Chapter 11

Barbara and Tanner made their way back to the car and quickly got inside. Picking up the laptop, he tried to access the radio transmission of the fire fighters who were inside the building.

"Any luck?" Barbara asked urgently looking at the screen.

"Give me a few moments." He continued to quickly type away on the keyboard.

"What is this, Tanner?" She looked at the programme on the computer monitor, having never seen anything like it before.

"Let's just say, if MI5 find out about this, I will be looking for a new job… shit."

"What?" She asked looking up at Tanner, who was currently pulling out his phone. "Who are you calling?"

"Q." Tanner informed her as held the phone to his ear. "Come on, Q."

It took five rings before he finally heard the call being answered.

"Tanner… Where's M?"

"I'll explain later. Where are you?"

"At the east side of Vauxhall Bridge. Why, where are you?"

"Currently sitting in M's car in the middle of the bridge. Can you make your way to us?"

"I can try."

"Don't try, Q. Push your way through if needs be. Olivia, and 007 are still in the building. We need to know what's going on In there!"

"Christ, give me a few minutes."

"Oh and Q, try to be quick."

Tanner ended the call and looked back at his laptop monitor that was now showing a log in screen.

"What exactly is this programme, Tanner?"

"It's a constant surveillance program that has been developed by MI5 to infiltrate known terrorist organisations, without the need of agents. If we can gain access, it will allow us to listen into any telephone call, any radio frequencies, allowing us to gather some insight of what is currently happening inside the building."

"You said you could lose your job, Tanner. Why are they not allowing MI6 to use it? Surely we can benefit from it as much as they can?"

"I'm not too sure Ma'am. The actual programme itself is still in it's development stage. It could take another two years before it is fully operational."

"Then how do you know about it?" Barbara narrowed her eyes, "and does Olivia know about this?"

"The programme has been brought up on more than one occasion at Olivia's meetings with the minister, and the director of MI5. They are thinking of closing down the double 0 pogramme. They believe that it is irrelevant in this day and age. Olivia, has tried to make them see sense on the matter, but they won't listen."

"So, let me get this straight. MI5 and the minister, want to replace agents with a computer programme? Over my dead body! Are they bloody delusional? To disband the double 0 programme would only end in disaster. What if the programme fails? Better yet, what makes them think that terrorists won't be able to bypass this surveillance. Then what? We will just be as in the dark about their activities, the same as what we are now."

"We know." Tanner agreed, "Olivia, more or less told them the same thing, but they refused to listen."

"Of course they did." She muttered sarcastically, starting to hate this world more and more. "Does, Bond know about this programme?"

"No. Not that I'm aware of. The same goes for all the other double 0 agents. MI5 is keeping this low key, until they know it will be a success."

"Of course they are." She tried to refrain from rolling her eyes. "I'm slowly starting to wish I never suggested that they take over the investigation for the time being."

The sound of the car door opening caused them both to turn, only to see Q standing outside looking ruffled.

"What do you need?" The quartermaster asked getting down to business.

"We need to gain access to MI5's new surveillance network. Can you bypass their firewalls?"

"Hold on. What new surveillance network?" Q frowned not liking where this was going.

"That's not important at the moment! Just answer Tanner's question. Can you bypass the firewalls?!"

"I can try, but you do realise if we are caught, it could be the end of all of out careers"

"You can either do it, or you can't Q. But my agent is in there along with your boss! Now what's more important, your career or their lives?"

Q tried not to flinch at Barbara's tone, knowing she had a valid point.

"All right, give me the laptop."

Tanner handed it over to him, as Q placed it on top of the car and quickly tried to bypass the firewalls, giving a triumphant smile when he was in.

"What is it I'm looking for?"

"Try and tap into the radio transmitters of the fire fighters in the building, Q. We need to know what's happening!"

"Give me two ticks… got it." Picking up the laptop, he handed it back to Tanner, who turned up the volume, hearing static before a voice filtered through the laptop's speakers.

"We have one deceased female and six agents. So far… no other survivors."

"It's not them. It can't be them." Barbara murmured in disbelief, refusing to accept what she had just heard.

Looking towards the destroyed building, she wondered how she had lost one of her best agents in under twenty-four hours, when he had survived much worse in their own world. Then there was Olivia. Christ she didn't want to be the one that told Bond the news, but she was still the boss, even if she wasn't Olivia.

