M groaned when the sound of her alarm woke her. She felt just as every bit as terrible as what James must be feeling. Turning to the man in question she noticed he was still a sleep. He had woken three more times during the small hours of the morning causing M to sit with him, trying to cool him down. Touching her hand to his forehead, she was relieved to feel his head seemed cooler than just a few hours ago.
She had an hour to get ready before she was due at Whitehall. She felt like ringing Tanner asking him to cover for her hating the thought of leaving James on his own. Getting out of bed, she made her way into the living room, picked up her phone and quickly dialled Tanner. She didn't have long to wait when she heard him pick up.
"Tanner, I need a favour."
"Is everything alright ma'am?"
"Everything's fine or it will be."
"What's the favour?"
"I need you to come over to my flat and keep an eye James for me. I have a meeting today with the minister on our recent increase in expenses otherwise I would have stayed."
She was met with silence no doubt he was thinking of a response on how to answer her.
"Why is Bond at your flat ma'am? He knows it's against protocol."
"I'm well aware of that Tanner. But he isn't doing too well at the moment."
She heard him give a sigh.
"Fine, I'll be over in half an hour ma'am. But, I can tell you he won't be too thrilled he has to spend most of the day in my company."
"Think of it as a team bonding exercise and as, you say it's only for a few hours at most."
She heard him mutter about not getting paid enough for this, causing her to smirk.
"I'll see you in half an hour Tanner."
"Of course ma'am."
Hanging up, M made her way back to the bedroom to get ready, noticing James was still in the same position. If it wasn't for the wheeziness she heard with each breath he took, she would have assumed he had stopped breathing.
Quickly getting dressed in the bathroom into a black fitted working dress and suit jacket, she was just finishing her make up when she heard the bell of her front door signalling Tanner had arrived.
Opening the door she saw the unhappy look on his face and moved aside to allow him to enter.
"Where is he?"
"Still asleep."
"Figures, Ross is waiting down stairs for you."
"Thank you for doing this Tanner." She told him in gratitude while grabbing her coat and bag.
"Help yourself to food, I'll try to be back as soon as I can. Paracetamol is on the cabinet in the bedroom. Make sure he eats something."
"This is Bond we're talking about here ma'am."
"I know, but at least try. Give me a call if anything happens."
Tanner gave her nod, watching as she made her way from the house.
"Oh and ma'am. Try not to let the minister wind you up too much."
M gave him a scowl. "I'm not promising anything."
She shut the door behind her seeing Ross standing in front of the car.
"Everything alright ma'am."
"Fine Ross, just the usual."
On the journey to Whitehall M's thoughts kept thinking back to the man she had left in her bed. She didn't know if she could take another night of him keeping her up all night. She could already feel her eyes closing due to the lack of sleep. She just hoped she didn't fall a sleep in this meeting. She would never live it down.
The car eventually came to a stop, causing her to jerk awake and rub her eyes trying to make herself more awake.
Stepping out of the car, she gave Ross a nod in thanks and made her way up the steps. Once through security, she was escorted to the minister's office knowing what was about to come. Knocking on his door, she waited until he heard him telling her to come in only for her to see him ending a phone call.
"Take a seat M." He told her in a gruff voice.
She made her way to one of the seats that was situated in the front of his desk, taking off her coat she placed it on the back before sitting down.
"Let's get down to business shall we? The quicker we get through this, the quicker you can leave."
It suited her fine, she would rather spend less time in his presence.
"I've noticed your agents have caused this government more expenditures than the British Army combined. Mind telling me why that is?"
"Minister, you and I are both aware of how much money and resources it takes for my agents to accomplish their missions. And to be frank, if it leads to more successful capture of terrorists, money shouldn't be as much of an issue. No, the real issue here is Bond."
"What gave you that impression?" He leaned back in his chair and looked straight at her in annoyance.
"The amount of times we have had this conversation his name is always eventually brought up. Need I remind you minister if we didn't have him, half of those terrorists would still be on the loose. He gets the job done, not always by the book, but by his instincts and they haven't failed him yet."
