Part 2 Captive Hearts
Notes: This is a continuation of my story The Lady in Red. Therefore you may want to read that first for this to make sense.
For Bufan & James
My eternal thanks to Detectivecaz for the beta, and for just being all around amazing! :)
For weeks flowing into months, M was uncomfortable around Bond. He could see it in the way she looked slightly panicked every time he entered her office and strode towards her desk.
M covered it quickly and settled down into her chair with that certain element of aloof professionalism that she had, that made Bond smirk. He eased into the chair across from her as she read him into his next case.
Tanner hovered around her like a hummingbird, providing reports and documents and adding information from his analysis.
"So; I go in and dismantle the network by posing to be a seller of women and children?" That seems a stretch. I could just go in tomorrow and take care of them all ending the barbaric practice of selling girls and boys to the highest bidder."
"You could but we don't want Hyka, we want the head of the network." M said in a way which sounded like a mother instructing a child to use a fork properly.
"Fine. Who is the head?" Bond snarked in his less than impressed manner.
"That is what we are trying to find out Bond...are you paying attention at all?" Tanner added abruptly. He was correct in assuming Bond's attention is riveted elsewhere.
M was wearing red lipstick and nail polish and Bond was fixated on that and nothing else. He turned somewhat lazily from M's red lips to Tanner. "Fine, Tanner enlighten me."
Tanner droned and his attention continued to migrate back towards M, she gave him an appraising look. She looked about to comment on his unfocused nature, but seemed to withdraw, possibly worried that he would make a comment that would incriminate her in some way. Ever since that night months ago when he picked up the lady in red from the bar, he had tried to have a moment alone with her. She avoided him like the plague.
Bond had considered breaking into her flat. But if he did that, she might feel physically threatened, now that she knows he wants to do more than just talk to her when he visits. No; he won't put her in that position. He will let her invite him, unless it was an emergency, and then he will break in. An emergency could be anything really. Hell, who was he kidding...just catching her in a dressing gown, and making her angry would do it for him every time. Somehow, with M it didn't even need to be physical to make it the most satisfying pseudo-sexual relationship he had ever had.
Bond had many a sleepless nights, twisted in his sheet, sweating over a kiss from those sweet red lips.
Christ! He needed help. Bond feared how deeply he felt for a woman old enough to be his...NO! He refused to give that voice, just as he had forbidden her to say it that night. He regretted not snapping a picture of her in that dress that night. It would have given him a visual aid for his frequent self abuse over the memory of her kiss.
"Bond?" M said intruding on his daydream.
M knew he wasn't taking this briefing seriously. The humour at which he found this situation irked her. How could she take anything he said to her seriously, after expressing his love for her that night, after she was stood up? When he couldn't even focus on the serious matter before them.
Bond's head snapped around to look back at M, after seeing her trapped within the day dream he was enjoying, while Tanner continued to drone on about money trails and evil kingpins.
Bond shifted in his chair attempting to readjust himself casually, after his mental digressions, imagining M in nothing but that red lipstick. "Yes."
"Is there a reason why you're sitting there grinning like an idiot, while Tanner tells you of atrocities against children?"
"Sorry, M. All I can see it red...when it comes to something like this, I assure you. This would be a lot easier if we had agents young enough to use as bait."
"Yes. Well unfortunately we do not and I am not about to put a junior agent pretending to be a child in that situation. The backstory we have for you is a review of a man sexually abused as a youth in a boys school in Switzerland. I hope you don't mind we changed your name to your mother's maiden name, Delacroix."
"So much for not hitting close to home." Bond said as an offhanded remark.
M frowned. "Bond? Do you have something to share? Or should you save that for, Dr. Hall?"
Bond rolled his eyes and looked down at the desk instead of her oh so blue eyes. "No M. I don't wish to discuss my childhood with you. Besides, you know the whole sordid tale."
"I do not have access into private medical files Bond." M tried to ease away from this dangerous line of questioning.
Bond smiled at her and stood up. "I will study this. When do I leave?"
Tanner handed him the files. "Tonight at midnight."
"Good; I was tired of waiting around for a lady in red to return."
Tanner looked confused and M turned away, finding the window far more interesting and attempting to hide the blush rising up her cheeks.
"Check in at regular intervals 007." Tanner said as a goodbye.
