Disclaimer: Still don't own Bond. Still wish I did.
Contains spoilers for Quantum of Solace! You have been warned! I wish it was longer, but I've only seen the movie once. Maybe I'll be able to expand it further once the DVD comes out…
"Congratulations. You were right about Vesper."
Bond dropped the necklace at his feet, the snow around it sparkling like so many diamonds. A plaintive voice in his mind begged for him to turn back and pick it up. But he continued walking, ignoring it.
"You do what I do for too long, and there won't be any soul left to salvage."
When James entered his flat, he set a roaring fire to warm the room. After pouring a large glass of whiskey, he tossed his overcoat on the floor and made his way to the sofa. His legs gave out just as he reached it, and he fell heavily into the cushions, dumping half his drink in the process. Biting back a curse, Bond ignored the spilled alcohol as he righted himself and stared into the fire.
Shifting his glass to his left hand, he shook droplets of whiskey from the right before reaching into his breast pocket. He pulled out the photo of Vesper and Yussef, staring at it for a moment before abruptly and unceremoniously tossing it into the flames.
He took a gulp of whiskey and watched as the picture burned. Its edges curled in and browned; Vesper's face began to melt. James sat up and drained his glass before throwing it too into the fire. Then he climbed unsteadily to his feet and stumbled to the bedroom, leaning on the barren white walls as he went. There would never be a picture to grace them. No memories worth keeping.
Without even bothering to change or turn down the sheets, he collapsed, sinking into the soft mattress. An errant thought slipped through the gathering shadows, like the Northern Lights against a black sky. It was the voice – the one that wanted him to cling to his love for Vesper. Bond had been forcing it steadily back, so that now it was only the smallest whisper in the back of his mind.
Vesper may have sacrificed everything to save Yusef…
But she gave her life for you.
Bond sighed as he surrendered to exhaustion and pain – letting the darkness take him.
He would never hear the voice again.
Short, but I was so saddened by the end of QOS that I had to write this. True, it doesn't resolve anything, and it doesn't make me feel any better, but…
Well… there is no but, really. It's just sad! :-(