** Spoilers for No Time to Die **
Secrets and Gifts
A James Bond/007 (Daniel Craig era) alternate universe one shot that explores what would have happened if Vesper's tomb had never blown up? What if Madeleine told James all her secrets?
The main characters are James Bond and Madeleine Swann, it is from the later's perspective. Lyutsifer Safin is mentioned and Mr. White does appear in a brief flashback.
This story is rated T for Teen for language and sensual situations.
The genres are romance, drama, and family.
"Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks." ~ Isaac Watts
"For me, love is magic; it's about trust and understanding. It's putting the other person before you effortlessly." ~ A. R. Hydari
Somewhere along the Italian coast, Madeleine Swann watches from the passenger seat of the Aston Martin DB5. Through the pounding afternoon rain, the backed up traffic, and the winding road along the coast, she could not see him. She had not been worried earlier when traffic had suddenly stopped. Now however, she could not do anything but worry.
Madeleine jumps as lightning crackles in the distance.
James Bond had been gone for awhile, he had not liked idly sitting here. After sitting here for nearly thirty minutes he pulled his gun out of the glove compartment, opened the car door, and went out into the pouring rain to see what was happening.
Madeleine had briefly protested, but knew there was no point. She knew James was restless and felt like a sitting duck—like they were going to be ambushed by SPECTRE or another enemy. She wonders if those old feelings and instincts would ever go away. She supposes they had been drilled into him between his time in the Royal Navy and MI-6.
Madeleine's blue eyes narrow as a figure marches along the side of the road.
There he is.
James carefully fast walks back to the car. He seems irritated, but unharmed.
Madeleine breathes a sigh of relief. She had been so worried a car would hit him. She watches the storm in the distance, or even lightning.
Watching him, Madeleine unlocks the car and a moment later, James opens the door.
"What is it? What's going on?" Madeleine shouts anxiously. She senses it was probably an accident or mudslide. The stormy weather had been sudden and hard.
"Automobile accident," James shouts through the pouring rain as he climbs into the Aston Martin DB5. He quickly slams the car door shut. He is soaked to the bone. "Pretty bad one, two fatalities," He breathes in and out, catching his breath. "Probably going to take at least a couple of hours to clean up and clear the road," He sighs as he leans back in his seat. Meaning it is going to be a long afternoon. They had originally planned and hoped to make it to Bologna or possibly all the way to Milan. Instead they would have to spend the night elsewhere. Possibly San Marino, it is not too far away.
James pulls the Walther PPK out of his inside jacket pocket and hands it to her. He ran his finger through his messy wet hair and looks around for something to dry off with.
Frowning, Madeleine opens up the glove compartment. She double checks to make sure the safety is on and places the gun inside its home. After looking around, she reaches behind her and finds a towel from their ocean swim. "Here," She hands it to him.
James thanks her and dries off his face.
Madeleine looks around, "Now what do we do?" She asks aloud. Though more to herself. Internally, she is deciding, is this it? Is now the time to tell him? Madeleine had considered telling him at breakfast, but he had seemed a bit preoccupied during their meal. Seeing Vesper's tomb had obviously drudged up a lot of old memories and feelings.
James stares at her with those intense, ocean deep eyes. Eyes one could easily lose themselves in.
Madeleine senses what thoughts occupy his mind as he leans forward to take off his soaked tan jacket. He tosses it into the backseat.
Then James's hand reaches across the center console gear shift. His eyes and fingers linger across the seat's upholstery and near her thigh. James looks at her mysteriously, as if he is deciding something as he playfully traces along the side hem of her white dress. Then his eyes rise to meet hers. "Well," He begins in a sensual voice. "We could..."
Madeleine raises a playful brow, "Yes?"
"You could help me out of these wet clothes," James said in a deeper, more sensual tone.
"James, " Madeleine tries not to smile, but utterly fails. She feels her self-control slip a notch.
