10 / Weeping Blood

Bond recognized Le Chiffre, Valenka and Steven Obanno, but the two heavies were unknown to him. Nevertheless, he had to make sure Le Chiffre stayed alive to either accept MI6's deal or take a bullet from Bond's gun. Obanno's two side bags rushed at him, pushing him out the door. His gun fell to the floor with a thud, then Bond went into action himself. An uppercut sent the man on the left back against the wall.

The other man, however, wasn't ready for that. He slammed his own fist into Bond's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Bond kicked him, sending him into his friend. Obanno came out swinging, his machete hitting nothing but air as Bond ducked left and right. The first man regained himself, and landed a punch on Bond's right cheek. Bond threw another punch, but the first man ducked out of the way and Bond's fist caught Obanno's nose.

Obanno didn't stand for that. He took another swing with the machete, but Bond dove out of the way. The blade dug into the wall, and Obanno had a little bit of trouble getting it out. Bond quickly grabbed his P99 and took a pot shot at the first man. It hit him in the shoulder, but didn't put him down. Obanno got his machete unstuck and threw it at Bond, who just barely dodged it. It hit the wall by the door to the staircase.

Bond ran first, taking another pot shot at one of Obanno's thugs. He hit the second man in the leg. Obanno kicked Bond in the stomach, knocking him through the door to the stairwell. His P99 once again flew from his hands and landed down on the ground floor. Vesper, who Bond had never seen enter the stairway, stood there in shock at what was happening. He waved at her to go down the stairs.

The first man was back, holding a fire extinguisher. He swung with it, but Bond ducked out of the way. It hit the stair railing, scaring Vesper even further down the stairs. Obanno had the machete again, but Bond kicked it out of his hand. It landed on the bottom floor, along with the P99. Bond grabbed the first man and pulled him over the railing. He landed on the bottom floor with a loud thud.

The second man kicked him in the stomach, knocking him against the railing. He kept his footing, however, and kicked him back. Obanno was on him now, a hard right and a hard left into Bond's face almost knocked him unconscious. He kept his wits about him, however, and sent the second man down the stairs.

It was just Bond and Obanno, now, until the second man regained consciousness. Bond head butted Obanno, then shoved him against the wall. He kneed him in the stomach three times before Obanno got the upper hand and pushed him down the stairs. He landed on the second man, waking him up. A quick elbow to the face put that problem back to sleep.

Obanno jumped on top of him, then proceeded with a series of punches that Bond barely felt due to the numbness of his face. He quickly grabbed Obanno's collar, and with every bit of strength he had left, threw him over the railing. The thud was softer than the first man's, but hopefully, Obanno was dead.

"Vesper," he said, hoarsely, "bring me my gun..."

She slowly walked up the stairs, holding the Walther like dead animal. She handed it to him, and he pressed the barrel to the second man's forehead. A single pull of the trigger and he was out of the equation. Vesper helped him to his feet and helped him down the stairs. "I can stand," he barely said. He stumbled out of her arms.

Something knocked him to the ground. Obanno was still alive. He spun Bond around, onto his back, and pressed the side of the machete to his neck. Bond's vision was blurring. Then, suddenly, Obanno fell over. His eyes held a dull, dead look. Bond looked around and saw Vesper, holding the P99 like a weapon instead of a small corpse. Smoke drifted from the barrel. "Thank you," Bond breathed out. He slowly stood up, walked over to Vesper and took the gun. "Go get Mathis... Tell him to take care of this..."

111

Bond splashed water on his face. It was difficult to see anything, but he managed a passable job at washing off the blood. He still had forty minutes before the game resumed, so he took his time cleaning himself. He scrubbed as hard as possible.

"The Double Oh number means more than a fancy parking space at Regent's Park," the instructor had said, that day at training, "it means that you are authorized to kill whenever, where ever and who ever you need to to complete your mission."

Bond looked at himself in the mirror. His blue eyes stared back at him.

"I don't mean the exotic explosions the CIA are so fond of using, and I don't mean by being quieter than a dead mouse. There is no right way to kill. Sniper rifles, assault rifles, plastique, your bare hands—these and more are your tools of the trade. Death for Her Majesty's enemies comes from any one or more of these tools."

He striped his shirt off and grabbed another. Thirty minutes left.

111

Bond sat down at his seat, across from Le Chiffre. The villain laughed. "You changed your shirt, Mr. Bond." He looked up from his money. "I do hope our little game isn't causing you to perspire."

Bond said, "I wouldn't worry until I start weeping blood."

111

The end of the night brought much needed rest for Bond. He tossed his jacket on the dresser next to the door. The hotel room was unnervingly quiet. Where's Vesper? he wondered. He walked around the apartment and then he heard it: the shower. He walked into the washroom and saw her curled up in the shower, underneath cold water.

"What's this?" he said as he sat down next to her. She was shaking quite badly.

Her voice quivered. "It's like there's... like there's blood on my hands... and it... it won't... won't come off." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Please... help..."

Bond reached for her hand and started gently rubbing it. There wasn't really any blood there, it was all just in her mind, but he knew she needed some soothing. "Ah, yes. I see, now." He grabbed the soap from the dish above. "Let's see what we can do about that." He pulled her other hand close now, did the same. "Bollocks, this is terrible."

111

The next morning, Bond woke up next to Vesper, who still slept. She was like an angel, laying there. He stood up and grabbed the bathrobe from off of the dresser. He slipped it on and tied the sash around his waist. Mathis stood on the balcony overlooking the parking lot.

"How's the clean up going?" he asked, stepping out onto the balcony.

Mathis took a drag on his cigarette. "Oh, it went well."

"And the bodies?"

Mathis pointed down at a car, where a man was putting a suitcase in the trunk. "One of Le Chiffre's. A low-level." Two police officers walked up to him. They proceeded to question him, but he pushed them away, told them he had to get to a business meeting. Mathis pulled out his phone, dialed a number, then pressed talk. A phone rang inside the car—inside the trunk—and prompted the officers to have the man open it. The bodies of Obanno's men were stuffed there, and the two police officers raised their weapons at Le Chiffre's man. Mathis smiled. "Just because one's dead, doesn't mean one still can't be useful."

Bond smiled and patted Mathis on the shoulder. "Good work."

"How's our girl?"

Bond simply smiled again.