Solvier - Titanic AU

August 10, 1912

- 𝐁𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐎 .

The rain falls in a downpour the night that Ben wins his last match in the ring. The man's body whose life Ben has taken rests limp on the floor, blood pooling around his feet. He stands above the man, chest heaving as he catches his breath, looking down and allowing the rush of vengeance to flow through his veins. The sound of the crowd cheering can't be heard over his own heart pumping blood throughout his body in his ears.

Ben has waited for this moment for a while; never stopping his training to win back the pride he lost as the life of his girl was taken. Each and every person involved in her murder has now been ended, having been stomped out by Ben's relentless need for revenge. Yet, as he stands at the finish line, Ben finds himself unable to feel a sense of relief. He wants more, the angry roar of his inner demons demanding that he stay and fight.

It scares Ben, to think that he will continue to take lives. His mother's words calling him a monster are no longer dormant in the back of his mind. His eyes raise to look over the crowd, searching for someone, anyone, that cares about him. His heart drops into his stomach as he realizes that there is no one. Nobody is here to care that he has finished his quest, to care about whether or not he makes it out of the dark tunnel he's succumbed to.

He walks silently to his dressing room, ignoring the women and men that line up along the hallway to ask for autographs. His head stays held high, but his eyes are cast down towards the floor and it isn't until he sees the bold letters 'TITANIC TO SET SAIL APRIL 10TH' that his attention is caught.

Looking up into the eyes of the woman whose small hands clutch tightly to the newspaper, he gives his best tight-lipped smile and points towards it.

"Do you mind if I take this?"

Though he's covered in his opponent's blood, he does his best to make himself smaller to not intimidate her. It appears to work, however, as she silently nods and hands it over. He gratefully nods his head and walks into his dressing room, prepared to read.

The house doctor comes in to check him, cleaning him up and putting stitches where they're needed as he does. He answers the man's questions half-heartedly, reading about the price of tickets and how they've sold out.

He glares at the words on the page, hope filling his chest for once. America- the place where he was born and the place he hasn't returned to since his parent's death. He thinks it might be time to go back, start new and find a new life. It's a long shot, but his lack of relief after his fight has left him with nothing else to go off of. He won't stay; he won't become a monster.

Standing to his feet, Ben looks at the calendar and sees that the Titanic is to set sail tomorrow, next to his stack of winnings. With his newfound hope threatening to slip through his fingers, Ben rushes to the hallway after grabbing his cash, where people remain lined up. As he appears, people stand at attention and prepare to ask for favors, but Ben has one goal in mind.

"I will give my winnings to anyone that has a ticket for the Titanic. The first person to put a ticket in my hand gets it."

For a moment, time stills and Ben can feel the frail thread of hope fall freely away from him. Like a gust of wind blowing leaves through the air, the plans that Ben has started to make fly out of reach. It's not until the very same woman he took the newspaper from carefully emerges from the crowd with a small slip of paper in her hands that his chest swells once again with passionate hope.

"U-Um... I have one..."

Her small voice squeaks out like a mouse, her hand extending to him. With a very different smile, Ben bends at the waist carefully to look into her eyes while he reaches out to gently take the ticket from her. In exchange, he hands her the stack of cash.