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Shadowsteps	By : vsvigalante Category: DC Verse Comics > V for Vendetta Views: 912 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own V for Vendetta, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Chapter 10

The Mouth of Hell

Jazlyn reset the security lock for the gallery after her, walking over to the jukebox. Pushing a couple of buttons, a soft melody began filling the air. Setting the journal on top of the piano, she found Gordon's note. So V would be gone for a few days, huh? She sighed, well at least she wouldn't be interrupted once she began reading Stanton's journal. She had only twenty-four hours, and there was a lot of reading to do. Shadow followed as she walked into the kitchen to put the kettle on. Jazlyn placed the book on the table, pulled out a chair, and began reading.

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Creedy slammed his office door after him, and pushed the intercom button on his phone. “ Get me Churchill, “ he paused, “ Now!”

He ran his hand through thinning hair, then slammed his fist into the desk top. “ Bloody hell !” If Norsefire's past leaked out to the people, the resistance that this so called terrorist had created, could balloon into something much worse! They had to set a trap to catch Codename V, but that wouldn't be easily done. They had to come up with some type of full proof plan. The man was picking off people one by one that had been involved with Larkhill. Most of the doctor's and nurses had been taken out first, then at least half of the guards------hell, even a few of the maintenance people had been disposed off. He dropped into the high-backed leather chair and tried to strategize some type of plan that would bring V down.

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“ June 9th,” Jazlyn began, “ Of the original four dozen, over 75% are now deceased. Strangely, no clear patterns have emerged as of yet. Batch 5 seems to have no common discernible affect on any specific group, though the men seem slightly more resilient than the women. I'm hoping the survivors will provide more answers or my time here will have gone to waste.”

“ June 18th: There are only five left now. Two men and three women. Which tends to contradict my entry on June 9th. The man in room five is a fascinating case. Physically, there seems to be anything wrong with him. No cellular anomalies, nothing. Batch Five however, seems to have brought on some kind of psychotic breakdown. He is quite insane. He has this way of looking through you. Reverend Lilliman won't go near him. He claims that the man is the devil himself. I see him cross himself whenever he passes his door. Still, there is something about him.

“ August 25th: I'm glad Prothero let five have a go at the gardening project. He is quite proficient. Prothero was reluctant to allow an inmate access to the tool and chemical supply at first but now the fat toad is delighted. The crop has almost doubled and he grows the most beautiful roses I have ever seen. One thing happened today that was extremely strange----while using a knife to open a bag of fertilizer, five received a small cut on the ring finger of his left hand-----it miraculously healed itself within seconds! I will have to explore this phenomena more.

“ September 11th: After searching the garden for several minutes, I found five near the chemical shed in the back. Creedy and his men were just finishing up with him----he had been raped and beaten severely. I had Creedy's men carry him to the infirmary. If anything like this happens again, I will go to the detention centers central administrator----hell with Prothero!”

“ Oh my god.......” Jazlyn cried softly as she wiped away tears with her hands. “ What they did to you, V.” She tried to regain her composure before she continued.

“ December 24th: I was in the mess. It was about half past ten when we heard the first explosion. The ones at the front ran straight into the gas. It was horrible. A few of us made it out through the back door. You could hear screaming everywhere. In the center of the camp, everything was on fire. Everyone running in all directions. We had barely enough time to get our bearings when the ovens exploded. It was the man in room five. I couldn't have known. The chemical supplies, grease solvents, ammonia, fertilizer. He'd been making things with them. Mustard gas and napalm. And in the yard, I saw him. He had the flames behind him. He was naked. He looked at me-----as if I were an insect. Oh god. As if I were something mounted on a slide. He looked at me.”

That was the last entry until six months later when Dr. Surridge was back in London, continuing on as a medical examiner by the name of Dr. Delia Surridge. There was no other mention of Larkhill or the man in room five-----V.

Jazlyn closed the book, sitting back in the chair. Now, she knew the whole story of Larkhill-------why V carried such a deep hate-------why he carried his vendetta, and why he would and had gone to such extremes to carry it out. She had to talk to Gordon. She picked up V's illegal cell phone and dialed Gordon's number.

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Peter Creedy sat, the pencil he was hitting on the desk top echoed in a random pattern as he continued to examine and dissect every idea he had come up with pertaining to the capture of V. Every time he had a feasible plan of action, it would always crumble before him. V was not a normal man, the tapes from the alleyway showed that. The speed he moved at was unbelievable--------------according to Prothero, he had been an inmate at Larkhill, so his unusual abilities could be a result of the experimentation. And then, there was the girl----- she was a different story all together. According to Finch at Metro Police, there was no record of her on file in the Fate system anywhere. Creedy's fingers ran across the keyboard, and within seconds, the photos from the alley appeared on the screen. He had to admit, she was beautiful, but what caught Creedy's attention was the object she held clutched to her chest.

