"Tanner! Where the hell are you?" The sound of M's voice filled her office as she shouted into her earpiece.
"At Q branch collecting the new laptops ma'am, like you asked." He replied, sounding a little confused.
"Did I? Oh, well hurry up, Mallory's coming down in 10 minutes for a meeting and he said he wants you and Q there too."
"Does he? You never told me!"
"That's because I've just found out." Snapped M.
"Ok, ok. Where's Eve?" Tanner asked cautiously, as not to irritate his boss further.
"She's called in sick, on today of all bloody days. Listen Tanner, just get your arse up here as soon as you can, got it?"
"Yes ma'am." He replied before the line went dead.
M sighed to herself as she sat down behind her desk. Mallory had called just 15 minutes ago asking for a meeting with M and her chief staff, which consisted of M (obviously), Tanner, Moneypenny, Bond and Q. She told him Moneypenny was ill, which he wasn't too pleased at, but the rest will be present.
At that moment, there was a knock on M's office door. "Come in." She called, and in walked James Bond.
"Ah, 007," she said as she stood up. "thankyou for coming. Please sit." She motioned to the chairs positioned around her desk.
Bond smiled and they both sat down in silence. M looked at her watch- it had been 6 minutes since she was talking to Bill, which meant Mallory should be arriving any minute, as should the rest of her staff. She sighed, and started tidying her papers, ignoring Bond who was tapping his fingers against his leg.
As if on cue, there was another knock on the door. After being called in by M, in her doorway stood Bill Tanner, Q and Gareth Mallory.
"Hello Tanner, Q, Mallory. Lets get started, shall we?" She asked with a small smile.
Everyone took their seats, and looked expectantly at Mallory. "Ok, I'm going to cut straight to the chase here." He said, looking at the 4 of them in turn. "The PM has decided your in-department co-operation has not been up to scratch recently. He says it's showing in your progress reports and he's concerned. What's been happening?" Mallory looked at M, who looked back, her face expressionless.
"We have been acting as we usually are towards each other, Mallory, nothing's changed. Where did the PM get "in-department co-operation" from?" She asked.
"He's noticed you've been a lot- well, sterner with your staff. E.g shouting at Tanner earlier..."
"How the hell did you know about that?" She exclaimed.
"I thought you of all people would realise the radio waves are being hacked into more and more now, we did warn you!"
"When?" She retorted angrily. "I don't remember."
"Sorry to interrupt, Mallory, ma'am, but where is all this leading?" Piped up Q, who hadn't spoken a word since he came in.
"Well, the prime minister has decided that a "Department Bonding Week" would be a good idea for you all..." Mallory said slowly, waiting for everyone's reactions.
Q looked confused, as did Tanner, but M and Bond knew exactly what he was talking about, and they didn't look too pleased to say the least.
"WHAT?" M exploded, standing up. "A bloody BONDING WEEK? You have to be kidding me."
"What about all our work here? Who's going to do that whilst we're gone?" Asked Bond, looking more than pissed off.
"Hang on 007, who said we're actually going to do this?" M said, turning to face him. "As head of this department I think it's up to me to de IDE if we're going or not, and-"
"Actually M" Mallory interrupted, "you're going weather you like it or not. The PM has already made the necessary reservations."
"You can't make me Gareth." M said stubbornly, sitting back down again.
"I can. If you refuse to go, you'll be fired. Simple as." He replied.
M was stunned into silence. She'd never been threatened with being fired before, and she didn't like it. But I guess I have no choice, she thought to herself, before speaking out loud again.
"Ok Mallory, I'll go along with it. But I want to know who else is coming, where it is, what it is, when we're going and what I need to pack."
"Good. Well to answer your questions- there will be you, Miss Moneypenny, Bond, Tanner and Q. It is in North Yorkshire, you will be camping alone on the hills-"
"WE WILL BE WHAT?" She shouted. "Please tell me we'll have proper shelter and food and things!"
"Thanks for the interruption" he said sarcastically. " No, there will be 2 tents and basic cooking equipment. You'll have to gather food and water yourselves, which is kind of the whole point." He said, glaring at M.
"If I survive this there's going to be hell here when I get back..." She muttered. "Fine, go on."
"Thankyou. As I said you'll be camping alone on the hills from Monday to Monday, so you have exactly one week. You'll need to pack clothes and shoes and things, but that is it. No food, no extra shelter, just clothes. Your cases will be searched so we will know if you try smuggle anything you shouldn't."
"Bit extreme isn't it?" Joked Bond.
"No. The whole point of the trip is make you all work better as a team."
"Whatever. When are we going?"
"Tomorrow. I'll have a mini bus come go round each of your houses to pick you all up. Then it will be a 3 hour drive to The Yorkshire Dales, with stops along the way, of course."
"What about Eve?" Asked Tanner, "She doesn't know yet."
"That's sorted, I had my secretary phone her. Everything's sorted, all we need is you to be up at 3am ready for pick up tomorrow."
"Bloody hell, that early?" Exclaimed Q, "I don't get home while 11pm, and that's on a good day!"
"Which is why you can all go home when this meeting is over."
"But what about everything that needs doing? Reports that need filing, the forms that need filling in-"
"All that will be taken care of M, don't worry. Alright everyone, any questions?"
"What about sleeping arrangements?" Asked Bond, "is it M and Eve in one tent and me, Q and Tanner in another?"
"Trust you to ask that question 007, but that was the plan yes, unless anyone objects?"
No-one spoke.
"Ok, is that everything?"
"Yes I think so." Said M, as she stood up let everyone out. "See you all early tomorrow."
They said their goodbyes, and left M alone in her office. "This is going to be one hell of a week..." she muttered.