Here is yet another chapter. Sorry it took so long I seemed to have lost my muse of inspiration but it's back; hopefully to stay. I realize I left you all in quite a cliffhanger last time but I promise this will be the resolve to that tense situation.
Another note my spell check seems to be on the fritz at the moment so if there are a ton of errors I apologize. I've tried to go over it with a fine tooth comb.
Thanks to all those who have reviewed. It definitely helps. I look forward to more with this addition.
Again I own nothing dealing with Quantom of Solace, Casino Royale or James Bond.
Enjoy!
Chapter 7
"Bond when was the last time you slept?"
Bringing his head up from where it lay against the cushion of the chair he'd had brought in M was met with a tired looking pair of blood shot eyes. Clothes rumpled; twp days growth of stubble gracing his chin. Hand gripping Alleria's limp one tightly he looked worse than she felt.
Not one for surprises the head of MI6 had gotten more than her fill in the last thirty six hours.
The team hadn't noticed the blip on the screen denoting the young woman's tracking device until six hours after it had appeared. Once they'd been able to get her exact location M had been on the first flight to Colorado. Bad news was she'd walked out in the middle of a meeting with the prime minister. A job was a job; but Alleria was the only family the older woman had left.
Hoping things weren't as bad as her gut was telling her she found that it had all been for nothing. Word had reached her as the place was taking off from Britian that an avalanche had occurred on the slopes where the two had been snowboarding.
Despite her high ranking position she had no assets in the Rocky Mountain state. So they'd had to stop the aircraft from taking off so they could commander another place for the rescue team that'd be accompanying them.
Come to find out that by the time they'd made it to the mountain in question a search and rescue team was already on sight. Wanting to keep her whereabouts as well as Bonds under the radar she volunteered the team she'd brought to help. Telling them that they had two British relief workers here on holiday and had a personal interest in seeing that they were okay. Grateful for any help they could get the man in charge didn't question their willingness.
While that was going on m took two agents with her and using the GPS they'd brought; tracked Alleria and the double oh to their exact location. Having faced quite a few scary situations in her lifetime the older woman had to admit that she'd never dealt with anything as gut wrenching as waiting to see if her niece was going to be pulled out of that mound of snow alive or dead.
Finally after what seemed an eternity but had only been an hour they found them. Bond had been the only one conscious; but they'd both been alive. And that's all that mattered. Suffering from severe hypothermia no time had been wasted in whisking them away to the hospital. Being the bigger of the two it'd been shocking as to why he was healthy; save for some cuts and bruises. But Alleria was unconscious; no definite time line given as to when she'd wake up.
Following complete exams by one of the hospitals bet physicans the mystery was solved. Being the only one conscious when the avalanche had started the young woman tired to carry the British man out over her shoulder. When it became too much for her tried and battered body to bear she'd stopped. Covering his larger body with her smaller one in an attempt to keep him alive.
Unable to retreive anyone of the men who'd attacked them from the snow alive they were no closer to finding out who was after her. Placing a call to turn in some favors M found out that none of the organizations the ex-intelligence officer had helped to dismantle were showing an excessive chatter concerning a contract out on anyone.
"Not sure." He ran a hand over his face. "I can sleep when I'm dead."
Stepping over to the side of the bed M hazard a glance at the mountains before landing it on the woman who's life they'd almost taken. Once they'd found out that physically the woman was okay. That the reason why she was in acoma was her bodies way of dealing with the shock. Away to keep her alive; give her body a fighting chance; she'd arranged to have Alleria brought back to the hotel.
A round the clock nurse had been brought in to take care of her. Whatever doctor happened to be on call at the hospital stopped by to check on her. Heart monitor and IV rack attached to her body. Skin pale white against the awful blue hospital gown; hair fanned out behind her like a shining halo.
Tears sprang to her eyes at seeing someone so strong; someone once so full of life; looking as if she'd never wake up. As if she'd never be the same again. And all of it for a man who M wasn't sure even appreciated it. Even understood the scope of what Alleria had done. All of it done after only knowing him for twenty-four hours.
Emotions getting the best her she opened her mouth to speak but snapped it shut at the sight before her.
Big hand gentle as she'd ever seen it Bond reached out to brush some stray hair from the woman's face. Lips set in a grim line she saw that it was to stop them from quivering. Eyes filled with unshed tears he leaned forward to place a light kiss on her forehead. After that he took a wet cloth out of the basin on the stand by the bed and gently dabbed it to keep her temperature regulated. The only had part of her healing process was that her body heat constantly fluctuated up and down. More on the upside as of late.
