In between glances at the screen Carly's gaze flicked up through the little creases between the batteries in a paranoid manner to make sure that no one else was running around or had followed them or were searching for them. Both of them sat down to place the laptops in their laps and minimize the possibility of causing a disruption by dropping them.
"What are we looking for again V?" Carly whispered.
"Start with finding any of your old contacts you translated for. I'm guessing there will still be emails out there someone left. All we need is a good chain to start working back." V watched her for a little too long as she worked. She dawned the same focused expression on her face that he recalled from earlier today and couldn't help but spare another few seconds to appreciate it. The glare from the screen reflecting in her eyes as she typed and moved email to email. While she did that he got to work on searching the databases for Tony's name. He was presented with more jumbled information that was out of order from some incompetent or uncaring employee but finally found what he was looking for. Upon reading the name of the facility his stomach did a violent summersault. When he decided to tell her, it would destroy her. With a sigh he moved his mouse to begin gathering extra information but he heard a muffled voice in the distance. It's clear that Carly didn't notice it and his concern grew when he heard the security door open. V quickly pushed the screen closed and reached over it and grabbed Carly, pulling her into the darkness of the space where he was sitting. They both sat quietly for a few moments as steps moved in the space outside the racks. V shifted a bit and realized that he had pulled Carly practically in his lap, and slid further into the space with him till they were enclosed in darkness.
Carly's heart hammered in her chest as V pulled her in closer, trapping the laptop she had been holding between them. To her surprise V was very still and calm and in the dim light she could see his mask gliding ever so slightly as he tracked the approaching shadow from the other side of the rack. With the laptop pressed against him, he couldn't reach his daggers. But V's hand slowly made a reach for hers. His hand makes contact with her hip and slides slowly down, to her thigh before carefully pulling a knife out. Carly simultaneously reached down to rest over the small pistol that was holstered in her chest harness. She felt his breathing shift a bit when the guard turns on a flashlight and scans between the racks one by one. Eventually reaching the one that is next to them. V made one more pull and carefully rotated them both so he could pull his cloak over both of them, hoping that the black will blend in with dark wiring lining the wall behind them. The light passes and they hear "All clear, no one down here but the damn computers. This place creeps me out, I'm heading up." Slowly the sound of his boots disappeared down the hallway.
"Bloody hell." Carly whimpered and let out the breath that she had been holding before holstering her gun.
"Take a moment. That was unexpected to say the least. No guards should have been near here. Our efforts must have been noticed." After they separate, V reopened his laptop and checked for access locks. Sure enough there are a few showing up. "Well someone noticed".
Shutting the laptop V looked back up to see Carly rather shaken, and realized that she wasn't used to these types of close calls. Holding out her dagger for her to take he quietly offered some sincere praise, "Here, you were very still. And calm."
Gesturing to her laptop he instructed quietly, "I got enough access that you should be able to pull down your old email file, the whole thing and any that you had access to. I'm not sure how much time we have, but I would grab whatever email addresses you see and think are relevant to your previous work. We have less than 10 minutes before the next watch moves in. And then we may be at more risk of me breaking my word to not engage in strenuous activity."
V watched her work quickly for another few minutes before opening the backpack for her to slide both of their laptops in. "Move out slowly and head for the ladder." As Carly moved V pulled out a small, timed charge and placed one on the power box on the wall next to them and one on the back of the racks as he exited. By the time he made his way out behind her, she had moved the grate and V followed her, gently handing her the backpack. It isn't long before footsteps come in quickly on the grates above them and voices echo over the radios that are all but incomprehensible.
As they passed through the way they came, V heard movement from a tunnel behind them. Steps and scuffs echo against the brickwork and mice can be heard squealing and scurrying. "It seems we have intruders attempting to subvert our hasty retreat. Although admirable their actions are a bit too delayed." He turned back to her calmly. "Carly, I would very much like it if you were to make your way down the tunnel there" He pointed to the opposite side from the noise "And continue till you see a bright yellow pipe. Follow it to the left for a bit and when it reaches the next junction stop and move to the walls, it's a good distance and you will need to cover it quickly." V turned and heard the voices approaching closer. "I assure you I will not be very far behind you." With that V slid his body into an empty alcove that housed a ladder. "As quickly as you can, Kitten" V whispered and made one last glance at his watch to see that he had seven minutes and thirty eight seconds before the blasting cap he'd left behind severs the power relay. That would give him another thirty seconds before the second battery grid starts. Once that reaches load capacity it will trigger the second charge to destroy the room that they were just in.
Carly made her way through the tunnel as quickly as she could, panting slightly when she reached the bright yellow piping and jumped down to one of the ledges beneath it and to the wall.
