Thanks for the inspiration. liz1967; Lilibet; detectivecaz

Burn:

Bond stumbles through security in London. The perks of having the special indicator on his passport.

Bond will just stop for another drink in the bar…it's getting late.

The mission...he needs to tell M about it. He needs to see her...badly but he knows he shouldn't...M will be angry. So he will stall here in the bar...try to find a flexible stewardess to lose himself in...just to try to stay away from her.

Collateral damage…"see how well your charms work"...that is what she said to him...all that time ago in Bolivia. Bond manages to send her a text...to see if she will respond.

Disappointment.

There is a burning sensation bubbling from his guts into his chest...why can't he stop thinking about her?

She is so...so...frustratingly not his type...wait...he doesn't really have a type. Bonds drink addled brain begins to ponder his usual fare.

They are usually beautiful...but so is M.

Hot.

Some are intelligent...M has them all beat.

Scintillating.

They try to please him...M doesn't give a rats ass if he's pleased.

Disintrest.

They try to look good for him to gain his attention...M always looks good, but she could care less if he even sees her.

Crimson.

Once they meet him the women make sure to be where they know he will be...to be seen by him...M goes out of her way to avoid the aggravation of seeing him...according to Tanner.

Teasing.

Those women make sure there are no obstacles between Bond and them...to spend some alone time...M loves to have others contact him or deal with him.

There are a multitude of obstacles between them...men between them.

M is annoyingly always surrounded by men...towering giants over her small form.

Corrosive.

They are often married and he doesn't care...M was married and strangely enough he did care about that particular husband.

Envy.

Some of them are spies...M is the queen of spies...she moves spy's around as her own personal chess pieces on the globe.

Brilliant.

The latest woman...he tried to save her...she got him into the compound in North Africa and she got shot...another one dead...M will say collateral damage and frown...christ he hopes M never assumes the role of collateral damage.

Casualty.

Bond held the woman in his arms as her life ebbed away. She asked him why...and he couldn't answer her.

War.

For the safety of the world? For Queen...for country...for M.

Christ Bond wants her.

It took some time...after Mitchell tried to kill her...it took a while for him to understand this anger.

Love.

The mission before last...eight months ago it hit him. She was in her office dressed in black...she looked different...something was off.

Reason.

There was pain behind her eyes and almost instinctively Bond had no desire to spar with her.

Bond asked her what was wrong...she told him to mind his own business and sent him on his way.

Tanner finally told him.

The husband is dead.

Widow.

Months later he returns to engage in their regular banter.

Something has changed...it is subtle and elusive to him.

Hope...happiness is inappropriate...why...is there joy in the passing of an old man he didn't even know?

Desire.

M is as hard as nails still...she will never lose her edge and she inspires him never lose his.

Don't get attached. Vesper taught him that. Vesper was his wake up call and M stopped his destructive rampage in losing her by trusting him and slapping his wrists. M held on to his leash but gave him room to run.

Trust.

M knows exactly how long and loose to let him run before pulling him back. Her instincts are spot on and he trusts her implicitly.

When not out of county Bond found himself being drawn to her office. Pissing her off to no end but he just wanted to be around her. M thought he was bugging for an assignment due to boredom.

Magnetism.

M's ire is like candy to him.

Tanner would just shake his head...he thinks Bond has a death wish.

In a way he does because he can never have what he wants...what does he want?

This question has plagued him since Mitchell pulled that gun on her in that hole underground.

That bastard White is still out there somewhere.

Frustration.

What does Bond want? What does he need?

The drink is clouding his mind...dulling his pain. Bond's leg vibrates against the bar stool as he becomes more hyped and anxious for action.

There are no women around that seem remotely able to ease his need.

Addiction.

Christ...he knows the one who can but will she?

The weapons trade kingpin he just took down triggered this...urge.

He had a household of hangers-on and his wife. The woman was nearing sixty and he was 49. He sat Bond down and asked him if he knew why he still had the same wife? The old woman many of his business associates called her.

Bond said he didn't know, but the answer is that he knew and trusted her to tell him the truth and kick his ass every once in a while and that was sexier than any of the vacuous bimbos that he occasionally took to bed. The younger women bore him and his wife couldn't if she tried.

He always went back to her.

Bond ended up using one of his women and she was sweet but could never fulfill anything more than momentary physical release...and then she died.

Bond made sure the wife survived. She lives, but she is a widow now...like M.

Understanding.

Bond throws some cash on the bar and leaves...the cab takes him to her house.

It is this bravado, alcohol and ego that inspires him as he stumbles into her sitting room.

No woman can resist his charms...he has pushed M in the past...invaded her home...hacked her file. She did refer to him as a blunt instrument…no other discipline.

Bond may be a blunt instrument but he is M's blunt instrument and he is dying to show her how he uses his tools.

Deep down M, who many assume is made up of five feet of direful ice...loves him...she must or he would have been fired long ago.

Women love him...this has been the case since he was young...it is just a fact.

Bond drops a glass accidentally on purpose to wake sleeping beauty. God knows if he did it the way he wanted... by properly kissing her...Bond could very well take a bullet for his troubles.

Bond makes the most of gathering a dustpan and broom when she makes her way downstairs. M's face is angry and adorably sexy...rumpled and furious with a bloody pistol in her hand.

M looks as Bond imagines she would in the morning after a night in his arms.

M yells and Bond plays apologetic…tells her she is sexy and he wants her because she is always on his mind but it all comes out jumbled...she is not buying it.

Age.

M tells him it is inappropriate...he doesn't care what anyone else says.

Obviously M does.

Authority.

Is it wrong? Is this a deep-seated perversion that makes Bond's blood run hot when M's angry and riled up?

Bond follows her to the kitchen and she starts to feed him like a bloody child!

