Once inside V made quick work of over to the couch with a blanket, and setting up some tea to brew. Taking off his own disguise, and putting on a kettle before joining Carly on the couch. He had dealt with injury and sickness but it was hard for him to know what to do with loss. His natural inclination was to funnel it into rage into action for his larger plans but he had no idea how she dealt with it. Gently urging her down to his lap, he stroked her hair as more tears escaped her eyes.

"You know, we used to joke... and take bets on who would be visiting who at the retirement home." Carly recalled, "He used to do crossword puzzles late at night when we watched the telly and I would tell him that he was an old man already." A little laugh came out of her mouth at the memory before they slowly dissolved into another puddle of tears.

"I am happy you were there for him. He seemed like an amazing individual and one that you cared for deeply." He gave her forehead a kiss before pouring some hot water into their teacups from the electric kettle. While he knew she wouldn't be up for much food, he figured he needed to get something into her, and the tea would help calm her. As she sipped, he turned on the tub and let it fill up with warm water before retrieving her.

"Come, Kitten." He whispered, knowing that a nice warm bath would be in order.

Once she was situated in the tub he slowly disrobed and joined her. The hot water would help relax her body, but more importantly erase the scent of disinfectant off of her. To him, the strong scent always reminded him of death. Sliding in behind her, he pulled her to him and waited till she was comfortably laying down against him. He grabbed a sponge and soap to start and methodically began to scrub, starting at each finger. He kept his mind focused on her comfort, eventually making his way up to her hair and massaging shampoo and conditioner into her scalp.

"Thank you V, for taking me to see Tony." She murmured quietly, barely registering the feeling of gratitude but knowing that she felt it.

"You are welcome, Kitten, I'm glad to have been there." V whispered before gently rinsing her off with the shower nozzle. After they were done and toweled off, V gently guided him to his bed. Pulling the blankets over her he held her quietly and let her drift off into a deep sleep. V rested a bit but kept himself from fully dozing off.

After a good hour he got up and tucked her in, before padding off into his office. For the next few hours he carefully went over all of the notes from Tony's medical chart as well as the rest of the data he'd pilfered. It seems that Tony had been targeted for quite some time. After the situation, they had searched. That is when an executive order was made for Carly's retrieval and questioning. He was picked up while she was being interrogated and thus were deemed useless.

The notes on her that he'd managed to grab from their break in clearly stated deceased following an attack or accident at the penal facility. Something related to a "gas explosion" that destroyed half of the wing she was in, with no survivors. This was very good news for them both. Tony was never informed and instead deemed a risk as a possible threat to the state, knowing she was killed while in their custody would have run him over the edge. So he was sent to a work camp to do cleanup. The area, known for some radiation, was certain to kill any of the detainees there. After his "labor" he was released after being deemed too sick to be a threat.

V sat back and sighed at the entire read, absorbing the horrifying reality that the state believes it can do as it wishes with their people. Caught up in his work, he hardly noticed Carly padding into the cold office and curling up in his lap as he worked.

"Yes Kitten, I'm coming." He made sure to save his progress and carried her back to his bed. Sliding into next to her he nuzzled into her for just a moment, getting lost in her long dark hair and drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, Carly woke up and slowly stretched in the bed against V. It dawned on her that she hadn't actually seen him sleep before and took a moment to gaze at his peaceful form. His face was relaxed and his mouth hung slightly open with the quietest of snores. This may have been the first time she had seen his face at true neutral, nothing was running through his head, he wasn't thinking of a witty response. This also gave her an opportunity to see the extensive nature of his scars without him feeling uncomfortable. They spanned all the way up the sides of his body reaching out like branches over his ribs, up his neck and finally ending at his temple. Carly could tell that they had healed remarkably, assuming he didn't have access to skin grafts. Some areas were more extensively burned, still a deep pink as they repaired themselves, and others now only slightly darker than his natural skin tone and crinkled. The frown that had settled on her face turned into a sympathetic smile. His scars were evidence of his survival, and the depravity of the regime. It made her appreciate that they had both gotten out but also stoked the flame of vengeance that had been building within her.

