James accelerates as they turn onto the motorway to head home. The blue of the sky is just beginning to melt into a sherbet-like swirl of colors in different shades of pink and orange and he finds himself thinking about how truly beautiful it all is. He doesn't know that he's ever really appreciated little things like this, but they seem to mean so much more to him now.
It still feels a bit strange, not having any missions to go on. Not having to recover from gunshot wounds. Just being able to live like a normal person. It's definitely strange, but in a good way. He never thought he would be in a place where he was alright with facing life as a civilian. Admittedly, there are days when he misses the adrenalin rush, but somewhere deep down, there's always been a part of him that's wanted this. He likes the idea of being his own master. Being able to spend his days in whatever way he chooses. No more bombs and guns and chasing villains in the shadows. No more trains and tunnels and twisted games of hide and seek. It did take some getting used to at first, but luckily for him, he had a little help adjusting.
He glances over at the passenger's seat where his "aunt" Olivia has fallen asleep, her head resting gently against the window. He smiles as she slowly starts to wake up from her short nap.
"Back?"
"For the moment. I haven't been this exhausted since before my retirement."
He chuckles. "Admit it. You had fun."
"Yes," she smiles. "She's a sweet girl. And it was very kind of her to invite me, but I can't say I have a lot in common with a group of women in their thirties."
"Oh, I don't know about that. You held up pretty well. And from what I heard, you gave an impressive performance involving a mechanical bull."
She laughs. "Oi. Tequila was involved. Besides, I wanted to wipe the smirk of the bartender's face. I saw the way he looked at me. As if someone my age didn't belong there. He was wondering who let me out of the old girls home."
"Well I hear you proved him wrong in more ways than one."
"What do you mean?"
"Pat said she saw you chatting up some young stud over by the bar…"
"Jealous?" she smirked.
"Not for a minute. You're not that daft."
She reaches across to smack the back of his head.
He laughs. "Alright. Sorry."
"Anyway, I did have a good time. I've never been to a hen party before. I've always wondered what they were like. Now I know."
He slows down to turn into the residential area of the city. "You've never been to one? Ever."
She shakes her head. "Never got the chance I suppose. Too busy."
"Hm."
"Have you?"
"I don't think blokes are really allowed at hen parties."
She purses her lips. "I meant have you ever been to a stag do. You had friends who were married. Didn't you ever join them when they went out?"
"Nah. Wasn't really my idea of a good time."
"But I suppose giving me numerous migraines over the years was tons of fun?"
"Course not… that was just a perk," he smirks.
He finally pulls up to their home and he gets out to open the door on her side. Normally, she'd scold him for being so chivalrous, but he can tell she's too tired to argue, so she takes the offered hand without comment.
She winces as she stands. "Ugh, my back is already paying for this party."
"I'm sure you'll be fine after a soak. I'll give you a massage later if you want."
"I may take you up on that."
They walk to the door together, James allowing her to undo the locks, not wanting to press his luck after the car door.
"Tea?" he asks as they step inside.
She smiles appreciatively. "I'd like that."
"You go on up. I'll bring it to you."
She nods and climbs the stairs, careful to hold her back as straight as she can. The last thing she needs is for it to lock before she can get into the bath to soak for a while. She goes into the bedroom and flops onto the bed with a heavy sigh, allowing herself to rest against the pillows for a while. It's a little too quiet for her liking, so she switches on the telly and tries to find something interesting, even though she's too tired to pay much attention to whatever it is.
James comes back with two cups of tea and finds her just beginning nod off in front of a cooking programme. It looks to be a recipe for some sort of pastry and he has a feeling she'll look it up later to try her hand at it. She's been experimenting in the kitchen lately, not having had much time to cook anything elaborate while she was at Six. She's great at it, as she is with everything, and James is always more than happy to be the one to taste test her creations. She likes to add her own touches, which makes it taste even more sensational, and James often tells her she should enter one of those baking contests the WI are always having and give those old birds a run for their money.
He sets the tea on the bedside table on her side of the bed and gently shakes her.
Her eyes flutter open to see him sitting on the bed just to the side of her and he nods his head toward the cups he's brought up.
"Thank you," she smiles.
"No problem. Should I get your bath or shall we call it a night?"
She secretly adores the way he offers without her asking.
She sighs. "I better have it now. Loosen me up a bit. If I put it off, I'll be even worse in the morning."
He nods and kisses her forehead. "Won't be long."
She props herself up a little more and takes one of the cups, blowing it gently before taking a sip. She lets out another sigh and hears James start the water running in the en suite.