Something had changed about him since he'd met her niece. Something had cracked and allowed him to truly care about someone again. Why or how it had happened she wasn't sure and didn't care. Bond was finally starting to act like a human being again.
Whether or not that meant he'd no longer be a cold hearted, egotistical bastard had yet to be seen. If a woman such as Vesper could make him change then surely her niece could.
Unfourtantely there was still a lot of ice that needed to be melted off his heart along the way. And given what he'd already been through it was hard to guess how long it would take. Something told her that down the course of that road people were bound to get hurt. Damned if Alleria would be one of them. The poor girl was just like the young double oh in that sense. She'd had enough pain and gut wrenching heart ache to last four lifetimes.
"Bond can I speak to you for a moment." M motioned for him to proceed her out the door.
Brushing one last strand of hair out of the way he whispered in Alleria's ear that he'd be right back. Heading out the door he knew it may seem crazy to most people but he had been told that those in acoma could still hear when you spoke to them. And right now he'd do anything he could to get her back. Even revealing things about his life that he hadn't told anyone; not even Vesper.
After all this time he was able to say her name without wanting to spit in disgust. Somehow through all the fighting, then their truce, and the moment that had transpired between them in the bathroom the young woman had managed to make him able to forgive.
Confronting Mr. White and the organization he worked for. The same organization that had helped finance Greene's project. Where Vesper's so called boyfriend had worked had given him some measure of closure. But after the whole situation was all said and done he'd lost his faith; his trust; in humanity. Given the line of buisness he was in that wasn't necissarily a bad thing. Having grown up in an orphanage then at Oxford by the grace of someone else's charity; something some people just couldn't let go; you could say he'd lost both a long time ago.
Loving someone; the knowledge that there really was someone out there for everyone. That particular brand of faith was something he'd held strong and steadfast to until a year ago. Then he'd given up all the instincts that had gotten him where he was today and ended up getting one rude awakening. One he hoped to never get again. Once in a lifetime he could handle. Could deal with and move on; even if there were some who believed he still hadn't. Twice was like kicking a man where it hurt the most.
"Did you find anything more?" He demanded.
Gesturing for him to take a seat M was surprised when he chose to stand; leaning against the frame of the French double doors. Gaze fixed on the mountains as if giving them a nasty look would make them pay for what had happened to Alleria.
"Unfouranetly no." M informed. "There was no one left alive for us to question. Not to mention when the search and rescue team found no id on the bodies they were whisked away to the mourge for fingerprinting. Though I doubt it'll do them any bloody good."
"Why didn't you stop them?" James narrowed his eyes. "Tell them who you were and confiscate one. We have access to a hell of a lot more databases than the local police do."
"First of all were on American soil; on something that is not considered a sanctioned mission." M reminded. "Secondly were trying to keep Alleria's where abouts discreet as possible."
"Because I'm sure the rescue workers that helped pull us out aren't going to remember the woman with a head full od silver and jet black hair." Bond shot back.
Patience at it's wits end because of the events of the last day and a half M slammed the folder she'd been holding down on the table. It had been brought with her as a favor to Bond. To help him better understand the woman he was protecting. The woman he was starting to fall for. And in a selfish way on her part she hoped maybe he'd be able to figure out an angle that she and Alleria hadn't.
However she got a quick reign on her temper before lashing out at him. Neither on had gotten much sleep the last couple of days. Both at their breaking point about who could be behind it all. About who would want her dead. Even though there was one theory M had kept close to her vest up until this point. One she would share with the double oh after he pulled his self together.
"I'm going to sidestep that little sarcastic comment of yours because we're both beyond exhausted." She snapped.
"Funny." Bond gave a ruthful grin. "That never stopped you before."
Gritting her teeth against the retort that threatened to spill out she found that this time that technique wasn't going to cut it.
"If you'd stop acting like an ass for five minutes you'd realize we're both affected by what's going on." M fumed. "Why you are so much about a woman you've barely known for seventy two hours is beyond me."
Pushing off his leaning post; having had enough of her beating him down; Bond stalked across the room till he was toe to toe with the older woman. Having to look down at the shorter person and her intense gaze.
"I suppose you think I'm incapable of being anything but a cold hearted bastard." He seethed.
