He had watched the tape countless times, he understood the instructions it held the first time but he needed to see if she was lying. Vesper was alive. The woman he had mourned for years, had finally let go as the necklace dropped in the Russian snow. She was alive. M knew, and she was alive but this couldn't be true. He would have found out somehow that she wasn't dead, as after all it had been just over 5 years since she was declared dead. 5 years, and no one had slipped up? She must have been just saying it just so he would definitely follow her orders to track down Marco Sciarra but what did Vesper have to do with it all? Maybe she was some kind of part of the puzzle to whatever syndicate Sciarra belonged to, either way he would have to remove Sciarra first before he did any digging into whatever should sit and stay in his past.

He spent weeks, planning how to remove the threat of Sciarra. Months, learning about Spectre and how Oberhauser always seemed to be one step ahead of him. How Oberhauser had eyes around the world, watching his every move, the sociopath even had a friend in MI6 with C. Then he met her. Dr Madeleine Swann, daughter of Mr White, the man who had controlled Vesper Lynd with her 'boyfriend' Yusef's 'kidnapping', the man who was head of Quantum was yet another pawn in the game of Spectre.

Madeleine was different though, she wanted no part in the criminal world, wanted no place in the world of spies she had been born into. She loathed him, loathed everything that he stood for but not for the same reasons that Vesper had. Vesper. She had remained in his mind since M had told him in that tape that she was alive. If he was honest with himself, then when he asked Moneypenny to research into who the pale king was, he would have asked her to investigate Vesper. Find her on cctv footage, put his mind to rest over whether she was still alive.

Vesper sighed, looking at the clock. 3am. 3am and she still hadn't gotten to sleep, rolling over she climbed out of bed to walk down to her office down the hall. Charlie was still asleep and would be for at least four more hours. It was half term so he didn't have to be up for school anyway, she could let him stay in later even if she couldn't do that herself. She might even have to call in sick as she won't be able to do her job properly whilst suffering from sleep deprivation. Not even just the sleep deprivation of that night but from the past week. All because of him. James bloody bond. She had been restless ever since she saw him on that first day by Kensington, it took that little from him to cause her undoing. She wanted to see him again, she wanted him to know, to meet his son. Of course this wouldn't happen though. The universe wasn't that kind.

Getting on with the basic level of reports she had to complete, she worked until 8:30 when she texted the nanny and rang work to say she wouldn't be in. By nine, Charlie was up and wondering in, rubbing at his eyes as he plodded in clad in Spider-Man pyjamas.

"Mama, are you not at work today?" he asked with a frown, climbing into her lap.

"No sweetie, I was feeling a little poorly this morning so I thought I would stay with you as you make me feel better." She hummed, kissing the tired boy's forehead.

"Yaaay, please can we go to the science museum and the park?" He asked, hugging her tightly.

"Of course my darling boy, breakfast first though. Well will also go out to lunch too." She smiled, following him as he bounded through the door and downstairs. It would be a good day today.

It was his first proper day of retirement and of course Madeleine had to be called into her new clinic, mi6 had pulled a few strings and now she was one of the leading psychiatrists at a private clinic in the city. He had far too much time now that he didn't know what to do, all he had was the gym to stay in shape. Instead, he had decided to laugh at the errors made in the mi6 exhibition in the science museum and to see the vehicles they had on show that he loved to see when he was a boy.

Entering the flight exhibition he was transported back to his youth, a memory of his parents bringing him to see the aeroplanes at this museum. Back then he was enthralled by it all, a dream of maybe becoming a pilot, life is endless at the age of six. Hearing a voice, he looked up to see a boy rushing across the permanent exhibition towards a seaplane. He was drawn to the boy for some reason, he carried an air of familiarity to him. He had never seen the boy yet he felt as though he knew him, glancing across slightly he saw the silhouette of the boy's mother. Her. M was right.

Standing up, he walked across the room, approaching the woman who had plagued his mind since her 'death'. He stared, grabbing her wrist as she looked up to see the man who had hold of her.

"James." She whispered.