The following is a story by Miss Killer Kay Jay and Mister X. B. Edgar. The part of Evey Hammond is written by K.J and the parts of V and Eric finch are written my X.B.E. Please read and enjoy! :D

The Flaming Silhouette-

Chapter 1-

It was then that I heard the gunshot, it was profound and echoed throughout the tunnels. My flashlight portrayed the puppet shows of my body along with passing rats and the occasional bit of crumbled rubble. I could remember this place, when it was alive. I had only been a boy then, my brother Richard and I used to catch the tube to school. Why was I thinking of all this now? My life was flashing before my eyes as I'd always heard it would in movies. I never thought it really happened like that, it only meant one thing… my body was preparing for almost certain death. Of course it was! I was going up against one of the most feared men in London, even before the Norsefire five! I realised with a jolt that I feared the terrorist more than I did Sutler himself. Oh the sound of guns, in my years in the nose I had heard so many, and yet… this was the worst, the most heart-wrenching. What if he had just shot an innocent civilian? In a fit of rage? No. Not V, he didn't shoot, I'd seen his style. I'd seen his victims. It could have been anybody up against anything. It could have just been a bit of falling rock! But no. I looped the noise in my head. No it had been a gun. You never forgot that noise. I continued my venture through the underground maze.

Oh Delia, I had seen her body too. Free of marks or bruises, not like Prothero (brutally beaten even after death) no her body had been spared. And I'd always wondered why. Did he want to preserve her? Did he feel for her? Did he know how I felt about her? A part of me died a little inside at the thought. He knew everyone better than they knew themselves. What made me any different?

I came around the corner into a brighter patch of darkness that led me into the fluorescently lit station. As my eyes adjusted I made out the shape of a man, small and alien like, standing in the distance. His shaved head and skeleton figure resembled that of a Buddhist monk. But that was impossible all non-Catholics had been killed long ago along with the Jews and the protestants. Oh. My mother had been one of those. There it was again. I am going to die, here is this man come to bring me up into heaven… or hell. The figure turned away from my slightly so that I could make out more of his figure. His hips and chest were more rounded than I had expected. This was a woman. Where there female monks? And then she was suddenly out of sight while I was distracted by my thoughts. My police instincts caught up with me suddenly: That's the train! She's on the bloody train!

I ran before my brain could tell my feet not to, carrying me toward the woman so fast I almost forgot to stop. Stop.

"Stop!" I called ahead of me, "get your hand off that lever!" The woman turned, her face a solid expression. Realisation dawned. "You're Evey Hammond aren't you?" Her expression remained the same although she tilted her head down slightly in confirmation. She turned her head back to the trains control panel she had been fiddling with before I came. My thoughts were dispelled as something black caught the draw of my eye. And I turned to look. She could have killed me while I was distracted, but she didn't. Why? Because she doesn't need to. It's already too late…

His body lay covered in roses. Scarlet Carsons. That was what Delia had called them, or whatever her name really was. The terrorist lay still, his arms crossed over his chest. My eyes found Hammond's eyes again and I saw the pain lurking in them, the look she gave me wasn't full of hate. She was in pain. I almost wanted to sympathise, but where would that leave me. Shortly I said: "Then it's over isn't it?"

"Almost," she said.

No. This is it! Instinctively I grabbed my gun from under my jacket and aimed. I tilted my head to the side to indicate the panel. "Get your hand off that lever!" Why was I being so stupid! Why hadn't I just shot her? That would have ended it all there and then. But something in her eyes pried my finger from the trigger. With a god-like confidence she tilted her head up a little, defiance emanating from her just from that one movement, and said:

"No." I couldn't argue with her. I was lost in my own passions… She was right. She was doing the right thing. But was she tricking me? Just the glare of her eyes upon me was fooling me over to her side! My understanding, wooed by some terrorist… and yet. I didn't fire my gun. My hand loosened on it and it fell to the station floor. I wish I could have helped myself, but I was practically on my knees before this woman. Maybe this was all a part of his plan, he was smart, he would have picked a pretty woman deliberately to put me off balance. I tried not to think about it, but I knew it was working.

"Why are you doing this?" I murmured, my voice suddenly very small. She knew the answer right away.

"Because he was right."

"About what?"

