V
As V sat on the floor of the gallery, his tears spent, he lay his head against the back of the couch gulping for the air he'd been denied by the sobs. Even now...months later, he still couldn't piece together how he had survived. His last memories had been of Evey holding his body as a chill had settled over him; he knew he'd been dying as surely as he could feel the lethargy of his limbs and as he'd struggled to keep her face in focus. She had gazed down on him telling him she didn't want him to die, and with those words, he'd finally felt peace. He'd been ready to die and glad of it; dying in her arms...
And then the train. He could still feel the rocking motion, the instant drive to get off the train, and the feeling, bordering on panic, as he realized he was one station away from being blown to bits. He could still smell the fertilizer...could feel the wind from the movement of the train as he had opened the door... and that pitch and roll of his insides as he tumbled off the end of the train ledge onto the tracks.
He should have died.
But he hadn't.
In more control of his constitution; his breathing having finally regulated and the torrent of emotions that had propelled him into a sobbing mess seeming to have passed, V pushed up from the floor to stand, leaning against the couch back. "Daniel..." he thought to himself. "I should have died...and perhaps I did for a time...but you didn't allow it to happen a second time" V lifted his chin, staring at the grey washed stone above him in contemplation and memory.