V relaxed slightly as Carly moved out of sight and waited still, and quiet as three guards with flashlights out, none of them prepared for a fight. All three shuffled passed V's hiding place, unaware of his presence, causing him to shake his head in mild pity. As the last one passes him he swiftly hits him in the back of the head, as the other turns around to address the commotion V striked his shoulder, spinning him before pushing the back of his head toward the far brick wall. The final one turns his light on V and receives a quick kick to the chest.
"Apologies gentlemen, but you will have to excuse me. I'm late for a dinner date." V addressed them but one rose from the water and pulled his side arm.
"Halt, you stop!" As the guard raises his gun a vibration on V wrists lets him know the lights will be out in a second. As the first charge explodes, and the lights go out as V leaps to the side. The guard fumbles and shouts till he finds his flashlight in the water but sees that he's now alone and cursed. V continued in the darkness silently to join her before hearing a second much larger boom come from behind him as the second charge went off.
Jumping forward, past Carly, he lands in the water below as fire and debris pour from the tunnel opening. Carly let out a scream of surprise and ducked to cover her head and ears. Once all of the bits of concrete stopped ricocheting off the walls Carly opened her eyes and searched the water for V, the dust still obscuring her view.
"V?" She called out in a slight panic, only to be answered by the sound of him getting out of the water and joining her on the ledge.
"Sorry for the noise" V muttered casually and wrung his cape out. Carly punched his arm angrily with a loud smack as her hand made contact with his wet clothes.
"Don't people in your line of work take an oath to not hurt people further?" V tilted his head and chuckled.
"That is for going back on your promise, that is considered an extraneous activity." Carly gestured to the water.
"I am quite alright, I assure you. Although the gentlemen who were following us are not quite as well. Either way, we should clear out of here before the authorities arrive to do cleanup." V guided her along the ledge with a hand on the small of her back. "We will have to work on your trust in my capabilities if we are to continue our adventures. But I do admire your concern for my well being."
"I'm pretty sure I will worry no matter what skills you may have." Carly shook her head. They quickly made it back to the safety of the Shadow Gallery and Carly carefully placed the backpack on the ground by his desk. Removing them V set the laptop on his desk before walking to the wall and hanging up his now damp dust covered cloak. "After experiencing a day of your work, I don't think it's something I'm built for." Carly said quietly and slumped on the leather chair opposite his desk.
"Indeed, Kitten. It's not for everyone. I dare say you did well considering it was our first..work outing. Although...there are several more days of work to be done reviewing the data." V gestured to the laptops. "I informed the men that I encountered that I was late for a dinner date, so as to not make myself a liar, I will have dinner ready for us. However, I must shower first. The scent of cordite and dust isn't pleasant for such an occasion ." V bowed and departed to his room. It took a few moments but Carly also peeled herself out of the chair she was in and made her way to her room to also wash the grime of today off of her. As she let the water run, she stepped into the warm spray and recalled the warmth of V's body pressing against hers while they were in the tunnel. While the water was nice, it was no substitute. She wasn't sure how long she was lost in thought but she eventually finished her shower and picked out a comfortable outfit of tights and one of the large woolen sweaters V had left in her closet before coming outside. What awaited her took her breath away. V was unmasked which was surprising enough but he was also wearing a pink and flowery apron to cover his clothes as he plated a steak onto one of the beds of asparagus on their plates.
"My, my. This is a new look for you, I quite like it." She giggled and went over to the jukebox to turn on some music.
"I could say the same to you, Kitten." He smiled.
"You've seen me in this outfit before, this is your sweater."
"The clothes are the same, yes. But you are very different from the last time you wore that set of clothes." His comment caught Carly off guard, "Dinner will be ready in just a moment, have a seat." Not long after V finished plating their food, poured some wine and lit two tea lights and a small vase of flowers in the middle of the table before joining her.
V lifted up his mask slightly to be able to put food in his mouth and gave a sigh of satisfaction at the taste of the perfectly cooked meat.
"You look lovely." V noted and lifted the wine glass to his lips only for it to reach just short of his lips from hitting the chin of his mask. He sighed, knowing that this wasn't conducive to the ambiance that he was trying to set and very hesitantly reached up to remove it and set it aside. Clearing his throat ever so slightly, he shifted the position of his chair so the less scarred side of his face was more visible to her and scooped up a fork full of potatoes.
"Thank you V. You do too." Carly smiled, lifting her eyes off of her food to see his reaction. She could tell that he was struggling with baring his face, but did her best to contain her joy even V could feel it emanating off of her from across the table.
"You said to the men that you were late for a dinner date... is this a date?" Carly mused quietly before biting into a piece of asparagus.