Unintimidated by his closeness; by the hatred she saw burning in his gaze the head of MI6 plowed forward.
"I think you care about Alleria more than you're willing to admit." M observed. "That you're scared and hiding behind your ego. And that same ego has the possability to get you both hurt if you let it."
"You don't think my hearts involved in any of this?" James couldn't believe she was that cold.
"No." M countered. "I think it's very much involved but your ego outweighs everything else. I've said it before and I'll say it again; take that particular item out of the equation."
Every time the older woman gave advice it was always scarily accurate. Always right on point with the situation at hand. Problem was; as with every other time she'd tried; Bond wasn't sure if he could take it.
Early on in life he'd learned that being an arrogant prick got you further than trying to nice ever would. At least according to the people he'd been surrounded with growing up. Willing to take risk; to do whatever was necessary to get the job done no matter what the cost was what had attracted the British Secret Service to him in the first place. Problem was that particular trait had worn thin with them rather quickly. There in also lie the fact that without his ego to make him believe he was invincible none of what he'd accomplished would've happened.
"What if there's nothing left to give once it's gone?" James finally spoke.
"Why don't you let her be the judge of that." M inclined her head towards the bedroom.
How he'd love for that to be able to be so. But just because he no longer thought of Vesper with anger and disdain didn't mean he was ready to be put under the microscope again. Not to mention Alleria had been less than friendly towards him before this had all happened. Though the hostility between them wasn't entirely her fault he'd still felt a little vexed. Of course the knowledge that someone might possibly lose their life by having saved yours tended to make a person extremely humble.
"Will do mum." James gave a nod. "But I make no promises."
"In the mean time get something to eat and clean yourself up." M instructed, "No sense you looking like hell and scaring the day lights out of Alleria when she wakes up."
"And this?" James gestured towards the folder on the coffee table.
"Alleria's unoffical file." M answered. "Once you've gotten some sleep in an actual bed and not the chair in her room as well as squared yourself away I want you to look over it. Maybe you'll find something we missed."
"I thought you were still going the whole conspiracy theory angle?" James was confused.
"It hasn't been forgotten." M informed. "But some things about this whole situation aren't adding up to turn one hundred percent in that direction."
"Like what?" James questioned.
Standing she headed for the stairs; hand on the rail before turning to answer. "Sorry Bond but for now I'm keeping that to myself. And you aren't going to be able to find it on my computer so don't bother trying to hack anything."
Too tired to have a witty come back ready he walked her to the door; locking it securely behind. Back upstairs he headed to Alleria's room; the nurse having left to take the rest of the day off. A button on the side of the bed could be pushed in case of an emergency. Having gotten her a room next door she could be here in a matter of seconds.
Noticing her heart rate and breathing were both steady he fought the urge to sit back down; keep watch over her fragile form. Upon meeting her he never would've thought he'd use that word and her name in the same sentence. Then again he'd never thought that in a matter of forty eight hours he'd start to fall for the young Romainian Never a big believer in fate he had to say that it had a strange way of showing up in times when you didn't think you needed it. Times when in all actuality the opposite was in fact true.
Struggling with his self he finally decided to take M's advice; knowing there was nothing he could do right now except watch over the young woman. Once in the bathroom he turned the shower on; letting the water get warm while his mind tried desperately to start the shut down process that would allow him a solid eight hours of sleep.
Try as he might Bond couldn't get M's words out of his head. It was the one thing stopping the switch in his brain from flipping to off. What other angle could there be to pursue? And why would the older woman be so tight lipped about it? Especially to him of all people. The only viable reason he could fathom was that one of Alleria's cases was coming back to bite her in the ass. If that was true then she in an even bigger shit ton of trouble then orginally thought. Because those kind of people could be worse then any politican could even imagine to be.
Stepping under the spray he welcomed the warmth; feeling it already working it's magic on his sore and tired muscles. Dread formed an icy ball in his stomach; unable to allow him full relaxation. At this moment; and for god knows how long; Alleria was in the most vulnerable state possible. If word had managed to leak about what happened. About the state she was currently in; they'd have a whole new kind of pest to deal with. Bad bad or good bad people like this didn't leave anything to chance. The young woman knew enough on either side to make their lives a living hell.
In that case he'd just have to make his self and Alleria next to impossible to deal with.
And everyone knows how good I am at that, Bond grinned wickedly.
