The Healing Hands of Time

Chapter One

At the end of Goldeneye, Alec Trevelyan is crushed by a tonnes of falling metal and inevitably, is killed. But what if he didn't die? Once again James Bond comes out of an operation unscathed- but this time he's not the only one……….

Disclaimer: I don't know who owns Goldeneye and its characters but it definitely ain't me. I do however, own one or two additional characters in this story.

I have in no way changed the events in the film, all I have done is provided a possibility of what happens next. I have adopted a new policy of 'DON'T LIKE DON'T READ' which I think is wise- then everyone remains happy. As for the idea behind this story- I am a huge Sean Bean fan- 'Flightplan' is great- he's a groovy pilot.

The sun had gone down long ago, along with James's mood. A year ago today. He remembered it well, not that he wanted to, but there were some things you just couldn't forget. He had killed his best friend- and what was worse, he'd done it twice. No. Alec had betrayed him. He had swapped sides and faked his own death, making James believe that he had killed him in that careless operation. Only once then. Only once had he killed his friend and colleague, but the second time he had done it for real. Why the guilt? It was a fight to the death, and an unfair one at that. Alec was a traitor, a dangerous criminal. Surely the life of a hero was worth more than that?

James spent the summer evening gazing into the star-filled sky, trying after a year, to justify his actions.

Natalya sat at her desk, contemplating her options. She could go and rouse him from his thoughts, try to release him from his guilt. Or she could leave him to work it out for himself. It wasn't like he had much to feel guilty about- Alec had been a disgusting, vile traitor, the kind of guy that people in James's profession were employed to rid the world of. She would have done the same, only sooner. Still, they had been friends before hand. 006 and 007. For Queen and Country….

She jumped as the telephone burst into life on the desk in front of her. It rang twice before she had composed herself and picked it up.

"Hello?" Her voice was heavy with her Russian accent.

There was a slight pause.

"Hello Natalya. How have you been?"

The voice was familiar, eerily so, but she couldn't place it.

"Can I help you?" she said, leaning her tired head on her hand, the phone in her other hand.

"Actually it's James I'm after. I need a helping hand from my old friend."

There was a hint of something very bitter in the man's words that gave away his identity. There was a lengthy silence as she sat up and ran it over in her mind. It couldn't be him. It couldn't be because she had seen him die. Watched it with her own eyes. She took a deep breath.

"Who are you?"

"You know who I am Natalya, don't pretend." His voice was almost teasing. It un-nerved Natalya, as much as if he'd actually been standing in front of her.

"Do you know what time it is?" She hoped it was a prank, someone messing around.

"Does it matter? A friend in need and all that……"

Natalya was starting to panic. She walked slowly to the open door of the office and peered around it. She could see James out on the veranda, still staring into the sky. She glanced at the filing cabinet, then at the gun that lay on top of it.

"It's ok Natalya, I won't hurt you. My quarrel is with him- and I don't plan on hurting him either. Not that he didn't hurt me."

"Look, I don't know what the hell you are playing at but it's not funny…." her voice shook as she laid her hand on the gun.

"Why don't you leave the gun, sit back down and we can talk. A lot can happen in a year, and we needn't rouse James from his stargazing to discuss it."

She froze. How did he know?

"Don't be alarmed, Natalya."

His voice had changed- he was walking with the phone in his hand. She spun around to face the window- it was completely covered with a heavy curtain. He couldn't know, it was all just guess work.

"It's not loaded anyway, it won't be much use."

She dropped the phone onto the desk and picked up the gun. He was right. It wasn't loaded. She gasped and glanced out at James again. Should she call him? The phone was silent. She picked it back up and slowly raised it to her ear.

"What do you want?" she whispered.

"I told you, I want us to talk. Just you and me. We needn't involve James just yet."

"I don't understand…."

"You don't need to understand. You just need to listen."

"I am."

She didn't know what to do. She could run outside to James, tell him everything. Would he believe her? He probably wouldn't want to believe her. She didn't want to believe herself.

"Listen, meet me inside the old church. I won't ask you to come unarmed, but please, don't involve James." He sounded sincere.

Natalya closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Ok."

The phone went dead.

Natalya sat and considered it for a moment. It wasn't possible. It physically wasn't possible. And just to prove that to herself, she would go to the church. James didn't need to know.

She stood up and unlocked the filing cabinet. Inside was a loaded gun and a knife. She strapped the knife to her ankle and pulled her jeans down over her shoes. Pulling her coat on, she tucked the pistol inside it and left the mansion as quietly as she could.

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He he he……..guess who? I have plans for the story.

You made it this far, so as always, please take the time to R&R and I shall try to return the favour with you.