Moscow, Russia, Late 1990s: James Bond was once again freezing to death as CIA Agent Jack Wade's ever dependable ZAZ-965 was broken down on the side of the road. As this was the second time it had happened with this vehicle in as many times as Bond had met the agent in Russia, Bond was silently wondering if it would become a recurring issue and silently prayed that it wouldn't.
"Yo, Jimbo, pass me the hammer," ordered Wade working on the engine in the rear of the vehicle. Bond briefly reached for a regular hammer before common sense set in and he handed Wade the sledgehammer who eagerly accepted it.
"Nice to see you stuffy Brits can change after all," said Wade with a big smile as he chewed on some gum and went back to work on the engine. Bond avoided giving an annoyed reaction to that comment by pulling his coat in closer and instead focusing on the vehicle and pedestrian traffic passing by them on both side, none bothering to give them a second glance.
It was a curious thing that had fallen over the country since the fall of the USSR. That people were out and about on the street without seeming much fear that the government would come cracking down on them felt strange to the Double O having been here many times before the Iron Curtain fell. But at the same time the place still seemed cold and less cheerful to him compared to back home in London and he wondered how Russia would cope over the next several years as it tried to rejoin the outside world that in some ways had seemingly passed it by.
Bond was so lost in his reverie that he barely noticed a pair of boots crunching the snow behind him…but then he immediately tensed up as he felt the barrel of a handgun press firmly against his back.
"Do not bother crying out for help because no one can save you now that you are back in Mother Russia, Comrade Bond," said the female voice with a thick Russian accent. Wade was still working on the engine oblivious to the conversation and instead of realizing what was going on, the American mentioned needing to get something from the gas station down the street and walked off.
"Americans, incompetent to the end," commented the mysterious figure behind Bond.
"Agreed," Bond said despite the situation before he stiffened as the gun dug further into his back.
"You will not speak unless spoken too," the female voice continued. "I must confess to having waited for this day for some time. Russia was once the jewel of the world over that everyone looked up to. The KGB ruled the country with an iron fist whenever someone got out of line and it made this land pure! But you are the reason my glorious country has fallen so far from its pedestal and is now a land of freedom and it disgusts me!"
"Nothing lasts forever," Bond quipped despite being told to keep quiet while formulating a plan to escape his predicament.
"And you are right about that," the voice said from behind him. "Like right now. With KGB gone, you are now soft…and weak. Never would I have been able to sneak up on you like this. 007 best MI-6 agent? Ha!"
"And who would be the best agent then?" Bond asked curious. The person behind him had to think about that for a moment.
"That one woman Double O," the voice said after a few moments. "Yes, that 00...8. She is a real agent who would never make foolish mistakes like you."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Bond immediately disagreed.
"What do you mean?" demanded the voice. Bond shrugged knowing the action might cause the gun to go off.
"Well for one thing, that with as much experience as I have with guns pointed at my back that I'd recognize the barrel of a P99," Bond pointed out lightly as the gun shifted uneasily behind him. "That and I bought Samantha Stone a pair of boots this past Christmas that she really wanted and because she wears them so much I'd recognize their sound in the snow…a sound like yours just made. And these are boots that haven't been introduced commercially in Russia yet."
"I…but…she…and…," the voice behind him began blustering as the gun dropped from his back as the voice finally let out one exasperated word in a British accent. "Damn."
Bond broke out into a very amused smile at that and turned around and gave Samantha Stone a friendly hug.
"Hello Sam, it's good to see you," said Bond affably. Stone scowled briefly as she put her gun away.
"Hi James, I thought for sure I would've gotten you this time," the female agent remarked. Bond shrugged lightly.
"Well if it hadn't been you, it would've made for an interesting turn of events," he had to admit. Stone did briefly brighten up at that.
"Besides, M told me you were finishing up an assignment here so I figured you might turn up sooner or later," Bond finished revealing. "How did that go?"
"The usual," said Stone nonchalantly as she put her gun away. "I was nearly done anyway but when I heard you were in town I quickly tied up some loose ends and here I am."
Bond nodded his head as he wondered when Wade would be back so he could start his mission.