“ Edmonds,” He spoke into the intercom.

“ Yes, sir.”

“ Get Packard on the horn.” He smiled at the picture on the screen, “ I have a job for him.”

“ At once, Mr. Creedy.”

Creedy moved closer to the screen. “ Let's see what you got such a tight grip on.” A nasty smile crossed his lips as he leaned back in the leather chair, and relaxed.

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Jazlyn materialized almost next to Gordon in his living room.

“ Bloody hell!!” He exclaimed staring at her. “ I didn't know that when you said that you'd be right over it meant that you would appear out of thin air!”

“ Sorry, Gordon.” Jazlyn apologized, “ But I had to see you.” She had just finished the sentence when a blinding stab of pain shot through her mind, and a vision began to appear of a small room, and a form concealed by shadows, sitting, rocking in a corner. “ V?” She spoke softly as the head rose and stared into the darkness sensing she was there. “ Oh my god....” She turned to Dietrich, “ Where is he?! Where is V, Gordon?!”

A shocked expression crossed his face. “ I...I don't know what you mean.” How did she know?

Jazlyn's eyes burned into his, “ I know he's here----I can sense the turmoil he's in. Please, Gordon, please take me to him. “ Jazlyn pleaded with him.” I can bring him from the darkness.”

“ He'll kill you.” Gordon answered bluntly.

“ No, “ Jazlyn smiled softly, “ He won't kill me.”

“ He's in a secret room behind my wine cellar in the basement..” He mumbled, looking away.

Jazlyn laid a slim hand on his shoulder. “ I'll be alright.” she smiled, “ Now, please, take me to him.”

Gordon sighed. “ This way. ”

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Where was he? What was he doing here? Where was here? Who was he? The questions were asked and answered all at the same time in the mind-------or so V thought. He asked and the voice answered. He sat huddled in the corner. He was naked-----he had torn his clothes off in a fit of rage, scattering them across the room.

The sound of the door opening caught his attention---raising his head, he stared from the shadows, watching as a young woman entered the room, closing the door behind her.
Staring into the darkness, she locked eyes with his, knowing exactly where he was.

“ V? ” she asked softly, walking towards him. “ I know you're there----please come out.”

He rose slowly to his feet, his hands clenched tightly at his sides, his eyes never leaving hers, took a few steps, then stopped. Jazlyn smiled when she saw his silhouette just on the edge of the light that was filtering into the room from the overhead fixture. V watched in horror as the face before him slowly began to morph into the face of Dr. Diana Stanton!

“ Five! ” her voice echoed in his mind. “ It's time, come along. ” She reached her hand toward him.

' Time for your shots again, monster.....' the voice spoke mockingly to V. His mind swirling in confusion. He shook his head in a maniacal frenzy, retreating back into the shadows. ' Now's your chance----kill the bitch doctor before she makes you scream again!'

V's eyes narrowed, their gaze becoming more intense the closer Jazlyn came. ' That's it----just a little closer.....' the voice spoke calmly to him. She was a mere foot away, when he lunged, locking his hands around her throat.

“ V, no! ” Jazlyn's voice strained against the pressure, quickly, she recalled a spell in her mind, and V was thrown across the room, hitting the wall with a sickening thud. She hurried to him, sitting on the floor, his head cradled in her lap. “ V, I'm so sorry.....” Her tears dropped from her cheeks and onto his scared arm, reaching out gently, the red mottled skin felt rough under her fingertips. She studied the mask less face she held protectively in her lap. The skin was almost the same as on his arms, his forehead showed ridges of the same mottled skin, criss-crossing his bald head and then continuing down the left right side of his face, onto his neck and chest. His left ear's tip was completely missing. The right side of his face had faired much better. Jazlyn realized that most likely, he had thrown his arms up to shield as much of his face as he could when the explosion erupted from within his cell. His right cheek was smooth, although a few small scars could be seen, and his eyes---she had only caught a glimpse of them-----my god, his eyes were the shade of gold and silver combined----most likely from the chemicals he used in the bombs. “ V....” she whispered softly, closing her eyes, trying to make contact with the entity within. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled into a black void, a place devoid of time and space----devoid of sanity.

“ Hello, Jazlyn.” A voice addressed her. Turning, she found V standing there, his black outfit and Guy Fawkes mask, neatly in place.

“ V? ” she asked slowly.

“ The part of the man you know as V, yes.”

“ What happened? ”

'For those whom God to ruin has destroyed He fits for fate, and first destroys their mind.' (1) He replied, “ The line between reality and sanity has been breeched------”

“ Breeched------how? Why? She asked.

“ Oh, my dear Jazlyn, ” masked V giggled, his hands to the mask's lips, “ if man knew the answer to that, there would be no insanity in the world.”

“ I don't understand----” she began, but was cut off.

“ Oh, but you will.......the monster already does.”

“ Monster?”

“ The monster that Larkhill created.”

