Title: Liberation of the Heart

Summary: Deep within her prison cell, tortured and abused, Evey is left without a hope in the world…except the memories of her time spent with V and the thought that he may yet come for her.

Author's Note: This story is based off a plot-bunny that struck me one night – what would have happened if Evey really had been captured at Gordon's home?

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Chapter 2

Evey spluttered loudly, gasping for air as her head was drawn out of the bucket of disgusting water it had been thrust into by a harsh, gloved hand. She coughed several times, her lungs violently protesting the occasional intake of water that filled her nose just before she was given relief from the torment and allowed a breath of oxygen.

"The name, Evey," Rossiter's growl registered close to her ear. "Tell us the name of the one known as 'V'."

"I don't know!" Evey cried, though her last word was cut short as her head was forced back under the water again by the applied pressure. Reflexively she flayed about, attempting to pull her head out of the water but Rossiter's grip was firm and unmoving. He knew exactly how much time she could withstand under the water, her lungs burning and her heart pounding, before she would pass out. At the very last second he would pull her up again and make another demand for information – true to his word that he would not let this be easy.

"Where does he live?" the fearsome guard snapped as he jerked her up again. "What does his home look like?"

"Please," Evey sobbed, trembling as she desperately appealed to him. "I…I can't tell--."

Again she went under and the water bubbled around her face as her cries were lost within the slimy pool.

It had been going on for nearly twenty minutes…though it felt like hours. She wasn't entirely sure how much more she could take of this kind of torment before she broke. Her head was pounding excruciatingly and her lungs were aching from lack of oxygen. Every time under seemed to be longer than the first one and a few times she would almost attempt to swallow a gulp of that filthy water…anything to stop from being pushed under one more time! Yet every time she started to force herself to simply drown, Rossiter would pull her out again and her nerve would be gone.

Maybe this time it would stop! Maybe this time it was the last! But no…under she would go again…his hand on her neck bruising it with the force of his touch.

"What does he look like, Evey? Who is he beneath that mask?"

I wish I knew, a soft voice in Evey's mind whispered as she went under again.

How strange it was to be put through this…to be tormented and threatened with all kinds of horrific deaths…for a man that she didn't even know. A man that she'd only weeks ago willingly betrayed because she'd been too afraid of the unknown. What stopped her now from telling them everything? Why endure this torment one second longer? If she would only tell them what she knew, it could all stop.

"I'm waiting, Evey," Rossiter hissed next to her ear as he held her head craned back, watching with satisfaction as her chest heaved and her lips parted in gasps for air. Flecks of algae and scum marred her once-beautiful visage. "Whenever you're ready to talk...I'm ready!"

Whenever you're ready to talk…

V had said that to her once…though certainly under very different circumstances.

Her head went under the water again as she remained silent. She could hear Rossiter bellow some question or another at her through that slimy darkness…but already she was slipping away…allowing her mind to drift to a happier time and place.

…………………………..

It was after the evening that she'd been awakened by the nightmare – the one of her parents being taken away. She'd spent the night wrapped in V's arms, happy and content to simply be held. They'd watched the old western movie that had been playing on the television, just allowing themselves to be still and at peace with one another.

How strange it was that she could find such comfort in the embrace of this…madman. He'd admitted to the murder of several people, he would not sway from his obsessive beliefs in a better government, and his persona was completely unknown to her…yet, as she listened to the low rumble of a chuckle deep within his chest at some antic by the cowboy on television, she could not help but give a smile as she allowed her eyes to become heavy and slide closed.

She could feel his gloved fingers steadily caressing her hair…occasionally toying with a curl and wrapping it about before releasing it and smoothing it down again…and it made her feel at ease. It reminded her of nights when she was young spent tucked away within her mother's arms, knowing she had nothing to fear.

Finally, after a time of simply drifting along the pleasant feeling of being cared by someone, she'd managed to slip away into one of the deepest, most peaceful sleeps she could remember. The familiar scent that was distinctly his own and the warmth of his body soothed her and lulled her away to a realm where nothing could ever harm her or scare her. Here there was only happiness…lost away with her guardian angel's arms there was only gentle care.