Bond turned to M. She was looking out the window, but turned her head towards him. "Good luck, Bond." Internally she was angry at his smug flippant attitude, knowing that he was basically still flirting with her at this inappropriate time. Regardless of his less than professional feelings for her, he should at least giver her some curtesy out of respect for the job.
"Ma'am. I…" He was about to say something cheeky, but decided against it. If the frown on her lovely face was anything to go by, she might just explode. He wanted her thinking about him, but he didn't want it to be in aggravated annoyance.
M turned completely towards him with a hesitant, questioning gaze. "Yes?"
"I will be in touch."
"Good, that's what we pay you for." M said as she rolled her eyes daring him to be arrogant and smug towards her after that kiss they had shared. One in which she had a hard time not thinking about when she was alone in her office, lipping off to her like she was just...never mind. She refused to let him crawl under her skin to this extent. James Bond was a dangerous drug that she had to resist at all costs.
Bond shook his head as he chuckled under his breath as he walked away from her. "If you could say hello to Louisa for me I would appreciate seeing her again, once I return." He turned to look at her now standing by the window. That had the desired effect. M's mouth hung open and the flush returned to her face. The bastard!
Bond left before she became more angry with him. Stubborn woman couldn't see that she was the distraction, her and her red lips. Bond shook his head. Would she ever see past the artificial womanizing to the real him, or would she continue to hide behind her desk as she claimed his desire for her to be ridiculous and unprofessional? On top of his personal frustration, would she continue to try to date older men?
The thought made him seethe with jealousy. Bond called a florist on his way to get ready for the mission. Maybe flowering her with gifts would work.
Outside the city of Tirana, Albania. Or at least that was where Bond was before he was knocked unconscious.
The smell was the first thing that hit Bond once he regained consciousness. They tossed him in a pit, actual dungeon and part of the smell he was smelling was coming from him. The smell of died blood and sweat mixed with the musty smell of whatever lived or died in this dungeon before he was dumped here.
Tanner's information was shit and they knew he was coming. There was a leak and M needed to know about it!
Bond rolled off the cot to into the blinding beam of light from the bars above. Sunlight from outside. He had been out at least a day. His head felt like shit. His ribs were sore and there was a massive bruise on his shoulder.
The window was at least 15 feet from the ground and only just wide enough for him to squeeze through, once he removed the bar. It wouldn't be easy. Plans started to formulate the second he assessed his surroundings.
At least he remembered taking out that idiot Hyka and at least six of his goons. Someone else arrived after Bond released the captives. The head of the organizations and his muscle. Bond thought he had made a good escape...the kids were running down into the town, but he was still grabbing what paperwork and flash drives he could to prove what they had been up too.
M was going to be pissed that all this shit came unraveled and he had to kill him. There was no way in hell he was going to let a man like that get away with peddling children as sex slaves.
The small barred window would have to do for his escape. He doubted that they would just open the door and let him walk out of here. He planned on killing as many of them on his way out as possible. Bond just hoped that the drop down on the other side was not too high up.
Bond tested moving the cot to reach the bars. They were old, but sturdy. He sat back down on the bed to wait. He would have to wait until they came for him to make his move.
Thinking of moves to make, made him think about M. He wondered if she liked the flowers he'd sent? Hell, he wondered if he would ever see her again. The image of her in that red dress flooded his mind over and over again. Not a good thing to be so distracted in the middle of a mission.
The melancholy of possibly never seeing her again struck him hard. He composed a letter in his head to send to her if he made it out. Maybe they would even give him a priest to talk to before they killed him.
Bond chuckled to himself, thinking on using his last confession to tell M everything he thought of her and all of what he wanted to do with her. The priest would likely die of secondhand embarrassment from some of Bond's more creative fantasies.
Bond had often daydreamed of ending up on a mission with M. It stemmed from the time she followed him to the Bahama's and gave him that tracer on his first mission. Then there was that time in South America where she came to collect him. He had wanted to take her right there and then, but the death of Strawberry Fields put a damper on that thought the second it crossed his mind. That and he had always know she would stubbornly resist him like no other. She bitched him out over that and he can't in anyway defend his actions that led to Strawberry's death. M was right. Fields didn't need to be pulled into that mess with Greene.
Hopeless. Bond was hopeless when it came to M being stern. The more angry M was, the more it turned him on, which only lead to more frustration. M knew that now, or she had a strong idea that he was not lying to her about wanting her. It had been months since she was in that bar. Tanner said she was not seeing anyone yet.
