Author's note: Happy Guy Fawkes day to all! I appreciate the mass following I've been recieving in the past year, and I wanted to pay you back ^_^ I hope to hear from you. Bye bye~!

Chapter III

eVocation

evocation: to summon or call forward

VVV

"I…" Evey averted her gaze, lips dry. "I know that."

V continued to stare at her as the silence between them stretched and unfurled in a terrible fog, muddling what little she could see. But all she knew, all that mattered, was that he was here again. That somehow, through the turmoil and fire, he had survived it all.

Because of her.

Against her will, Evey's thoughts drifted back to Charles. His proposal. Not gentle in the sense that they were, but frustrated and torn. Looking back down at her untouched plate, she tried to piece everything together in what little time she had before V—

"Is something wrong?"

—noticed. She swallowed, reaching slowly for a beaded glass of milk. Lifting it to her lips was a slow and agonizing motion, but she dared not look up. The panic was already settling in. How long…? How long before he finds out?! She struggled to keep her voice even. "No."

V cocked his head in the peculiar, questioning way he used to. She could feel his eyes narrowing suspiciously behind their slits. "You're lying."

It was plain and simple. No bite, no edge. Just the calm voice that eased her into the nightmares three years without him wrought. Does he know? She drank half the glass before it became too heavy for her to bear. Setting it down with trembling fingers, Evey opened her mouth to speak. Distracted, she did not realize that the wet surface had slipped from her grasp until in was caught in V's tight grip.

They remained in that position for what, to Evey, felt like eons. Frozen. A heavy exhale spilled from his mask when he turned his hard stare from his hand to her face. Saying nothing, she watched him set the glass onto the table and incline his head. "Whatever it is," he began, "you think I wouldn't understand."

"... You wouldn't." She managed to whisper. "Because you were gone." Dead.

"No, Evey," he asserted, taking her trembling hand in his light yet urgent grip. "Never gone. I've always been with you."

Anxiety's icy claws wrapped around her heart, and the cold, hollow wringing deep inside of her wrenched her hand from his. He was too warm for her, for what she was going to say. "You lied." Slowly, his fingers curled into his palm, tightening and tearing a vexed squeak from the rubber of his gloves. With an exerted attempt at self control, he brought his hand to rest at his side once more, and suddenly stood erect. Evey could feel his anger, and welcomed it. If this was what it took to make him see, then so be it. She braved a challenging look into his eyes. "So why shouldn't I?"

She heard the breath hiss indignantly through his mask. He said nothing, and, for the first time in years, Evey wanted nothing to do with the Shadow Gallery.

"You're right."

His words surprised her. She stared blankly at him, waiting.

He sighed, sinking in the chair adjacent to hers. Something about it made her jaw clench. The bright colors and smells of the food contrasted the despair in his bowed head.

He looked like a child, and she tried so hard to hate him for it.

"You deserve to be angry. You have every right to lie."

Evey eyed him appraisingly. This sounded like an apology, but not close enough. She had to admit, she wanted him to regret his decision to leave her alone with the monster he'd borne. But seeing him in such a state was almost mesmerizing in its depressing nature.

"However," he started, making her frown. "That will not keep me from my suspicions. I found this," With pinched fingers, he slowly placed something on the table before her, "last night."

Evey's heart leaped into her chest as V watched. It was the ring Charles had given her. Evey racked her brain for an answer to how he had "found" it. Before she could accuse him of taking it off her finger, she rationalized that it had been pulled away without her notice. When the bag had slipped from her shoulders the night before...

She had been too shocked to feel anything but V, and quietly cursed herself as he continued to watch her guardedly. Picking it up sent spiraling rivulets of anger and guilt through her chest. How could she be so careless?

Evey remembered exactly how as V forced his presence back into her view. No. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't hate him. She never had a chance.

"Do you still think I wouldn't understand?" he asked softly.

Holding the cold band in her palm, Evey clenched a fist around it, squeezing tightly. Tears burned down her face before she could regain her control. Everything was spinning. Everything was wrong. He was supposed to be dead. To stay dead. How dare she hold on to hope when Charles loved her? When V was alive? Closing her eyes against the stinging tears that refused to obey her hidden wishes, she shook her head.

He reached out to her slowly, but stopped just short of touching her. She pressed her palms against her closed eyelids and sobbed quietly. Hiding from him.

From Charles.

From V.

From herself.

"Evey," he whispered. The warmth of his voice coaxed her gently out from the darkness. Luring her like a mindless animal into his hand. Into his trap. But... she had no more will to fight him. To resist him. She'd never been able to. Not then, not now, not ever. "Please, tell me what is troubling you." He slipped from his chair and knelt before her, mask tilted and glinting in the light. He gripped the sides of her seat in his desperate hands. "Confide in me."

His words struck the wall around her heart, but she would not let him overcome her anymore. V was always able to influence her decisions with his demagogue's charm, but she would not let him sway her now. Calmly, and with effort, she tore her palms from her eyes and fixed him with a glare. The burning in her cheeks and eyes refused to fade, but she would not be deterred.

V had hidden from her.

He had made his decision.

And… so had she.

"You want to know what's troubling me?" she hissed, staring into the empty sockets of the mask. What darkness, what thoughts, lurked behind them? When had she stopped caring? When had she begun? Her tongue took hold of her patience, forgiveness forsaken. "Fine." Slowly, Evey rose from her seat, pushing both it and V's barricade away. He watched her face as she leveled her emotions to a simmer of righteous fury. "You pretended to be dead for three years. I missed you. Losing you broke my heart. But I made it strong again. All on my own." she blinked, releasing a breath she only just realized she'd been holding onto. "And I fell in love with Charles."

V's fingers twitched.

Evey did not notice. "I'm going to marry Charles Kellen, V. I'm going to move on from that world that you and I shaped, and into one only for me."

V rose from his crouch to tower over her. The shadow of his disapproval casted itself over her, but she stood her ground. He stared down at her intently, studying her with that sturdy smile etched into his timeless face. She had feared it once, revered it, then feared it again. The memory of that sea of people wearing that smile still sent shivers down her spine. As V's shoulders began to quiver curiously, she wondered when she had begun to fear his face again.

But as his shoulders shook, Evey suddenly heard him… laughing.

She watched in horror as he turned and erupted into raucous laughter, as he rested his hand against the tabletop, back facing her, and continued into a deep, roaring guffaw that boiled her blood. Evey glared at him, opening her mouth to protest, but he interrupted his own chorus of laughter before she had the chance.

"Oh, my dear! How it pleases me to hear you say that!"

Evey blinked.

Turning back to her with sudden vigor and playfulness, V clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "How exciting! So it is to be a contest for the lady's heart!"

She blanched and took a step back as V's countenance began to glow. He was insane, maddened by whatever had plagued him all those years; perhaps the loss of his vengeful drive. Either way, Evey turned and ran.

V watched her go with uproarious laughter, thoughts, plans and schemes roiling through his once troubled mind. Her voice, the utter disbelief in her voice, so contrary to the determined truth he knew could spill from those beautiful, tempting lips, solidified his resolve. To see her heart wavering made the desire to strengthen it awaken and blaze within his chest. He turned away as the entrance growled shut, separating him from her and the dark tunnels of the underground. Smiling beneath the mask, he craned his head in delight and braced his hand against his breast.

"Ah, my dear Evey... you were right. There really is a tree here for me after all."