006, 007, 008. Alec Trevelyan, James Bond, Samantha Stone. Three of the best agents MI6 ever had. When a mission absolutely needed to be done and the job was too big for one agent alone, it was merely a matter of assigning two or all three of them on it and it would get done. Their strengths and weaknesses complemented each other in a way that allowed them to work seamlessly as partners in whatever operation MI6 put them up to.
It also helped that they were also all three good friends both on and off the job. Bond and Trevelyan were practically like brothers having had similar backgrounds both personal and professional. Stone and Bond were like brother and sister from their shared experiences working at MI6. Stone and Trevelyan were not as close as the female 00 was with Bond, but they still maintained a friendly relationship with the other.
All three were known around the office, informally of course, as the Three Amigos; the Three Caballeros; or on a particularly crazy day, the Three Stooges. And they were the team and everyone knew they always would be.
And so when the call came in about a secret chemical weapons facility located in Arkhangelsk, M was hardly concerned about the outcome when he assigned 006, 007, and 008 to investigate the situation and take care of it.
Samantha Stone initially infiltrated the area acting as a secretarial liaison from the Soviet government. She collected the necessary information that proved the nearby dam was making chemical weapons and obtained detailed schematics of the dam and where the chemicals were being stored. At one point she had even made it into the facility itself and while she had gotten nowhere near the chemical storage tanks, her continued intelligence helped to further shed light on the facility, its complement of soldiers, and other small assorted detail necessary for the infiltration and destruction of the contents within.
The initial plan devised by the three Double Os was for 008 to be at the facility when 006 and 007 infiltrated it and then meet up with them in a storage room and then all three would go and blow up the chemical storage tanks. But a couple of days before the plan was to go into motion 008 was waylaid by an enemy few secret agents could come into contact with and triumph over…a cold. Although Stone insisted she could still complete the mission, it was clear she was in no condition for a stealth mission or to go into combat and hope to come out in one piece. Bond and Trevelyan could accomplish the mission together without her assistance. And so she reluctantly returned to England but promised to keep the drinks cold until they got back.
When 006 didn't return from Arkhangelsk, it sent a shockwave through the entire department. Though it seemed to be impossible in a working atmosphere that in some ways regarded the outside world with fear and paranoia, complacency had set in. 00s were the best agents in the entire world, but even they didn't always return from missions, even those considered part of the best of the best as was the case with 006. It was a sobering reminder to everyone about the line of work they were all involved in at MI6.
Not that that stopped 007 and 008 from feeling what happened to 006 was in some way their fault. 008 blamed herself for there being some flaw in the plan that she had overlooked and that she had gotten sick and not insisted more forcefully to accompany the two Double Os into the facility. 007 blamed himself for not watching out more for 006 and providing the backup he had needed to and for not shooting General Arkady Orumov when he had the chance. Perhaps Trevelyan wouldn't have survived regardless, but at least he would've done something rather than just flee the facility.
But when both really thought about what had happened deep down they knew the real truth. They couldn't have done anything to save Alec Trevelyan. What had happened had happened and nothing either agent could've done would have changed that fact. That didn't stop them from hurting on the inside, but it helped them from not slipping completely into despair.
M for his part kept a watchful eye on them but otherwise prevented the psychiatrists from asking questions about the events of Arkhangelsk. He had made sure his agents were trained to minimize the effects the outside world would have on them and their work.
For the most part it worked, but 007 grew noticeably colder and took a much more clinical approach to his work where assassination was the order of the day rather than even attempting to bring in his marks. It also hadn't helped when shortly after the events of Arkhangelsk, the Soviet KGB policy of Smert Spionam, or 'Death to Spies' had started up again under the watchful eye of a man whom Bond had risked life and limb to defect from the Soviet Union to England only to later discover it was all a ruse. Bond had lost several good colleagues thanks to the ensuing events and he had nearly killed an innocent Russian general without a second thought as a form of cold blooded revenge. Only his training engrained in his every action had prevented him from causing World War III and he had returned from the entire ordeal a little bit better off thanks to his encounters with a Russian Cellist.
But it was not to be. While seemingly back to his original self before 006's death thanks to the wedding of his good friend from the United States' Central Intelligence Agency, Felix Leiter, in the immediate aftermath it had all come undone when Leiter was nearly killed by an Isthmus Drug Lord in revenge. Leiter was a closer friend to Bond than 006 and 008 and his near death had caused Bond to finally fly off the handle. M had tried to rein him in to no avail as when confronted, Bond had resigned his commission and really gone rogue, a situation that terrified M more than anything else in the world.
After Bond had vanished into Key West, M had immediately ordered Samantha Stone to Istanbul, Turkey to go on the mission 007 should've been on. He did this for three reasons. One was to make sure the mission was accomplished as any mission MI6 assigned was vitally important to her Majesty's government. The second was that M knew that if not given an assignment and knowing Bond was no longer with MI6, Stone would likely go rogue as well and out of loyalty, join up with Bond. Having one rogue Double O was enough of a disaster, but two was unthinkable.
The third and most important reason involved his concerns for Samantha Stone. Whereas 007 had grown colder since Alec Trevelyan's death, 008 had in some ways grown more suicidal. She increasingly took on more and more dangerous missions solo and the results had nearly gotten her killed on multiple occasions. She refused any and all help from any Double O besides Bond and M wasn't going to risk pairing the two of them together on an assignment lest he be called before the Prime Minister to explain whatever ended up happening when they were through with it.
