14 / Recovery
M hadn't left her desk since the second Bond's implant stopped transmitting. Her secretary, Miss Moneypenny, or Tanner had brought her endless supplies of coffee or the occasional meal, should she actually require it. It was going on the eighth straight hour when Tanner walked in the room and said, "Ma'am, we've found him. Mathis called it in, he was on a ship docked in the Montenegro port."
She stood up, suddenly full of energy. "And the implant?"
"Seems it was pulled out."
"What about Le Chiffre?"
"Dead, as were all of his men on the ship."
She took that in, then asked, "What are the Americans asking?"
"We haven't told them yet, except for Leiter, who's trying to stall his people as long as possible."
She was out the door in a second. "And Bond? How is he?"
"He's been tortured. It seems, uh..."
"What? It seems what?"
"Well, ma'am, it seems he took some direct blows to his genitals. Possibly by a knotted rope of some kind."
"Christ... What sort of shape is he in?"
"He's alive. Quite a bit worse for wear, but otherwise in as good a condition for any man who's balls were nearly destroyed." Tanner seemed to register what he said, then added, "Sorry, ma'am. Not what I meant to say."
"The message was clear enough, Bill. Get Bond the best medical care we have, then get him debriefed. I want to know exactly what went on there." As an afterthought, she added, "What about Ms. Lynd?"
"She seems fine, ma'am. Not a scratch on her body."
"That seems odd. Any signs of rape?"
"None."
M was concerned, now.
111
Bond awoke in a haze of white. He heard a breathing aparatus, and he saw vague shapes who spoke French, but otherwise nothing made sense. As the drugs began to work, his vision cleared.
And Mathis stood behind a nurse on one side of the room.
"Not him... Not Mathis..."
The drugs did their work, and Bond was out like a light.
111
"Do you have any ideas?"
Bond awoke from his slumber. He was in an electric wheelchair, staring out at a beautiful lake, but he wasn't sure where he was. It probably wasn't the French-speaking nation he'd been in before, but he couldn't be sure. Mathis was standing by a stone railing, keeping people from going over the edge and providing a beautiful spot to sight-see from.
"What?" he asked, fully awake.
"Why they left the two of you alive?" Mathis turned around, his eyes covered by sunglasses.
"Where is she?" Bond asked.
"Sleeping." He walked over to a small table, upon which stood a glass of water and some kind of powder in a small cup. "And I'm supposed to get you to drink this." He poured the powder into the glass of water. "It's just odd. Killing everyone else, yet leaving the two of you alive?" He smiled. "Almost as if someone was trying to tell us something." Mathis turned to Bond again. "Get a look at the killer?"
"No," Bond lied.
"Shame." He handed Bond the glass. "Drink up." He took his sunglasses off and placed them in his pocket. "Anything else you remember? Anything that could help us?"
"Help us?" Bond asked. "Or help you?"
A look of surprise flashed over Mathis' face, and then he turned to see two men walking up behind him. In a hand, one of them held a small, hand-held taser. Mathis quickly turned back to Bond, as if to ask "Why?" and then the men reached him. A quick jolt to his neck, and Mathis was unconscious in a nanosecond. The men unceremoniously dragged him off.
Bond reflected on the situation. He was lucky after a few days when M stepped into his hospital room and asked who the double agent was. He relayed the information quickly, and Tanner discovered that Mathis had received large sums of laundered money into his various accounts, money that had been very carefully laundered by Le Chiffre's organization. Bond had asked M to hold off on arresting Mathis until he made the eventual move on Bond, and she'd reluctantly agreed.
111
The next day, Bond awoke to the most beautiful sight in the last two days: Vesper's smiling face. He smiled back, and said, "Hello." She greeted him back, and he asked, "You alright?"
"I can't resist waking you." She sighed, but kept her smile. "Every time I do, you look at me as if you haven't seen me in years. It makes me feel reborn."
"If you'd just been born," Bond said with a smile, "wouldn't you be naked?"
Her smile widened. "You have me there." She then leaned down to his ear and whispered softly, "And you can have me anywhere."
He felt as if he hadn't heard her right. "I can?" he whispered back.
"Yeah. Here, there, anywhere you like."
"Does this mean that you're... warming to me?"
"Yeah, that's how I would describe it."
"It's just that... not too long ago, I would describe your feelings towards me as, uh, I'm trying to think of a better word than loathing."
Her smile dimished. "I'm afraid I'm a complicated woman."
"That is something to be afraid of."
The sound of someone jogging toward them made her stand. Bond turned to his left and saw Mr. Mendel, with a briefcase, coming up to them. Vesper again smiled, however Bond was a bit disappointed that they weren't private any longer.
