Evey woke in the dark and remembered that she left the little table light on next to her bed. V must have come in during the night and shut it off while she was sleeping. She lay for a while and stared into the darkness.
The news last night made her sleep restless with worry. The present rumors about the U.S. had conflicted with the past reports and now she was unsure of what to believe. She tossed the covers aside, and slid her feet into slippers. She opened the door.
She smelled the breakfast V made for her as she walked over to the kitchen to her steaming plate. V had eggs with vegetables, toast, sliced fruit and tea set out for her on the table as if he somehow knew what time she would wake.
She sat down and ate, every now and then looking toward the hallway to see if V would emerge from his room. It was unlike him to leave her alone in the morning. No matter how absorbed he was in his work, he greeted her in the morning, politely excusing himself if he had something pressing that he had to continue.
Evey was starting to understand that nothing of this man had ever stayed constant, except his ability to perplex her. Indeed, he was apt to change, and change could often be good. But not with instability thrown in the mix. That's what Evey was frightened of. V had taught her how to live without the fear that tormented her since childhood, but in doing so, caused her to fear him above all.
Evey glanced at the hallway and saw V standing there as if he had been there the whole time. She jumped in her seat.
"I wish you wouldn't creep up on me like that, you almost gave me a heart attack." She wondered how he was able to walk so silent.
"My apologies Evey, I didn't mean to frighten you. Did you sleep well?"
"No, not really." She twirled her fork in her food.
"Can I get you anything? A Valium perhaps?" He stopped next to the kitchen table and put a hand on her shoulder. She jolted.
"No, I'll be fine." She claimed. Her eyes appeared drained when she looked at him.
"What is it? What's troubling you?"
"I watched the news report last night." Her look of concern gave V the answer he was looking for.
"Ah, I see." He stood facing the floor, holding his hands behind himself.
Evey shook her head. "I don't understand. Why do the Americans need to come here? The report said they would be here in less than a week."
"Actually, I didn't want to burden you with this right now Evey," V hesitated "but they have already arrived." He walked over to lean on the stove. He had no choice he had to tell her. He could not leave her in the dark about how dangerous this situation was becoming.
"Troops?"
"One brigade perhaps. But there will be more."
"They're after us?"
"I think we're safe for now."
"What do they want?"
"What every government has always wanted. World domination. The fact that their main objective is to pursue and execute terrorists, just adds to their rational. It's an excuse really to get what they want."
"So you think that they are going to try to occupy England?"
"In my opinion? Yes. Simply because it would be advantageous for them to so. If they could have access to the entire medical supply of Viodoxin should the St. Mary's virus break again--"
"So, you think this has something to do with the St. Mary's virus?" She interrupted. "Why? What could it possibly have to do with that?"
V was not prepared to answer this line of questioning. "I suspect there are other more significant reasons." V tried to change the subject.
"Why did the news last night report that Norsefire is a terrorist regime?"
"Oh, I believe in calling a spade a spade, but it's really just a tactic that they use to validate their occupation here. They found us in a weakened state and seized the opportunity. They already have much of the government within their control. The SSU chose to come in quietly to assist, but they have hidden motives.
"Can they do that?"
"Legally, the SSU is well within their rights within accord of the Anti-terrorist act. Who would dare stand against them when they have the U.N. backing? They've dominated more than half the world with that act. It was just a matter of time."
"So you suspected this would happen?" It was more a statement than a question.
"It was inevitable. In any case, England will not surrender without a fight." V stood straight. "We certainly can't allow her to be overrun and turned into…what they have become." It was clear he was holding something back.
"We?"
He scoffed in annoyance. "This revolution didn't arise just to have England fall to the hands of--"
"No V. No. Don't do this! Not again!" Her head tilted to the side; her eyes narrowed and her voice changed. "You're planning something already aren't you?"
"Yes, Evey. If you must know, I do have a plan, but--"
"Wait a minute! You almost got yourself killed the last time!" Evey stood up from her chair.
He stayed motionless, but the mask could not hide his heavy breathing. Evey stepped around the kitchen table and stood in front of him to look him in the face.
"V, you have to stop this madness, its crazy!" Her voice softened. "Let this go, please! We'll run away from here, we can go somewhere remote where they will never find--"
"I am surprised to hear such a defeatist attitude coming from you. The answer is no." He moved her aside to walk past.
"We'll leave the country."
"No."
"We could live someplace else."
"No!" He turned to face her and shouted at her. "Then they'll win!" His hands were in fists of anger.
She looked at him shaking her head her eyes never leaving him.
"Evey." He was more restrained, almost sorry for bringing back her pain. "There are many things you do not yet understand."
"I understand! I understand more than you think." She turned and stormed to the direction of her room.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving." She said in mid stride.
"No you're not." He said with finality that made Evey halt and slap her hands on her thighs. She stared at the ground with her back turned.
