Sometimes a bad day at work can provide great inspiration.

James, just back from his latest mission swiftly made his way up to M's office. As it was still rather early he was almost certain she would not have left for the day yet. As he entered the outer office he saw Bill Tanner sitting at Eve's desk working on the computer and the door to M's office was open, but the light was off which seemed odd as left she never her office door open

"Good afternoon Tanner, Where's M?" asked James slightly puzzled

"Good afternoon 007" replied Tanner not looking up from his monitor

"Well" said James a bit impatient

"Right. She's...she's not here at the moment"

"Well I deduced that from the fact that her office light is off. Can you tell me where she is?" he asked

"I really don't know" replied Tanner evasively

"What do you mean you don't know. You're her assistant aren't you? isn't it your job to know where she is?" asked James a bit more insistently

"Look...007" said Tanner leaning across the desk and lowering his voice "All I know is that she left for a private meeting hours ago and then phoned and said she would be out for an extended amount of time"

"Well what the hell does that mean? An extended amount of time?"

"I have no idea, honestly. It's not like her to just up and leave with no explanation. I wish I could tell you more, but I just don't have any answers" he replied sounding a bit bewildered

"It's alright Tanner. I'll see what I can find out. Who was her meeting with anyway?"

"It was with Mr. Mallory and some other members of the Security and Intelligence Committee" he replied

James left the office slightly confused and very concerned. It wasn't like M to just leave with no explanation. Something was wrong, very wrong and he was determined to find out just what it was, so he headed straight for M's flat. Once he arrived at her flat he did his usual routine of clearing the area before prying open the kitchen window and letting himself in carefully so as not to be seen by her neighbors. This was a bit trickier than usual as it was still fairly light outside, but he managed to enter without being seen just the same. The flat was extraordinarily quiet as he made his way thru to the sitting room only to find it empty. He continued to search the flat until every last room had been checked thoroughly but she wasn't there. "Well I'll just have to wait" he thought as he sat down on her sofa. the minutes turned into hours and before he knew it, it was going on a quarter to three in the morning and still no M. The concern he had been feeling quickly turned to full blown panic as he dialed Tanner.

"Tanner...Yes I know it's quarter to three in the morning but M's missing. She hasn't returned home...Never mind how I know that, Just believe me when I tell you she isn't here." the distress was clearly evident in his voice "Can you meet me at the office in say about twenty minutes?"

TO BE CONTINUED...