Author's Note: Nope. I don't own any characters in this story.

Evey awoke to the sound of a door creaking open, and stretched and yawned. She turned toward the pile of books next to her bed and looked at the clock set upon it. It was nearly one in the morning. What would V be doing up at this hour? She stretched again, and groaned as she turned over. This is was the fourth time V had woken her up, and she had only been there two weeks. She was not upset, however, as she understood that V was not used to having company, and for the most part he was quiet.

She did wonder, though, what he was doing in the middle of the night. He was just as human as the next person; did he drink warm milk to help him go to sleep? Did he decide to put on the telly and watch infomercials in an effort to bore himself into unconsciousness? She quickly put that out of her head. A man as charismatic and intelligent as he seemed to be could not be someone who watched television. Evey lay there for a few minutes, listening for the tell-tale sound of what she assumed was V's door closing.

She sighed again and looked at the clock. It had been ten minutes, and V still had not gone back to his room. Worse, she was feeling more and more awake the more she waited. She sat up slowly and rolled her shoulders back, yawning once more. I might as well get up and walk around, she thought. She put on a robe over her sweatpants and shirt, feeling overly dressed albeit safe, and stepped to her door. Taking a deep breath, she pushed it open and walked out.

V was sitting on the couch reading, his mask and wig on. She wondered vaguely if he slept in it, even though she knew that thought was ridiculous. He probably had them on for her benefit, just in case she slipped out of her room unexpectedly. She did not move closer, simply stood behind him, her hands together.

"Hello, Evey." V stood and turned to her, putting his hands together behind his back. "I'm afraid I woke you. I'm sorry."

Evey shook her head. "No, it's all right." She made a step closer to him. "What were you reading?"

"Oh." He brought the book out from behind his back. "The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. The story of the power of imagination and human will." He held the book out for her to take. "You're welcome to read it."

She smiled and took the book. "Thank you."

V watched her as she read the back of the book, a sort of pride welling up inside him at being able to share this little piece of his collection with her. He began to make a mental list of books to present to her, to make sure she read while she still had the chance. Fairy tales would probably be to her taste, as she seemed so young and innocent.

She looked back up at him, her smile still on her lips. "Thank you" she said again, lost for words. Even after her experience with him these past couple of weeks, during which he had proved to be a gentleman, he was still so impressive, striking even. That mask had almost begun to form expressions, and she felt that she could understand his thoughts and feelings by looking at it. Sometimes she longed to reach up and touch it to prove to herself that it was, in fact, a mask, and not V's flesh. Her eyes focused on one of the rouge cheeks, debating whether to put her hand on it.

However, her thoughts were interrupted by a rather loud growling coming form her stomach. Evey's eyes dropped, and she blushed furiously.

V chuckled gently. "Ah, mademoiselle. Are you hungry?"

She curled her toes a little. "Ummm… I guess I could eat something."

He headed to the kitchen immediately, seemingly pleased that he could offer his culinary services to Evey again. He put on his oven mitts over his leather gloves in preparation. "Tell me what you would like. Anything at all, and I shall try my best to procure it."

"Well…" She followed him into the kitchen and sat down at the table. She placed the book in her lap and looked up at him, chewing the tip of her tongue lightly as she thought it over. "Look, this may seem silly-"

"Evey, don't worry."

She let out a long, slow breath. "Do you have any chocolate? I mean real chocolate." She smiled and looked down at the surface of the table. "I haven't had any for so long. Just that awful imitation stuff, and even that's hard to come by these days."

V took off his oven mitts and placed them back on the counter before reaching into the cabinet below. He hummed to himself as he rummaged around. Evey leaned closer to him in an effort to figure out the song he was humming and to see what other good food he was hiding down there. She started to study his back, though, admiring how slim but powerful he was. She blushed and averted her eyes as he stood triumphantly, little red box in hand.

V sat down across from her and placed the chocolate box in the middle of the table. "There we are. Go ahead."

"Please have some with me. I wouldn't feel right taking it from you."

V sat silently for a few moments and tilted his head down. "No, Evey," he said regretfully. "I can't." He then reached forward and opened the box for her. "You, however, can. Please."

She reached out and took a small, dark piece, and studied the lines of drizzled light brown chocolate on the top before plunking it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh of contentment, smiling as the chocolate melting and slipped beneath her tongue and down her throat. When she opened her eyes to reach for another, V was staring at her. Evey looked down shyly and brought her hand back to her lap.

After a few moments, V spoke, and she was sure she could hear a smile in his voice. "I'll tell you what. You eat another piece, and I'll take the other two back to bed with me, and I'll attempt to enjoy them as much as you seem to. How does that sound?"

She smiled. "That's a good idea." She quickly took the other piece of chocolate and popped it in her mouth, causing V to chuckle again. She pushed the box of chocolates toward him, and he reached out to take them, his fingertips lightly brushing against the back of her hand. "Thank you."

"No, thank you. I'm glad I had someone to enjoy them with." He stood then. "Well, if you don't mind I would like to go back to my room."

Evey stood, the book V had given her in her hand again. "Of course I don't mind. I'll go back to bed, too." She watched him a few moments, unsure of what to do, before deciding to head back to her room. V followed her. When they reached her door she turned around smiling up at him once more. "Well, good night."

V reached down to take her hand and brought it up close to his mouth as if to kiss the back of it. "Good night, Evey. Sleep well." With that, he walked off toward his room. She stood outside her room and watched him as he went away from her. After hearing his door close, she went into her own room and slipped into bed. Before she fell asleep again, she thought of V enjoying those chocolates, and smiled.