The next morning she'd awakened to find herself alone on the couch, her head cradled on a large, fluffy pillow and a thick blanket covering her for warmth. A moment's sense of disappointment crept into her heart at not having awakened the same way she fell asleep, but that feeling was quickly stilled by a clattering of pans from the kitchen and a sudden assault of the heavenly smell of breakfast upon her senses. Evey's stomach growled a bit, reminding her just how hungry she was from having not eaten much for dinner the night before, and she rose to her feet to make her way towards where the smell was originating.

"Ah, good morning, my dear," V chirped brightly when he noticed her entrance, turning that smiling mask upon her. "I trust you slept well?"

Evey smiled, never quite able to look at him with a straight-face when he wore those silly aprons that he insisted on cooking in. "Quite well, thank you," she responded, genuine gratitude within her words as she moved to sit down at the table. "Never better, in fact."

"Well, I am certainly glad to hear it." He turned back to his preparations, twirling a spatula expertly between nimble fingers as his other hand worked to keep the pan moving constantly over the heat of the eye.

Evey watched his hands, grimacing a bit when she noticed that he'd opted for wearing his gloves again while cooking. She recalled the slight moments awkwardness on her first morning in his domain when she'd awoken to find him making breakfast. She'd been startled by the state of his hands, immediately concerned that he'd managed to hurt himself somehow…but he'd quickly cast aside her fears, making a few simple apologies for allowing her to see them, lightly joking about hoping she didn't suffer a loss of appetite over it.

It was the first time she'd allowed herself to look beyond the madness…beyond the murder…beyond the revenge…and see V for what he was beneath that ever-smiling mask and theatrical presence – a man. No more, no less. Very simply another human being like her…trying to make his way in the world the only way that he saw fit.

"I hope you enjoy French toast," V spoke again, ever a true morning person, as he flipped a piece of bread over in the griddle with an overly theatrical flare.

Evey turned her eyes away from his hands and drew them up along the contours of his strong back. She smiled lightly as her gaze focused on the silken hair of his wig and her elbows went to rest on the table. "Honestly, I don't know. I can't say as how I've ever had it."

"No?" V's voice registered surprise at this as he glanced over his shoulder towards her before sighing with feigned disappointment. "Well, then, we simply must do what we can to fix this situation." Thus saying, he used the spatula to scoop the bread out of the griddle and onto a plate that was placed grandly before her.

Evey smiled and couldn't help but laugh a bit as he bowed ceremoniously, like one of those waiters on television that had just created his masterpiece. She leaned forward and breathed deeply of the sweet smell, already feeling her mouth water. "Mmm…it smells delicious." She took up the fork and knife that had been set out for her and cut off a small chunk of one of the corners. Taking another breath of the exquisite aroma, she popped the piece into her mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully.

"Well?" V asked, looking a bit anxious as he clasped his hands before him. "What do you think?"

Evey paused a moment to swallow the piece down before she sighed, shaking her head. "V, it's amazing! You've outdone yourself again!"

Beneath his mask, she was sure he was beaming with pride.

As she continued to work on her breakfast, V busied himself by beginning to clean up the kitchen. Evey knew better than to ask that he join her. Every time she asked, he was always very polite and courteous at his refusal…but never would he accept. He would always excuse himself by saying he'd already eaten…but she knew the real reason. The same reason he now kept his hands gloved whenever in her presence, careful not to slip up and forget them again. He was afraid of upsetting her…afraid of showing her what it was that rested beneath the mask that he wore. He begged her understanding and she quietly accepted.

After several minutes of companionable silence, Evey glanced up when V moved to set a glass of orange juice down alongside of her plate.

