Ashleigh ran.

The corridors seemed endless and all looked the same. Blank white walls with the same mid blue, bland and soulless carpet. She felt her chest tighten with the effort, as each step seemed to take her further away from safety, but closer to her prey.

She was the hunter.

Jasmin was half the corridor length in front of her. Adrenaline and fear gave the other woman's feet wings. She was light footed, swift and accurate in her steps in the way that only the pursued can be.

Ashleigh could think of nothing but catching her. She focused on the bounce of Jasmin's dark curls and the slim body in the black trousers and extremely fitted black ski jacket. Even now, Jasmin's vanity was clear.

Jasmin turned, and Ashleigh saw the fear in her hazel eyes. She felt a flicker of pity, but hardened herself against it. She told herself that she could not allow herself to feel anything; she just had to catch up with her.

For a moment as Jasmin rounded a corner once more, she was out of sight and Ashleigh surged forward, not willing to risk this for anything.

She skidded round the corner in time to see Jasmin bashing on a door. Jasmin panicked, and slammed her full weight against the door which flew open, propelling her through it. Then she was gone.

Crashing through the door herself, Ashleigh was almost blinded by the glare of the sun on snow. White light seemed to envelope her; the wind caught at her and threatened to throw her off balance. She searched frantically, and leaning over the railing of the narrow ledge, she saw Jasmin reach the bottom of a flight of concrete steps. Jasmin glanced up at her, and for a moment they stared at each other, Ashleigh almost directly over the top of her.

Jasmin ran, kicking the powdery snow up behind her.

It forced Ashleigh into action. She vaulted over the railing and fell the single storey to the ground. The snow only did so much to cushion her landing and she crashed to the ground, rolling several times. She lay stunned for a moment, snow in her mouth and hair, cooling her flushed face. Shaking her head, she heard a noise, as a petrol engine spluttered into life. She lifted her face from the snow and saw Jasmin straddling a skidoo. She glanced back, a triumphant smile on her red lips and revved the throttle.

The buzz of a second engine penetrated Ashleigh's stunned consciousness. There was a guard shouting, he was standing tall on the slim machine, shouting orders. He was pointing frantically at the fallen spy. Stumbling to her feet, Ashleigh faced him down. The man smiled, cruelly, seeing the woman in a humble, submissive position.

It was a mistake. As he rounded the machine closer to her, she lashed out, her forearm striking hard across her throat. The momentum carried him backwards, throwing him hard into the snow. He coughed fiercely, but managed to reach out toward Ashleigh as she threw a leg over the machine. It was his second mistake. Her booted foot met the underneath of his chin, and this time as he hit the snow, he was definitely unconscious.

Ashleigh pointed the skidoo up the hill, following the tracks of Jasmin. She would find her.

*

Jasmin was in pain.

The skidoo had been awkward to control, fickle and slippery beneath her hands. She had misjudged a jump, not seeing the large rock underneath the piled up snow. There had been a brief moment of flight, and Jasmin had thought that she had been safe, but suddenly, the machine had landed, flipped, and Jasmin had been twisted underneath. She lay panting in the snow, the cold of the soft substance a sharp contrast to the hot metal that was pressed into her calf. Slowly she tried to work her way free, all the time hearing the quiet buzz of another engine getting closer and closer.

Her heart was pounding, her mouth was dry. Blind panic was driving her on, but she was trapped here, even as she clawed at the snow around her leg.

Ashleigh was coming after her.

She moaned at the thought. The horror that had filled her as she had spotted the other woman had almost rid of her the joy she had felt as she had seen James.

James might have helped her. He might have been able to see her, but not while Ashleigh was there.

She was surprised by how much she had cared for James, how much his presence had soothed her. Now she realised it had only given her false hope. Reminded her just how insignificant she was in the great scheme of things. Yet Ashleigh knew. Ashleigh would not let Jasmin get away with any of the slights that she had dealt her. She may not have a maternal bone in the body, but Jasmin knew that Ashleigh would fight to the death for her daughter.

That she had been forced to do so by Jasmin's actions.

Jasmin sobbed a single high pitched noise that tore itself from her throat. It was over almost before it began. She frantically began to dig, the heavy machine pressing her hard into the ground. It took sheer physical action to get her leg free; she had to forcibly wrap her hands around her calf and pull, gritting her teeth as another layer of skin surrendered to the metal.

She struggled to her feet, the noise of the engine ever closer. Here she was just out of sight, just over the ledge. Below her, Ashleigh was gaining, closing the distance bit by bit, metre by metre.

There was a small copse of trees ahead of her, two hundred metres or so away. Staggering as she moved, she ran for the meagre shelter.

*

Slowly, Ashleigh brought the skidoo to a stop. She coasted lightly in a circle, watching the woman in black slip amongst the trees. She pulled the gun free from under her jacket and carefully checked the clip. She began to walk towards the trees, the gun held loosely in her hand, bouncing gently against her thigh with every step.

*

The copse hadn't offered as much protection as Jasmin had hoped. She had radioed into Le Loup's men, begging for support, but she knew that she was very low on their list of priorities. She had hoped to hide, to wait it out, to hope against hope that she would be protected.

Jasmin Van Dien suddenly felt very alone and very exposed.

Even more so when she heard the rustle of footsteps in the snow behind her.

Jasmin turned.

Ashleigh was walking towards her, gun held to her face, peering along the sight. Irrationally, Jasmin found herself respecting the woman for having come this far alone. It seemed like forever since they had shared a drink on the terrace in Cuba. She may actively dislike the woman, but she could still give her respect. Albeit grudgingly.

'They're coming for me,' Jasmin snapped.

With an exaggerated look around, Ashleigh shrugged. 'I don't see anyone here but you.'