It's almost disgusting how domestic they've become. A year ago, she'd have gagged at the thought of anyone doing all these things for her. But in a strange way, she likes it. She supposes a part of her has always wanted this. To be normal. A house in the countryside and someone to share it with. She likes being able to put her feet up in the middle of the afternoon. If she doesn't want to go anywhere, she doesn't have to. There's nothing to run. No agents to chase down. No paperwork to file. She can finally be in control of herself and no one else. It took some getting used to, but in an odd sort of way, helping James adjust has helped her do the same.
She sends a silent thank you to Mallory, wherever he is at the moment.
She knows he's breaking more than a few rules allowing them to be together. Officially speaking, she and James are on different continents. Mallory is the only one who knows where they really are. He knew that retirement would hit James hard and that he would get on a lot better with someone to look after him. He also knew that James wouldn't agree to a babysitter in any sense of the word. There was only one person in the world that knew him well enough to get him through this.
Olivia had been both shocked and overjoyed when she'd received the call. Mallory had known for a while that their feelings for each other went beyond simple sentiment. He knew she missed James terribly, and James wouldn't survive very long with both his job and Olivia being taken away. They'd both been through enough after Skyfall, and after all they'd done for Six over the years, they deserved to be happy in whatever amount of time they had left. Though he couldn't do anything about their jobs, there was one thing he could give back to them. Each other.
Olivia takes another sip of her tea, feeling incredibly grateful for what Mallory has done for her- for them.
If she's totally honest, she wouldn't last very long without James, either.
A soft hand on her shoulder brings her out of her thoughts.
"Ready?"
She nods and sets her tea down before swinging her legs off the side of the bed. James puts a hand on the small of her back, not quite helping her to stand, but letting her know that he's there, just in case. The thought crosses her mind that he would have made someone a very good husband.
A laugh escapes her and James looks down, slightly confused.
"I was just thinking, this is ordinarily the other way round. You in my flat suffering from some careless injury while I help patch you up."
He chuckles. "If you like, I can go back to the bar, get in a fight and climb back in through the window. For old times' sake."
She snorts. "Actually, I'd rather you didn't."
The bathroom has a slight mist hanging in the air from the steamy water. He helps her to undress, getting her down to her underwear before she asks him to join her. He doesn't need much convincing and hurriedly discards his own clothes as she strips off the rest of the way. Once they're in, he tenderly tugs her back to rest against his chest and they sit for a while, not saying anything. He traces mindless patterns on the back of her hand and they enjoy each other's company for a few moments while the hot water starts to soothe the pain.
She breaks the silence. "I don't think you ever properly answered my question. Is there anything you've ever wanted to do? Or any place you wanted to go, but never had the chance?"
"Well… one. But it's silly."
"I rode a mechanical bull this evening. I don't think anything you say at this point will top that."
He chuckles. "You have to promise you won't laugh at me."
"I've never laughed at you."
She can sense him arching an eyebrow behind her.
"Alright, I won't laugh this time."
"Well… when I was young… I'd hear of all the kids and their families going off to Disneyland for a holiday and what a wonderful place it was…"
He pauses, waiting for a fit of laughter. It never comes, so he continues.
"I'd tell myself I wasn't like them and I was above that sort of childish thing. But I wanted to know. I wanted to see the place. The happiest place on earth, they called it. I wanted to know if it was true. If going there could make you as happy as they said."
He sighs and continues stroking her skin.
"That's where I'd go."
She suddenly feels heavier than she did just moments ago. She would always talk about wanting to be young again and how she hated counting birthdays now. She never really stopped to think about what that would mean to James. He never had a proper childhood. He never really got to be young and carefree… happy.
She quickly formulates a plan in her mind.
"Maybe someday we'll go together. I'll take your photo with Mickey Mouse."
She feels his chest shake with gentle laughter.
"Buy me ice cream, you've got a deal."
He places a soft kiss next to her ear and they continue soaking, intermittently chatting about things they need to do in the upcoming week.
She places the finishing touches on the cake and fishes a few candles out of the cupboard. At the risk of setting off the smoke detectors, she settles for a solitary candle in the middle and tosses the rest in a drawer beneath the sink. She decides to wait to light it. He hates it when the wax drips onto the icing, his favorite part.
That thought triggers a particularly pleasant memory from her birthday celebration earlier in the year, but she stores that thought for later. She's sure he'll remember that all on his own.
She finally hears his car pulling in and she quickly lights the candle, then sets his big gift on the table next to it. She knows a few of his new friends had taken him out for dinner, as she'd arranged for them to do, so she doesn't feel guilty about skipping straight to the cake.
