Evey was puttering around her room in the hours after watching Lawrence of Arabia. She thought Lawrence was quite handsome and had a lot to do with V. He tried to help the different tribes to come together, to fight Ottoman and European rule. He was the liaison to both groups and succeeded in bringing about peace.

Evey moved her books that she had started to alphabetize and sat down staring at the wall. If only V could bring peace to this country without resorting to knives. She started twirling her hair with her finger, a common thing she did when she was thinking. She heard V in one of the rooms of the Gallery fighting that suit of armor he was so fond of. Evey smiled. It was a day like this that she really appreciated what V had done for her. How amazing it was to be kept underground in a terrorist's home and feel completely safe.

Evey sat staring at the wall for what seemed to be an hour. Her head had begun to pound as her thoughts trailed. And it wasn't only her head that had begun to hurt.

V had moved on from practicing his swordplay to cooking dinner. Soon the smell of food wafted into Evey's room, arousing her from her thoughts. Evey rose from her seat, taking note of how stiff she was and how ill she felt. As she walked out into the Gallery she rubbed her neck, trying to make the stiffness go away.

"That smells really good V," Evey said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Anything to please, my dear," V replied, barely glimpsing up.

Evey liked watching him cook. It was art for him. Years of living alone must have given him ample practice to be a good cook. He would have to eat what he cooked, even if it was bad. Evey smiled at the thought of V eating burnt eggy in a basket. But V had never eaten in front of her. It was an unsaid rule that while Evey ate V would talk, waiting until after she was done and had left the kitchen to enjoy his own meal.

V noticed her staring but decided to keep quiet on the subject. He was prone to do the same thing. He often caught himself staring at Evey when he didn't realize he had been doing so. He especially watched her when they enjoyed movies together. He was always waiting to see her reaction to certain parts and was always surprised at what they were. She had cried when Eliza Doolittle had been scorned by Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady and had almost thrown a pillow at the tele when Jane found out Mr. Rochester was married in Jane Eyre. He had to take the pillow away from her to stop her from chucking it.

V smiled. He finished up dinner and set a plate before Evey. He sat down across from her and decided to ask how the book sorting was going.

"Fair, I mean, it's a long process and my mind isn't really into it at the moment."

"Drifting thoughts?" V asked. He had plenty of those in recent weeks, especially ones dealing with the person sitting across from him.

"Yes." Evey ate her food slowly, heat rising through her body. She hoped V would change the subject, which he did.

"I shall have to procure shelves for your books. It shouldn't be all that hard. You should have them in a day or two. It will be easier on you if you had a place to put them."

"That would be great, V, thanks," Evey said, sighing inwardly at the fact he didn't ask what her drifting thoughts included.

V noticed her shifting and decided that tomorrow he would go out and get a bookcase or two. It shouldn't be that hard. He would merely have to take them from one of Sutler's train cars or maybe take them from his personal store. Either way, he would make sure Evey had a bookcase. He had meant to get bookcases long ago, but things always happened to become a priority over the bookcases. But Evey's voice cut through his thoughts.

"I think I'm going to go to bed V. I'm not feeling too well."

"I hope you're not catching a cold, Eve," V said concerned for her welfare.

"I'm sure it's nothing. I'll get over it in the next day or so."

Evey rose from her seat and put her plate in the sink. She paused at the doorway to the kitchen, "Thanks for dinner, V."

V gave a little bow and watched her leave for her room. He turned to retrieve his own food only to find that he couldn't eat it. He was concerned. She hadn't been sick since he had brought her in a couple months ago, but it was winter.

V ate only a few bites of food before he started to travel into the deeper depths of the Gallery to turn up the heat.

vVv

Evey woke in the middle of the night sweating and panting for breath. She had gone to bed hours ago, but she couldn't stay asleep for more than thirty minutes. She was either sweating profusely or shivering until her muscles ached. Evey shoved the blankets to the end of her bed and tried to cool down. Maybe I could get a drink to help cool me off.

She left her room as quietly as she could, trying not to wake V. He got little sleep as it was and she didn't want to disturb him once he had found time to rest. She padded down the hall and into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. The liquid felt cool on her tongue and helped her to cool down, if only for a moment. Evey put the glass to her forehead, trying to cool the fever she had.

"Evey?"

A voice came from the doorway of the kitchen and made her spin around. She had dropped the glass, making it shatter on the floor around her feet, as she spun.

"V!"

"Don't move Evey, you'll hurt yourself." V was still wearing his normal clothes and walked on the glass to rescue Evey from the middle of the floor. He picked her up and carried her into the main room where he set her down.

"Why are you up, dear Eve?" V asked looking at her with the utmost concern.

"I… I'm not feeling well. I thought some water would help."

V reached to touch her forehead through his gloves. She was quite warm. "Eve, you should get back to bed. Rest is one of the best things for colds."

"But the mess…"

"I'll clean it in the morning. Come."

V grabbed hold of her shoulder and led her to her room. Evey was helpless against the firm grip he had on her arm and so obeyed his motions.

Evey sat on her bed and got under the covers. She still had a fever and the shivering was coming back. She had gotten sick only a few times in her life and each time was worse. Because she was normally so healthy, the sicknesses that brought her down were tough, so they were really very serious.

V left to get her some water and a damp cloth to put on her forehead. She looked very bad. She was pale and her body had a cold sweat running over it. He was glad he turned up the heat in the Gallery. After a few hours of watching her get steadily worse, V had to do something. There had to be some medicine in his supply of other stolen articles.

V watched Evey a moment more and whispered that he would be right back. He stood abruptly and went to his bathroom. He searched the medicine cabinet and looked at each of the pill bottles' labels. Nothing. Nothing that would work for Evey could be found. Allergy and pain medication yes, but illness no. He had never felt so helpless in his life.

V returned to Evey and found her passed out. Probably for the best. He sat there holding her hand in his, changing the cloth on her head, and repeating soothing words and quotes from various people. He had never seen anyone so sick, besides those in the Larkhill facility. Evey was losing every ounce of color she had and was pouring sweat. Her eyes were shut, but he could still see those eyes which looked at him only hours ago, full of need.

V looked around the dim room as he sat in silent vigil over Evey. He looked at the small pieces of furniture scattered around the room. Nothing really caught his attention until he looked over at the vanity table. Evey's personal items were on its top, and her bag lay atop most of the contents. He saw a white card sticking out of the opening.

Rising from his seat, V strode to the table and picked up the card. It was Evey's BTN identification card. He stood looking at it for some time, wondering about all the possibilities that were now opened to him. He glanced at Evey, slightly ashamed of his stealing from her. But then another thought came into his head. He would have to move quickly. But it had to be tomorrow night. He would have to keep his vigil tonight and then set about his work on the morrow. As he gripped Evey's card in his hand he knew what to do; now there was only to plan it.