She peaked over her chest to check the clocks to read 9 am. For some odd reason she heard her father's voice in her head, reminding her that there was a church upstairs. While she had very little faith left in humanity or a higher power, she felt a pull to participate in what her parents would surely have done for Tony if he were alive. Her father would have insisted.

Carly slowly and quietly peeled herself away from V and bundled up in clothes that would keep her warm but also hide her identity before making her way through the catacombs up to the surface level. She took the key he'd given her and eventually made her way up to the stairwell on the side of the church. She made her way around the front of the building to the front door, around her the snow delicately fell and landed in her hair as the sunlight tried to shine through the clouds but failed to break through the heavy blanket they had created. Normally she would have been afraid to go outside without V even if it was just on the grounds, but now that Tony died- she felt nothing. They had taken everything that they could from her...everything except her own life, V and what the future had in store for them.

Stepping into the church, she pulled her scarf higher on her face so her eyes were the only thing that was visible. At the back of the pews there were rows of candles in narrow red holders. Placing a five pound note into the collection box Carly ignited a skewer and lit one for Tony and her parents. The church was completely empty, save for a lay person who was puttering around the pulpit to organize the items for the impending mass. Taking a seat in the back, she thought of her parents and bowed her head in respect to their memory. The sound of her parents' voice scolding him for not visiting enough, for leaving her to take care of them when that was traditionally the responsibility of the son.

"What good was it to raise a son who doesn't respect his parents enough to be the man of the house?" The argument they'd had with him echoed in her mind. Carly knew deep down that it didn't have much to do with his neglecting his responsibilities, but rather that they missed him and weren't sure why he was becoming less and less present. Given their generation, they also didn't know how to express that longing, confusion and frustration. Now they would hopefully have all the time together that they ever wanted.

Beneath V woke to the sound of the wheel turning and stirred reaching for her. He felt nothing but space, and the smallest hint of warmth still on the sheets, indicating she hadn't been gone long. With a yawn he got out of bed, expecting to find her in the living room or the kitchen but the Shadow Gallery was silent. V searched the rest of the rooms and called out her name, feeling concern and increasing panic arise in him as he failed to find her. Throwing on a quick latex mask, some clothes and weapons, he flung the door open and made his way up the stairs to the surface level to search for her. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he noticed a set of small footsteps slowly being filled in with snow and took a step to follow them. As he looked up from the ground he bumped into Carly, sending her back a few steps.

"Kitten, where were you?" He quietly demanded and reached out before she fell to pull her to him in a hug.

"I...I went to the church to pay my respects." She said breathlessly, mostly because his embrace was squeezing all of the air out of her lungs.

"I see. I'm sorry, I woke up and didn't know where you had gone." V apologized. Taking a deep breath once he had regained his composure and reached a hand up to cup her cheek, "You scared me."

"Oh... I didn't mean to." Carly frowned and gently wrapped her arms around him in apology.

"Perhaps I meant within eyesight for more reasons than safety." V referred back to their very first outing to procure clothes and swiped his finger gently along her cheek. Taking her hand, he led her to the back of the church to a playground that they used for day care. Carly took a seat on the swing and gently moved back and forth, "Kitten upon searching through your records, I believe we can proceed forward with an understanding that you are in less danger than we may have thought. They declared you as lost in the Stone Hill fire, of course we should still use caution but in the spirit of this and other new found freedoms, what would you like to do today?" V asked, looking at her with a smile and taking a step back to broadly gesture that the city was their playground for the day. He was interrupted by a dog who was gleefully romping in the snow. They watched for a few moments, wondering where his owners were before they heard them calling for him at the front of the church. Without hesitation the dog huffed and ran back the way he came to meet them.