"That's the problem though isn't it M. If we let every agent get away with using their instincts this economy would be bankrupt. No, I think you're sentimental over him. Always quick to jump to his defences. Let me put it this way M. The only reason he is still apart of MI6 is due to your influence. If it wasn't for you, we would have gotten rid of him long ago."
M sat and watched as the minister stood up and made his way over to the window.
"His methods are unethical M, he is a hindrance not only to this government, but also to MI6."
"He's my agent…"
"He may be your agent, but even you can't protect him much longer. Either you reign him in or we put him down."
M narrowed her eyes at him. Hardly believing what she was hearing. It should be up to her on how she handled her agents. He turned around and made heis way towards her.
"I've heard about the killings, one an MI6 operative, the other your lover."
She looked him straight in the eye wondering where he was going with this.
"Use this chance, so he can prove himself M. If he manages to play this one by the book then he's safe. But, if he fails to do so, you will be looking for a new double 0 and you a new job. Do we understand each other?"
"Perfectly, and I suppose my orders and actions will be monitored as well. If I wasn't able to carry out my job I wouldn't have been promoted in the first place. Or is it because I'm a woman and running the show?"
"This has nothing to do with your gender M, it's about following protocol. And quite frankly a boss who lets's their agents get away with everything isn't cut out to be in charge."
She felt herself become tense as he leaned down towards her slightly, uncomfortable with how close he was to her.
"You only got the job because your predecessor was fond of you. If it wasn't for him, you would still be in Hong Kong. Don't risk your job for an agent M, because ultimately it will be your downfall. I know you will make the right decision."
He leaned back and moved back around her desk, while she was trying to keep her emotions in check. He couldn't possibly know about her and Bond's somewhat relationship. They had been careful, or so she thought.
"Is that everything minister? Only some of us actually have some work to do that's worthwhile."
"M, I'm only doing what is in your best interests. You're a smart woman, but even smart women make mistakes. Don't let Bond be yours."
Grabbing her bag and coat she marched towards the exit of his office only to stop and turned to look back at him.
"He won't be, because I trust him. You'll do well to remember that knowing who to trust is everything in this business. I trust Bond to get the job done, and he hasn't proven me wrong yet. If anything I would worry about your own affairs rather than interfering with mine. Good day Minister."
M slammed his office door behind her and quickly marched out of Whitehall. It was only when she was outside that she felt she could finally breathe again. She had never liked the man, but as of now she despised him. She wouldn't trust him as far as she could throw him.
Once back in the car she thought over the ministers words. To anyone passing by they would have assumed that she showed favouritism to Bond, but the way he had said it to her she knew there was a deeper meaning behind it. When she arrived at headquarters, she headed straight to her office and closed the door behind her. Looking around her office, she looked for anything that was out-of-place. Looking towards the bookcase, she saw two of her books misplaced. Making her way over, she opened the glass door, removing the books noticing the small camera and mic that were nestled between them. Pulling them out, she threw them on the ground and stepped on them. The bastard had her office bugged.
M spent the next hour searching over her office for any sign of other cameras that she didn't know about. She found another one above the picture frame that was hanging above her sofa and another above her emergency exit door. It was tiny that no one would have noticed it was there if they weren't looking for it. Destroying them both, she took a seat on the sofa letting out a sigh angry didn't come close to how she was feeling. She was furious. She would have to inform Tanner and James about what happened. She knew how James would take it finding out his days were numbered. She only hoped he didn't let her down.
She heard her stomach protest from the lack of food. It was then she remembered that she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning. Getting up she made her way over to her desk to ask Moneypenny if she could nip out and get her something. No sooner was she about to dial her number that the woman in question made her way into her office, a look of worry on her face.
"Ma'am sorry to barge in but I've just been informed that we've lost contact with 004."
"Tell them I'll be right down."
It looked like food would have to wait.