James reaches over, "You look absolutely breathtaking in that dress." He says huskily as he kisses her neck. His hand presses along her inner thigh.
"James..." Madeleine's sighs as she closes her eyes.
This is not the time. True, the rain made it very difficult to see. Still, there are people around in the neighboring stopped cars, along with their families, and cellphones.
James leaves a trail of kisses up her neck. Next, his lips fall upon her jawline, cheeks, and lips.
Madeleine shudders, she opens her eyes as if waking from a dream. "No," She says between his kisses. Madeleine put a hand to his chest. "No, later," She replies while giggling. "Later," She says in a firmer tone.
James gives her an annoyed, but teasing look. He pulls up his collar, takes off his wet tie, and tosses it in the back. He studies her and his expression changes into a serious one. "You okay?" Echoing the words he asked her at the ocean.
"I am okay," Madeleine says, trying to give him a reassuring look. Though she is not certain she succeeds and the thunder makes her even more uneasy.
James fixes his collar and frowns, "No, you're not," He says cooly. He knows she has been distracted lately.
"Where did you go to? Today, by the water."
"Cher..." Again, Madeleine did not know if she wants to do this now. Nor did she wish to have a fight. It is already going to be a long afternoon.
James continues to frown, "You keep saying that, but there is something else." He pauses, "I know when a woman is afraid and pretending not to be."
Madeleine's lip trembles and closes her eyes. "Oh, James..." Her voice betrays a hint of emotion. She blames her damn hormones.
"Putting it off isn't going to make it go away." James's tone and expression softens. He sighs, "I don't want to have a row, but I did what you asked this morning, now will you tell me?" He demands. "You barely touched your breakfast." He waits a moment. "Why Norway?" That was all she had said to him. "What is there? Is this about your father?" Those blue eyes study her. "Something has happened," He says quickly. Though James could not decide what it might be. "Something has changed, hasn't it?" He concludes.
Madeleine lowers her eyes and looks up at him, "Everything has changed."
"What?" James pauses and asks, "What is it?"
Madeleine covers her mouth as she considers her next words carefully. She had not realized it, but what he said was true. She looks over at him. "James, you are right," She says quietly. "I am afraid." Terrified. When she should be excited.
"Shhh, don't be," James said soothingly. He gently slid his hand over hers.
Madeleine squeezes his fingers and nods her head. She tries to smile and fight back tears that threaten to leak. "I...am ready to tell you all my secrets."
"Alright," James gave a nod with his head. He seems relieved and a bit anxious.
Madeleine considers her words. "I have been thinking about my mother," She began. "I have been thinking about her a lot lately." She said quietly with a hint of emotion. "How...neglectful she was."
James quietly listens as Madeleine briefly went into detail regarding her mother's depression, drug use, and alcoholism. Her own diagnosis of her mother. She had even used her as part of her college thesis.
"I have been thinking about her a lot lately." Madeleine repeats as she pressed her lips together.
How she longs for her mother to be here now. There are so many things she longs to say and ask her.
How Madeleine silently plans to be everything her mother was not. Her left hand hovers near her abdomen.
"How my mother died," Madeleine's voice is heavy with emotion.
James raises a brow, "How did she die?" He finally spoke. He knew her mother had died when she was a child, but she had not gone into further detail.
Madeleine closes her eyes, exhales, and reopens them. "Remember how I told you a man came to my house to kill my father," She began.
James nods his head.
Madeleine told him about l'homme masqué outside the window. "I could not get her up. She kept saying go play! Leave me alone! Go play!" Tears well up in her eyes. "She was high, as usual."
Then she suddenly remembers something else her mother had said on that fateful day. "Is that who you love? Murderers?" Despite her mother's many flaws, she was right about many things. Even prophetic in her words.
James reaches over and laces his fingers with her own.
Momentarily, Madeleine stares at their intertwined fingers. Yes, those hands had blood on them and yet those same hands kept her safe and held her every night.