"What are your orders, Ma'am?" Tanner asked softly, just as shocked at the news. He had always thought, Olivia as being indestructible, but it seemed she was just as human as everyone else. There may still be a chance that she was still alive, and the female wasn't her. It was a small chance, but it was better than losing all hope.

"We find out who did this, by any means necessary." Tanner turned to look at the two men. "Q try and access the CCTV cameras from earlier, I want a log of everyone who entered and left that building last night between 9pm right up until the time of the explosion."

"Of course, Ma'am. It may take some time, to access the footage."

"Do what you can, Q. We need something to go on. Whoever, was responsible for this, we'll find them." She turned and stared back towards the building with narrowed eyes. "And when we do, God help them."

/*\*/*\

Inside MI6, the firefighters continued to search for any survivors among the chaos, only to come across more dead bodies. It would be a rescue mission, but it seemed they would be recovering the bodies of the dead rather than the living.

"What are your orders?"

The man in question looked around at the carnage before them, "We do another sweep of the floor. I want to make sure we have covered every possible area in case we may have missed anyone, or anything."

"Understood, Chief."

Looking around, he restarted the painstakingly slow task of trying to look for survivors. It was moments like this, that he really hated his job.

Seeing the sky from the gaping hole at the front of the building, he made his way around and back out towards the corridor. Looking to his left, he noticed a pile of rubble, and decided to make his way over to it, dreading to see what he would find.

Shining his flashlight, he started to remove some of the lose rubble and debris that was on top. With each piece he removed, he was met with more concrete and plaster, making him wonder if it was indeed, just a pile of rubble.

"I need some assistance over here."

It wasn't long before two of the firefighters were standing next to him and were looking down at the pile of rubble.

"Help me shift some of this. Start with the top, and we make our way down."

"Was there a sign letting you know if anyone was under here?" The firefighter to his left asked being mindful of what he was lifting.

"No, but I'm not ruling out any area for survivors, Dawson."

"Chief… I think I've found something."

The Chief and Dawson flashed their flashlight to where McBride was quickly removing the rubble, revealing an arm that was attached to a body.

"Christ." His Chief muttered, as the two men worked faster, removing what rubble they could to free whoever it was trapped underneath.

As more of the rubble was removed, it slowly started to reveal that there was not only one, but two bodies underneath, unmoving.

"Are they alive?" Dawson asked McBride, who removed his glove feeling for a pulse on the man's wrist.

"He's alive." McBride looked up at them both. "His pulse seems steady."

"And the woman?"

McBride reached under for the woman's wrist, noticing how the man and the woman's hands were entwined. He could only imagine what they must have been feeling. Reaching out for the woman's wrist, he prayed to feel the steady beat under his fingertips. It was a few seconds, before he felt the irregular faint thump, which caused him to give a sigh in relief.

"She's alive, but her pulse is slow. We need to get her out of here."

Dawson continued to remove the rubble further down their bodies, only to stop when he saw the twisted metal and concrete that was covering the woman's legs. It seemed the man had tried to protect her from the second collapse, which probably saved her life.

"We may have a problem."

"What sort of problem?" His Chief asked walking over to his location, and looked down, feeling the blood drain from his face. "Shit."

"Group two, do you copy." He asked through his radio.

"We read you, Chief. Over."

"I need you to alert the paramedics and get them in here. Make sure they are geared up and inform them that we have found two causalities. One is a male in his late thirties, and one female in her seventies. Both unconscious. The woman is trapped, and in serious, if not critical condition. Bring what rescue equipment we have in the truck, we are going to need it."

"Right away, Chief."

He let go of his radio, and looked more closely at the concrete that was covering the woman's legs. It would take them some time, to get her free, not knowing what injuries she had underneath. But it may be time that she didn't have.

"Do we wait?" Dawson asked knowing time was of the essence.

"We have to, we can't risk moving either of them until the paramedics get here."

"It may be time that she doesn't have." Dawson replied, inspecting the concrete and metal more closely.

"How is she doing, McBride?"

"Still unresponsive, but her pulse is getting weaker." He told his Chief in a calm voice.

Looking back down at the causalities, he made his decision.

"Lennox, Smith and Peters can you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Chief."

"What is your situation?"

"Area is clear."