Bond had been far from celibate, but that was work related. He had not picked up anyone in his own down time, regardless of how frustrated he became because of the one woman that would have none of him.
Bond was saving himself for M. Even now in imminent danger of death he wanted her beside him. He wanted her voice in his ear bud, telling him to get the hell out of there by any means necessary.
If it were possible, James Bond wanted M's voice filling his ears in his last moment on earth. Olivia would be the last name to pass his lips, he knows this for certain.
London
M stormed towards the minister's office with Tanner struggling to keep up with her, while holding all the paperwork. M didn't even break her stride as she handed him her overcoat as well. M was on the warpath and any that saw her purposeful stride quickly got out of her way.
Grayson Bolt was insisting on a face to face meeting that afternoon and M would bloody well give it to him, but in the morning when it was convenient for her. This was the same man who had asked her out for the evening months ago and then failed to show up. He had tried to apologise, but M didn't have time for his excuses. Now; however, he had called her in an official capacity, it forced her to see him. M hated to be forced into anything.
Bolt was just recently made the assistant minister in charge of security and she knew she would have to face him eventually. She didn't have to like it, and she loathed being ordered by him after the personal insult she had suffered at his hands.
Tanner had warned her that Bolt had been digging into a great deal of old case files in her tenure as M. Many successes and a few failures but coincidentally, many of the cases were ones with 007 involved.
The outer secretary attempted to stop M as she marched past her and directly into Bolt's office.
Tossing open the door Bolt looked up surprised to see M and her man Tanner enter.
Tanner was so busy trying to keep up, carrying the briefcase that he didn't even close the door behind him.
"Ah...M. So nice to see you again. Although, we had a meeting this afternoon and this change could have all been done over the phone. Oh, that's right, you've been ignoring my calls."
"Is that what this is? I won't respond, and you start digging into my files! Q branch told me of the requests and subsequent attempts to gain access. Your predecessor left your department's half of those files behind for you. Why are you trying to gain access to ours!"
"Calm down and sit down my dear."
"Dear? You would do well to remember that my title is M and you should use it!"
Bolt sat back in his chair and tented his fingers under his chin. "I apologise. Please take a seat, M."
M sat down and waited for a reason for the intrusion. "I see that your agent Bond is missing again. Do you know where he is?"
"We know where he was and 005 is going to find him."
"I do hope he lives. It would be a shame for you to lose such an important agent."
M looked at him suspiciously. "What are you implying?"
"I don't think you would want your assistant to hear what I think on the matter, M."
M's eyes flashed to Tanner. "I will wait outside the door ma'am." Tanner said as he walked over to the door and exited the office, closing the heavy wooden door behind him.
"What the hell is this all about, Bolt?"
"Why don't you tell me M?"
"I haven't the slightest."
"You've been ignoring my calls."
"This is about a personal matter? That is very unprofessional Grayson. You didn't show up to that date, I was there, so you have no right to be put out by anything."
Bolt leaned forward on his desk with an angry look. "I called to tell you I was going to be late, but I only had your office number. I arrived just in time to see you guided away by a much younger man and climb into his car. I was saddened, but imagine my shock when I saw the very man pictured in one of these files. Do you deny that your agent Bond took you home that night?"
"No I don't. He was at the bar and it was only a coincidence. He drove me home and then left to go on his way. What the hell are you implying?"
"There are a lot of incidents with this one...things were not done to the letter when the Americans were clamouring for his head. You hid him. He refused your direct order to come in after his involvement with a member of Special Branch. Something my friend Haines mentioned to me about you my dear."
M stood, suddenly irate. "Do not call me dear and Haines is completely unscrupulous and that's why he has remained under MI5's observation. You should have been smart enough to keep your friendship with him a secret."
"That is rather harsh now M. Listen; you and I have gotten our wires crossed, but it is all fixable. You'll have your agent 005 go and get Bond out of that dungeon in Albania, and we will have that dinner."
"I see." M said suspiciously. Her mind worked out a way to play this without setting him off. "I thought you had moved on from any inkling of rekindling any romance?"
"From wanting to take you out? Far from it! I had been trying to get close to you for months before you agreed to meet me. I tried calling to apologise but you are a bloody stubborn woman, as well as strikingly handsome." Grayson Bolt stood smiling as he rounded his chair to come face to face with M. She seemed to have calmed from their heated earlier misunderstanding.
