A Second Chance || James Bond ||
A/n: Part 2? Im not good with angst....I crave happy endings.
James woke with a violent gasp.
For one horrifying second, he didn’t know where he was.
His heart hammered against his ribs. His lungs burned. The nightmare still clung to him like smoke, refusing to let go.
He could still see it.
The blood.
The panic.
Your body growing colder in his arms.
Your smile as you asked if pigeons went to heaven.
Years of grief.
Years of drinking.
Years of missions that got more reckless with every passing day.
Then finally seeing you again at the end.Watching you hold out your hand.
Hearing you tell him heaven had pigeons.
The dream had felt so real.
Too real.
James sat upright in bed, breathing hard as sweat dampened the back of his shirt.
The room was dark except for the faint glow of the bedside clock.
Slowly reality returned.
His apartment.
His bedroom.
His life.
A soft sound from the hallway made his head snap toward the door, then it opened.
And there you were.
Alive.
Perfectly, wonderfully alive.
Sleep still clung to your features as you shuffled into the room carrying a glass of water. Your hair was messy from bed, your oversized sleep shirt hanging off one shoulder as you blinked against the dim light.
You looked entirely too normal for someone who had just been dead moments ago in his nightmare.
You yawned.
James was moving before he even realized it.
The mattress dipped as he crossed it in two strides and wrapped his arms around you.The water in the glass nearly sloshed over the side.
“James?”
His grip tightened.
You made a small noise of surprise as he buried his face against your shoulder.
The scent of your shampoo.
The warmth of your skin.
The steady beat of your heart beneath his hand.
All of it was real.
All of it.
“Hmm…” you mumbled sleepily. “Something wrong?”
James closed his eyes, he couldn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he simply held you tighter.
The calendar hanging beside the dresser caught his attention.
His stomach dropped.
Today’s date.
The date from the dream.
The date you’d died.
The date he’d planned to ask you to marry him.
The date he’d spent years mourning in a future that thankfully didn’t exist.
His fingers curled against your back.
A second chance.
That’s what this felt like.
A second chance he hadn’t earned but it was something that he was going to take.
You shifted slightly in his arms. “James?”
He kissed the top of your head. “No.”
The lie came easily.It always had.But this time it wasn’t to protect himself.
It was because there was no possible way to explain that he’d just lived an entire lifetime without you.
That he’d watched you die.
That he’d spent years trying to follow you.
Instead he just held you, held you in silence as wanted to make sure that you'd never disappear, then finally he spoke.
“I think I’d rather stay in today.”
You blinked slowly.
Confused.
“I thought you wanted to go out.”
He had.
Dinner reservations.
A ring hidden in his jacket.
Plans he’d spent weeks arranging.
In the nightmare, it had ended with blood on a sidewalk.
In reality?Suddenly none of it mattered.
“I’ve changed my mind.”
You studied him for a moment before shrugging peering up at him. “Hmm…okay.”
Trusting him without question.Just as you always did.The realization made his chest ache.
You set the water down and allowed him to guide you back toward bed.
A few moments later you were tucked against his side beneath the blankets.
James refused to let go.
One arm remained wrapped around your waist while his fingers lazily traced up and down your spine.
The simple movement grounded him.Kept the nightmare where it belonged.
Far away.
“James.”
“Hmm?”
Your voice was already drifting with sleep again, your fingers clutching his shirt. “Do you think pigeons go to heaven?”
For a second he froze.Then a laugh threatened to escape.
Not because the question was ridiculous.Though it absolutely was.
But because you had asked him that exact same thing.
In the dream.
In the nightmare.
In the future that would never happen, that he would make sure to not happen.
James looked down.
Your eyes were already closed.
Half asleep.
Completely unaware that you’d just shattered his heart all over again.
His hand moved to cup the back of your head.
“I believe they do."
The answer came easily.Because somewhere in another life, you’d convinced him they did.
A tiny smile appeared on your face.
“Hmm." You snuggled closer. “That’s good.”
Within seconds your breathing evened out.Fast asleep once more.
James remained awake.
Watching you.
Listening to every breath.
Feeling every rise and fall of your chest.
The ring hidden in his dresser suddenly felt very important.
Tomorrow.
He would ask tomorrow.
Not because he was afraid.
Not because he was rushing.
But because after dreaming of an entire lifetime without you, James Bond had discovered something terrifying.
There wasn’t a single day on earth he wanted to waste.
Pulling you closer, he pressed a kiss against your forehead.
Then, for the first time all night, he finally allowed himself to relax.
Because you were here.
Alive.
Warm.
Safe in his arms.
And somewhere, James thought with a faint smile, heaven probably did have pigeons.