No...this is not how it's supposed to go...she can't see him as a son...a SON!

Mother.

Bond eats...drinks her tea and stares at her profile...if she would let him into her bed...this would be what he would see when he awoke and turned his head to look at her.

His charms are useless…Bond asks to sleep with her...asks to make love to her...he explains why he breaks in...how long he has held these desires for her.

Bond moves behind her and embraces her back...it doesn't last bloody long enough. Bond sniffs her hair and tries to get a peek down her top. He wants to cup her…

M elbows him away and turns to look at him.

M asks about his breaking in...about her husband.

The flash of anger in her eyes makes him want to ravage her here on the kitchen table.

Instead he grabs her hand...it is all he dare manage.

Wife.

Bond tells her that he loves her.

M thinks the idea is absurd.

M makes him a bed.

Bond strips for her.

M laughs at him but he manages to pull her down on top of him. He manages to capture her lips for a time...not bloody long enough!

Sex.

M slaps him...not hard but enough to put him in his place.

He asks for more kisses but he is getting tired…very tired...he has been up over 24hrs.

Pain.

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Regret.

The next morning Bond wakes on the sofa as he hears water running upstairs.

He is dry and his head hurts.

Bond did not recall...he remembers pieces but not all.

Bond has some water and waits until he hears the water end upstairs. He needs to speak to M find out if she is alright...he remembers desire...needing to see her so badly.

Fear.

Bond knocks at her door and then opens it as she whirls around.

"Bond! Really! Why are you barging into my room?"

"M...I needed to see if you were alright. I didn't hurt you last night did I?"

"No Bond...you did not but you did force a kiss on me and that is never acceptable."

Self-loathing.

Bond feels sick. The realization of what he did 5 hours earlier come into focus.

"No it isn't...I am sorry M." Bond moves further into her room M looks confused, he quickly grasps her hand and brings it to his lips. He played his hand too soon. Damn it!

"I knew you would never allow me to kiss you so I pushed you...I know it was wrong but I really wanted a kiss. I was a brute but I would very much like to kiss you again."

"Bond? What is going on with you?"

Confession.

"I think I am in love."

Shit! Bond knows he is.

"You think...well that is not very concrete...am I to believe that I am the subject of that love."

"Yes...I know I am in love with you. Is that more acceptable?"

Proof...he spoke it out loud and sober...this is real now.

Rejection.

"Not at all...nor is you being in here with me in nothing but a dressing gown. Bond this will not be happening again… will it?"

Bond frowns. "That depends M...maybe you will invite me in sometime soon."

Pushing.

M scoffs, "Bond I should fire you for this...you do understand that you are risking your career."

"Yes and I don't bloody well care!"

"Bond! After all you worked for...after all our training?"

"Nothing compares to you M."

"Are you still drunk?"

"Perhaps a little but still willing to admit that I broke into your flat because I wanted to make love to you."

Avoidance.

"As if?"

Bond knew she would protest it...find it illogical.

"Yes...and I use make love in all seriousness M...I have never made love to a woman in my life...Vesper may have been the closest but our coupling always seemed desperate and fast...likely because it was fleeting and she bloody well knew it."

Taunting.

"So you think you want to make love to your boss? Believe it or not Bond you are not the first to be fascinated by the authoritative woman in your life."

"No...did any of them…"

Anger.

Who were they? Are they still at work? Are they competition or a threat?

"WHAT! No...believe this or not but I was happily married and I did not ever bring work home with me in that regard. You...you are the only agent that has ever intruded on my home without invitation but that stops here."

Pleading.

"M...please...I said I was sorry. What is wrong with me checking up on you once in a while?"

Bond needs to be around her...it is becoming overwhelmingly obvious to him, that he's obsessed.

"Bond...no it is inappropriate. What if my gentleman friend was here...it would have been a disastrous night."

Bond's shocked. What the hell! She is seeing someone.

NO!

"M? Who?"

"You do not need to know."

Yes he bloody well does!

Bond grabs her arms and turns her to look into her eyes.

Fire.

"WHO?"

He looks down at her arm and appearance of fear in her beautiful blue eyes.

"BOND! LEAVE NOW!"

Pain.

Bond releases her arms and moves to her door. He glances back at her hoping he has not managed to ruin this. Bond couldn't survive it if he destroy this relationship.

This relationship is the most important relationship since his parents died...and not because he wants a replacement for his mother.

Acceptance.

"I will wait for you downstairs M. Or do you want me out?"

Please...please give him an sign that he has not completely destroyed this...

Relationship.

"Bond...go home...get some sleep and report to me later today. Call Tanner and make an appointment for debrief."

M softened...still, he did not play this well. Alcohol inspired and destroyed this mission...the most important mission.

Bond leaves and gets a cab home with bile rising.

A burning sensation...what if he has ruined any chance...how can he make her see.

Bond wants to know who she is seeing...perhaps Tanner knows.

Bond reaches his flat and goes online to order her a dozen red roses to her office. He hopes this will smooth over any rough spots between them before he goes in for debrief.

Beseech.

So very stubborn...M...stubborn, beautiful, sexy but she would never admit or acknowledge these things...back to the stubborn again…

M is unlike any other woman he has ever been around.

All the women that flock to him want him to acknowledge and be told how beautiful they are. Vesper loved hearing it and damn well knew she was. That is why she was a perfect mole...a beautiful traitor.

M would never be a traitor and M would rather no one even consider her a woman at all.

Loss.

Bond's guts are in knots...who is M seeing? The bottle on the table before him is now half empty.

How could he not have noticed...how good an actress is she?

What is he going to do now?

Bond needs a plan. He needs to fix this mess, keep his job and get the girl from whomever...the man who has the audacity to date the love of his life.

If not...he might as well...

Burn….