"I have tickets to the theatre Friday, come with me?"
M looked deeply into his eyes trying to read his intent. He was a very handsome man. Silver hair and grey, green eyes. He was fit and average height with a scar over his left eye that made her think of old pirate movies. M still didn't trust him, but she needed to stall for time. "Why are you giving this a second shot?"
Grayson put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. "You are too beautiful a woman not to try again. This is not political maneuvering, over fear of a friendship with Haines. Whatever bad he got up to, has no link to me and I'm sure you will find that to be true. We politicians often claim friendship with members of our party, merely because we share some of the same ideals. Sometimes, some of us go too far."
"Yes, well his connection to the terrorist organization Quantum is still under investigation."
"I had heard rumours but I was unsure of the details. What did this Quantum try to do?"
"They tried to kill me for one, and that is a huge red flag as far as I'm concerned."
Grayson looked shocked. "M...I had no idea. That idiot! What could have made him, allegedly betray the country by slumming with terrorists? He must have been tricked into it, he is not the type of man to do such a thing."
"Money, greed, I've seen men do worse for less." M said unconvinced of his protests.
"I'm sorry M. I wanted nothing more than the company of a beautiful woman, and that is all I've ever wanted. I try to ignore that you are...M and that I am a minister, in these circumstances of the heart. I try to separate business from pleasure as I'm sure you do as well. Will you come with me to the theatre the day after tomorrow?"
M looked up at him shyly and smirked. He put on a good show, if that is what this is. "Fine but if you don't show this time…"
"I'll show, I promise. You won't have to send an agent after me." Bolt chuckled, as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
M attempted to remain neutral and smirked at him, even though she was actually desperate to pull away. She didn't want to alert him.
"I will meet you there. That way I can enjoy the show regardless if you have an emergency then."
"I will leave your ticket at the door, but I swear I will be there M."
M endured another kiss from the man and then left his office. Tanner was concerned by her silent reflection on their way back to the car.
Once they were in the car and on their way, M started giving orders. "I want Q branch to dig deeply into Haines' past and that of Bolt's, and I want any connection they have to Albania. Stop 005 from leaving because he's going to escort me that social event Bond spoke of in his last contact."
"M? Are you serious? The Summer Day Festival?"
"Yes Tanner. I will need a ticket for 005 and myself to get in. I will be a wealthy woman looking for an enjoyable time and willing to pay. Start having Q branch make up my bio. Contact the treasury. I was to get some funds allotted for Q's new submarine, but I want it in a Swiss account for show."
"What about Grayson Bolt, M? What is he up too?"
"I'm not sure of his motivation yet, but he let slip that Bond was in an Albanian dungeon, and how would he know that unless he put him there. I just don't understand his motivation."
"Well, he does have it bad for you ma'am." Tanner said with sly smile.
M turned to look at Bill Tanner. "Please."
"No, I took some of the calls M. Why would he try so hard if he didn't really like you? What are you going to do? I was outside the door and heard him ask you out again, are you going to see him on Friday?"
"No; his political maneuvering and connection to Haines ended any chance between us. I don't why he persists in this charade, but it has nothing to do with personal feelings."
"Are you sure of that M? You are a very attractive woman."
"Tanner! No...there is something wrong with him."
"If a man being sexually attracted to you means there is something wrong...well then there are quite a few very sick individuals who work for you at MI6. Bond would be at the top of that list."
M looked completely gob smacked at her assistant. "Yes M, I for one think your killer sexy." Tanner's face had turned completely red at the admission. He pulled his collar away from his neck nervously until M laughed.
"Thank you for the reassurance Mr. Tanner. However, now you've made me nervous about facing my own staff, if what you say is accurate."
"Don't be M. We care more than we let on, the same as our stubborn boss. As for Bolt, we'll find out what he's hiding. What do you want me to say when he calls for you?"
"Tell him I'm on a mission to find what I lost. That should be enough for him to figure it out. If things unravel from our end then we will know he is to blame."
"M, that's too dangerous." Tanner looked very concerned about her doing this.
"No; having a mole, possibly feeding Haines and Bolt with information from within MI6 is dangerous. If all goes as planned I will have two 00's to look after me, and I trust Q with my life as well as those of all my agents. He will make sure my alias is a good one."
They arrived back at her office to a lovely bouquet of red roses. M moved to look at the card.
To my one and only lady in red.
To be continued...
