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Now, I must warn you – this story does not have a happen ending.
That doesn’t mean it’s a bad ending, just that it’s a sad one. Life is like that sometimes. But it’s important to remember that wherever there’s an ending, there is also a beginning.
James Bond knew this was true. When he was 11 years old, he lost his parents in an accident. Suddenly, everything at home that he once loved made him sad and angry. He eventually left that home for a new start, one that led him to become 007.
But now after many, many years he was returning to that home. Raoul Silva was hunting M and wouldn’t stop until he caught her, no matter who or what got in his way. James was sick of letting Silva get his way and decided to do something about it. He took M up to his old home – which was called Skyfall – where he planned to stop Silva once and for all.
M was none too pleased with James or with his idea. It felt cowardly to run away, but M didn’t like that people were getting hurt because of her and she wanted to stop Silva. So, she told James she’d go along as long as no one else went with them. That didn’t mean she liked it, especially when James had them change from MI6’s car to his favourite car, his fancy, classic Aston Martin.
“Is this your idea of sneaking away without being seen?” she asked. James smiled a small smile but otherwise ignored her, and soon they were leaving London.
James’ car was very nice to look at and had a lot of tricks built into it by Q branch. But that didn’t mean it was a comfortable ride.
“Terribly bumpy, isn’t it?” M complained.
James flipped open a hidden switch. “Are you going to complain all the way there?” he asked, hovering his thumb over the red button that would active the seat ejector.
“Oh, go ahead and launch me out of this car. See if I care.” M rolled her eyes.
James chuckled a little and closed the switch. While she would never admit it, he knew M was shaken by everything going on. And when she didn’t feel in control, she often got snippy. He knew she didn’t mean it and he would never really send her flying out of the car.
Even if some days he kind of wanted to.
~~
Skyfall was a very old house and wasn’t in good shape, but James and M still managed to set traps for Silva. It’s a good thing they did – Silva sent a bunch of men ahead of him to hunt them down. The attack was scary. They didn’t care who got hurt or what got broken. They even destroyed James’ beloved car!!
M and James fought back. They may have been outnumbered, but James was a very good double-o agent and M was clever. Still, it didn’t mean that no one got hurt; there were too many bullets and too much debris flying around from all the explosions. Something hit M hard in her side, but she lied to James, telling him that it was nothing.
Now, we all know that it’s not right to lie, but we also know that everyone hides things sometimes. (After all, a surprise party isn’t a surprise if everyone knows about it. Where’s the fun in that?) Getting hurt is definitely NOT something you should lie about, but M knew telling James wouldn’t help anything. Right now, the important thing was to defeat Silva. So, M put on a brave face and kept going.
Just when it looked like they had beaten back Silva’s men, James and M heard a helicopter. It was Silva! He flew a helicopter full of weapons to Skyfall and let everyone know he was there by playing very loud music. To him this was a game, and he planned to win.
James, on the other hand, was done.
He was done with the game, done with Silva and all his crazy stunts, and very VERY done with people trying to hurt M. It was time to end things. He sent M through a secret tunnel to a small building where she’d be safe and lured Silva close to the house.
He lured him closer… and closer… and then BOOM! James set off the last of the traps and followed M through the tunnel as Skyfall exploded.
This didn’t stop Silva, though. The explosion hurt him badly, but he still wanted his revenge. He saw lights in the small building across the field and made his way there.
It turned out to be a chapel, a type of a small church. He found M resting there and grabbed her. He pulled out a gun and started talking about how they both had to die. M tried to struggle, but she was too weak to pull away from him.
Suddenly, Silva screamed. He dropped the gun and his hold on M and turned around. James was there in the doorway, and a knife was now in Silva’s back. It was too much for his injured body – Silva fell over dead.
James tried to help M to her feet, but she couldn’t stand anymore. She finally admitted that she had been hurt. James could tell that it was worse than just being hurt – M was dying.
M knew it too. She was had always known that her work could get her killed. She was ready. But she knew it would hurt James. It was hard, being the one left behind.
“Well,” she whispered as she looked up at him and tried to smile. “With you… I know I got something right.”
And she was gone.
~~
Losing M was an ending for both James and MI6. But it was not the ending.
Many people mourned M’s death. She had been their leader for a long time. Even people who really didn’t like her agreed that she would be missed.
James missed her very much, although he tried very hard to not make it obvious. His feelings were his own, and he didn’t feel like he needed to share them with everyone. And that was okay. He would handle them in his own way.
A couple weeks after M’s death, James received a box she had left for him. Inside was a statue of a bulldog with a Union Jack flag over its back. M had always kept that on her desk as a reminder of what she was working for.
James had privately thought the dog was kind of ugly, but when he looked at it in the box, he remembered M and how at the end she had told him (in her own way) that he was doing a good job. He smiled to himself, put the box on a shelf, and put on his best work suit.
M was right – he had a job to do. Time to get started.