"That this country needs more than a building right now, it needs hope." She pulled the lever. And I didn't try to stop her. She was right. It wasn't a trick, she was right. As the train started to move a small red domino on the top of the control box tipped over slightly and fell off the train onto the concrete.

She stepped off lightly with it and stood next to me. We watched the train shove off. And then I did it. I said something stupid. "I bet you're kind of happy to be rid of him aye?" Fuck I'm Stupid.

Her hands moved before I could reach for my gun, before I could reach for anything. She punched my square in the nose. I pulled away from her instinctively, turning my back to the train to defend myself, my hands poised before me to blunt a second attack. She seemed to hesitate but rewinding my words in her head she found reason to lunge a second time. In all my years in the force I had been through enough training to remember to stay on my feet, so when she kicked me between the legs I toppled backwards instead of falling to my knees. In shock my body stood solitary not even thinking then to reach for my gun. It was then that I felt the tugging of fabric against my skin and my belt pulling taught around my waist.

I stood in a mixture of complete shock and horror and full realisation hit me square in the face, I'd just assaulted Inspector Eric Finch and damn it felt good… well it would have if my hand hadn't been throbbing in pain, Why did punching someone have to hurt so much?

I looked up to watch the train take away the only man I had ever truly loved, almost laughing as I saw inspector Finch also being whisked away by the very same train down the dark seemingly endless tunnel. V wouldn't want another man to die though, not like this anyway at least I don't think he would of wanted another man to die, it was so hard to tell with V, he spoke in such riddles some of them I had yet to figure out, he was so mysterious with passions that had run deeper than any river. He said he loved me but did he really? How could it be when he'd thrown it all away for a vendetta? His vendetta against a government everyone up until now had feared. He had known everything about me, I'd lain everything on the line in the open for him to see and I didn't even know what he really looked like, all I'd ever seen was that smile that taunted me so much when really behind it I knew lay an expression of unbearable anguish. I knew then what I needed to do, I had to save inspector Finch, and it's what V would have wanted. Sighing in pent up frustration I looked at the task ahead of me, the train was already speeding up, I had no idea what I could do other then run, so that's exactly what I did, glad I'd taken to doing my own morning training programme every day, it defiantly made it easier for me.

A hundred metres later when my breath had started to catch in my throat and I felt as if I couldn't run this fast anymore did I look across realising I could grab onto the handle on the side of the train and swing into the train compartment. The problem was though I'd have one shot at this and if I failed I think I'd have to kill myself because this was all my fault. So puckering up all the strength I had left I ran faster and reaching the edge of the platform I jumped the small distance between the platform and train grabbing onto the handhold next to the door, I pressed the emergency button to open the door and almost collapsed on the train's floor when I entered it. How I wished I hadn't had asthma it made everything else so much harder. I refused to let my body collapse though at least until I had gotten the inspector to safety after that I didn't care what happened to me, I could die along with my love for all I cared, it already felt as if I'd had my heart ripped brutally from my chest and crushed into millions of little pieces.

I ran up through the train compartments until I found the door Finch had managed to get himself stuck in. I grabbed the clothing that was stuck in the door and held on firmly with one hand and opened the door with my other jerking him back into the very same compartment V had been laid to rest in. I'd pulled him with enough force to make him slam into my already tired body, he grunted and I shrieked as we both fell I landed on the floor of the train with the inspector on top of me both of us heavily panting trying to catch our breath, I was the first to recover and slid out from under his body. It was then I heard a groan, the noise was familiar to my ears, my head whipped around faster than the rest of my body as I let out a small gasp of hope "…V?" I questioned in a breathless whisper close to pleading. I ran over to him and moved the high collar of his shirts away from his neck; I could feel a thin thready pulse, barley anything but enough to make me hope. How I wished I could remove his mask to make breathing easier for him.

"Finch? V's alive and I demand that you help me get him off this train immediately or I may kill you" I growled with all the force I could muster. I had no idea why I said that, it wasn't like me, but I suppose love for one person really does change how a person thinks and feels even speaks.

It was some time later and I don't even remember how we accomplished such an almost impossible mission but we managed to get V off the train and I was so happy he was alive, it was only then I realised we were only a few blocks away from parliament, only just within the safe area. I turned back to Finch was helping V stand he'd seemed to have regained consciousness sometime in the last few minutes. I sighed in relief a smile finally spread across my face and I ran over to my love who was leaning against a wall watching through the small slits in the mask that served as eyes.

