There's Always Hope

"Get out of there, 007."

"Okay." The double-oh-agent switched off his earpiece and started to turn back towards the road. But then a sinking feeling hit Bond hard in the gut and he felt a cool chill creep up his spine. He took out his gun and turned back towards the warehouse with every nerve suddenly on edge and crept forward into the darkness. He stopped at the back corner, aiming his gun towards the sky and took a deep breath before peeking around the wall of the warehouse.

The target moved around efficiently in the semi-darkness, more intent on what he was doing than on any concern that he might be interrupted. Bond took one more deep breath to prepare himself before stepping out to aim at the suspect.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!" The target froze quite calmly and slowly raised his hands, a phone in his right one. Bond leveled his gun on the man and approached him slowly. "Put your phone down very gently," the double-oh-agent ordered.

"Alright." The man said, in an unshakably voice. "I'll put it down. How about right here on this crate in front of me?"

"That's fine."

The target lowered it slowly to sit it on the crate. But the man already dialed a number and the explosion threw Bond into a nearby stack of wooden pallets.

ooOoo

Bond wanted to have a son with Q's eyes. Maybe they could find a surrogate…

The smell of burning wood woke the double-oh-agent from the dream… everything hurt and it took Bond a while before he could move and remembered where he was. He looked around but the target was gone. Bond got to his feet and searched the ground until he found his gun.

The warehouse, old and dry as it had been, was completely engulfed in flames and Bond could hear the distant sound of sirens. He stumbled towards the crates where the man had been standing and hurried along the backs of the buildings. From the looks of the crates, the suspect hadn't escaped the force of the blast. Bond had no idea how long he'd been out but he hoped his enemy had taken an equal amount of damage.

Blood trickled down into the double-oh-agent's eyes and the heat from the burning warehouse was almost too much to bear. Bond was nearly ready to give up in order to escape the dangerous flames when he saw the front end of a white van parked on a dirt access road at the other side of an old pharmacy building.

The man limping around the truck probably expected to drive away and disappear into the night while everyone was focused on the flaming buildings behind him. Bond leveled his gun at the man's back. "Stop! You're not going anywhere."

The target chuckled. "You couldn't just lay there for a few minutes more, now could ya?"

"I'm afraid not. You have too much to answer for, so turn around slowly." As the suspect turned, Bond regretted his instruction almost instantly when he saw the gun in the man's hand.

ooOoo

The man had never hesitated in his whole life… not for any person or in any situation. So he didn't hesitate now. His first bullet hit the double-oh-agent in the side, spinning him away and sending Bond's shot into the back of the old pharmacy which was now burning like a kindred spirit to the warehouse. His second bullet stopped Bond's heart.

The man holstered his gun and climbed into his van. With any luck, the whole block would go up, either masking or destroying the evidence. He backed out of the little access road and headed out of town.

ooOoo

Chrissie Miller checked her monitors one more time and glanced up when the big double doors swung open. "That's the most beautiful man I've ever seen. Who is he?"

Her co-worker Millie chuckled and put a firm hand under Chrissie's chin to close her mouth. "That's Ian, the Quartermaster. He's here every night."

"Oh dear God, Millie, please tell me he doesn't have a girlfriend?"

"Sorry, honey, it's even worse than that. He's Commander Bond's husband."

"Oh." A sad look washed over Chrissie's face and she glanced down at the monitor. The readings were stable, but only because machines were helping the double-oh-agent breath.

"It's a sad thing." Millie explained. "He comes in every night and sits there talking' to his husband. He just won't give up."

"I don't know if I can do this work for a long time, Millie."

Millie gave her a sad smile. "Just remember that for every tragic loss you have to watch, you get to see at least one miracle cure. You have to learn to look forward to the miracles cause they're well worth it. Why don't you go check on Commander Bond? Ian is a real nice guy."

Chrissie took a deep breath and put on a pleasantly professional smile before walking into the double-oh-agent's room. The Quartermaster was sitting next to his husband's bed talking to him quietly.

"Hi there. I'm Chrissie Miller. I'm Commander Bond's nurse this shift." She shook the Quartermaster's hand, then washed hers and checked the patient's IV.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Ian Bond, James' husband. How did he do today?"

She smiled. "He did just fine. Eve Moneypenny came to sit with him for a long time this afternoon. His vitals are stable." She put on her more serious nurse face, "Of course he's still unresponsive."

Q nodded, smiling down at the double-oh-agent in the bed, hopefully. It'd been six weeks since Bond was found without a pulse behind a burning building. It was uncertain how long he'd been there before he was found and he'd been on life support since they brought him in. She honestly didn't think he would hold on much longer, but she didn't know how to say something like that to a patient's loved ones.

"You just let me know if you need anything."

"Okay, we will."

Chrissie walked back out to the nurses' station and put her head down on her arms. Millie patted her on the back. "That's about the saddest thing I've ever seen."

"It takes some folks a while to let 'em go."

ooOoo

Q leaned over to kiss Bond's cold fingers as tears ran down his cheeks. "You gotta wake up soon, James, cause I think I can love nobody else." There was the gentlest pressure on his fingers and Q raised his head, his eyes suddenly wide. "What was that?"

He felt it again.

ooOoo

Chrissie watched the monitors at the nurses' station as suddenly the Quartermaster raced to the door of the double-oh-agent's room, slipping on the polished tiles and nearly falling. 'Oh dear God,' she thought. 'Not tonight."

She hurried over to catch the Quartermaster's arm expecting some problem that might finally signal the end for the double-oh-agent. But the tears running down the Quartermaster's cheeks were the tears of desperate hope and he was smiling… a beautiful smile.

"He squeezed my hand!"

"What?!"

"I told him I can't love nobody else but him and he squeezed my hand!"