Then Madeleine continues her story about l'homme masqué. How she hid as he broke into the house and went into the sitting room where her mother was sleeping. "He said his name was Lyutsifer Safin and my father killed his entire family." She shrugs, "I don't know, maybe they were connected to SPECTRE," She guesses. Madeleine has no idea. She swallows as she continues her story, "Then...he shot her. Multiple times," A single tear rolls down her cheek.
James squeezes her hand.
Madeleine tells him about the gun, hiding under the bed, shooting her would-be murderer, pulling his body outside, the icy lake, and how he freed her.
James weighs her words carefully, "And this Safin just let you go?" He asks neutrally, trying to understand every detail.
"Yes," Madeleine nods, swallowing the lump in her throat. "It never entirely made sense to me either." Why hadn't Safin let her drown? Finished her off? He would have completed his quest for revenge. Even held her for ransom? Nor had it made sense to her father.
From inside the house, Madeleine watched as a man slammed the door of the black land rover.
"Madeleine! Madeleine!" Her father raced inside the house. "Oh, Maddie," He touched her face and hair. As if he was not certain she was real. "My God, you're alive. You're safe. Oh, my Maddie," He said over and over again. Tears threatened to leak out of the corner of his eyes. "You're alright. Oh, you're alright," He said in disbelief. "They told me— How did you escape? How are—"
"A man was here," Madeleine coldly whispered. She looked up at her father, she wore an expression he had never seen before. "He said Mr. White killed his family." Her eyes overflowed with tears and betrayal. "Is that you?"
Her father, Mr. White or "The Pale King" had killed his entire family. Until that day, Madeleine never really understood what her father did for a living. When she was young, she had always imagined him as a doctor. She supposed she found it easier to accept that he saved lives instead of taking them.
Over the years, Madeleine had come to the conclusion that perhaps Safin took pity because he saw her as an innocent caught up in the web of her father's sins. As he had been, if his family was indeed a tentacle of SPECTRE. However, he had originally meant to kill her, right? She had even shot him multiple times. Maybe she would find better answers in her father's files.
"I know I'll never forget the way Safin stood there, staring at me." Madeleine pauses, remembering the strange mask. She had researched it years ago, it was called a noh mask. It originated from Japanese culture, often in the performing arts. Perhaps the mysterious Lyutsifer Safin had grown up in that area or been trained there.
Madeleine would never forget those masked eyes. "For a moment, I swore he was not going to let me go," She swallowed and looked from side to side. "After he pulled me out, I got up and ran off." She remembers coughing, shaking, and stumbling on the snow and ice. "He did not follow me, he just...he left." It sounds bizarre. Unreal. "He just left...because he was injured?" She guesses, it made sense, he would not have been able to carry her very far or chase after her. "I contacted a close family friend." She arrived shortly afterward and took her to the nearest doctor. She spent several days in bed, the doctor said she was very lucky. All she had caught was a cold. "Eventually they were able to get ahold of my father." He was away on business as usual. "As for Safin, I have not seen him since...since that day."
"But..." James senses that is not entirely the case.
Nor is it.
Madeleine sighs, she does not want James to worry. He already has enough on his mind. Still, she wants to be open and honest with him. "When I was at Oxford and Sorbonne, there were times...I never saw him, but I swear he—someone was watching me." She has no proof, but she just knew it was him.
For a long time, Madeleine dismissed it as her father's goons watching over her. Later, she understood her earlier instincts were correct. Finally upon graduation, she changed her name, accepted a consultant position at the Medecins Sans Frontieres, and disappeared as best she could. She did not want Safin, her father, or the rest of that world to haunt her anymore.
"That's part of the reason I want to go home," Madeleine explains. "There is information on Safin in my father's safe room." Possibly even other useful information on SPECTRE.
"What is it with your dad and secret rooms?" James asks aloud.
Madeleine shakes her head, she has no idea and merely shrugs, "If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself." She supposes he also did not want his family stumbling upon his work.
