Killer Briefcase again, this is the first chapter of Now Or Never. Hope you enjoy it. Please review this chapter too if you want. Thanks

"This is Agent 007" said Bond into the camera that stared at him through its dull, grey casing. The metal door at the side of the headquarters opened after a couple of seconds. He walked through, admiring the new voice recognition system Q had put in. He never told Q, but he thought that what he does is amazing, and impressed him a lot. He couldn't tell him though because they had an awkward and challenging relationship since the first time he met his Quartermaster. He made it seem as though he thought the old ways were better and that he disagreed with the newer, more technologically advanced ways of today even though he didn't.

He walked through the green gardens that flanked the headquarters and overlooked the River Thames. He felt the wind brush past his short, blond hair as he walked past the bushes that were surrounded by a marble frame. He could barely see them in the darkness. The feel of the wind on his face reminded him of his days in the navy as a commander. 'Commander James Bond'. He missed hearing his name said like that. He enjoyed his old job in the navy but to him, nothing beat his action-packed job as a super spy. He walked through the opaque glass doors that meant you didn't know what you were walking into. "Good morning 007" said the receptionist at the desk.

"Good morning. I believe M wanted to see me" he said.

"Okay. Just a minute" she replied. Bond watched her as she pressed the button to let him through. He watched her, longer than was necessary and enjoyed seeing her blush as he went through the door.

The uniform grey corridors looked boring with the grey clouds of London outside. There was a window at the end of almost every corridor. He neared Moneypenny's office and made sure his blond hair and black suit looked perfect. He looked at his reflection in the mirror-like glass and saw himself smile back. He adjusted his tie and smiled. He walked through the corridors he knew so well to get to Moneypenny's office.

"Good morning 007" said Moneypenny as he came through the door and threw his hat on the stand that stood proudly in her office. The greeting had almost lost its meaning after hearing it everyday from every person he met. "Good morning" he replied "I've brought you something" said Bond, watching a smile come to her face as she looked up. "Really? What is it?" she asked as Bond handed her a small parcel. "A parcel? You never pack anything!" she said sarcastically, knowing he knew she was joking. Bond watched her tear carefully through the brown packaging that encased the gift. She opened the brown paper and saw a box. "A box? You took the time!" she said, surprised at the amount of effort he had put into the packaging. The slid the cover off of the brown bow and saw it. There it sat, a full Mink fur hat. She didn't know what to say. It was the usual awkward moment when he brought her something. "It's to cover your wonderful hair" he said, winking at her as he opened the red, leather door that led to M's office.

"Good morning 007" said M and Q simultaneously. "Good morning M, Q" he said with a nod to Q. Q responded to his nod with another nod. "Please take a seat" said M, gesturing towards the leather-coated wooden seat that was opposite him. "Watch closely" he said as he clicked a button on a remote. A screen folded out from one of the panels in the room. There was a tape of a plane. It flew through the clouds at a high speed. Bond noticed the MI6 logo on the side of the plane. "This is satellite imaging" said M. Suddenly, thunder came from one of the clouds and the plane was never seen again. "Something is in the sky that is capturing our planes" said M. "The Americans have had the same problems along with other major spy agencies. Look" another clip came on screen. The same type of weather engulfed the CIA plane and what was very strange, was that the cloud that had the thunder, was the same shape in each video. "Very strange" said Bond after seeing the clips.

"Your mission, 007, is in this file" said M, handing him a manila file with 'operation hydra' written on it and 'for the eyes of 007 only' underneath. "Await your credentials at your apartment. and we have a lead on man called 'the boss'. He was seen last in the Czech Republic. We heard of him the other day from 006" said M.

"Yes sir" said Bond "I'll do my best"

"And 007" said Q. "I have something for you" Bond stopped. Q handed him a small, metallic grey box. "What is it?" asked Bond

"It's a new Walther PPK, a new fully silent silencer, a small radio transmitter and a watch" replied Q with a proud look on his face

"Fully silent? And with the usual palm recognition, correct?" checked Bond

"Correct. We have been developing this silencer for a while now and in testing, not a sound was made" replied Q

"Impressive" said Bond sarcastically. "How did you fit all of that in such a small box?"

"It's bigger than it seems" said Q. Bond looked at him with a look of amazement and left the room.

Bond was baffled at how any plane could be there one second, and gone the next. It reminded him of the Bermuda Triangle. He remembered hearing about it and was told never to go there. It is said that there is another one at the other side of the world. As he walked out the door, he gave Moneypenny a smile as he saw her trying on the hat, and went through the door. He walked through the corridors and looked through the file and saw a collection of photos, demonstrating how the planes disappeared, some top operatives for 'hydra' and his instructions. There was also the logo of an organisation called: "HYDRA" he had heard of the Greek monster 'the hydra' but didn't know much. The logo was a blue hydra in concentric circles with 'HYDRA CORP' written in the gap between the circles. All he knew was that it was a monster, and monsters are never good.

He left the building and got into his black Aston Martin which had been gifted to him especially by Q and filled with all sorts of special features. He was told to keep them for the right moment though. He drove home. It was a nice, scenic drive, especially in the night like it was today. He drove past the many sets of lights that flanked the road. He parked his car outside his house and took the shiny keys out of his jacket pocket. He thrusted the keys into the door and turned the keys. The keys wouldn't turn. "Huh?" Thought Bond. This meant the door was open. He never left it open. "There's someone there" he thought. He took the gun out from his pocket and walked through the door. He made sure not to make a sound as he walked in.