"Evey?" He whispered brokenly and watched me as I launched at him full forced, I wrapped one arm around his waist to support him the other went to the ties of his mask just as an explosion resounded all through the tunnels, the force of parliament exploding made the lights in the tunnel blow, the only light to see by was the flaming orange ball of fire and fireworks. I pulled sharply against the ties and the mask fell from his face, I couldn't see his face because of the lack of light. Before he could utter another sound I pressed my lips to his gently but also passionately, it was such a relief to feel real lips against mine instead of that dratted masks, his lips were warm and soft as he instinctively kissed me back.

I muttered her name, as loudly as I could. And as soon as the word left my lips I knew it wasn't enough, to show my gratitude for all that had happened in mere seconds. I was alive. Alive! Suddenly I was longing to move my limbs again, wishing to stretch out as far as I could but at the movement of a single finger I was overcome with pain. I had always been good with pain, it tried not to succumb to it and set myself a higher goal by attempting to move my left arm, she was on me like a beast upon its prey. At first I assumed that she had seen my attempted movements and was trying to hold me down to cease my pain, but before I could struggle free of her grip I felt her fingers, cold at the base of my neck. I breathed in a shuttering gasp, conflicted with the sensation of pleasure as her skin grazed mine and the horrible anticipation of what was surely going to happen.

The mask was ripped from my face pulling the cold air to my skin like a vacuum, so quickly my body shuddered a little under hers. My eyes clamped shut in an attempt to shield myself from her initial reaction, I knew what was going to happen, or at least, I thought I did. What was happening. What the bloody hell was happening? I screamed in my head. This couldn't be happening, she wasn't like this! This wasn't meant to happen! None of this! I was meant to be dead. I cursed myself for having had gratitude for my still thriving life. And now I wished once again that I was dead. Oh how I wished that I was dead. Death itself would have been better than her reaction, because I knew even though I lived, the sight of my face would make my love dead to her forever. And yet I couldn't bring myself to close my eyes all the way because I needed to see how she would react. It would happen weather I looked or not, a lesson I had learned long ago. Curiosity overcame me. I needed to see what it would really look like when her eyes met mine. But when I reopened my lids I was thrown into darkness. The lights in the tube tunnel were out in a flash of flames and colours before I could see her shocked expression. The cold on my face was suddenly warm. Very warm.

A lot of my skin receptors had been burned away in the fire, revealing the duller receptor cells in the muscles bared underneath. But I could still feel the softness pressing up against my lips. My heart swelled. I pressed my lips back.

I pulled back eventually, Oh I wished I could see his face, surely he knew I didn't care for what he looked like I fell in love with who he was, not what he looked like. I could see his silhouetted shape but that was all, I knew he'd want to hide his face from me, but I didn't want him to "V… I love you and nothing that happens is ever going to change that" I whispered and again kissed him briefly before picking his mask up where I'd thrown it and putting it back on the face I so longed to see, but I knew I had to respect his wishes.

I turned to the inspector who was standing discreetly some distance away. "Inspector Finch, would you please help me to escort V to his home? I do not think I can do it alone" I asked looking in his general direction I could make out a faint nod and a mumbled yes.

I don't know how long it took but it seemed like forever, V being the all muscled male he was, was incredibly heavy, and it was exceptionally hard to make a stubborn man patiently submit to us helping him. After much persuasion, sweat and an elbow to the face later -V had been insisting he could walk and Finch and I had disagreed somehow he'd ended up elbowing me in the face while putting his arm around my shoulders for support and he still had not finished apologising- we made it to the shadow gallery. We made it into V's bedroom and I pulled back his black satin bed covers and laid V down who went to sleep instantly. I walked finch to the door "You tell anyone about this place or come without notifying me first ever again you'll regret it" I warned with a glare. I walked back slowly to V's room, I was completely exhausted, I didn't think I could walk another step, but all I needed to think was he's alive and I could find the strength to move.

Upon arrival in his room I sat with my back against the wall to keep watch over him. I'd intended to stay awake the entire time he slept but somehow quite quickly I fell asleep on his floor.