Venn stood at the counter before the window. He hummed quietly as he chopped the carrots. He was making dinner tonight and he was making it up as he went.

He paused with the knife hovering in the air. Their cat, Willow, had just jumped onto the fence outside. He smiled faintly, then jerked back as a bird collided with the window. His hands jerked and sharp pain laced through his left palm.

He looked down, letting his left hand hang limp as he set the knife on the counter. The bright blood against the pale skin caught his eye. He turned his hand over, watching as the blood dripped down his fingers. The little streams wove down his long fingers and dripped slowly onto the counter.

Reed stepped through the doorway. "Hey was that thump you or- oh my gosh." He rushed over when he realized Venn was bleeding. "Venn, you need to be more careful. Why didn't you come get me? Clean that off I'll go get the bandages."

Venn moved slowly as Reed jogged off.  He moved to the sink and turned on the water. It burned as he held his hand under the tap. He stood there in silence, watching the blood mix with the water. He hadn't moved when Reed came back.

The concern on Reed's face was evident as he gently pulled Venn away from the sink. "You doing alright, Venn?" he asked, wrapping the bandages around Venn's hand.

Venn didn't respond right away. He kept his eyes down. "I... honestly? No... I'm not."

Reed faltered for a moment. He said nothing more as he finished binding Venn's hand. He pushed Venn into a chair and started cleaning the blood from the counter. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Venn hesitated. "I'm... well you know I'm depressed but... it's worse than I've let you see. It's nothing you did it's always been... bordering on suicidal for a while now."

Reed rinsed the cloth before he pulled up a chair and sat in front of Venn. He snapped his fingers in front of Venn's face. "Hey, look up," his voice was sad and a bit worried, but the request was more of an order. When Venn looked up, Reed was looking at him with a serious expression in his blue and amber eyes. "You are worth the world to me. I have died for you and I would do it a hundred times over if there was even a chance it would help you. I can protect you from yourself if you need."

Venn didn't know how to respond, so he just went on with his original line of thought. "I'm really sorry to pile this on you right now but... I need to let it out. I trust you with my life."

Reed nodded silently. He wasnt about to interrupt. Venn slowly removed his blazer. He had a short sleeved red shirt on underneath. A handful of scars ran up his forearms. Then, with even more hesitancy, he pulled the short sleeved shirt over his head.

He had one slash down his chest from his left shoulder to his right hip. The right side of his ribcage, near his side, was dented in a couple inches. Then he got up, and turned around. Reed leaned back, letting out a long breath at the sight.

Venn's back was a network of overlapping scars. A few words in another language, clear fire burns, symbols that Reed faintly understood to be demonic, and one that he didnt recognize. An eye within a horned circle.

Venn ran a hand through his hair. "I don't even know what it looks like... I could never bring myself to look," his voice quivered and he took a deep breath to steady himself.

Reed stood and ran a hand down Venn's back. "How did this happen?" he asked softly.

Venn shivered at Reed's touch. "One is from Malvagio. A horned circle with an eye? That's his symbol that he created for me. Any time he saw me he'd show it to me and say 'One day diavolo. I'll give you this.' I haven't seen it but I know exactly where it is."

Reed let his hand drop. "And the rest?"

"The arms and the dip over here..." he touched the dent in his ribcage, "are from running into a burning house somewhere in Switzerland to save a little kid. Mind you I was eight when I did that. I shoved him out of the way of a falling beam. I think I climbed inside through a broken window that cut my arms. I cant remember that very clear.

I know vaguely where the others are from. The burning house had totally collapsed on me. Everyone assumed I was dead, but I crawled out of the wreckage the next day bloody and burned. Apparently some of the people didn't care that I was a child.

I got attacked that night when I was trying to find a place to rest. Whoever it was knocked me out cold and when I woke up, my back hurt like inferno and the shirt I was wearing was stiff and bloody."

Reed was silent for a moment, trying to process what Venn had said. The silence hung between them heavily until Reed finally said, "Is there more?"

Venn closed his eyes. He pulled his shirt, then his blazer, back on and sat back down. "I started out leaving Venezia as just lonely and scared. As I got closer to England I just started feeling worse. After I got here I thought things would get better."

Reed pulled his chair closer to Venn and put a hand on his shoulder. He listened silently.

"I did well when I arrived too, getting hired and trained by Fittes... then I got my team... a week later was when my depression started getting really bad and it's been downhill from there... until here." Venn looked up at Reed. "The only place my team didnt look down on me or torment me."

Reed smiled faintly. "You're a good agent, Venn, and a better friend. You were too good for Fittes."

"Penelope tried to get me back you know," Venn said slowly. "After I came back. She saw the publicity and how well we were doing. Tried to convince me to return. She said she'd let me pick my team, call the shots on what cases I wanted, as long as I'd come back."

Reed blinked, surprise flitting across his face. "And you didn't mention this when it happened?"

Venn shrugged. "I refused. It didn't matter."

Silence fell between them. It wasn't awkward or tense. Just calm. Neither one said anything to break it.

After a few minutes, when it became clear Venn wasn't going to say more, Reed got up and kept making dinner. He glanced at Venn a couple times, but Venn's black eyes were on the floor.