"So what brings you out this way?" asked Stone curious. Bond shrugged.
"Universal Exports suspect mayhem from the former industrial espionage unit of the local growers union here," he mentioned in code.
"Ah," said 008 immediately understanding the reference to former members of the KGB apparently causing trouble. "Like old times."
"Unfortunately," said 007 as he looked around at his cold surroundings. "But they used to pick more exotic locales than this for their efforts."
Stone snorted at that before she shivered in her warm winter coat. "You're telling me. Since the wall fell I've spent more time in these former territories than I ever did prior."
Bond nodded. "This your first trip to Moscow?"
Stone shook her head. "I was here a couple years back to clean up some loose elements from Alec's old organization."
"Ah," said Bond now remembering that assignment. But before he could say anything else, the noise of a throat being cleared was heard behind him. Bond turned to see Wade with a gleeful expression on his face.
"You, uh, want to introduce me to your cute friend, Jimmy?" asked Wade hopeful. Bond barely avoided being visibly taken aback by that statement but he stopped himself in time.
"Jack Wade meet Samantha Stone," Bond introduced. "If I'm the seventh operator of Universal Exports then she's the eighth. And Sam, he's…American."
"Ah," said Wade with a smile before realization hit him and his expression dropped. "Ma'am," he acknowledged with a tip of his head.
Stone gave him a friendly smile as she advanced towards him for a hug. "We're all friends here."
Wade really brightened up at that as he moved to accept the gesture as Bond wondered where this was leading. Wade for his part was about to embrace Stone when he felt something stopping him from completing the gesture. He looked down to see Stone's P99 pointing at his stomach. He looked at it confused before looking at Stone's face and seeing she was all business.
"You've got to the count of ten to show me the rose or you'll never see home again," she declared. Wade looked at her confused.
"The…rose?" he asked confused as his mind was still on the gun at his stomach and the abrupt change in 008's tone.
"One," began the female Double O and kept counting. Wade looked at her even more bewildered before the realization of what 'rose' she was referring to occurred to him.
"Oh, you can't be serious!" he shouted.
"I am!" Stone responded with deadly seriousness. "Three."
"How do you even know about that?" continued Wade completely embarrassed.
"I may have told her," Bond admitted trying to cover up a grin with his hand. Wade snapped his attention at him as Stone was now at five.
"Then tell her that I am who I am and get me out of this," Wade pleaded.
"No good, he could've been compromised," Stone butted in. "Six."
"We've only been here a half hour!" Wade pointed out. "You don't think I could've cracked him that easily do you?"
"Anything's possible and I can't afford to take chances in my line of work," Stone told the CIA Agent. "Eight."
"Jimmy!" Wade pleaded one last time. Bond gave him a confused look.
"You'd better show her the rose because she's got the same license I do and she's not afraid of using it," Bond recommended. Wade looked at the two Double Os desperately as the color drained from his face.
"Nine!" said Stone loudly. Wade knew he had no choice.
"Fine," he said humiliated. "Just step back for a moment."
008 took a step back but still kept the gun closely trained on him. "You try anything and I won't hesitate to contribute to your daily helping of lead," Stone warned. Wade scowled.
"You're going to wish I hadn't shown you this," he warned as he reached for his belt, undid it, and then show Stone the rose.
"There, happy?" demanded Wade desperate for the whole thing to be over. Stone looked at the rose and then nodded her head as she put her gun away.
"Quite," she declared and then returned her attention to Bond like the previous event hadn't happened as Wade returned to the engine grumbling about how if the CIA wasn't making him keep the tattoo for ID purposes that he'd have gotten rid of it years ago.
"I don't suppose you're busy right now are you?" the male secret agent asked.
"My flight leaves in three hours so I've got some time to ki…I mean, waste," said 008 sheepishly at her unintentional pun. Bond nodded pleased as Wade finally got the engine started and the trio entered into the car and it drove off down the road once more.