"Why? Am I a prisoner again?" She slowly turned around to face him, throwing daggers from her eyes in his direction. You bastard don't even try it.
He put his gloved fingertips on the kitchen table. "We discussed this. We both agreed it would be much safer for you here. Don't make this more difficult."
"I didn't agree to take part in your plan V. I don't carry the same passion as you do and I can't…" She looked at the floor again. "I can't watch you die again. Please let me go."
"I'm sorry Evey, that's not possible." He appeared so calm, so rigid. It added to her fury.
"I can't stay here."
He kept his stance.
She closed her eyes and paused for a few moments. "I am not a killer like you are! I am not you!" Still no response, he stayed motionless.
"And I won't stay here with you and watch you burn." She was seething and wanted to hurt him with words. Anything but a prisoner, anything. Evey could tell that she cut him deep, because he looked stunned.
"And what of this plan, V?" He was reacting as she was taking steps, one at a time, toward him. Mocking him. "What are you going to do? Kill everyone who disagrees with you and this insatiable idea of yours?"
V was taking this all in. His mask tilted sideways then to the floor. He resembled a cornered animal.
"I'll kill anyone who tries to stand in my way." There was menace in his voice as if he were directing his words at her.
She raised her chin and challenged him, her words taking more force. "Then you're no better than they are! That doesn't make you a liberator of this country!" She scoffed in disgust with a smirk on her face. "That just makes you Brutus!"
"ENOUGH!" V yelled and slammed both fists on the indestructible kitchen table. It busted in half and collapsed in the middle; the dishes crumbled to the floor.
The sound was loud and the vision was a man out of control. Evey's eyes widened at the table and then at him. The oddity of any man capable of such strength. She lingered for a moment, and then bolted to her bedroom.
V raised his hands in front of his face. He saw Evey's expression before she escaped.
"Evey!" he shouted after her and was instantly upon her in the darkened bedroom. He closed the door behind him. The room turned black.
"You stay away from me."
He could hear her heavy breathing.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she backed into a stack of books knocking them to the floor.
"Evey, please! I'm not a monster! It's jus…"
She heard him remove the mask and drop it to the floor.
"It's just me, Evey." His voice had a clarity she never heard before. He was advancing toward her.
"V. Don't hurt me."
"I wouldn't. I won't hurt you." His voice soothed and charmed.
He took her upper arm and drew her close. "Don't be afraid of me."
He was talking into her face and she smelled his sweet breath.
"My heart beats." He grabbed her other hand and put it to his chest. "Listen to me breathe Evey. I'm flesh and blood just like you." And something more.
His gloved hand let go of hers and moved to the side of her face "Kiss me, Evey."
"V. Please." Her breathing became heavier.
He pulled her into his arms, to his forceful embrace where there was no room for resistance. His chest pressed against hers.
"Kiss me." This time it was a demand, not a request.
He whispered as she felt the surprising softness of his lips and the warmth and security of being tightly in his arms. She relaxed and responded sliding her arms up his back. His stature was more massive than she imagined and somewhere within overpowering.
Their kiss lingered for sometime and stopped just as sudden as it started, as if V remembered something. His arms relaxed and his hands fell to her waist. He backed away.
He felt himself flush with heat and wanting her, needing her. Something was pulling at him. A loud voice within himself struggling to overcome this new sensation, this devastating spark.
He stood, absorbed in his own thoughts.
"V, what is it?" Evey asked sensing his inner turmoil.
He let go. He composed himself and pulled down on his tunic to straighten it.
"Forgive me madam, if I've offended you."
Evey could swear that he bowed in the darkness, but she could not be certain. Before she could protest, he picked up his mask. Gone. Evey was alone in the dark. She sat on the bed with a deep sigh, feeling perplexed once again.
V leaned against the doorframe to Evey's room with his face upward and his fist against his heart. Underneath the mask, his eyes closed in anguish as he stumbled away toward his rooms. Never in his imagination had he ever thought this girl, this woman could have his head spinning in a multitude of different directions. He opened the door to his bedroom. The result that his hunger for her remained unquenched made him ache so badly that he lurched forward. He grabbed the bedpost for support as he gave way to weeping, cursing his adoration for her and the burden it brought with it. She was justified in her fear of him, and yet he felt immersed in her beauty and her kisses even though she might never see him as more. He felt her arms and her embrace as a battle within- his vendetta being the protagonist, and her, the villain that drained its power. He had to find the strength to bring this fixation to a finish or see it through. Else, he could go mad.
And what of her needs? She would need the touch, the embrace, the human contact that he was warring to relinquish perhaps unfairly. After all, he made her a permanent guest without the option of seeking a more suitable companion.
Not that he would tolerate it, captive or not. V calmed himself, deciding to face the matter at hand, determining that either way he could lose everything.