Taking a smaller box out of the pocket of her robe, she stands in the front hall and waits for him to come in.
He opens the door and is greeted by Olivia in the deep blue silk robe he bought for her birthday, holding a small box wrapped in gold, metallic paper and tied with a black velvet bow.
He has a feeling she means for him to unwrap the box first, but at the moment he's more interested in unwrapping the silk.
"Happy birthday, James."
He smiles and kicks the door closed before walking over to hug her tightly. She's wearing his favorite perfume and with him being in such close proximity, she can feel that it's working exactly the way she wanted it to.
"Thanks, love. So… do I get to unwrap my present now, or…?"
She chuckles. "Not just yet. You have to blow out the candle first."
He gives a dramatic sigh before walking over to the table and quickly blowing out the tiny flame.
She purses her lips. "You didn't even make a wish."
"Yes I did. I wished you'd let me unwrap my present."
She giggles and hands him the small box she had in her hands when he arrived. "This one first."
He smirks and takes the box, carefully removing the bow before lifting the lid.
Inside is a silver pocket watch with his initials engraved in in the front cover. He carefully lifts it out and opens it to find a photo of him with Olivia. They took it one day while they were having a nice stroll by the river and he introduced her to the concept of a selfie. He told her it was one of his favorites.
He looks up to find her smiling at him.
"I love it. It's great."
"There's an inscription."
He turns it over in his palm.
'Forever still wouldn't be enough time with you, my love.'
He smiles and kisses her deeply. "I love you."
"As you should," she smiles back at him and kisses his nose. She feels him tugging on the belt to her robe and she laughs. "Not yet. You still have one more present to open."
His pout does nothing to deter her. She walks around to pluck the other gift from the table top and hands it to him, her heart pounding just a little faster.
He can sense her nerves and takes the box from her, now incredibly curious about the gift inside.
"Open it," she nudges him.
The bow for this box is simply stuck to the top, so he lifts the lid off with a little more ease and stops cold once he sees what it contains.
Resting atop a cushion of blue tissue paper is…
A hat.
Specifically, a hat with big round mouse ears.
He lifts it out a little further to see 'James' embroidered on the back in brilliantly coloured red thread. He notices a slip of paper just peeking out from the blue sparkles. He reaches in with a slightly trembling hand to discover not one, but two season passes to none other than the infamous Disneyland.
"I hope it's alright," she says softly. "I thought we might go together. Have a crack at being happy." She shrugged. "I'll even buy you that ice cream."
He looks up at her with a myriad of emotions running through his body, and no doubt written across his face.
She's only ever seen him cry once before. When she met him at her grave after Skyfall.
She can only hope that the single tear sliding down his cheek is one of happiness, not pain.
He sets the box on the table and with both arms, pulls her into the tightest hug he's given her since that fateful day at the cemetery.
"Thank you," he kisses her neck. "Thank you."
He pulls away with shining eyes and a huge smile on his face.
"I have told you I love you, haven't I?"
She smiles. "You may have mentioned it."
He laughs softly. "Really," he looks into her eyes. "Thank you."
She smirks. "Don't thank me yet. Remember, you still have one more thing to unwrap…"
He grins, completely prepared to rise to the challenge. "That I do."
She pulls the belt of her robe, untying it painfully slowly until it finally falls open, giving James a teasing glimpse of a black lace basque and matching knickers. She quickly turns her back to him and pads up the stairs to their bedroom, blue silk billowing behind her as she makes the ascent.
He waits for a few moments, giving her a head start before running up behind her. He may be a year older but he certainly isn't any slower. He gets to the top of the stairs and pauses.
He makes a dash back down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab the cake. With lightning speed, he whips the candle from the center and tosses it into the sink.
Olivia waits for him, perched on the edge of the bed.
He comes in a few seconds later with the cake in hand, wiggling his eyebrows. She laughs.
"I was wondering how long it would take you," she grins. "Of course, they do say memory is the first thing to go…"
He narrows his eyes. "Is that so?"
She watches as he gently sets the cake next to the lamp on his side of the bed before leaping across the mattress and taking her into his arms, causing her to squeal and giggle with delight. He always loved how she laughed when he kissed the ticklish spot on her collarbone.
He never thought he would be in this place. He never thought he would be so deeply in love. It was new and frightening and strange, but in the best possible way.
Some hours later, as they lie in bed slowly drifting off to sleep, James lets out a quiet, contented sigh.
Disney might have a talking mouse, but as far as James was concerned, he'd already found the happiest place on earth.