Author's Note: Yes, I'm back with another fanfiction. This one, however, is my first foray into writing a piece of James Bond fanfiction. I got the idea for this from a Silva roleplayer on tumblr (a very good Silva roleplayer), and I must say that I am happy about this one. I think this could be counted as AU if only for the fact that I bring a Bond girl back. No pairings at the moment, but they may develop in the later chapters.
So, enough of my blathering. Onto the story!
After some minimal excitement in the previous weeks, Natalya was happy that she was able to find some stability in her work. Finding stability in Russia was enough of an accomplishment and she had recently learned that it was best if she was to take things as they happened. It was much less messy for her that way. Things didn't really get messy for the programmer anymore, and she knew the reason why. It still hurt a little to think about him. She knew that it was foolish to still hold feelings for him, yet she couldn't bring herself to forget about him. "How could anyone forget a man like that?" she whispered. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the screen in front of her.
Like the others around her, she was hard at work on checking the current state of the Russian satellites. Half of the satellites were still being used for weapons, and there were two copies of the GoldenEye satellites. An involuntary shudder coursed through her body as she tried to forget about that ordeal. All of her colleagues had been killed just so some traitors could make off with the most advanced weapons technology to come out of Severnaya since the start of the Cold War. No one worked in Severnaya anymore. There was not a soul in Russia or Siberia who hadn't heard about what had gone on there. It had been the topic of conversation wherever she went after she had gotten back from Cuba, and then all of the questions had stopped. Natalya had never been sure what had made people stop talking about it, but she was very thankful. However, she knew that there were still people who debated the existence of more GoldenEye satellites.
"Natalya. Do you want any more coffee?" a young male asked in Russian.
Her gaze flicked up to his face and then to the empty mug beside her. She gave him a soft smile and replied, "I would, thank you."
He gently picked up her mug as she returned her focus to the monitors in front of her. The initial readouts on the main satellite she was monitoring hadn't changed since she had arrived that morning. The readouts from the two secondary satellites she was monitoring, however, had begun to list data pertaining to a different set of satellites. Natalya blinked and focused on the readouts once more. Okay, so she hadn't been imagining things.
"Dmitri. You need to look at this," she said as he set her coffee down beside her.
He gave a quick nod and looked over her shoulder at what was on the screens. Dmitri gave a whistle and shook his head. "Natalya, you need to tell someone about this," he told her.
Natalya shook her head in response and minimized the screens that she was paying attention to. She would keep an eye on those readouts, but she wouldn't say anything about it until she actually knew that something was going on. Receiving information from other satellites in the vicinity wasn't unusual depending on the activity that was central to other countries at that time. However, the station had never picked up satellites transmitting information directly from London before. There had been scattered readouts from satellites stationed above Europe about events that were happening in London, but that hadn't been seen since the summer. The programmer took a sip of her coffee before she brought up a browser. She knew she wasn't supposed to be looking at anything else other than what pertained to her work, but this was an exception. She quickly typed his name in a Google search and sighed when she didn't find anything on him. Nat quickly closed the page soon after and opened up the readouts that she had been looking at. She tilted her head as another readout flashed on the screen. This one, unlike the others, brought no text with it.
She left the window open and switched to English. "Vadislav, get over here," she said to the man.
Vadislav, a man three years her senior, approached her and asked, "What is it, Natalya?"
The Siberian pointed at the readout and responded, "That. There's no text, no nothing. Most of the readouts at least have a description."
He contemplated his options before he gently placed his hand on the mouse and double clicked the readout.
Natalya's screen soon went blank and nothing appeared for a few moments. "Is it Petya or Mischa?" flashed on the screen in white for almost a minute. Sounds of alarm were echoed throughout the station as, she guessed, those same words appeared on everyone else's screens. For once, Natalya was shocked into silence and she sat there. How did someone know about Petya and Mischa? Mischa had been destroyed and Petya was still in the atmosphere. It was dormant, not having been used since 1995. Unfortunately, that just meant it would have to be coaxed back on-line if anyone wanted to use it again. The technology was still there. In seventeen years, the technology hadn't changed once. Frighteningly enough, it had only improved the strength and force that Petya's EMP blast came with.