"Monsieur Mendel!" Vesper greeted him. "How are things in Switzerland?"
Mendel reached them, and placed the briefcase on the table beside Bond. "My apologies, I do not mean to rush, but one hundred and fifty million dollars is a large sum of money."
"It certainly is," Bond acknowledged. "You didn't bring any chocolates with you."
"I'm afraid not." Mendel laughed. Bond was serious. He looked at Vesper. "If you would type in the account number?" She typed in the seven digit number. He looked at Bond. "And now the password?"
Bond looked up at Vesper. "You can do that."
"I would if I knew what it was."
"V-E-S-P-E-R"
She looked at him with a strong hint of sadness in her delicate features, though Bond didn't see it at all. She then smiled and typed in the number.
Mendel closed up the briefcase. "The funds have been transferred. Sorry for disturbing you. Auf Weidersehen."
Bond said, "Auf Weidersehen, Herr Mendel."
He looked over at Vesper, who had sat down in the seat beside him. Her make up was runny, like she'd just cried. "You know, James," she said in a quiet voice, "I just want you to know that if all that was left of you was your smile... and your little finger... you'd still be more of a man than anyone I've ever met."
He was taken aback by her words. This surprised him. Though he knew of his own feelings for her, he had assumed that her feelings for whoever gave her the Love Knot would be stronger than any she'd have for him. In response, he leaned toward her and said, "That's because you know what I can do with my little finger."
She smiled, and was on the verge of giggling. "I have no idea."
"But you're aching to find out."
She stared at him. A piercing stare. "You're not going to let me in there, are you? You've got your armor back on. That's that."
"I have no armor left." His voice breaking, he said, "You've stripped it from me. Whatever is left of me... whatever I am... I'm yours."
With little provocation, he took her inviting lips and they kissed.
111
A few weeks later, after Bond's final recovery, they found themselves under the bedsheets in Bond's hospital room. There, they kissed passionately as they undressed themselves. Once finished, it took little time before their kisses turned to love making. All the while, the rain pelted the building outside.
111
Two weeks after that, Bond and Vesper found themselves on a sunny beach in Italy. No one else was around for miles, except for the possible MI6 or CIA agent keeping tabs on them, but even they had probably wandered off to do something more important.
He came in from a quick swim and laid down beside her, her arms surrounding him.
"I suppose M won't miss me for a couple of days. She'll be too busy sweating Mathis."
Vesper went rigid. "Mathis?
"Remember I told you about Le Chiffre's tell?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, Mathis told Le Chiffre. That's how he wiped me out. Same goes for the implant. Can't say I'm too sorry about losing that."
"I can't believe it," she whispered.
"No, neither could I. I thought he had my back." He sighed. "But there you go. Lesson learned." A hard lesson to learn. And not one I'd like to learn again.
"Does everyone have a tell?"
"Yes," he said, sitting up. "Everyone. Except you." For mere minutes, though they seemed like hours, neither Bond nor Vesper spoke. They just stared at one another. Then, finally, Bond said, "I wonder if that's why I love you."
As if it hadn't been obvious before, Vesper asked, "You love me?"
He nodded. "Enough to quit, and float around the world with you until one of has to find an honest job. But, I think that's gonna have to be you, because I have no idea what an honest job is."
"You're serious?"
"Like you said: Do what I do for too long, and there won't be any soul left to salvage. I'm leaving with what little I have left. Is that enough for you?"
Her answer was a kiss, long and passionate. She laid down on her back, and Bond rolled on top of her. Somewhere, one of those MI6 look outs was probably reaching for a tissue.
111
The boat trip to Venice was slow, and wonderful. Vesper navigated, while Bond pulled out his laptop and began typing up his letter of resignation. He thought M would be thrilled to see it. Her loose cannon, leaving the Service and retiring to a life of ecstacy with an ex-treasurer. Yet, somehow, he pictured a somber look on her face.
Much like the one he felt himself wearing.
111
When they reached Venice, Vesper pulled out her camera phone and took pictures. Many, many years of her life, she'd dreamt of getting away from London and visiting Italy. Rome, Venice... her two favorite cities. There was much beauty to be found in Italy, ever since the Renessiance, when the country was its most beautiful.
As they neared the dock they chose to stop at, she caught sight of a man in a gray suit, wearing a hat. He seemed to be smiling, greeting the many sellers and fishermen throughout the docks.
And then he turned her way. And she saw that one of the lenses of his glasses was pitch black, much like an eye patch. And it was clear he was staring straight at her.
Then a small fisher's boat passed, and when she could see the dock again, the man was gone.