Title: The ones left behind
Author: Carmarthen (lacorneille@earthlink.net)
Fandom/Pairing: James Bond movies, Die Another Day and Tomorrow Never Dies; past Wai Lin/James Bond (canon), implied Zao/Moon (which could be nonexistant)
Disclaimer: So very not mine. Bond is Ian Fleming's and the movies are property of MGM and probably a few other companies. Not mine, anyway, although I wouldn't mind a Zao of my own, hopefully minus the sociopathy.
Rating: PG for vague adultish themes
Spoilers: Vague spoilers for Tomorrow Never Dies, definite spoilers for the first half of Die Another Day.
Warnings: Contains mention of someone having sex with Bond if that squicks you (it's canonical, but still). Contains incredibly vaguely implied homosexuality which you could ignore quite easily. Contains mention of violence and violent fantasy. The usual.
Summary: Zao took out three Chinese agents before he was captured. What if Wai Lin was the one who brought him in?
Archive: My personal site (http://thewritegirls.populli.net/carmarthen); who the hell else would want it? Ask first, I suppose.
Notes: According to the godawful novelization, Korean is not among the languages Wai Lin speaks, but I figure she's had time to pick up another one along the way. General Koh is apparently her superior, again according to the novelization. Her name is a bit more problematic. In the movie, she is referred to as "Miss Lin" by Carver and as "Colonel Lin" at the end. In the novelization, she introduces herself as "Lin. Wai Lin," which implies that her name is Lin Wai and she's westernizing it. The problem is, Bond addresses her as "Wai Lin," and throughout the novelization, she is referred to as "Wai Lin," which is slightly bizarre. Anyway, I went with the Lin Wai theory and refer to her as Lin. The title is a paraphrase of "How does it feel to be the one who's left behind?" from the title song of GoldenEye.

Thanks to afrai and spirrogg for constructive criticism

The ones left behind

"Your freedom came at too high a price."
"Zao?"
"He tried to blow up a summit between South Korea and China. Took out three Chinese agents before he was caught."
-M and Bond, Die Another Day

"Charles Robinson," the British agent said, holding out a hand. "MI-6."

"Wai Lin, People's External Security Force," she said, accepting his hand and shaking it. "I'm in charge of this operation." Now, she left unspoken. Better not to dwell on those who had died.

She thought briefly of asking Robinson about Bond. She had wondered, sometimes, what had happened to him. Their time together had been a rare gift -- something frowned upon but understood -- the chance to bed someone who understood without jeopardizing ties within one's own community. It had been freeing -- enough, almost, to get her through the following years without wearing away too much of her humanity. Bond, underneath his flippant exterior, had done a remarkable job of preserving his sanity, given their line of work.

But she thought better of it. It was better not to know, really, what had happened to him.

Zao had killed two agents by then; three by the next week. Lin felt herself growing colder, more brittle by the day. Robinson was no use; information they had enough of, and it wasn't as if a man with diamonds embedded in his face was unobtrusive anywhere, particularly as a Korean in South China.

They knew where he was. The problem was getting to him.

Lin got off with a cracked rib and a few bruises, but at least she was still breathing, and Zao was captured. No more dead agents.

A cracked rib was nothing.

Lin tried to tell herself this, even as she lay awake at night, her ribs aching, trying to breathe despite the constriction of her bandaging.

How old was too old, anyway?

The cell door closed behind Lin and locked with a soft chink. She remained as far from Zao as possible, which, although he was curled into a corner of his cot, was not very far. He had his arms wrapped around his knees, the handcuffs displayed prominently.

She wanted to see him bleed his life out on the threadbare cotton sheets of the prison. She wanted to see him suffer, to see him break. She wanted him to beg her for mercy, and it terrified her. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Kill only when it was unavoidable, joke to keep from going mad, don't get involved. Don't let it get personal.

Breathe, she reminded herself, for she'd been holding her breath since she entered the cell. Her exhalation sounded harsh and loud in her own ears. Breathe.

"The agents you killed were my friends," she said in her halting, accented Korean.

Zao did not move.

"All I want to know," Lin said, "is why."

Zao stared at her sullenly for a moment, then met her eyes and rasped softly, in careful English, "Because he did not come back for me."

He said no more, but one cuffed hand crept up to brush against the diamonds embedded in his cheek and there was something very much like sadness in his eyes.

Lin left.

"What's to be done with him?" she asked one of the officials in her department later.

He shrugged. "The British want him, to trade for one of their own. I don't like it, but...I am not MI-6."

"Did they say who?"

He paused and looked at her sharply. "Yes. Mr. Robinson said you might know him. Commander Bond."

Oh, James, she thought. Better you should die than to let this one go free.

"I met him once," she said.

He raised an eyebrow, but when she didn't elaborate, he said, "General Koh would like to see you, Colonel Lin."

"Sir."

A week later, deep undercover, Lin saw an advertisement in a magazine and froze in a harsh flash of realization. She understood Zao's words at last, but it was too late. All she could do was hope, and continue her mission.

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