James tilts his head in thought, "George Orwell?" He guesses.
Madeleine nods.
A smile crosses James's lips. "I have not read him since Oxford," He replies.
"Me either," Though Madeleine plans to read Orwell and a few other classics when they got home.
Then Madeleine told James her birth surname and the aliases she had used over the years. She did not know how much he had dug into her past, but she guesses he already knew some, if not most of this information. Still, she felt better in telling him everything. Laying all her cards out on the table. She did not want him to think she was hiding anything.
"Alright," James nods in acceptance. Judging by his tone and body language, he seems to think that was it.
Madeleine closes her eyes and reopens them. "James, there is one more thing..." She has absolutely no idea how he is going to react to her final secret—gift. It is something they have given each other. It is a gift of joy and terror.
James seems unworried as he glances at her. "An old boyfriend?" He said casually.
Madeleine wears a serious expression. "James, this is...big." It would change everything.
"Another enemy of your father's?" James guesses. His tone is serious, but calm and patient.
"Je suis..." Madeleine catches herself. She supposes she is nervous and speaking in her mother's tongue is more natural to her. However, James's French is nowhere near as fluent as her own. So she decides to say it in English. "James, I am pregnant."
James goes still as he stares at her in confusion. Then comes the comprehension as his mouth parts, his lower lip trembles, but he does not speak. Eyes widening, he blinks two or three times as he leans back against the headrest.
Madeleine watches him as everything their child meant cycles through his mind. She watches the shock and all the various emotions cross his face.
"Uh," James clears his throat. "Yeah, wow... Yeah, that's...that's big." Echoing her earlier word. Unexpected.
"Yes, it is," Madeleine replies.
James touches his face, "Are you certain?" He asks.
"Yes, I went to a clinic. I'm about six weeks along." Meaning it had happened during their time in Paris. They had barely kept their hands off each other in the City of Love.
James's eyes grew bigger as he nods, staring out the windshield.
Madeleine waits several moments. "James, I need to know how you feel, is this something you want?"
James remains still, but he wears a bewildered expression.
Again, Madeleine patiently waits.
"I...I don't know," James whispers, closing his eyes.
A few moments pass, "James?" Madeleine watches him, but could not decide what he is feeling.
Did he just smile?
If it was, it quickly turns into a frown. James reopens his eyes and faces her. "I never allowed myself to think about it," He explains, he briefly shakes his head in disbelief. "I honestly thought it would never happen. I thought I would die out in the field." Double-O's typically did not have long life expectancies. "In service to my country and..." James pauses, looks away, exhales, and looks back at her. "What I've done for a living, the things I've seen... I mean bringing a child into my world—" James meant his lifestyle and former occupation. "...This world." He meant the life they had both led living in the shadows and looking over their shoulders. "I just...I never thought it would be safe."
"Yeah, I get it." Madeleine says quietly. She crosses her arms as she stares out the passenger window. In the past few days, Madeleine had several of those same thoughts as well. Still, that was not the response she had hoped for.
They sat there in silence for several moments.
Madeleine watches the stormy weather outside the passenger window. She soon feels James's eyes on her, but she dares not look in his direction.
"But looking at you..." James says softly, "All I can think about is what our child is going to be like."
Stunned, Madeleine turns to look at him.
Yes, that is a smile forming across James's lips. "And I...I am not worried about the world."
"Really?" Madeleine whispers in amazement.
"Yeah," James says quietly, he keeps smiling. "You are amazing, for a million different reasons. You are kind, beautiful, you get me, and...and I love you."
This catches Madeline off guard. She knows he loves her, but she did not expect to hear him say it.
"I know I don't say it often enough." James stops and seems to consider something. He touches her arm, "Is that why you were unsure about telling me? H-how long have you known?" He asks quickly.