"V," she spoke, catching his attention before he turned away again. The man watched her carefully, tilting his head to let her know he was fully attentive to what she had to say. For a second she faltered, taking the napkin from out of her lap and distractedly wiping it across the sides of her lips before settling it back down again and lowering her eyes. "I feel like I should…um….like I owe you an explanation…for last night…"

The masked gentleman quickly shook his head, drawing a finger towards the mask's lips in a silencing gesture. "Evey…you owe me absolutely nothing. I would never ask for you to divulge anything to me that you are not comfortable with. I respect your desire to maintain your own secrets and I swear to never pry into them." He looked at her through those dark slits and she could almost feel a warm smile from behind his mask as he nodded slightly. "Whenever you're ready to talk…I'll be more than willing to listen. But do not feel that you are ever obligated to do so. After all, I too have my own fair share of secrets every now and then."

Evey looked at him for a long time, lips quirked in a smirk at his last words. He would respect her secrets so long as she was kind enough to respect his own. Never would he force her to reveal them…only when she was ready and it was of her own accord and desire would he allow her to divulge the darkness that remained in her past. He did not want her to feel any sense of obligation to do so.

She glanced down again, carefully mulling over his words for a moment before looking back up.

"Thank you, V," she spoke gently, her eyes seeking out the ones that she knew rested beneath that covering of black. "For everything."

He lowered his head in a deep nod before bowing at the waist, cloak swishing back behind him with the movement of his lithe frame, and removing the hat from his head. "You are more than welcome, my beautiful Evey." She could hear the smile in his voice that caused her to smile too as he stood back up to his full height, hat again being placed upon his head. "Now, if you will excuse me. There are some matters of business that I must attend to in the town. If you would like, we can watch another movie this evening when I return. I know of one that I think you may enjoy."

There was a hint of hopeful excitement to his tone that normally would have caused her to laugh…but his opening words gave her pause and the smile faded away from her face.

"Business?" she questioned uncertainly. "What kind of…'business'?"

V was still for a moment, and Evey was sure the smile had been stolen from his face as well. He hesitated, hands moving to clasp before him for a moment before falling to his sides again. For a second Evey wasn't sure if he was even going to answer her, but then finally he spoke in what she knew was a forced calm.

"Business…concerning the state of affairs of an upcoming November the fifth. I only have a year to prepare, after all. Have to make sure everything is in place."

Evey looked away, a frown darkening her eyes. She knew what he meant. More killing…more murders. If she asked him point-blank if that's what he intended, she knew he wouldn't deny it. He'd come home tonight with the blood of another victim on his conscious and settle in to watch a movie with all the ease of a businessman returning home from a long day on the job. They'd turn on the news and be not the least bit surprised when they reported on the sudden death of yet another government official or spokesperson by "natural causes".

Evey closed her eyes. Now she remembered what he was. At night she slept in the arms of a murderer…this morning she ate breakfast prepared by a fanatical madman.

"I'm sorry, Evey," V spoke softly, placing a hand on her shoulder as she turned away from him. She shook her head but couldn't quite work up the coldness to shrug his hand off. "I'm sorry…it has to be this way."

He turned to go, but Evey caught his hand and held to it. V turned, startled by her quick reaction and looked down into this dark, rich eyes that held unshed tears within their depths. "Please, V," she whispered, clinging to his hand as though to hold him back. "Please, don't do this. You've done enough already. Why do you…why must there be more killing?"

"Because this country needs something more than tyrants and dictators to govern them," V responded, his voice now sharpening in that way it only did when he became impassioned with the cause he set out to do. "Because for too long have we been living in a state of fear. It is time that the people rise up and gain back that which was taken from them. There's a new world awaiting us out there…but it is not something that will be given to us freely. Sometimes blood must be shed to spare the lives of the innocent."

The two beings stared at one another for a long moment…one pleading and scared…the other steadfast and unmoved. V knew what he had to do. He'd prepared for this time for many, many years. Now, after all that time, he was not going to be held back when the oppressed people of England were so close to being free.

"I have to do this, Evey," V murmured, bringing his free hand up to touch her cheek though she shied away a bit from the contact. He sighed and dropped his hand away and said simply, "You must trust me."

Then, in a flurry of the dark cloak he wore, V turned on his heel and exited the room…leaving Evey to sit sadly contemplating her uneaten breakfast.