"Get out of here! All of you shut your consoles down and get out of here! Anya, disconnect the servers!" Vadislav ordered.
The entire station grew quiet as everyone rushed to do what they were ordered to. Everyone knew the risks that were associated with any breach in security, but Natalya knew the true reason for the panic. Except for her and a few members of the Ministry of Defense, no one knew about the GoldenEye satellites outside of a few scattered rumors that had been promptly silenced before they spread further than was wanted. Nat hurriedly turned off the console that she had been working at and started to put all of her things back in her bag. There was nothing of true importance around her desk, but there were still personal things that she always took home with her at the end of the day. Bringing them back home at that moment was really important because she had a feeling that she wouldn't know when they would be able to get back to work. She gave one last look at the area around her desk and her attention was drawn to something lying in the printer. She hadn't printed anything out, not that she knew of. She quickly snatched it up and stuffed it in her bag.
"Be safe, Natalya," Vadislav said as Natalya walked past him on her way out.
She nodded at him and pulled her jacket close to her body as she exited the St Petersburg station. Snow swirled around her as she walked back toward her flat.
She set her keys down in the small bowl on the table that was near the door as she walked inside her flat. It was small, but that was just right for her. She had sold the apartment that she had been living in with her ex-husband for a little extra money while things were still getting squared away at her current job. She had been at the St Petersburg station solidly for the past few years, but that was after switching back and forth from that station and the one in Moscow. She placed her bag on the table as well and hung her jacket on the coat rack before she headed over to the small kitchen. For only spending what seemed like a short amount of time at work, she was surprised to see that half of the day had already passed. She shook her head before running her fingers through her short hair. There had been numerous chances for her to grow it out, yet she always preferred to keep it short.
Natalya hummed a song as she heated up some water in a small tea kettle. By this time, she would have just finished her third cup of coffee if she was still at Severnaya. A large amount of coffee was usually needed if one was going to keep concentrating on their work for any substantial amount of time. It was more important for her to focus than it was for someone like Boris who had spent a good deal of his time just messing around. She leaned back against the counter as the water continued to heat up. She spent a few moments deciding on whether or not she should turn on the television. She knew how long it would take for the water to heat up and knew that it was not going to be worth getting to the couch before she had to come back in order to pour the water into her mug. Natalya quickly turned off the burner the tea kettle was setting on as it started to whistle. She gently poured a tablespoon of instant coffee granules into the bottom of the mug before she added the hot water. Instant coffee wasn't the best and not like what they had at work, but it was the best she could do and she wasn't in the mood for anything fancy. She just wanted coffee so she could begin to sort through what had actually happened.
She gently picked up her mug and slowly made her way over to the couch. Natalya just needed to sit down so she could order her thoughts and try to think about what had just happened. Whoever had caused that message to appear knew something that very few other people did. The nature of the message itself seemed to be directed at her and her alone. No one else at the station had been in Severnaya. She was the only one who had made it out of there alive. In some way, she was thankful that she had gotten coffee before Ourumov killed everyone that was in there. She would have been dead, too, if she hadn't managed to climb into one of the cabinets. Natalya shook her head and gently took a sip of her coffee. She hadn't wanted to put any creamer or sugar in it, so she tolerated the fact that it was black. Not the most pleasant taste in the world, but it was much more than she could ask for at the moment.
Her hand hovered over the television remote for a second before she picked it up and turned the TV on. She automatically flipped to a Russian news channel and saw that the story focused on what had happened at the St Petersburg station. The rest of the news channels, including the American and British ones she had access to, all covered the same story. The actual Severnaya incident hadn't gotten this much coverage, except for the fact that she and James were taken to the Military Archives and accused of stealing the GoldenEye satellite. Natalya sighed and let the news play in the background as she reached for the book that was on the table. She opened it to the page that she had been on and momentarily remembered the piece of paper that she had in her bag. She had meant to look at it as soon as she had gotten back, but she forgot to do so. Natalya shook her head and set both her mug and book down on the coffee table before she got up. As she headed over to the table, a light knock drew her attention to the door and she went over to it.