But the Istanbul assignment was of much lighter fare than Stone's more recent assignments and M hoped it would act as a chance for her to come to her senses before she did end up getting killed in the line of duty. He also hoped that this situation with Bond would end being an emotional catharsis for the agent and realize that the path he was headed down was also going to lead him to nothing good.
To his intense relief, the gamble paid off. Both Double Os returned from their situations in better spirits than they had been in awhile. M brought 007 back into the fold with the promise that he would never pull a stunt like quitting the service again. He also had a talk with 008 and said that if she promised to take things easier, she would only have to return a preliminary report on Istanbul to which she had readily agreed. He also recommended that they would handle 006's passing with more grace and dignity but deigned on giving any details, knowing they would handle it in their own way.
…The next anniversary of Alec Trevelyan's death, M found 007 and 008 passed out on their desks having drunk six bottles of vodka. M shook his head in dismay at Bond and Stone's recklessness but let it be as it was at least less dangerous to the outside world. And for every year thereafter they drank six bottles of vodka to commemorate their friend.
When the new female M took over MI6, she was warned of this particular anniversary. In her opinion, it was a waste of time and resources to lose two agents for a single day to alcoholism because they couldn't get past the loss of a comrade. They'd lost plenty of others since they'd first starting working at the Agency and there should be no reason to treat Trevelyan any differently.
She'd meant to tell them that when she could get the two of them together, but shortly after taking her new post, James Bond had been assigned to discover what had become of a missing French helicopter, which lead to a defunct Soviet project codenamed "Goldeneye". From there it led to a criminal organization called Janus and the revelation that Alec Trevelyan hadn't died at Arkhangelsk like original thought, but had survived and launched that organization which was dedicated to bringing about the downfall of the British Government.
006's survival sent shockwaves through the department as it had when they'd first thought he was dead. That he was now working against the agency he had dutifully served was the talk around the water cooler, especially for those who had been around when 006 still worked for MI6. But for the two whom M figured would have the most to say, Bond and Stone never spoke about the matter. Bond simply concluded his report that he had eliminated Trevelyan and saved Britain from a financial meltdown. Stone meanwhile had been on assignment during the whole affair and when told of Trevelyan's survival, had met the news with seeming indifference.
And while not a gossip nor particularly interested in knowing about such things, M came to the conclusion that 007 and 008 never once spoke to each other about the events surrounding Goldeneye and Trevelyan's actions surrounding faking his own death. In fact, when the next anniversary rolled around for the Arkhangelsk mission, Bond and Stone had treated it like any other day and performed their work as usual.
Months prior, M would've felt relieved that the two had finally gotten back to business. But after having gotten to know the two Double Os in the interim, she was now a little disconcerted. She had first assumed that any Double O still with MI6 since the Cold War was a relic of that bygone era. Bond especially and Stone slightly less so. But she'd been wrong in her assessment. In a changing world, the agents had done what they did best, they adapted. But they still clung proudly to their past. 007 still had his flirtatious relationship with Moneypenny, 008 still caused chaos on a regular basis inside MI6, and both Double Os were still fiercely loyal to each other and the agency they served.
And so this sudden break from tradition came as a surprise. Regardless of the things 006 had done, M still suspected that the two agents still clung to their friendship with the man. The head of MI6 would never voice her concerns aloud, but she was a little curious what would become of the anniversary of Arkhangelsk in the future.
…The following year, both Double Os landed in the hospital for alcohol poisoning having drunk twelve bottles of vodka. M gave them a stern dressing down for that course of action and told them to never do it again. Both swore that it was the last time they would ever do that again; it was just a final hurrah for their old friend. With no other alternative beyond drumming them out of the service, M had accepted that statement and never mentioned it to the two for the following year when the next anniversary approached.
The day that anniversary came, M deliberately stuck around after hours to see that the two agents would do. After several hours passed, she heard laughter drifting along the hallways towards her office through her open door. Investigating, she was unsurprised when the laughter led her to Bond and Stone's shared office. Rather than try and sneak a glance into the office, she marched right in and found 007 and 008 behind their desks, each with a single vodka bottle and six shot glasses in front of them.
"Oh, hello ma'am," said Bond wiping a tear from his face as he held back some laughter. "We were just recalling some stories about 006. You're welcome to join us if you'd like."
"No, but thank you," M responded graciously. "I just came to say that I am leaving for the day."
The two Double Os nodded knowing fully well the reason their boss was still here, but willing to accept it nonetheless.
"I was just mentioning to James that I once booby trapped the couch to figure out whether or not Alec ever used it when we weren't around. Needless to say, he did," said Stone with a mild grin even though she deigned to comment what had happened. M nodded her head, silently grateful that the two agents finally felt comfortable enough around her to reveal a personal detail like that.
"Well, goodnight ma'am," said Bond tipping his head at her. M gave her goodbyes and left as Bond began telling a story about a mission he and Trevelyan had gone on that ended in a pie fight to which Stone began laughing hard at.
M meanwhile continued her departure from the building confident that the two agents had finally put to rest one of the ghosts of their past.