Chapter 11

I walked ahead of V while he removed his cape and hat placing them neatly away. Everything looked the same and yet completely different. There were small things I did not remember from my short stay here previously. I smiled as my eyes caught the small bulky television sitting in front of the couch in the living room.

"Would you like some tea Evelyn?" V questioned politely.

"No. Not unless you were going to do it anyway. I don't want to be a bother"

V nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. For the first time I realized that you could see almost the entire home no matter where you stood. It was very open yet tastefully decorated making the space a pro rather than a con. I followed quietly behind V as he made us tea. I fought the urge to wrap my arms around his small waist by drumming my fingers on the table. I smirked seeing V's mask tilt making him glance over his shoulder.

"Is something the matter?" He questioned.

I smiled and gave a soft sigh. There was something about his voice. Something so calm yet so fierce-some and though sometimes it was difficult to decipher which there was one thing his voice always held and that was honesty. His voice was almost an addiction in itself. V turned around to face me in concern since I had yet to answer his question.

"I missed you" I said a little more softly than I intended.

It was frustrating and a relief being around V. Unknowingly he held this power over me that prevented me from hiding anything from him. It was as if all the filters we have been taught are acceptable for hiding our true thoughts just vanish when I am with him. I loved and feared that level of freedom.

V turned quickly around busying himself with his task at hand. I bit the bottom of my lip wondering if maybe I had been a little too blunt. I racked my brain trying to figure out a way to ease the tension when the soft clink of my mug tapping the table brought me back to Earth.

"Thanks" I smiled taking a sip of the warm liquid feeling it's heat calm my nerves.

"You are welcome"

V took a seat across from me although he did not have a mug of his own.

"It's nice to see you're still in one piece" I smirked. "How goes the hero thing?"

"I offer no illusions to what I am" V said disapprovingly.

"Unconsciously we all have a standard by which we measure other men, and if we examine closely we find that this standard is a very simple one, and is this: we admire them, we envy them, for great qualities we ourselves lack. Hero worship consists in just that. Our heroes are men who do things which we recognize, with regret, and sometimes with a secret shame, that we cannot do. We find not much in ourselves to admire, we are always privately wanting to be like somebody else. If everybody was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes. Mark Twain"

I sipped my tea as V sat in silence. I sat slightly nervous watching his emotionless demeanor.

"You may not see yourself as a hero but many people in London would thoroughly disagree with you. It's ok though. The hero never sees himself as a hero that's what kind of makes him great and you are a great man V no matter what your reasons behind what you are doing" I smiled taking his gloved hand in my own.

V's head snapped in the direction of the contact and snatched his hand away so quickly I nearly fell out of my chair. I grabbed onto the table to steady myself. When I looked up V was standing on the opposite side of the room with his back angled away from me.

"Excuse me" V said with a stiff bow.

"V wait!" I called but V did not hesitate as he exited the kitchen.

I felt my words of apology lump in my throat as tears stung my eyes. I thought about leaving but I just didn't feel right. I couldn't leave, not like this. I wiped a few tears that fell down my cheeks as I sat at the kitchen table resting my chin in the palm of my hands. What was I going to do? I stirred my spoon in the tea as I sank deeper in thought. It's not like I was going to apologize because for one I am way too stubborn for that and two there was nothing to apologize for. I meant what I said to him and saying I didn't would be too painful of a lie. No matter how great men were a headache. I gave a deep sigh picking up my mug and chugging the rest of the cold tea. I walked over to the sink and cleaned the mug leaving it out to dry before continuing onward towards the training room.

My eyes caught the various weapons but I turned away from them and sat in the center of the room in lotus position beginning my mental exercises. A memory of a younger me standing in a similar room came to mind. I wore a pair of worn sweats and a tank top armed with nothing more than my fists. One my left stood my older brother with a knife in each hand and to my right my father stood with an automatic revolver. The gun wasn't loaded with actual bullets rather with small pellets that were more like tiny bean bags. They wouldn't kill you as long as they didn't hit any vital organs but they left an unbearable pain. My father said he was teaching me how to fight strategically when the odds were not in my favor. My task was to disarm either one or both of them and make them submit. They both charged at me mercilessly.

Sighing and shutting my eyes tighter I blocked out the rest of the memory and any more that threatened to surface. I needed to focus and clear my mind of all thoughts. It took some effort but I managed to actually achieve the quietness I longed for. Controlling my breathing to a rhythm that kept the clarity I began stretching. Once I was finished I walked over to the weapons without pause. I shifted the saber from one hand to the other getting a feel for the weight before twirling it expertly through my fingers. I lunged and spun as my muscles regained their memory. My attacks became more of a dance as I stayed light on my toes not allowing myself to linger in one spot too long.

V stood drenched in shadows as he watched Evelyn. He instantly became hypnotized at her graceful movements. He knew that she was a skilled fighter but seeing her like this was numbing. He could not manage to take his eyes off of her. He did not wish to interrupt her although a part of him was dying to touch her again. His mind drifted back to the weight of her hand over his gloved one as her heat penetrated the thick material. He felt himself at the edge of losing control. Even though she had not asked he felt nearly compelled to tell her everything. Larkhill, the experiments, Valerie, his vendetta and what it would mean for him in the end. There were a few times V could have sworn she heard his shaky breaths behind the security of his mask. God what was happening to him? She would be his undoing but he knew he had long accepted his fate. He could not pin point exactly when but either way his fate was sealed. He knew he could not keep away from Evelyn Hammond if he tried. He even found himself following her in the shadows on occasion to make sure she was safe. Never did he imagine he would see her standing at his front door but seeing that she was not a factor in his vendetta from the beginning he guessed he shouldn't be so surprised.

"If you want me to leave I will" A low voice called out.

V's head turned at the sound realizing the voice was Evelyn.

"I will not stop you if you wish to leave though I am not willing you to leave either"

"V what are you saying?" She sighed almost in frustration.

"Do you want me to go or not?" Evelyn demanded turning to face him.

V's bottomless pits locked onto hers although she had no way of knowing.

"No" V answered simply.

Evelyn held the dagger down keeping the blade away from herself and V as she walked up to him. V's posture straightened preparing for a string of curses or more likely an attack but neither one came. Evelyn's eyes were filled with unshed tears as she looked at him. The two stood there not saying anything until Evelyn hesitantly reached out. When V did not shrink away she continued grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling herself closer. V kept a steady watch on the saber in the palm of her hands until something happened that stopped his heart. Evelyn raised on her tip toes and kissed the lips of his mask. The kiss lasted only seconds but his mind would forever be stuck in that moment. He could not move, could not breath. All that existed was that moment. Then without another word Evelyn released him and walked back the way she came.

"Choose your weapon" She called over her shoulder.

V's heart pounded to the point he thought it might burst from his chest. She had shown him more affection in these short hours than he had experienced in his entire life, as much of his life that he could remember anyway. Yes a weapon. He needed to fight. The one thing that came so naturally to him although he spent many decades perfecting it. Fighting was constant, familiar. Anger and frustration were easy. He had felt them for so long he almost felt lost feeling anything else and that was precisely what Evelyn made him feel, lost and unsure. Grabbing two knives hidden on his person he took his sparing position never straying his eyes far from Evelyn. A smirk pulled at one corner of her lips before she attacked.