Time passed…
Bond found himself sitting across from a Russian mob boss who was behind his desk and regarding Bond's P99 as Bond sat on the other side of the desk with bodyguards on each side of him. Bond had spoken briefly with Valentin Dimtirovich Zukovsky about his little situation and the connoisseur of caviar had directed him here. The mob boss had unsurprisingly had Bond frisked and his weapon taken from him and that was how Bond found himself in the mob boss's office which was a large room with a fireplace, mahogany floors, various tapestries, and one large segmented plate glass window facing the outside.
"So Mr. Bond," began the mobster unimpressed. "You come into my place of work asking questions whose answers have left many men dead and your only plan to get me to tell you those answers was with this?"
The mobster placed Bond's gun on the desk and laughed heartily as his men did the same.
"Not entirely," Bond admitted nonchalantly. The mobster regarded the agent curiously.
"Then what?" the overweight man had to ask as he lit his cigar. Bond tapped the armrest of his chair with his pointer finger and middle finger in three rapid movements.
PLINK…CRACK
The mobster and his men looked around concerned before the mob boss spotted a small pit in the window with small cracks edging out from it.
"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the mobster, with his henchmen following suit, clearly amused as he turned to Bond. "What was that supposed to do? Prove to me that my bulletproof glass works as promised?"
Bond gave a smile as if sharing in the joke. "Actually, no," said Bond amicably before turning deadly serious. "The first shot was a warning; the second shot is coming through the window."
The mobster's laughter slowly died down as he slowly began thinking about what had been said. The mobster then reached for his radio as Bond held up a cautioning hand.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Whoever you had out there patrolling are either dead or unconscious and whoever you send out there will be dead very shortly."
PLINK…PLINK
As if to emphasize the point two shots smacked into the glass on the other side of the two henchmen closest to the window. Both would've been perfect headshots if they'd made it through.
"Now are you going to tell me what I need to know or am I going to have to go to one of your associates?" asked Bond curious as he leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his face.
On a nearby rooftop, Samantha Stone lay flat on the ground with her sniper rifle pointed at the mobster's window as three incapacitated guards lay nearby. She pulled out her magazine of standard rounds and then slapped in a new magazine of steel tipped bullets that could tear through nearly anything including the window across the way. The Double O then cocked back the loading mechanism of the gun and the new round slipped into place as Stone trained the gun on the mobster's head waiting for any signal from Bond to fire.
The mobster for his part turned completely white at this turn of events.
Later, Moscow International Airport: Wade's car was pulled alongside the curb as Bond helped pull out Stone's luggage and place it on the curb next to her.
"Thanks for letting me help out James, it's been too long since we've been a mission together," Stone commented. "Not since the Cold War by my count."
"Well there was that thing in Bermuda," Bond commented with a wry grin as Stone laughed at that being brought up.
"I don't count that as a mission. I know the old M didn't," 008 remarked before leaning down to the side of the car to see Jack Wade who wasn't entirely happy to see her again.
"Bye Wade, if it's any consolation, if you hadn't shown it to me, I would've shot you," Stone told him.
"Yeah, yeah, I bet you say that to all the guys," Wade muttered. Stone gave him a reassuring pat on the back and then stood back up and gave Bond a goodbye hug.
"Thanks again for the boots," said Stone appreciatively.
"And thank you for the coat," said Bond as he pulled Stone's previous Christmas present to him closer to his body. It didn't completely block out the Russian cold, no coat could in Bond's estimate, but it always helped considerably wherever he went.
"See you back in England," said Stone as she grabbed a hold of the handle of her luggage and headed into the airport. Bond watched her go and then got in the car as Wade started it up without a word.
"You're awfully quiet now, Jack," Bond commented with a small smile on his face. Wade glowered at that statement.
"Is something the matter?" Bond prodded while feigning innocence. Wade's jaw clenched at that.
"You know you can tell me anything," Bond further teased.
"You saw how she treated me!" Wade exploded. "We're friends Jimmy, how could you let her embarrass me like that?"
Bond eyed the older American appraisingly. "I honestly didn't think what she did to you was that bad," he confessed.
"How can you possibly say that?" said Wade not entirely disbelieving him but curious what made Bond tell him that.
"Simple," said 007 as he returned his attention to the road and the mission ahead. "You weren't there when she first met Felix Leiter."