Natalya hesitated for a moment before she opened the door. A slightly older gentleman handed her a parcel and tipped his hat at her before he walked away. Some of the man's behavior and demeanor struck him as odd, but she shrugged it off and closed the door before she went looking in her bag. Natalya found the paper that she was looking for and used the parcel to smooth it out as she walked over to the small table in her dining area. She set the parcel down and reached for the pair of scissors that were already on the table. Again, she hesitated before she opened it. She wasn't usually this suspicious of things, but someone knew more about the GoldenEye satellites and Severnaya itself than he or she should. Natalya shook her head and deftly opened the parcel. She upended it and the contents gently fell onto the table. She delicately picked up the first envelop that she saw and found that she was holding a plane ticket and a boarding pass. The plane ticket was for a flight leaving the next day for Shanghai. The location itself was unusual and not one of the places she had thought to go before, but some part of her mind supposed that there was a meaning that she just wasn't finding. Next, her gaze landed on the piece of paper that had been printed up while they were trying to shut down all the consoles.
"James," she breathed as she picked up the paper.
Her gaze quickly scanned the note and she saw that he was the one who had sent her the plane tickets. He gave no reason for wanting her to go to Shanghai and there was nothing that said he would be immediately joining her. Maybe he wanted her out of Russia for her own safety in light of the recent events. She headed to her room and quickly opened the closet and began to pick out enough clothes to last her a week. She had no idea how long she was going to be in Shanghai, so a week was always a good place to start at. It took a little bit of time, compensating for the fact that she wasn't going to be in Russia and wouldn't need to dress as warmly as she had been used to doing. If she treated it like the short amount of time she had spent with James in Cuba, she feared that she would come to a better understanding of what would be appropriate for her to wear. Once she was satisfied with what she had picked out, Natalya put everything she would need into a suitcase and a smaller bag for essentials. Spontaneous trips were ones that she always had a plan to prepare for, and the plan only needed to be adjusted to respond to where exactly she was going.
She picked up the suitcase and the smaller bag and headed out of her room and back into the living area so she could pick up the rest of the contents of her parcel. Natalya went into the kitchen area and opened one of the drawers. She retrieved her passport before closing the drawer once more. The last time that she had traveled out of the country for any extended period of time was a short holiday five years ago to go to Germany for a small skiing vacation with her ex-husband. She shook her head and directed her thoughts away from that marriage. She had rushed into things and blamed that on the fact that she had wanted to forget about Bond as much as she could. Natalya was ready to leave in a matter of moments, yet her flight wasn't scheduled until the next afternoon.
Natalya's patience with the state of the large airport in Moscow was nearly running thin as it was time for her to board her flight to Shanghai. The sheer length of the line to get through security was enough to remind her of why she tried to stay away from airports as much as possible. If it wasn't for the sheer length of the lines and the frustration that was accompanied by each, she knew that she would take more chances and actually try to see as much of the world as possible. She was jostled for a moment as she joined the crowd that walked through the gate to get to the airplane and she managed to keep calm. She had learned how to stay patient in a number of situations even when everyone else around her was close to losing their minds. Airports, thankfully, were one of the situations that fell under this category. Natalya calmly filed through the doors of the plane and found her seat in business class. It wasn't first class, but it was more than she could have asked for. She put her largest bag in the overhead compartment and kept the smaller one with her as she scooted across to her seat.