……………………………………………

The feeling of being thrown to the floor was what awakened Evey to reality again a moment before her head struck the ground hard. She gasped, dazed for a moment as a wave of nausea overcame her and she gingerly rolled over onto her side, clutching her head and gasping for breath. Algae-infested water rolled down her face in droplets as her body trembled, fighting to refill her lungs with the oxygen she'd been denied.

What happened? Did I black out?

So deeply involved in the memories of the morning with V had she been that she'd not even been aware of the continuing torment that had ensued. She could have sworn that she actually felt the warmth of his arms cradling her body…known the smell of the French toast he was making…heard the merry humming of some little tune or another as he moved around the kitchen. Her heart could even still feel the ache of loneliness and discouragement as he left her to attend to his secretive 'business'.

A sharp kick caught her in the gut and she groaned in pain just before another one caught her in the back. She struggled for air, doubling over in agony as she heard the heavy footsteps of Rossiter circling around her.

"You're only making this harder than it has to be, Evey," he admonished before applying another kick to the side of her face that sent her head snapping backwards. "Your stubbornness is what's causing all of this."

Tell him! Tell him, you foolish girl! Tell him everything you know and this can stop. Oh, please, just let the pain stop!

Rossiter was kneeling over her now, looking down hard with those gray eyes as though looking at a specimen beneath a glass.

"What keeps you loyal to him?" he whispered, almost as though musing to himself out loud. "What could possibly be so important that you endure all this rather than tell us what you know?"

Evey covered her face with a hand, trying to drown out his cold stare and his cruel words.

A happy memory… Think of a happy memory.

"Do you actually believe in his ideals?" the man hissed, disgust showing in his voice. "It is a lost cause, Evey! Surely you realize this. Destroying a government as powerful as ours single-handedly? He will die trying! You will all die! History will not remember him as some martyr…some 'fallen hero' as he may life. History won't even remember him at all! The government will make sure of that. Within a few years, no one will remember anything about him."

A slap to her face – just sharp enough to sting and insult.

V…I can't do this. I'm not brave enough. Please, don't make me do this. I'm not as brave as you are!

"Has he sworn you to secrecy? Is that it? Does he have your binding word that you wouldn't reveal anything? He's a terrorist! A murderer! Do you hold yourself bound to filth such as that? You'll only go down with him…and believe me, Evey, he will go down."

Don't tell him anything! If V is killed…there will be nothing left…no hope left to live for. Don't tell him. Shh…don't cry. Don't let him see you cry.

Rossiter snickered now as he heard the girl give a small sob. "Or is it something more, hm? Oh, what? Do you love him? Is that what it is, Evey? Do you love him?"

No…no, please, shut up!

The voice turned grim as he leaned down even closer to her. "Do you think he will come for you, Evey? Is that that it is? Are you holding on to the foolish hope that he'll save you? It's been two weeks since you came here, Evey – two weeks! Daily you suffer and still he does not come. He isn't coming, Evey…he doesn't care about you. You're just one more pawn in his game, do you understand that? You mean nothing to him! He's used your for his purpose and now he's willing to let you die here. Die for a revolution that is his and his alone!"

That was her breaking point. She couldn't handle the mental abuse any further. Turning over onto her stomach, she hid her head and sobbed onto the stony floor of her cold cell.

Rossiter lunged to his feet and delivered a series of well-placed kicks to her body again…but she didn't register them. Though the physical pain was tremendous, it didn't come anywhere near the gut-wrenching pain that she now expierenced within her heart.

Do you love him?

……………………………………………

"Did you love him?"

Evey calmly looked up and saw V standing alongside of her, his gaze fixed upon the canvas that was set up before her. She'd heard him approach and decided to coyly ignore his presence as he lingered nearby, waiting for him to make the first move. She'd simply continued to run her paintbrush in careful strokes along the aged parchment, watching as a figure slowly began to take life before her eyes.