It infuriated Ashleigh that even though Jasmin's trousers were shredded on one leg, and with a look of fear on her face, she was still beautiful. The adrenaline had caused a pink flush to come to her cheeks, her hair was tousled. She could see what James saw in her. She looked vulnerable. Harmless. Yet this was the woman who had sold her daughter's soul down the river. Who had tore her family apart.

Ashleigh's resolve tightened, and she adjusted her grip on the weapon.

Jasmin's shoulders slumped. 'He'll kill me,' she said simply.

'Le Loup?'

'Merkalov,' Jasmin confirmed. 'He's insane.'

'You're frightened of him?'

'Yes,' Jasmin licked her dry lips. It was cold in the mountains and she was starting to shiver. The pain in her leg was bothering her too.

'Is that why you told him about my daughter?'

The question caught Jasmin off guard. She hesitated a moment too long and when she finally did speak, it was obviously insincere. 'Yes.'

'Really? I don't believe you,' Ashleigh said lightly. 'So what was it? Money?'

Jasmin remained stubbornly silent.

'Power? Fast cars? Fast men? What is the going rate for betraying your country nowadays? Alec at least had world domination in his sights.'

'It wasn't like that,' Jasmin scowled sulkily.

'Of course it wasn't, it never is,' Ashleigh gave a cold smile. 'So give me one good goddamned reason why I shouldn't hand you over to MI6 right now.'

Jasmin tilted her chin into the air. 'Because if you wanted to hand me over, you'd have never have let me run.'

Ashleigh's smile widened into a vicious parody of a grin. 'How true,' she agreed jovially. 'Will Le Loup really kill you?'

'I've outlived my usefulness.'

'I see. You handed him my daughter on a plate, shortly followed by my husband. You managed to wrap James Bond around your little finger, and as of right now there is a little plaque with your name being erected at MI6 for us to all wail and moan before. You're already dead, Jasmin. Don't you know that? I saw you killed.'

'Let me go,' Jasmin said carefully, 'and I'll tell you where you can find Alec.'

Ashleigh snorted. 'Not good enough. There's only one thing I want. My daughter. You took her away from me. You took my child.' Ashleigh looked carefully, critically at the other woman. 'Do you have family? A mother? A father?'

'A father. A brother.'

'Do you love them?'

'I haven't seen them for a long time.'

Ashleigh nodded. 'I don't have a family, you see. Well, I didn't. I had James, but he doesn't really count. Before I met Alec, I was alone. A few distant relatives, not really family as such. Then there was Alec. And he gave me the most precious thing in the world. Something I didn't even know I wanted. A daughter, a family. Until the day that you took all that away from me. You and Le Loup walked into my life and you took my daughter. And I will never forgive you for that. I will never forgive him. Even if I find her, safe and well, I will never forgive you.'

Ashleigh paused. 'Tell me she's okay.'

'She's fine. She was ill for a little while, with chickenpox, but she recovered well.'

'And Alec?'

'What about him?' Jasmin said warily.

'Did you sleep with him?'

'No.'

Jasmin was really shivering now. She was staring at Ashleigh with wide eyes and Ashleigh felt a sudden coldness sweep over her. Alec had always believed in revenge and suddenly, it was here in front of her, just for her taking.

Revenge was sweet.

Turning slightly to one side, Ashleigh quickly clicked the safety off the gun and fired several times into the hard packed earth. Snow exploded into the air as the bullets thudded heavily into the ground.

Jasmin leapt backwards but to her credit, remained silent. She stared at the other woman, fear clear on her face.

Ripping the clip from the gun, Ashleigh showed it to her.

'One left,' she said softly. 'Now run.'

Jasmin simply stared, her eyes flickering between the clip in Ashleigh's hand and her cold, hard, brown eyes. She hesitated only a moment longer before turning on her tail and trying to run through the deep snow.

With cold, calculated movements, Ashleigh slid the clip back into place and eased back the safety.

She had only run a matter of yards, but Jasmin paused. Slowly she turned round. Her dark hair framed her head like a wild halo; even from here Ashleigh could see the red of her lips and the brilliance of her green eyes. She stood tall and straight, slim and lithe in her black skiwear. Proudly. Defiantly. Resolutely. Perhaps even resigned.

The gunshot was loud in the silence, even louder it seemed than the previous, rapid shots. It echoed into the mountain air and there was the drifting smell of smoke in Ashleigh's nostrils. She'd felt the recoil of the weapon in her hand, the jolt when she had fired. Her hand tingled.

Jasmin crumpled to the ground.

Slowly, Ashleigh began to walk towards her.

Even in death, she was beautiful. Her hair fanned out around her, the rich olive of her skin only just beginning to pale. Her eyes were open, staring into the beyond, the colour just starting to fade. Reaching down, gently, almost a caress, Ashleigh ran her hand over them, closing them, settling the long, dark lashes against the high cheekbones.

The bullet had hit her squarely in the chest. Death would have been instantaneous. Small mercies, Ashleigh thought. She expected to feel more. Instead there was nothing but a faint sense of triumph and relief. Blood trickled from the chest wound, a dark, wet stream on the black fabric until it met the snow covered ground, spreading slowly through the frozen crystals. At first a faint, pink diluted stain, it rapidly became darker, more vivid.

Blood on the snow.

There was no time to eulogise, no time to feel. Ashleigh stood, turning back towards the abandoned skidoo.

The first man stepped slowly out from behind the tree. There was a band of gold around one of his fingers. She saw it as he raised the automatic weapon to shoulder height. He was the first of several.

She was surrounded. All the men were armed. They ordered her to surrender.

Slowly, Ashleigh raised her hands, her pistol dropping from her right hand as she did so. They stepped forward, closing in on her, none of them paying any attention to the dead woman laying in the snow.

At last, Ashleigh thought. At last.