Madeleine knows that James loves her, but talking about feelings was difficult for him. She had studied and spoken with many police officers and combat veterans over the years. It is no different for people like James. Even her father. They did not have time for feelings. They had to compartmentalize their thoughts and emotions. Especially if they were protecting someone or dealing with a dangerous situation like someone shooting at them. They had to keep everyone, including themselves alive.
It does not mean the feelings were not there. It was there in the softness of James's touch, every kind glance, and every word.
"I know," Madeleine whispers. "I love you too," She reaches and caresses his cheek. "No, this—this completely blindsided me. I mean I am...I was on birth control, but I was not consistent in Paris. I should have been more careful," She shakes her head. Part of her could not believe she had been so foolish. She had always been careful. Madeleine looks in his eyes, "But I was not thinking about anything other than you and me."
They had been inseparable in Paris. They had visited the various tourist attractions, the parks, the little shops, cafes, and vineyards where they had drunk their fill of wine.
James nods in understanding as he watches her, he is having those same thoughts. "I was not either. We both should have." He laces her fingers with his own. James continues to stare at her in amazement. "How long have you known?" He asks again.
Madeleine thinks, how long had it been? "Almost a week." Has it really been that long? In some ways it seems like yesterday.
"A week? W-why didn't you say anything?" James asks with shock and concern.
"I wanted to make certain you left the past behind." Just as Madeleine was trying to. "James, you just left MI-6, and with everything that happened with SPECTRE and Blofeld and..." She stops. "I wanted to make certain you left all that behind before you knew everything." That was why she wanted to go to Matera. She wanted him to have closure, so they could focus on their future.
James silently nods as if everything suddenly made sense. Now he understood why she insisted he go to Vesper's grave.
"You were dealing with so much," Madeleine feels James has enough on his mind. "I did not want you to worry about l'homme masqué or this to be a burden." He still constantly looks over his shoulder and checks the area to make certain they are safe. She could only imagine how much he would hover over her in the coming months.
"A burden?" James says in disbelief. "Oh, darling, don't you know me better than that?"
"I do, I was just worried." She could not help it.
"Don't be," James kisses her hand. "I know stress isn't good for pregnant women."
Madeleine knows he is right. "I know," She says in agreement. Stress is not good for her. "And I was completely blindsided and shocked," She explains as she plays with her fingers. "I could hardly believe it. That was why I originally went to the clinic." A part of her was still in denial at that point. "I was certain it was a false positive. I never thought this would happen," She echoes his earlier words.
James frowns as he studies her, "We have discussed purchasing a home together, and..." He hesitates, "Possibly marriage, but not this..." He gestures at her abdomen. "Is this something you want?"
"I didn't, I mean I thought I didn't." Madeleine nearly smiles as she shakes her head. "After my parents' divorce and my father's line of work, I thought I didn't want any of that," Marriage and a family. "I was already constantly looking over my shoulder, I did not want to worry about a child too. I never thought it would be safe," She shakes her head, echoing his earlier words. "I wanted to focus on my work, spend my evenings at the local brasserie, fly off to Paris at a moment's notice." She smirks, "Have sex on the kitchen table and not worry if anyone walks in."
James returns the smirk, she knows he possesses similar thoughts. Upon his recent retirement, he wanted to travel around Europe. In the next year, they were planning to go to the Caribbean and maybe Australia. They were both enjoying traveling, seeing the sights, and being free. Having a baby would completely change that.
"After going back to L'Américain, I saw those pictures and all those memories," Madeleine smiles. "Yes, there were bad times." The fighting, the yelling, her father's secret world, her mother's depression, and addictions to name a few. "But there were a lot of great times too. Those voyages à la plage, chasse, skiing, faire de la pêche, Matin de Noël," She smiles as she thinks back to those magical days.
James smiles warmly at this notion too. She wonders what his childhood was like prior to his parents' deaths. He rarely spoke of them.
"I am still a little apprehensive about marriage." Her parents' divorce had been very hard on her, but she is warming up to the idea. Madeleine understands that she is not her mother. James is not her father. They did not have to be them. They could do this.
