but even she had her limits, and she was pushing them to stay calm for Will's sake. She hated those men, God knew how much she hated them, for what they had done to her, but even more for what they'd done to Will.

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart," she whispered. "It should never have happened to you. Any of it."

She fought to keep the memories from her own mind, the brutality, the feeling of utter helplessness... And she had moderate success. She kept her focus on Will, not allowing herself the luxury of lingering on her own pain when Will was hurting so badly. She was tired, sure, but as any Titan knew, protecting others gave one strength beyond what they thought they had.

[William Talbot]

As the room filled with heat, and light, Will could feel the link, suddenly stronger than ever, the pain they shared, at their own hurt, but even more, directed towards each other for the others pain, seemed to somehow pull them closer, and it was at her gentle touch and softly spoken words that William felt a duality rise within himself...

One part, was pure unholy, barely contained furious rage at the injustice of it all, at the shame, and pain, and theft of something so... So personal, precious, pure and meaningful, at the indecency of it all...


But the other part was one of total empathy, understanding and love, something much stronger than the anger, and hatred of the people and the situation that had befallen them, and in that, William could feel a kind of meshing between them, one hand gently turning upwards to grip hers, the other moving to her face and touching the corner of her eye, touching the single tear that had formed there.

"Nor to you my love..." He whispered before he leaned closer to her and ever so softly, and gently kissed her cheek, his hand movingly to cradle her face with a tenderness he wasn't aware he had, his lips pulling away just enough so he could move and gently press his cheek into hers as they sat there, two damaged, battle hardened, tried and tested, souls, aged beyond their years by the world and the evil that resided in it and the hearts of men.


William realized that they where in fact so much more alike, both before and now, that they held many of the same strengths and weaknesses, as well as the complementary traits they had found in each other, and now... They had some of the same scars with which to share cover, and tend to together...



Will leaned back slightly and looked into her eyes, and the faintest of smiles drifted across his face as he let himself wander her violet hued irises; "But... In the end, I don't care about it, not really... They couldn't break us Violet... We're better than them, better than they bargained for... Together we're stronger. Our love is stronger than anything bad I can think of..."

He brushed her hair back and let his smile, weary and sad as it was, grow. It grew little by little as he sat there, then shifted so that his back was to the wall and he could sit right next to her, his hands holding hers, until his face slowly went back to a thoughtful case and he stared up at the ceiling, his thoughts lost in a place that was quiet, and empty, Violet the single central fixture in his mind, a level of awe and affection rising in him as he considered her strength, and still ever present beauty, simple, strong, and poetic as he'd ever known it...

[Violet Schultz]

It felt unspeakably good to have him so close again, the earthy scent of his skin, the warmth, the gentleness which was all the more comforting because of the strength that she knew resided in those scarred and callused hands. She pressed her cheeky softly into his, feeling the depth of his emotion through the link, and knowing that he could feel her own just as clearly. They were so alike, in just enough ways to make them truly compatible with one another, and dissimilar enough to complement each other's strengths to make them both stronger as a pair. They were two halves of the whole, and he was right about one thing: they strengthened each other, and together they were more than what they could be on their own.

But at his words, shame crept into her heart again, and she had to drop her gaze from his soulful steel blue eyes, feeling him watching her as she spoke.

"I...I almost did break," Violet admitted quietly, sounding almost ashamed of herself. "No. I did break. When they told me that they were going to kill you, I was willing to... I told them I would do anything they asked if they would just leave you alone."

She looked down at their clasped hands as she spoke, her dark eyes distant and bleak. A flash of memory rebounded over the link, a square cell with white walls, an enormous one-way mirror making up a good portion of one wall, her bloody hand supporting her weight against it as she offered herself, every instant saturated with pain from a number of injuries, her breaths feeling wet and heavy. The emotional ties to the memory were potent, and Violet closed her eyes as her jaw clenched, tears moistening her eyes but refusing to fall. A shudder made its way down her spine, perhaps out of fear, but more out of dread.

"I couldn't let it happen," she said after a couple of seconds. "You're the one thing in my life that I couldn't survive losing."

[William Talbot]

Will let go of one of her hands, and then gently lifted her chin so he could stare into her impossibly deep violet eyes, and after a moment, he leaned in and kissed her once more, then pulled back and whispered; "I know... But you didn't really break Violet... It was your love for me that kept you strong... Offering yourself like that was the single most brave and powerful thing you've done for me since we met and you took the chance to try and reason with me in my insanity... You're so much stronger than you know and... You've nothing to be ashamed for, you fought them tooth and nail, body and soul, I'd expect no more or less from you, and had it been reversed, I would have done the same..."


Will then moved his hand slowly to her chest, and lightly placed his index finger in the hollow of her modest but nicely formed bosom, right over her heart, his eyes locking with hers; "Your heart... They couldn't touch your heart Violet, it's still pure and powerful as ever, and that, is who, and what I fell in love with, the purity and strength of your character is amazing..."

His eyes searched hers, trying to divine if she truly understood him, the link now awash with emotions and memories, flowing back and forth, many unpleasant, but there where also many that were, and the one that stuck out the most for Will, was their first kiss...


Closing his eyes William leaned in and kissed Violet softly, his arms gently cradling her to him, mindful of her still healing ribs, yet firmly about her, as if to protect her from the world as he rested his cheek against hers and whispered; "I know I would never survive loosing you Violet... You're the one person I have to love in the world..."