Jazlyn looked at him, his mask tilting toward her.. This was insanity at it's best.

“ The monster that lives in here.” The gloved hand tapped his chest. “ Under everything else... all the horror, the pain and hate that was created by Larkhill, as they took his last inch of humanity from him---from me.....” V raised his hand and pointed into the darkness. “ That monster.”

Jazlyn peered into the shadows as a shape moved toward her. The figure continued toward her, but it was no monster to her------ she had seen it before, in her vision at Larkhill.
It was V as she had seen him after the explosion, standing in the courtyard. She looked back at the masked V standing alongside her. “ That is no monster----it's you----it's what makes you, you.”

“ It is not me! “ He cried in anguish, “ I am no monster-------”

“ Maybe you are the monster----” Jazlyn paused, “ Yes, I believe so----you are the voice that took a human being and tricked him into becoming the monster he believes he is!”

“ It is what I keep hidden from all to see! ” A voice broke from the burned V, so chilling that Jazlyn couldn't help but stare back at the silver-gold eyes that held hers. “ How can you confess to loving something as grotesque as this?

“ Because I do. I love what lies beneath that skin.” Jazlyn replied, looking at the V beside her, then walking to the one before her. “ Love doesn't look at skin, color or texture. Love is what lies within here.” She placed her hand on the burned chest, right over his heart, and felt the trembling it drew forth.

' Lady, you bereft me of all words, only my blood speaks to you in my veins, and there is such confusion in my powers.' (2) He answered her, his hand reaching to cup her face, but lowering instead. “ But dreams are impossible for such a monster before you. I have hurt to long----my feelings no longer exist.”

“ Oh, V, they do exist they are within the heart and soul of this man-----a man who cares so much about others that he no longer believes that he, himself exists------ he has become an idea, and because of what was done to him at Larkhill, also a monster in his mind. I don't see a monster or an idea, I see a man that has gone through hell for ideas he knows that are right. A man that England needs badly.....” she paused smiling, as a tear ran down her cheek, “ a man that I need also.”

“ Oh, how wonderful!” The masked V clapped enthusiastically. “ Let's all have a pity party for the monster!”

Jazlyn glared at him, fury building inside her. “ Shut the hell up!” She exclaimed.

“ Tsk, tsk, tsk........such a word coming from a lady.” He giggled again. “ Maybe I should just put you both out of your misery.” Reaching to his side, he withdrew a blade, fingering it carefully in his hand.

“ That would kill you too.” Jazlyn answered.

“ Sweet lady, “ He paused, looking at Jazlyn, “ A punishment to some, to some a gift, and to many a favor.” (3) He moved toward them. “ You see, death is a friend to me, a very welcomed friend....”

“ Jazlyn, leave here........leave now!” The burned V yelled as he attacked himself to protect her.

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Blackness closed in once again around her, and she found herself back in the present, on the floor, her arms around V's limp body. “ Gordon!” she yelled, “ Gordon, help!”

In a matter of seconds, he rushed through the door and was at her side. “ What happened?”

“ It's a long story, help me get him to the bed.” Jazlyn struggled under V's dead weight, finally shifting enough to crawl out from under him as Gordon helped, eliciting a soft moan from his lips. “ V? ” She watched as eyelids slowly opened, revealing the most beautiful and mysterious eyes she had ever seen.

“ Jazlyn?” he asked weakly.

“ I'm here, V. ” She touched his face gently.

“ What happened?” he looked up at her, noticing for the first time he was naked before her. “ My mask..... where is my mask?!” He threw his hands up to his face frantically, not to protect himself from her eyes, but to protect her from him.

Jazlyn took his hands in hers, and pulled them down gently. “ Please, don't hide from me.” She drew his hands to her lips and kissed then them softly. “ It doesn't matter------I love you.”

The silver-gold eyes began to mist over as he watched her.

“ Can you stand? ” she asked.

“ Glad to have you back, old friend. ” Gordon laid a hand on his shoulder. “ You gave us quite a scare, there.”

V tried to smile, “ Sorry.”

“ Com'on, let's get you to bed.” Gordon helped as V struggled to his feet, Jazlyn helping to steady him.

“ How did I get here?” V asked as he walked over and sat down on the bed as she grabbed a blanket from the floor.

“ We'll answer questions later.” Jazlyn smiled as she laid him on his back, and threw the blanket over him. She kissed him.

V looked up at her, he had so many questions to ask her, but right now, wasn't the right time. He closed his eyes, falling into a much needed deep sleep. Jazlyn crawled in behind him, her back to the wall, her left arm, wrapping protectively around his waist.

“ I'll turn the light out on my way out.” Gordon said as she smiled at him, then closing her own eyes, drifted off, laying close to the man she loved.

(1)Shakespeare
(2)John Dryden—Fables---The Hind and the Panther
(3)Seneca
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Shadowsteps