"Yes...unless you object." V finally looked up from his food to meet her gaze, his fork poised mid bite to blow out the candles if he had made a grave mistake.
"I don't mind at all." Carly shook her head and gave him a smile. For the first time he found that his lack of mask was causing a hindrance, as it now couldn't hide the smile that spread across his face.
"Mmm. Thank goodess for that." He mumbled quietly as a blush rose to his cheek.
After enjoying their meal, V brought out desert which consisted of bananas foster and ice cream. In that time they learned much about each other, many smaller details that weren't tied to their past trauma and experiences. Things like their favorite colors. Despite V's symbols and presentations being red and black, he quite liked navy and Carly loved deep purple. They both had never been outside of England before, but wanted to travel and see the wonders of the world. And that V wanted Carly to teach him how to make croissants. As they finished up V took the last scoop and didn't notice a dribble gently side down down to his chin. Carly lifted her napkin to wipe it away, noticing the movement out of the corner of his eye and flinched slightly.
"My apologies." He shook his head, irritated with himself and held still for her to continue. "Shall we retire to the living room? We can chat, or watch a movie? It's been quite some time since I've been on the date but that's the common plan of events such as this right?" He asked, and took a spot on the couch. Carly joined him, sitting closer that she had before so their legs were touching.
"How are you feeling V?" She asked, referring to both his rib and his emotional state.
"I am... at ease for once. It isn't normal for me to be. So, strangely, it makes me mildly uncomfortable. Your contact..." he paused and lightly pressed his leg into hers "...is a bit more challenging to me. On one hand it is more than acceptable, in fact, it's stimulating. On the other hand, it's not what I am familiar with". V knew this opened the door to more questions and either interaction or her putting distance between them. He hoped, from their previous reactions, that it's the former but prepare for the worst.
"I'm sorry V. I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Kitten, your contact...this" he moved to take her hand in his, "...is not unwanted. It's just not what I am accustomed to. When I first met you, cold and bruised, I saw a part of me lying there. As you have stayed, I have grown quite fond of seeing you each day. But I am a man of habit and direction. A prose without purpose is a lingering statement. A question. And, at the current time, you are the question." V took a deep breath and held her hand a little tighter "Carly, I find you quite beautiful, and wit and kindness enthrall me beyond comprehension. I fear that in my inhibitions and actions, not to mention my physicality, would end our current union." V felt a weight leave his chest as he confessed what he hadn't yet had the courage to say. Carly recognized how big of a step he had just taken in sharing that with her and sat on her knees, almost to the point of sitting in his lap and letting go of his hand. V felt a stab in his heart, preparing for her to leave but both of her hands reached up to cup his face.
"For being such a smart man, you sometimes make very silly assumptions." Carly smirked and ran her thumb over his cheek, "You really think any of that would change how I see you? My feelings towards you? I'd be lost without you. You were right earlier, I am a different person than the one you found in the snow. I don't think I'd be able to safely figure out who she is without you. There's no other person I'd want by my side while I figure that out." She shook her head, hoping that he would believe her words. V gently placed his hands on her hips and stared up at the beautiful woman above him.
He felt whole and humbled.
Her eyes and fingers gently moved against the scarred areas of his face, full of care, and adornment rather than disgust. It was almost too much for V. Her figure blurred slightly as moisture welled in his eyes and he pulled her fully onto his lap to have her closer. Taking a deep breath, the tears left his eyes as he leaned up slowly to place his lips on hers. Their lips danced with passion as exhilaration surged through their veins. The overwhelming feeling of fear washed over him and caused his heart to pound harder in his chest. V couldn't tell if it was the intoxication of the kiss or the fear that was overtaking his body, but he began to feel a bit light headed and dizzy. Trying to breathe through it he wrapped his arms tighter around her and breathed deeply to his nose. Carly's hand moved down to his neck to discreetly check his pulse, gently stroking the side of his neck in a comforting manner, before she gently pulled away to see if he was alright. As soon as she came into full view, his tears leaked out of his eyes with more ferocity and Carly pulled him down onto the couch. Guiding his head to her chest, she gently rubbed his back and remained silent. She instinctively knew that all he needed was silent support, his pride is something that he deserved for being open with her. Slowly his breathing became deeper as he gained his composure and he lifted his head up to look at her.
"Thank you" His voice was barely above a whisper. "I believe that was more necessary than I realized." V shifted and saw that his large frame was completely engulfing her, and he immediately as he worried his weight was too much. His instinct kicked in to search for his mask and wig again but he let the panic pass and gently pulled Carly to him to relax on the couch as they settled on a viewing of Hot Fuzz.