Marcus strained, pulling at the bars with all his strength, but just as had happened for the past… However long he had been at this, the door seemed more than happy to blatantly ignore his attempts to move it. Marcus relented, stepping back and reaching for his watch again. This had become his plan. Strike the points where the bars meet, then pull. Eventually, they would have to give. He hoped.

Glancing behind him, Marcus saw the same thing he had seen every time he had gathered up his courage to look in that direction since his… outburst.

Chastity. Sitting in the center of the room.

Pointedly keeping her back to him.

He didn't know what he had expected. Truth be told, Marcus hadn't even known that he was going to… Do that, even up to the point it happened. He just.. had.

Perfect Marcus. Just perfect. Now how do you expect to get out of that mess while dealing with this mess?!

As if she could tell his train of thought, Marcus could swear he saw Chastity's shoulders tighten. Quickly, he turned away again, facing back to the door. He'd rather face Cerberus head on than deal with the bomb sitting in the middle of the cell right now.

Marcus summoned his sword again, attacking a particular set of bars towards the middle of the door. With each swing, his thoughts changed direction.

*CLANG* Is she just going to sit there forever or help me?

*CLANG* After what just happened, you'd be lucky if she ever looks your way again.

*CLANG* What's the big deal? Not like she hasn't kissed anybody before!

*CLANG* She has a boyfriend. Idiot.

*CLANG* Gods dammit can't these bars just break already!

He was about to strike again when he heard a sigh from behind him. At least, that's what he thought he heard. Marcus hesitated for a moment, slowly turning his head as he did so. For the first time in what seemed like hours, Chastity had moved, though that may be giving it too much credit. She had turned in place, and was now facing him.

As their eyes met, Marcus could swear her pink aura turned a brighter shade, if only a little, even if Chastity's eyes were as fierce as they had been during their latest fight. They stayed like that, Marcus mid swing, Chastity sitting and staring, until Chastity raised an eyebrow slowly.

Why does everybody have to steal my thing… Almost in tandem with her raising brow, Marcus lowered his sword to his side, eventually allowing it to return to its watch form. Chastity's message was clear. Brute force wouldn't get them out of this. Marcus nodded and walked the walls of their cell, looking for any crack or crevice that might give way or hint towards an exit. After all, if Nico di Angelo had created a secret tunnel into the palace, it's possible that he had also created a way for trapped demigods to escape it.

As he reached the first corner of the room behind Chastity, he heard her sigh, even that small sound carrying in the deafening silence. Marcus turned back to her, his eyebrow raised as revenge for her expression earlier, only to find that she once again wasn't looking in his direction. She was still looking towards the door.

Marcus couldn't quite keep the frown from coming to his face. He knew she was upset at him, hell even livid, but this ignoring of him wasn't really doing much to sort out their current predicament. He was about to say as much, had even drawn breath to do so, when Chastity's hand raised, open handed in a clear signal. Stop.

She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder, and maybe it was just because of the way her hair framed her face as she did it. Maybe it was the way her eyes locked onto his, with a fierce intensity that up to this point he had interpreted as anger, but now saw was something… different. Maybe it was the fact that he still wasn't thinking clearly after all he had gone through to be here, only for him to walk face first into… whatever had happened between them. Whatever it was, when her eyes met his, Marcus froze.

Marcus knew he and Maddie could have an entire conversation with only their eyes. He hadn't truly realized until this point that he didn't need words to tell Chastity's intentions, or at least, the direction of her moods. Her eyes were intense, but her lips weren't the thin line they usually became when she lost her temper. They were full, relaxed. Marcus couldn't quite believe he knew them so well.

More well now… Those intrusive thoughts came unbidden to his mind again.

Not helpful.

Marcus crossed the distance between them, the hardest few feet he'd walked for as long as he could remember, his feet barely lifting with each step. Chastity's only movement was her head turning to keep their eyes locked. Marcus didn't quite know why, but he walked as softly as he could, as if the slightest sound could disrupt the moment he found himself in.

He lowered himself down to a kneeling position beside her, his nervous energy too high to allow him to relax into a sitting position. He could tell easily now that the closer he got, the brighter the shade of her pinkish aura, though it was barely perceptible unless you were as focused on her as he was. If Marcus didn't know better, he would almost swear that her aura matched the slow blush that he thought he saw on her cheeks, though it was hard to tell with their current light only really coming from the door behind them and her aura.

The moment stood frozen, the seated Charmer and the kneeling Martyr. It occurred to Marcus that his position was almost of deference, or reverence, and at the moment he wasn't sure which was which. He felt he could almost reach out and feel the power Chastity was radiating, her aura becoming clearer and clearer the longer he stayed where he was. He found himself forgetting the situation they were in, and simply taking her in, all of his attention and energy being pulled towards her. The curve of her chin. The way her hair fell across the side of her face and shoulder, falling down her back as it framed her face. The tension in her shoulders was still there, but something about the way she looked at him told him it wasn't anger. Her eyes seemed to be taking him in as well, though what she saw he couldn't say. For what seemed to him to be an eternity, Marcus knelt, unsure if he was gathering his courage to repent his earlier impulse or repeat it, but the choice was taken from him as her eyes flicked to the door.

Chastity stood abruptly, as if something she had been waiting for had finally happened. Neatly strolling to the door, Chastity reached into her jacket, pulling out.. something. Chastity seemed to almost purposefully keep the side of her jacket held wide to obscure his view, but whatever it was, after muttering a few words too rapidly for Marcus to catch them, the door seemed to buckle, then slowly bend, and finally crack, falling out onto the stone floor outside their cell with a loud clang, which seemed even louder in the silence Marcus realized Chastity had purposefully created.

Chastity turned with him, the usual playful gleam back in her eye as she tucked whatever she held back into her jacket.

"It's usually the gentleman who opens the door for a lady, but this time I'll make an exception. Coming?"