She stowed her bag under her seat right before the plane started to move. Natalya let out a gentle sigh as she settled back into the seat and pushed the small blind up. Her gaze was drawn to the window and she softly smiled as the plane continued to taxi down the runway. After a few moments, she turned her gaze to the back of the seat in front of her before the plane started to take off. The gentle force of it pushed her back against her seat and that was when she realized she wasn't alone anymore. Well, at least in the row. She cast a sidelong glance at the young woman sitting next to her and she gave a soft smile. Natalya was happy to see that her smile was returned and she soon focused her attention on the coming trip itself. She unconsciously wondered how long the trip would take. She knew you could be from Moscow to the other side of Russia in at least three hours by plane. She inwardly shrugged and turned her attention to the window once again. The clouds looked like mounds and mounds of the snow that blanketed her front yard in Novosibirsk after the first snowfall.
"You are now free to move about the cabin" the stewardess said over the plane's intercom.
After a few moments, Natalya gently leaned forward and picked up her small bag. She reached inside and pulled out a well-read copy of Crime and Punishment before she found her iPod. Listening to music on long trips just made everything a little better, as she had learned once on a long train ride through a good section of Siberia. Natalya gently smoothed her bag out on her lap before she put her earphones in and turned her iPod on. She let the music on it start to shuffle as she opened up Crime and Punishment. While it may not be the best book to read on flights, it was the one that she could easily grabbed and one that she liked to read the most out of all the books that she owned. It was also one of the few books that were in no way directly or indirectly related to what she did for a living. Her gaze momentarily darted to the screens that had started to come down from the ceiling and wondered what movie was going to be played. Once her curiosity had been satisfied, she returned to her reading.
A gentle tapping on her shoulder brought her out of her reading and she paused her music before she turned her attention to the stewardess. "Champagne, please," she said with a smile.
Natalya lowered the tray table in front of her before she went back to her reading. She was almost confident that she would be able to finish a great deal of the book before the plane landed in Shanghai. She set her iPod to play once again as she realized that it provided nice background noise to her reading. Listening to music was something that they had always done at the station. It was a way of keeping them focused on what exactly they needed to do. The music was usually Tchaikovsky, but it did alternate between that and some more modern Russian music. Anything that could keep them focused when there were a fair amount of readouts to get through. She sighed and tried to move her thoughts away from her work as the champagne was set down in front of her. She gently nodded and went back to her reading.
After she was through the first few chapters of the book she placed the bookmark back inside and set it down on her lap. She picked up the glass of champagne and slowly brought it to her lips. Natalya took a sip and smiled as she set it back down again. Leave it to James to get her a seat in business class. First class would have been a little nicer, but at least it wasn't economy class. No, she had flown in economy class enough and was thoroughly sick of it. She soon picked up her book once more and continued reading. The words and places gently pulled her in and she was engulfed in the story that was in front of her. Everything, even the music that she was listening to, faded away into nothing but white noise as she read. It was the effect that books always had on her. It was something that she couldn't control, and something that she didn't want to control. She momentarily came out of her reading to take a sip of her champagne, but it was forgotten after a while. The only thing that caught her attention again was an announcement.
"We are preparing to land. Please return your tray tables to the upright position and put any baggage under your seat," the stewardess said again.
Natalya gently sighed and put her book away once more before she put her bag under her seat. She kept her iPod with her and put it in the pocket of the light jacket that she had on. She put her tray table up and lowered the small blind on the window before she leaned back in her seat once more. She was surprised that the flight had seemed to go by so quickly, but she had spent most of the time reading. She looked at her watch and faintly smiled. The flight had lasted for almost eight hours. Natalya stretched in her seat and tried to loosen her muscles as much as possible. She had never been a fan of sitting for such a long time, even at work. She was jerked forward slightly as the plane touched down and once again before it came to a complete stop. She unbuckled her seatbelt as soon as she was able to and she reached for the bag under seat before she got out of the row. A kind man got her bag down for her and she thanked him before she lifted her bag up.
"Have a good trip," he gently said as she walked past him.