Turning back to the canvas that was in question, Evey tilted her head as she considered it for a moment. V had been sure that she had everything that her heart could possibly desire during her stay with him. It had been on chance that she'd come across the old, blank canvas while helping him to clean up a bit in one of his dusty storage rooms. She asked him if he painted and he admitted that it wasn't one of his more notable talents…but that he did have some items to paint with if she were interested in trying her hand at it. She took him up on the offer immediately, having not painted in many years but recalling that she'd had quite a talent for it when she was younger.

And the striking image that was now created upon the expansion before her was proof of that talent.

"Why do you ask me that?" she questioned after a hesitation, feeling a slight blush forming along her cheeks that she fought to hide from him by brush away a lock of hair.

"Just the care you take with it," V explained with the smallest shrug of his shoulders…and Evey wondered if that wasn't a hint of jealousy she caught in his tone. "He just seems to be someone very special to you."

Evey pursed her lips together for a moment before giving a nod and murmuring, "Yes…he is."

The man that was depicted on the canvas before them was rather attractive – though not in the way that most people would think. He didn't have full, thick hair with that perfect bit of wave and a charming smile that would make many a girl swoon away with delight. No, in fact, his hair was rather thin and a little bit ruffled as though he'd just removed a hat. The smile on his face was more a simple quirk of the lips…his eyes downcast in an almost shy and humble manner. A few light wrinkles along the corners of his eyes hinted at the signs of time he'd endured, but there was something about his overall persona that showed energy, strength and vivaciousness. The entire emotion of the piece was something gentle, soothing…and intimate. As though someone had taken a picture out of a briefly caught moment in life.

"Were the two of you..lovers?"

Evey paused for a long moment, staring hard at the painting as she considered his question. She was a bit surprised by the bluntness of it, but when it seemed that V was not going to be retracting it anytime soon, she replied softly.

"Yes."

She could hear V give a somewhat uneasy shift beside her and murmur an "Ah" beneath the porcelain of his mask. The two of them continued to look at the picture in thoughtful silence a moment longer before V cleared his throat, turning aside as he began to move away.

"Well…I shall leave you to your work then. I'll go get us some dinner prepared."

She didn't respond - simply turned to watch him as he slipped out of the room, his step with a little less spring to it than was usual. His shadow disappeared over the threshold and she sighed, turning back to glance at the canvas with an aching feeling in her heart.

It was the first time she'd lied to him…

But then how could she explain to him what was on the canvas? Tell him the man was someone she'd never even seen? Someone that existed only in her imagination and dreams? Someone that she'd simply given a face to when she had none?

Someone that she knew only hidden beneath a cloak and a mask?

……………………………………………

Silence. Not a sound to be heard.

Evey shifted about where she lay on the floor, cringing when she felt a particularly sore bruise touch the ground beneath her. She attempted to open her eyes, but one was swollen shut from a rather vicious pummeling she'd apparently undergone. Yet she couldn't quite remember being kicked…couldn't remember exactly where all these bruises had come from.

The only thing she could remember was Rossiter's cold voice demanding information from her…as he leeched his way deep inside her thoughts and extracted her dearest of secrets.

Do you love him?

"V," she whispered through parched lips as she allowed her eyes to slide closed again, shivering from the cool of the cell as she wrapped herself up into a ball. "V…where are you?"

What if Rossiter was right? What if he wasn't coming for her? What if she was only an expendable piece in his larger plan? A regular Edmond Dantes…ready to do anything and everything that it took to seek his revenge.

Even if that meant leaving her behind…

Evey, she could hear his voice whispering her name as he held her body close to his own, soothing away all her worries and fears. Don't be afraid. I'm coming for you.

V, please forgive me! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to betray you. I just got so scared and--.

Shhh, Evey. It's alright…I understand. I forgive you. But you have to be strong for me now, alright, Evey? Can you do that? Be strong. Just a little bit longer.

I'm so tired…so hurt…

I know, my dear, I know…but I need you to do this for me, okay? I'm coming for you. Just hang in there a little bit longer…and don't tell them anything.

I won't, V. I promise.

I'm here, Evey. I'll watch over you. Trust me…I won't let anything happen to you.

"I know you won't," she murmured raggedly, the first hint of a smile in a long time forming on her lips. "I trust you."