"But now that this is happening, I want it. James, I want skiing, Matin de Noël, and all those things." She reaches for him. "I am not naive, I understand with our pasts, we both carry risks," True, Blofeld is locked away in Belmarsh, but Madeleine understood there were plenty of other SPECTRE operatives out there. "But I am willing to take that chance." She did not want to live in fear anymore.
James nods, "You're going to be an amazing mother, and I'm...I'm going to be a disaster." He touches his face nervously. He seems both excited and terrified. "I have...no bloody clue what to do." He shakes his head helplessly. "I've never changed a nappy or anything."
"Oh, I haven't either," Madeleine began laughing. "We have a lot of things to figure out."
"Yeah, we do," James chuckles with her. Those blue eyes are full of wonder. "Wow..." He seems to be thinking about something, "I wonder if the Q-Branch has any useful gadgets on the subject."
Madeleine somehow doubts it. She touches her temple, shakes her head, and chuckles. "Oh, what are we going to do?" Neither of them had a conventional childhood or life in general.
James grins, "We are going to be happy and we are going to be safe. All three of us," He adds. "We have all the time in the world."
Yes, they did.
"Je t'aime," Madeleine whispers as she reaches for him.
"Je t'aime aussi," James replies while craning his neck.
Their lips meet and the world becomes perfect.
End.
Well? What do you think? Obviously Madeleine wanted to tell him that she was pregnant and about Safin. Would there be other things? I've often wondered what Bond's reaction would be, so I knew I just had to bring those ideas to life.
I've seen some people online wonder or say that Madeleine did not trust Bond in the opening. I don't believe it was that, I believe she just wanted to make sure he put the past behind him, so they could focus on their future. So to me it makes sense.
Madeleine's Surname: In an unused graphic in the film, SPECTRE, Friedrich König is revealed to be Mr. White's name. Though it could possibly be another alias since it means "King" and he was also known as "The Pale King". So König could be Madeleine's birth surname, perhaps it was Swann, and it was her mother's surname. Though I believe it makes sense for Madeleine to have changed her surname since she was trying to hide in SPECTRE. I decided to leave her name a mystery as to whether it's König or something else entirely.
Trivia: The George Orwell quote is from the 1984 novel. I also used a few quotes from the Craig Bond films like "I know when a woman is afraid" and "What is it with your dad and secret rooms?". I tried using some British words like bloody and "nappy" is slang for diaper. I also put in some French to make it seem more real. I didn't really know any French so I had to use Google, I hope everything is correct. If not please let me know.
French: L'homme masqué means "the masked man"; Voyages à la plage means "trips to the beach"; Chasse means "hunting"; Faire de la pêche means fishing; Cher means "dear", Je t'aime means "I love you"; Je t'aime aussi means "I love you too"; Je suis means "I am"; Matin de Noël means "Christmas morning".
I was reluctant to use the quote, "We have all the time in the world", since things did not end so well in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and No Time to Die, but in this case, they do have all the time in the world. I truly hope the next Bond has the happier ending that Lazenby and especially Craig's Bond deserved. He had been through so much. I think he deserved a happy ending or maybe I don't know, maybe I'd feel differently if it had been for Queen and country.
I enjoyed writing this story and there are not many 00Swann stories out there. Hopefully that will change over time. Writing this story has also served as a bit of therapy for me. I had a vague notion going into the theater on my first viewing though I was still in denial and hoping my assumption was wrong. Even still part of me could hardly believe it. I went back and rewatched the 4 previous Craig Bond films and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Then I went to the theater again and I just sobbed. I think it was when he was climbing up the ladder. I've now seen the film 4 times. I like it, it's certainly made me think with all the callbacks to all the past Bond films, novels, Greek mythology, and everything. Still, it's not the ending I wanted.
ETA: 12/5/21
I hope the characters' reactions, thoughts, and dialogue seems real and in character. Please let me know what you think and leave a review.