"He seemed happy." Carly mused with a smirk as she lifted her foot in and teasingly tapped it against V's abdomen. V cocked an eyebrow and grabbed Carly's foot before rushing between her legs and pulling her close, his face almost touching hers.

"Yes...and so am I." His voice was soft, and velvety but full of passion. His soft and sincere smile curled into a grin that would make the Cheshire cat blush before he gave her leg a playful squeeze and moved his other hand to gently run his fingers through her hair, "One might even say I'm smitten."

"Smitten...with your kitten." Carly giggled, causing V to chuckle lightly, "Yes, or even love struck." V paused, looking into her eyes to indicate the seriousness behind his words.

"Did you just declare your love for me?" Carly's mouth fell open slightly, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Yes. If we both weren't sought after by the sensor I would be tempted declare it from a rooftop, but this will have to suffice for now." V kneeled down so he was eye level with her. " I have done wrong... I haven't led a perfect life. I'm broken, malformed, and hardly what one would take home to parents but...for better or worse I do love you, Kitten." It was something that he hadn't been sure he was capable of after his rebirth. Up until now, the only thing that he had been focusing on was his plan of vengeance and liberation.

Was anything else truly worth his devotion and energy?

"I love you too, V." Carly's gentle smile spurred warmth to spread through his chest as and gently pulled him closer.

Yes, she would always be worth it.

"Now I still need an answer about what you'd like to do today."

"If you're up for it, we can go ice skating! I think the Christmas market should have opened this week, have you ever been?" Carly gasped as she suddenly realized, and gestured toward the larger park's general direction.

"I haven't, but that sounds lovely. Shall we?" He asked, and crooked his arm out for her to take.

They walked down the street to a rather large park that is laden with Christmas decorations. V instantly became a little nervous at how many people were present, but knew it wouldn't be too much of a problem if they needed to leave. After renting some skates, they set toward the rink. Carly quickly took a step and turned when she realized V hadn't followed her but was very slowly taking a step onto the ice. It was clear that he hadn't been ice skating before but failed to mention that before. How methodically and tentatively he moved was rather adorable, she had seen him set off explosives and incapacitate people with less hesitation. Gliding forward she did her best not to giggle and reached her hand out for him to hold as he stabilized on the ice.

"Thank you." He muttered, staring down to focus on his balance. After a few wobbles Carly turned backwards and held his hands gently, helping him with her own movements to glide very slowly across the ice.

"That's it." Carly smiled once he started moving his feet on his own and having fun, "You know when you said that you hadn't been, I thought you meant you'd never been to the park before." She let go of one of his hands.

"You seemed so excited that I couldn't possibly spoil it with my inexperience." V smiled gently and gripped her hand a little harder when his foot slipped slightly. After about 20 minutes of slow movement and dodging children they both were merrily skating side by side. As the crowd subsided, V gently tugged on her hand to indicate that they should probably leave too. After returning their skates, Carly and V continued down the street to a small bakery to get something warm.

"Kitten..." V prompted as he pulled out her chair for her in an empty section in the back of the cafe. "I would not be arrogant enough to assume what your future plans are, but I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Given your new freedom from the sensor, I preemptively reached out to inquire about your old apartment. Should you be interested in returning there, we can make that happen. A few fake documents and changes in their system under an alias before the new management notices is easy enough. In the event that isn't what you desire, I can arrange for us to go in as a moving crew to clean it out and bring it back to the Shadow Gallery. But take your time to think about it." V offered, making sure not to rush her into a decision. V understood the experience of life altering events and that some wanted to return a new, and others wanted to simply push forward if they were unable to return to their previous way of life.

For a moment Carly imagined what going back to her old life may feel like. The thought of her apartment felt foreign, catching up with her old friends, it all seemed like an unfamiliar life. Everything, except for her work.

"Do you know where we can find moving boxes?" Carly asked, peering over her hot chocolate.

"I'm sure we can get some." V felt a surge of relief, and joy hit him as he calmly nodded his head.