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ButMadNNW
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The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
Darn you all!  Apparently, my writer-brain was busy while I slept (for not near long enough), because look what I found this morning. I've spent most of the work morning on it; I had to - if I hadn't written it down, it would have slowly driven me insane.
I took a few liberties, made some assumptions, including: (1) that a man who has lived alone for 20 years in a secret, underground lair wouldn't have a guest room, and (2) that Dascombe is smarter than he looks. The comment about "his favorite bust" (no, not that kind of bust!) I lifted from the novelization bits I've skimmed.
I aimed to fill in the blank between when V knocked out Dominic at Jordan Tower and when Evey woke in the Shadow Gallery.
I hope you enjoy....
----
A black gloved fist connected with the base of Dominic’s skull, and the detective crumpled to the floor. V’s gaze moved to Evey, lying unconscious next to the man she’d maced, the spray canister a few inches from the limp fingers that had saved V from arrest.
As he stepped over Dominic’s body, V glanced up at the security camera, aware that he was being recorded. Time was against him. In a few moments, more coppers would crowd this hallway. And yet, the shadow-clad man felt the unusual sense of doubt rising in his chest as he came to a halt standing over Evey. For the first time in a long while, he was unsure of his next action.
The events of the previous night were still fresh in his mind. He remembered setting out from the Shadow Gallery, exhilaration in his stride as he finally moved to put into action a plan he’d spent the better part of two decades forming. It was finally time. The stage was set, the actors ready. All he needed to do was open the curtains and strike up the overture. But as he’d hurried to his opening night box, a cry for help shattered the post-curfew silence, a cry a gentleman could not ignore. He would have to be delayed; hopefully not to the point of missing Curtain. He had worked too long for the show to start without him in place.
As opponents, the Fingermen had been laughable. V had half a mind to draft a letter to Creedy, chiding him for his lackadaisical hiring policies. Evey, on the other hand, had shown courage. Even with fear flaming in her eyes after watching V dispatch her attackers, she’d had the wit to threaten him with the pepper spray.
V remembered feeling the aftereffects of the fight’s adrenaline pumping in his veins as he assured her he meant no harm to her. That, combined with the buzzing energy of a premiere engagement, had taken control of his tongue and sent his introduction spiraling almost out of control. Thinking back on it, though, he knew there was more. V was aware he’d been showing off for the woman he’d just saved. He wasn’t surprised she’d thought him crazy. Not that it mattered; it was unlikely they’d ever see each other again.
But here she was, lying at the toes of his black leather boots. How odd that he would have saved an employee of the BTN the night before he invaded it to broadcast his call to arms.
There are no coincidences, a voice in his mind reminded him.
Even so, that Evey would step out on that limb for a mysterious stranger she’d just met… Someone whom she’d seen take on three armed men and destroy a building. Someone she thought likely to be insane. The doubt churned into his throat. For twenty years, V had relied on no one but himself. He’d needed no aid, no companionship. And now he found himself in the position of being in debt to someone else’s actions.
A moment longer he stared down at Evey. If he left her… No. Behind the mask, his eyes closed against memories that informed him of what her fate would be. She’d probably been identified in photos from last night, had definitely attacked a police officer holding V at bay.
Before he could bother to identify a new feeling stirring within, his decision had been made. V bent down and cradled the girl’s form. Her head gently thudded against his shoulder as he stood. He quickly pressed the call button for the lift, then froze as her soft, warm breath found the crack between the high collar of V’s doublet and the bottom edge of the mask. There was something about feeling the weight of her in his arms… But here was the lift. He stepped inside and directed it to the basement, in order to avoid any security or reinforcements likely to be gathering in the lobby.
V chuckled softly to himself as he carried Evey towards the tunnel Dascombe had installed under the BTN facility as his personal emergency exit. A defining certainty of power-mad governments was that they didn’t trust the other players any more than they trusted their pawns. He input the security code he’d hacked out of Dascombe’s personal computer files and shouldered open the hidden steel door.
A shiver chased itself over Evey’s skin as the cold November air seeped into the basement. V paused briefly to adjust his cloak so that it draped over Evey’s unconscious form. The increase in temperature caused her muscles to relax further; she melted into him. He tried hard – very hard – not to think of it as he navigated the deepening underground route back to the Gallery. Distraction now might lead to capture.
----
Back home safely, V laid Evey gently on the bed. Murmuring something he couldn’t discern, she rolled onto her side and sank into the mattress. V glanced helplessly around the stacks of reclaimed books among which he’d slept each night, as though their authors would speak words of advice to him.
Now what?
It was a stupid question, because V realized that, like Robin Hood, his headquarters must be protected. He had no choice but to adopt Robin’s policy. Any visitor would have to become a permanent resident, at least until the chain of events he’d now begun was completed. Besides, the Sheriff was waiting at the forest’s edge to snatch away this Maid Marian. He couldn’t let that happen, not after all that had occurred. She’d saved him today, after it was his fault that she’d entered the attention of the government last night.