She nodded her head and joined the rest of the people that were calmly exiting the plane. Natalya was happy to be in Shanghai, but she was even happier that she had a possibility to see James again. She wondered if he was going to be there to pick her up. A soft chuckle escaped her as she finally got out of the plane and she walked down the small corridor that would take them all to the gate. She had known that she needed a holiday, and the impromptu holidays were definitely the best. She made her way through the gate and a soft groan escaped her as she saw the group of people that were waiting just beyond the gate itself. Her gaze scanned the area and a soft smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she saw a placard with her last name written on it. Nat set her larger suitcase down and gave the handle a quick tug. She gently grasped the handle with her left hand and let the suitcase roll behind her as she made her way over to the gentleman with the placard.
He smiled and said, "Welcome to Shanghai, Ms. Simonova."
Natalya returned the smile and silently accepted his offer to take her larger suitcase. She followed him away from the gate and through the airport. Her gaze was focused on him, even though she wanted to see some of Shanghai before they got to their destination. In all honesty, the only thing she really wanted to see was James. From what she had seen, Shanghai was a definite change of pace from Russia. Natalya let out a soft breath of air as they arrived at the car and the gentleman politely took both of her bags from her before he opened the door. She got in and gave him a soft smile as he closed the door.
She settled back and buckled her seatbelt as she felt the trunk of the car close. Natalya's thoughts swarmed in her head as she started to wonder where they were going. The man didn't look like someone she had seen before, as she knew she would have remembered the shade of his dark hair. Was he an associate of James's? It was quite possible. After all, she hadn't seen him in nearly twenty years. She let out a sigh as the man got into the car and put the keys into the ignition.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked as he started to drive.
He looked at her in the rearview mirror and gave a soft smile. "You'll see when we get there," he replied.
His answer made her a little uneasy, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind and turned her gaze toward the landscape outside. She had heard stories about Shanghai, but had never expected what she saw. It was the Eastern version of Moscow or St Petersburg, except for the tall buildings and proximity to the coast. The car turned down a corner and they passed by various people. Natalya was used to seeing a lot of people, but Shanghai was nearly as crowded as Moscow was during the holidays. That was when everyone flocked to the merchants to buy last minute gifts and see what the city looked like as Christmas drew closer and closer. She caught the man looking at her again out of the corner of her eye, but she pushed it out of her mind as the car made another turn. She couldn't make sense of the signs, but she could see that some depicted notifications for a marina. That was odd. That was really odd, actually. "We're heading to the docks," she said in a low voice.
A deep chuckle caused her heart to plummet as she looked at the man. He sharply turned the car and pressed on the brakes a short time after. Natalya was slow to unbuckle her seatbelt as he got out of the car and opened the trunk. She opened the door and got out of the car right as the trunk door was slammed shut. Nat only had the chance to grab her other bag as the man grabbed her large bag with one hand and took hold of her upper arm with the other. As nervous and as scared as she was, she knew that it was in her best interest if she didn't fight back. She tightened the grip she had on her bag as they headed toward a fairly large boat. For a moment, she swore that there was a man standing in front of the gangplank. As they drew closer, however, she was able to see that was not the case. Natalya took a breath to calm down as she handed her bag off to a larger man before she was helped up the gangplank.
Once she got on deck, she was led down a flight of steps and into a slightly darkened room. The absence of light shocked her for a moment until the lights overhead turned on and everything was illuminated. Natalya's lips parted and a gasp escaped her as she took in the decor of the room. It was nicely decorated and showed a taste that, unfortunately, was too rich for James. "I hope your trip was pleasant, Ms. Simonova," an unfamiliar voice said from behind her.
Natalya turned around and backed up slightly as the man walked toward her. She tried to keep her voice as steady as possible as she replied, "You're not James."
"No, I'm not," he retorted as he shook his head. "You, however, are exactly what I have been looking for."
Author's Note: Well, that's the first chapter! I will try to get the next one up as soon as possible. On the plus side, I start my winter break on Tuesday. I will use that time to write.
P.S.: The titles for this fic will be taken from lines or songs featured in Bond films. I will try to make this fic as much of an homage as Skyfall itself was.
P.P.S.: Reviews may make me write faster.