He heard no breathing in the house and nothing had changed since he had last seen it this morning. That was until he went into his room. He remembered leaving the pillows in the position of a person to fool intruders. The sheets were thrown on the floor and there was a bullet hole in one of the pillows. His briefcase was open on the desk and the lamp was on the floor. He checked the closet to see if there was anyone in there. There wasn't. He heard the noise of a truck outside but dismissed it. This was strange, very strange. This had happened before, but never at his actual apartment. His London apartment was the only place he was safe. nobody knew his address. Not even his friends. There was usually a reason too. Perhaps the boss had sent agents to do it. He didn't know. All he knew was that after he had looked through his credentials, he would sleep straight away.

The door bell rang. It must have been the courier. He couldn't take a chance. He took his gun from his pocket and went to the door. He went to the side of the door and said "who is it?" in order to check who it was. He heard three consecutive knocks. That was the signal. He opened the door and as the signal had said, it was the MI6 courier. The man gave Bond an envelope and the two men nodded and that was all. The man left swiftly and Bond went to look at the credentials. He opened the envelope and inside was an ID card by the name Daniel Acton. He didn't think the name suited him, but he didn't mind. It was only a fake name. He pulled out a passport and drivers license by the same name. He reached in to check for anything else and there was a note and one ticket to the Czech Republic. He remembered the old 008 who had died there on a reconnaissance mission. Gareth Thyburn, his name was. He was very close to all of the agents with a double-o status, but he was especially close to 008. He had always been like a more experienced spy and everyone at HQ missed him a lot.

The note read:

"Dear 007, please memorise your new alias, his qualifications, birthday, job and other small things about the character. I hope you do well in your mission and enjoy the flight to the Czech Republic. When you get there, look for a Hotel Floridia. You must find the so called 'boss' and where he will be next.

-M"

Bond sat back on the sofa and looked through the documents, the file and the time of departure for his flight. He checked the documents and as he checked, he wondered who would raid his house and what they might have been looking for. Whoever it was clearly wanted him dead and wasted a bullet on a pillow. "How useful training is" thought Bond remembering his old training days. He thought of all of his past enemies. He started with the most recent. Silva? No he's dead. Greene? He's dead too. Chiffre? Dead. He carried on until he'd thought of everyone. He was known for his good memory.

After a lot of aliases, it got easier every time to memorise names. Of course, as a spy, he was trained to memorise things and to blend into any crowd. It was a fun, but stressful job that was suited only for a certain type of person with certain skills. After a thorough check of each of the documents, Bond researched hydra through his MI6-provided laptop. He logged into the MI6 database and typed 'hydra' in the search engine. Lots of results came up of men with the surname 'hydra' but there was one with the logo at the side. Bond clicked the link and was taken to another part of the site. The results told him that the so-called 'hydra' was a terrorist organisation that hadn't been known too much about. It was lead by a man who was called the boss. This codename had been heard lots of times before. He checked the date we had heard of it. It was two months after the death of Gareth Thyburn, 008. "This is strange" thought Bond "perhaps I'll meet my old friend again". He knew that if it was him, things would be different because now, he was trying to foil his plans and possibly even kill him.

He remembered what 008 had once said to him: "The field, like the job is a strange place. It is your employment, but one wrong move could result in unemployment. Make sure that your life in the field is different from your life outside of it. Do not get the two mixed up" he sighed.

"Something I always did" he said with a short laugh. For a fleeting moment, he thought he had heard something outside. He reached for his PPK that had been in his pocket. His hand searched for it but couldn't find it. He moved towards the table and let his hand crawl under it. Found it! It was his spare and losing his gun, for some reason had always been his speciality. He remembered the day his Beretta 70 had been replaced with the PPK. "I haven't missed a shot once" he had claimed to the old M. Or something like that. That was when the old M had been around, the first one. He was forgotten, much like 008.

He tried to remember what 008 looked like. It was hard, very hard. After so many years of his absence, he was almost forgotten. "Ah!" thought Bond as he began to remember. He remembered 008's wavy, dark hair that was combed back at the front and sides. He remembered his wrinkles that went across his temple. He could still imagine looking into his dark, brown eyes. His impeccable attire had always inspired Bond to dress the best he could. Except for in certain situations like extreme conditions. He remembered that even when he was dressed in fatigues, the overcoat would always be zipped up and the black shirt, tucked in. He sighed as he remembered his first days as a double-o agent when it was 008 who had come and talked to Bond first to share his experience. He remembered the times when the two of them would play tennis and meet up every now and then to discuss recent activity both in the field, and out of it.

It was then that they would order the drinks. "One vodka martini please" he would say, "shaken... Not stirred". 008 was never fussy when it came to drinks, and that was supposedly why he had died in he Czech Republic. He wasn't sure if the 'boss' was him, but either way, he still wanted to see who it was.

Bond went upstairs to his bedroom. The things were still all over the place but he was too tired to clean it up. He noticed that the window at the back of his room was open. The escape route, probably. He checked his torch was still in the bedside cabinet and then looked at his bed. He put his gun underneath his pillow as he inspected his raided room. He jumped onto the bed and immediately fell into a deep, deep sleep.

Thanks for reading and enjoy chapter 2