While he pondered all this, V moved across the Shadow Gallery to his dressing room and removed his cloak. Draping it on its hanger, he reached around and undid the straps that held his knives at his waist, then set them in their place in the wardrobe. Automatically, his hands lifted to remove the Guy Fawkes mask, but stopped in the midst of loosening it as he remembered he was no longer alone. He had no idea how long Evey would remain unconscious, and did not want to be caught unaware and unmasked.
Looking around at his favorite bust, he spoke aloud. “I believe things have just gotten much more complicated, William.”
----
When Evey awoke that evening, the Wurlitzer was cycling through a random selection of songs. V was seated in the television room, on the couch that had, with Evey’s arrival, now become his bed. The book he’d been perusing was limp in his hand, his mind lost in thought.
A soft hinge creak and even softer footfalls broke into V’s reverie, and he turned in silence. He watched from the shadows, that new and as yet unexamined feeling again fluttering through him, while Evey crept into the main room. A gentle smile played on his masked lips when her eyes widened at the sight of his treasures. She had the look of one who had woken to find herself in the cave of Aladdin’s genie.
She was drawn to the Wurlitzer and stood facing it, captured by music that hadn’t been heard above ground in at least a decade. He couldn’t put it off any longer. V stood, straightened his doublet, and stepped into place in the main room, a respectful distance from his confused guest…
Last edited by ButMadNNW, 11/16/2006, 11:00 am
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3/31/2006, 1:05 pm
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Chakram
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Re: The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
Lovely "fill-in!" I like seeing fics describing gaps in time you don't get to see. Great job! 
---
V: "Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power."
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3/31/2006, 2:46 pm
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Shadow91
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Re: The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
Fantastic!
---
Rarr!
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3/31/2006, 5:59 pm
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V Dazzled
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Re: The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
Thank you for writing that, it was so much fun to read!!
--- "My turn!"  |
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3/31/2006, 9:34 pm
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ButMadNNW
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Re: The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
Thanks for the positive comments, everyone! 
After I'd written it, I was checking the novelization for the spelling of the Latin, and it turns out that Evey's room was "little more than a storeroom with a spare bed in it," but I still don't understand why a guy like V would HAVE a spare bed. What are the chances that a masked mystery man would have a sleepover? And how come we never get to see HIS room?? 
That said, I had fun playing with "a guy this dramatic, who's been alone this long, how does his mind work?" I gambled that his thinking processes were shaped by his books, since he'd probably missed out on social interaction...
And now I'll stop babbling. 
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4/2/2006, 3:02 am
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drkfantc
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Re: The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
Wonderfully done! You should do more "fill in" work. I personally love fan fic, especially if it's done well. And I can see this piece on the movie screen as easily as I saw the real movie.
Bravo!
---
"I'm no more that face than I am the muscles beneath it, or the bones beneath them" - V
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9/5/2006, 5:19 pm
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Sultana
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Re: The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
Brava! Very well done!
Loved the whole thing! This bit made me giggle:
quote:
As opponents, the Fingermen had been laughable. V had half a mind to draft a letter to Creedy, chiding him for his lackadaisical hiring policies.
Would love to see V's draft of the letter he'd send to Creedy.
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9/7/2006, 8:06 am
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Valkyrie2
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Re: The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
Oh my. That sounds suspiciously like a challenge.... 
--- Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.
- Cpt Rickenbacker
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9/7/2006, 8:49 am
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ButMadNNW
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Re: The Descent (a shortish "fill-in")
quote:
drkfantc wrote:
I can see this piece on the movie screen as easily as I saw the real movie.
 Thanks for that. I've been told that before, that the reader can see the scene in his/her mind's eye or something similar... Nice to know I've still "got it."
quote:
Sultana wrote:
Brava! Very well done!
quote:
Loved the whole thing! This bit made me giggle:
Good, because it made me giggle to write it!  It just seemed to fit my view of V's personality - partly playful, partly highly critical, partly nose-in-everyone's-business, and partly high on the adrenaline of the night... And how often do you get to use the word "lackadaisical"? 
quote:
Would love to see V's draft of the letter he'd send to Creedy.
Hmm.... 
*hears V's voice in her ear* "Mr. Creedy..."
I love how he always uses the title - he never calls Creedy just "Creedy" - always "Mr. Creedy." - "Mr. Anderson," anyone?  - Yet he says a plain "Sutler"...
Last edited by ButMadNNW, 9/7/2006, 11:59 am
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9/7/2006, 11:21 am
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I am so glad to have added this forum, and for the record, more stirs within me. I believe I need to let the creative beast out of its cage again tonight.