"Okay, I need the three of you back to the main office area. We have two survivors, one male and female. The female is trapped and in bad condition. Paramedics and rescue equipment is on it's way, but it may be time she doesn't have. We are going to try and move what we can, but I need everyone of you on board. This is our first priority."

"Understood, Chief. We are on our way back to your location."

He narrowed his eyes, determined to get both of them out of here alive. They had already lost seven people here today he wasn't going to add anymore to the list.

/*\*/*\

Standing by the car, Tanner, kept a watchful eye on Barbara, who was now standing next to the bridge's barrier, while staring out into the distance towards Westminster. She hadn't uttered another word on what occurred and decided to give her some space, while she tried to process the news. The two men didn't know what words of comfort they could give her. They were all mourning over the loss of someone who they were close to. Even though, Q hadn't known Olivia long, the younger man had respected her.

No one knew of the incident in Q's lab, but Tanner didn't know how long that news would last. If they found out, chances are they would get Q to try and send Barbara, back to her own world. If that was the case, it would leave a job opening for a new head of SIS and they couldn't allow that to happen. He refused to let one of the ministers loyal lap dogs undertake Olivia's position. One; because he didn't trust any of them, and two the job was rightfully hers. If it hadn't been for Olivia's hard work over the seventeen years she had been head of SIS, MI6 wouldn't be what it is today. Yet, the minister was still determined to shutdown the double 0 programme.

Tanner had never met a more insufferable man. He even put Bond to shame and that was saying something. If it was between dealing with the minister or Bond, he would pick the egotistical agent any day of the week. And he knew Olivia felt the same. The thought of the older woman, made Tanner all that more determined to bring the people responsible to justice.

Getting back in the car, he looked at Q's computer monitor that was now covered in static. "How are you getting on accessing that footage, Q?"

"Truthfully, not good. There is only so much I can do from here." Q looked up from the laptop and turned his attention to Tanner.

"I'll speak with Barbara on setting up new headquarters in the Old Vic tunnels under Waterloo Station. They should be equipped with everything we need to run operations as normal, at least until we can find a more permanent solution. Depending on the damage, chances are MI6 will be out of commission for quite sometime."

"I was afraid of that." Q frowned thinking about all his work and gadgets that were still in his lab.

"Once we have clearance that the building is safe, Q. I'll speak with Barbara to have a team recover everything that is salvageable from the building." Tanner stated knowing what was bothering the younger man. "And I'm sure your gadgets will still be standing as well."

Q hung his head low, suddenly finding the laptop monitor fascinating. Was he really that predictable?

"Do you think she will be all right?" He decided to change the subject, finding their silence slightly unnerving.

"I don't know, Q." Tanner whispered, "we can only hope."

Q watched as the man got out of the car, "Where are you going?"

"To speak with Barbara. In the meantime, I want you to keep trying to access that footage, Q."

"Understood, Tanner." Q watched from the car window as Tanner walked over to Barbara and stood beside her. "Not that it will do much good." He muttered to himself.

Starting to get back to work, he looked over at Tanner's laptop, noticing they were still logged into MI5's surveillance programme. He guessed it couldn't hurt to listen, on what was happening inside the building, while he worked.

Turning up the volume, he heard the roar of white noise penetrate through the speakers once more, as he tried to find the right channel.

/*\*/*\

Tanner, stood next to Barbara trying to find the right words to say to her. With Olivia, it was easier as he had worked with her for years. Where as Barbara, he had only known her for a few days at most.

"How's Q getting on with the CCTV footage?" Barbara broke the silence.

"That's what I sort of wanted to speak to you about, Ma'am. With MI6 out of commission we will need new headquarters."

"Where do you suggest, Tanner? You know this world better than myself." She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"I was thinking the Old Vic Tunnels..."

"Under Waterloo Station?"

"Yes. They haven't been used in years, but they should provide us with what we need."

Barbara gave a faint smile, remembering having used the same tunnels in her own world, when she needed to meet with 007 about the Zao incident. Tanner was right, they were equipped with everything they would need, but she doubted they would be exactly the same as the ones she remembered.

"Very well, we will set up headquarters there. Was there anything else, Tanner?"

"We need to retrieve any files and Intel that is salvageable from the building, as well as Q's gadgets."

