Muffled wailing and loud scraping woke Reed from his sleep.

Reed opened his eyes and looked up. Dried blood caked his right arm. His right hand was still pinned to the table by the dagger. He could see Venn in his cocoon. He had no idea how long it had been, but Venn seemed easier to see. His messy black hair was free of the net, but his eyes were covered and he had somehow gotten several iron cords between his teeth. The cords made an excellent gag.

Venn struggled viciously for several seconds before falling still, panting. After a few moments, the cycle repeated. He was clearly desperate to get free, but he couldn't.

"Calm down Venn," Reed said. He was surprised that his voice sounded tight from pain. "I'll be able to help in a minute."

Venn fell still, besides the terrified shaking. He whined quietly.

Reed forced himself back to his feet. He wrapped his left hand around the hilt of the silver dagger. His palm burned with pain. He grit his teeth hard and yanked the dagger out of his hand.

Reed tried to muffle his howl of pain by keeping his mouth shut. Venn shuddered at the sound, straining against the tangled net.

Reed hurried to another table, grabbed a roll of bandages, and wrapped his hand tightly. It throbbed painfully and the bandages quickly turned red over his palm and the back of his hand.

He then crossed to Venn and knelt down. "I'm right here, Venn. Stay calm. I'll get you out of this. Just relax." He set to work untangling the mess Venn had made in however long Reed had been asleep.

It took Reed nearly two and a half hours, and changing the bandages on his hand four times, before Venn was finally freed.

When he was completely free, Venn sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. He hid his face in his knees and completely shut down. Reed tried to coax him out of the shell with books or rapier practice, but he went ignored.

Venn didn't move for over an hour, despite Reed's insistent efforts to get him up. Venn never spoke a word the whole time. Eventually, Reed gave up and went to his desk. His plan had been to write something down, but he couldn't pick up his pen. He had zero fine motor control.

Reed sighed and got up. "I'm going to the hospital," he said. "Care to join me?"

Venn looked up, but didn't respond. He shook his head slightly.

Reed did his best to not show the hurt. He nodded and started up the stairs, hoping Venn would follow.

He didn't.

A month later

Venn still hadn't spoken a word since he had stabbed the dagger through Reed's hand. He had gotten extremely good at communicating his meanings in gestures, nods, or emphatic pointing. Reed always knew exactly what Venn wanted or, when on the case, exactly what Venn was warning him about.

Reed tried to engage Venn in conversation every time he passed. Venn would just shake his head and wave a dismissive hand or just look at the floor and ignore Reed completely.

With every passing day, Reed grew more concerned. It didnt help that on day forty of silence, Reed discovered Venn standing silently on the edge of the roof. The fall wouldn't have killed him, but it would have caused serious injury. It was shockingly easy to pull Venn back inside.

After the rooftop incident, Reed didn't let Venn out of his sight unless they were sleeping. He always waited until Venn was asleep first.

Venn still managed to slip away occasionally. Once, downstairs to practice his rapier for a solid six hours. Another time he left his pocketwatch dangerously close to the fire. And still another time, Venn was spinning an iron knife on the kitchen table.

Reed banned Venn from sharp objects, high places, and sitting by the fire.

After another month, Reed was getting desperate. He tried everything he could think of numerous times. Venn put up with it all in unbroken silence. The darkness in his eyes was blacker than usual. The only smile he'd given was a slight twitch of the lip on their last case when Reed had almost fallen down the stairs after being startled by a cat they hadn't known the woman had.

The pair sat at the kitchen table across from each other. Reed was flexing his hand in some stretches the doctors had told him would help regain his fine motor control. Venn was sketching in silence as always. He hadn't made a single sound since Reed had freed him from the iron net.

Reed sighed and rested his hand on the table, spreading his fingers. "Venn, please talk to me..."

Venn stopped sketching but didnt bring his gaze away from the paper. After a couple seconds, he continued.

Reed felt the familiar pang in his chest that he had felt occasionally the last few months. Venn's silence hurt him deeply. "Please, Venn. This isn't healthy."

Venn started scribbling, filling in the paper with the graphite. He had clearly heard Reed.

After a couple more minutes of silence apart from the light scratching of Venn's pencil, Venn rotated the drawing pad and pushed it toward Reed. He kept his eyes on the table.

Reed pulled the paper toward himself. He glanced at Venn before he studied the drawing. It was a person falling on an inky black backdrop. They had no features on their face and one hand was extended toward the viewer. Despite the lack of features, Reed got the feeling the figure was Venn. Scrawled across the bottom of the paper, in the only white space, were the words, "TAKE MY HAND!"

Venn scooted around the table so he sat closer to Reed. Just far enough that they would both need to stretch to touch. Reed looked over, tilting his head.

"Sto cadendo..." Venn whispered.

Reed froze. "In English?" He prompted gently.

Venn closed his eyes. "I'm falling." He put his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. He fell back into silence.

Reed scooted his chair closer. He stopped when he noticed Venn's shoulders tense. "Let me help you... I dont hate you for what that dark side of you did. Trust me. We can't do this if we're seperate." Reed held out his right hand, guessing he might regret that choice.

Venn raised his head to look. He bit his lip and let his hands fall to the table.

"Take my hand, Venn," Reed said softly. "I won't let you fall."

Venn was still for a few seconds before he reached out and took Reed's hand. He squeezed it slightly, making Reed wince despite himself. To his surprise, Venn didn't let go.

Venn brought his gaze up to look at Reed. His eyes were a duller black than normal, as if someone had taken the spark out of them.

The two sat there hand in hand for some time staring at each other. Venn was the first to move. He turned his gaze away and released Reed's hand. He smiled faintly, pushing his chair back. "I need to pack us up for the case tonight," he said quietly. "You should rest up."

Reed opened his mouth to respond, but Venn was already gone. Reed picked up the pencil and erased the words at the bottom of the page. He added Venn's face to the figure, his dark hair swept over his eyes, mouth open slightly as if he were panting. The hand Venn had drawn no longer stretched desperately for something to hold, but was wrapped tightly around another hand coming from the bottom of the drawing.

Reed smiled faintly and added three words at the bottom where Venn's elegant writing had been before. He turned the pad and pushed it in front of Venn's usual chair at the table. He stood and headed into the living room to follow Venn's advice and rest up.

When Venn came upstairs several hours later he stopped in the kitchen. He looked down at the drawing pad, scanning the changes Reed had made. His fingers brushed over the words Reed had written.

I've got you.