alternate ending to no time to die where james does not, in fact, have time to die:
he’s still poisoned. he can’t be in physical contact with madeline or mathilde, but he makes it off of the island. q does work on a cure, but in the meantime, james is isolated in the same sort of glass tank that silva was kept in. the irony both amuses and stings. but it’s worth it, because he gets to meet his daughter.
madeline brings mathilde to see him and finally introduces him as her father. he smiles, looking thoroughly exhausted and deeply pained and more human than he has in years. he says hello. she’s still shy with him—so he shows her that he’s kept the stuffie she dropped. he apologizes for being unable to return it yet and promises that, as soon as he’s better, she’ll have it back.
but most importantly, while james is in his pseudo hamster container, he begins to learn that he matters. not as a weapon—a blunt instrument.
eve spends her lunch breaks on the floor beyond the glass, teasing him and sharing gossip. q drops by late in the evenings to show off his latest gadgets. madeline brings mathilde, who listens in wonder to the sanitized stories he’s willing to share. james has friends. has a family. he has, and he isn’t used to that feeling.
james isn’t destined to die in service of a country that sees him as replaceable. he isn’t living on borrowed time: he has nothing but time.
