The Night at the Old Bailey:
"Those are new." Eric Finch said eyeing the guns Gwen pointed at his chest with slight trepidation.
He had stumbled upon her quite literally while investigating the building for vandals. There had been a report of a disturbance at the Old Bailey earlier and he had decided to check it out, figuring it was just a couple of rowdy teenagers breaking curfew. He had made a full sweep of the bottom floor of the building when he heard a noise from upstairs.
Finch climbed the marble stairs to the second floor and nonchalantly made his way from room to room. Turning a corner he bumped right into a small figure. The person let out a frightened scream, causing him to jump back. Suddenly the stranger wasn't acting so scared anymore because they advanced on Finch and skillfully tackled him to the ground. Falling out of the dark hallway and into the light, Finch found himself staring up at Creedy's number one suspect, Gwen Stockman.
This was the closest they had ever come before… and this statement would be correct considering she was straddling his waist, pointing two guns at his chest.
Gwen carefully stood to her feet. She was fully on her guard, making sure to watch him closely.
Finch pushed himself up to his elbows but didn't dare go any further. Gwen never used guns before; at least her file didn't mention that she did. If he had to guess, this was probably her first time actually using one, although it looked like she had some prior training. He was afraid of what she might do if she got scared or started to feel like she did not have the upper hand. What he knew from similar situations such as this one was to let the person holding the gun feel like they were the one in charge.
"So what now?" He asked calmly, making sure to keep his hands in plain sight- all of his basic training was starting to kick in with a vengeance.
"Get up." She ordered harshly. She was scared, if only just a little bit, Finch thought noting the hostility in her voice.
Finch started to stand up when Gwen caught a glimpse of his shoulder holsters underneath his blue jacket.
"Stop!" She demanded; he froze immediately. Slowly, Gwen approached him. Reaching out, she pushed aside his jacket with her gun, revealing his weapon.
"I'll take it off." He told her gently. "I'm sorry, I forgot it was there."
"Slowly." She warned, holstering one of her guns and holding out her hand.
Finch pulled his gun out with two fingers and placed it in her open palm. Gwen threw the gun away, sending it skidding off into the darkness of the hall- she hadn't taken her eyes off of him once. Then her wristwatch started to beep; she had 60 seconds to leave the building before it blew sky high. V certainly had already evacuated the building and was waiting for her at the rendezvous point. It was her responsibility to get herself out safely, no one else's. However she didn't expect to run into trouble. Now she was faced with a dilemma, and less than sixty seconds to solve it in- the dilemma of course being whether or not to kill Inspector Finch.
She could always leave him, she reasoned with herself, her gun still steadily trained on him. However, she couldn't quite grasp the idea of leaving an unsuspecting, unarmed man in a building that was about to be blown up. It seemed cruel and inhuman. She knew she should just leave him there, he worked for Suttler- for everyone V and her despised. Yet glancing down at her watch, hearing the pounding of her heart in her ears and feeling her nagging conscience eating at her core, Gwen's morals became instantly muddled. Thirty seconds left; she had no time. So she made a command decision.
Holstering one of her guns again, Gwen snatched up Finch's hand and pulled him down the hall with her.
"Move!" She barked, roughly dragging the man behind her as she ran through the building.
Finch stumbled as he tried to keep up with Gwen's pace, feeling completely disorientated.
"Where are we going?" He demanded, pulling against her onward progression.
Gwen heatedly yanked him next to her and yelled, "Just Move!"
The stress and urgency in her voice made Finch realize that they were in danger. Not resisting her anymore, he followed her lead as she slid down the steep banister of the stairway to the bottom floor. The bells in the tower then started to ring in midnight.
A frantic yelp escaped Gwen, as she turned as grabbed Finch's hand once more to drag him across the main hall faster. She counted the ominous rings from the tower in her head… one, two, three, four…
Ripping her long, heavy coat from her shoulders, Gwen hooked it over her shoulder with one hand, readying herself to use it… five, six, seven, eight… Ramming through the front door of the Old Bailey, the frosty night air hit them like a smack in the face. They jumped down the front steps and into the empty street… nine, ten, eleven… "Get down!" Gwen yelled pushing Finch and herself to the ground… twelve… She threw her jacket over the top of them and braced her hands atop her head.
The sound of the explosion was near deafening as it tore through the silence of the night. The force of it pushed them forwards a couple of feet and rubble scattered around and on top of them. A burst of fiery light penetrated the fabric of the coat. Finch cursed next to her in shock.
A symphony blasted from the speakers above them, filling the streets with music. After the initial blast, Gwen threw the coat off of them and helped Finch to his feet. They both backed up, looking at the smoldering building that was the Old Bailey. Gwen's expression was one of triumph while Finch's was one of complete shock.
Fireworks shot through the air, exploding in a large crescendo of colored fire. People; couples, and whole families leaned out their windows to see the fiery spectacle in the street. They were struck with pure awe some with confusion and others with delight. The air in the city that night was simply electric.
"It's beautiful." Gwen said, euphorically.
"I'm so fucked." Finch muttered next to her.
They stood there for a minute, just taking in the sight before them then Finch turned to Gwen.
"This is not your usual decal," he told her, looking at her guns. "Who are you working with?"
Gewn gazed up at the blazing V in the sky as if she had not heard his question.
"Gwen… who is he?" Finch asked again.
Gwen looked over at the inspector. What she saw was worry in his eyes; she couldn't quite place what or who it was for.
"I wouldn't stay out here much longer." She warned softly, ignoring his pervious question. "Creedy's Fingermen will be here soon… Goodbye Mr. Finch." She said turning and walking away into the darkness.
Finch only stood there. He felt a sinking feeling in his gut as he watched her leave. She had saved his life, however he couldn't help but feel that she had become more dangerous a threat than she ever had been before. Whoever this new terrorist was who was training her would end up turning her into a monster.
Navigating the narrow streets Gwen tried to contemplate the events that had just taken place. She couldn't quite believe she had saved Inspector Eric Finch- one of Suttler's right-hand men. Thinking of V and how he would react dropped stones in her stomach. She was supposed to meet him on the rooftop before the bomb went off. If she didn't come up with a good excuse of why she was late he would know that something was wrong. Little did she know, V had other company on the rooftop with him that night; Evey.
Walking in the shadows of the alleyways, Gwen made her way back to the shadow gallery. The whole way, she pondered why it was that she let Eric Finch live that night.