Barbara narrowed her eyes, "All right, but that will have to wait until we get the all clear to enter the building. Though, I would prefer to retrieve everything that is ours, before MI5 appear on the scene."

"I understand, Ma'am." Tanner, kept looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"Why don't you just ask me what's bothering you, Tanner, instead of looking at me as if I am going to break."

"I apologise, Ma'am."

"I don't need or want your apologies, Tanner." She turned around to face him with her steely blue eyes staring hard into his own. "I just want us to find whoever did this."

"And we will, I just want to make sure you will be all right."

Her eyes softened slightly at hearing the concern in his voice. He wasn't so different from her own Chief of Staff. It made her wonder if her own Tanner was looking into their disappearance, or if he even knew if they were gone. She had no way of contacting her world to let them know that she was okay. She just wish she could say the same about 007.

After everything he had survived through the years, she had finally lost him. She never thought this day would come, but yet it had. It was almost surreal to try and process all the information.

"I'll be fine, Tanner… eventually. It will just take some time to get used to- him not being here."

"I know what you mean." Tanner agreed wistfully, as he looked down into the murky waters of the Thames.

"We're survivors, Mr Tanner." She placed a hand on his arm, "we'll get through this."

He looked back towards her with a sad smile and placed a hand over hers, hoping to return the same comfort she was giving him.

The sound of hurried footsteps approaching them from behind caused their hands to fall, as they turned and saw Q with a look of excitement on his face.

"What is it, Q?" Barbara asked trying to keep the annoyance from her voice.

"There alive!"

"What?" Tanner whispered in disbelief, not sure he was hearing him right.

"They've found two bodies, a male in his late thirties, and one female in her seventies."

"Do you know of their condition?" Barbara asked hopeful.

"Both are unconscious, but the woman is in critical condition." Q looked over at Tanner, in worry. "She is trapped under some concrete and metal, they are going to try and move it to get her free, but the way they were talking it seemed time wasn't on their side."

"Does she have a chance, Q?"

"I don't know, they are waiting for the paramedics. Until they arrive, I'm afraid that's all we have to go on."

"A fat load of good that is!"

Q and Barbara watched as Tanner made his way back to the car, not even giving them a second glance.

"I'll go and speak with him, Q. Give us a few minutes."

"Of course, Ma'am."

Giving Q a reassuring smile, she followed after Tanner and took a seat in the car next to him.

"Tanner, I know you are upset, but I need you to think rationally. If we are ever to find out who did this, I need to know that whatever personal feelings you have for Olivia, will not interfere. I need everyone on board and focused. We can't afford anymore slip ups."

He knew Barbara was right, he needed to keep his mind focused on his job. There was nothing he could do for Olivia. That was now up to the paramedics and the fire fighters inside the building. He just hoped they could save her.

"She's a strong woman, and has made it this far, I doubt she will give up now."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Do you really need me to answer that question, Tanner?"

"Probably not." He replied, giving her her a lopsided smile.

"Good. Now I had best go and tell Q it's safe to approach. The poor man didn't know what to do when you stormed off."

"I'm not usually one for losing my temper, shall we say."

"No, I thought as much." Barbara smirked.

"When he comes back over, I'll apologise."

"I wouldn't. We all need to lose control at some point Tanner. It makes us human." Barbara told him just before getting out of the car.

Tanner watched her go, not knowing what to make of her statement. The woman was an enigma, even more so than, Olivia. It amused and infuriated him at the same time. Just when he thought he was starting to understand her, she goes and throws him out of the loop. He shouldn't be surprised really. He had worked with Olivia for years and she still managed to surprise him on occasion.

Through their time working together, himself and Olivia, had developed a friendship of sorts over the years. It was only then that he really started to see the real person behind her M persona. You had M who was known as the heartless bitch of MI6, then you had Olivia, who was charming, witty, and had a dry sense of humour on occasion. It was a side many didn't get to see, and he felt privileged that he was one of the few whom she trusted other than Bond, to see her as normal human being without the weight of the world in her shoulders.

He had always admired and respected her. It was probably one of the reasons why they had a good working relationship. It was why he wasn't ready to lose her just yet. Tapping his fingers on his knee, he continued to listen to the voices of the fire fighters coming from his laptop.

He had no idea what they were planning. But whatever it was, he just prayed that it was enough to bring Olivia, and 007 out of that building alive.