Chapter One:Victory and Vexation:
Ophelia hid in the shadows and watched him. He was amazing, he was so calm in that situation and no fear...he had no fear. She gasped silently when they began to fire their guns at him. She was concerned...and she didn't know why she even cared about him. He was the man that had kidnapped her cousin. She opened her eyes when she no longer heard gunfire. She saw him just standing there, watching him shake it off before taking down the Fingermen.
She was amazed by his skill as a fighter, she was always amazed by someone's skill as a fighter, and with him, he was better than anything that she had ever seen. She sighed happily as the last Fingerman fell dead to the floor. She watched with interest as he killed the Fingermen's hostage. She gasped when she saw him staggering away from the dead man, tripping over the bodies of the Fingermen.
"He's hurt," She thought aloud, stepping out of the shadows.
She recoiled back to the shadows when she saw him look back at her.
"You can come out now," He strained, blood trickling from the corner of the mouth of his mask, his gravelly voice racked in pain.
Ophelia came out of the shadows and to his side, deftly sidestepping the bodies and weapons.
"They hurt you," She whispered, cringing at herself for stating the obvious.
He nodded.
"I have to..." He tried to stand.
Ophelia stopped him from going anywhere. He looked up at her.
"You aren't going anywhere," She said pointedly.
Ophelia wished she knew what he was thinking at that moment.
"Who are you?" He asked finally.
"Project Ophelia," She said flatly, checking his bullet wounds, "Can't take care of this here. Gotta move you."
He gave her a look and she could only guess what it was.
"And you are 'Agent V', as the jack-ass you killed a bit ago called you once," She said, not giving him a chance to speak.
She helped V stand.
"Us government experiments gotta stick together," She laughed as she led him to the way the Fingermen came in.
Ophelia led V to her bike, loading him into the sidecar. They made it to a vantage point to see the Parlimant building go up in a blaze of glory.
"She did it," V whispered, "Evey did it."
Ophelia looked at V.
"You know Evey?" She asked him.
"Yes," He coughed.
Ophelia shook her head.
"Explanations later," She said as she urged her bike on, "I gotta fix you up."
"Just let me die," He groaned, coughing.
"Nope. Evey wouldn't forgive ya for dyin' on her," Ophelia stated, turning into an alley.
"What makes you think she cares?" He asked as she pulled into an abandoned building.
Ophelia shook her head.
"Can't lie ta me, V," She said, no longer hiding her accent.
"Whatever do you mean?" He groaned as she pulled him out of the sidecar.
"I'ma Reader," She stated, "don't know why those idiots didn't just call me 'Project Psycho Psychic Crazy Bitch', instead they name me after one of THE most depressing characters in history."
V laughed, but quickly cringed in pain and coughed violently. He was bleeding profusely as she brought him inside and led him to a pallet next to a fireplace.
"Why do you care?" He gasped as he let her help him take his shirt off.
She was silent for a minute.
"They really did a number on ya," She whispered, "no wonder ya went around killin them all. I woulda done the same thing if'n I could."
She touched his mask to take it off, but he stopped her.
"No," He gasped in pain.
"Ain't nothin I ain't seen before," She stated, "seen worse. I've seen men with their throats torn out...course I was the one that did it, but like I said...seen worse."
V let her take off his mask, listening to her gasp, but he noticed that it wasn't in disgust, but in awe.
"What is it?" V asked as she went to work on removing the bullets.
"Your eyes," She said softly, "they're beautiful."