Authors Note: This is my longer story about James Bond and Alec Trevelyan. Green Eyes, Golden Heart. The title is to reflect the name of the movie, but also how so many women seems to like Alec's green eyes. This is partially based on my one shots, or rather they provide a background for this, and so, many things that are just mentioned briefly here, is written in full in them.
Very big thanks goes to Earendil Eldar for beta work.
Disclaimer: I do not own James Bond, Alec Trevelyan or any other James Bond related item or person. I have only borrowed the characters and will return them. Not even making any serious attempt at kidnapping Alec, and as I have gotten some special glue form Q, he shall appear utterly unharmed.
Green Eyes and Golden Heart
Chapter 13
Something's never changed James mused as he stepped closer to Alec to straighten his tie out. What was it with him and his inability to get the bloody thing straight on his own. He was not sure if he had ever seen Alec pull that off, and yet it was so simple that anyone should be able to do it, even a child, but not Alec.
So ignoring his scowl James stepped up to him and straightened it for him.
"You know, I am familiar with ties." Alec claimed, even as he stood still and allowed James to have his fun. Really, the man had an obsession with straightening ties, and it was not limited to his own either.
"But not with how to tie them straight." James grinned. "You'll never learn."
"You're obsessed about it." Alec fired back.
"And your about to be late." James laughed as Alec's head snapped up and he looked around as if the bell was about to strike.
"You bastard." Alec aimed a punch at him, one James deftly avoided by stepping to the side.
The evaluation had cleared Alec, he was a no greater risk than anyone else they claimed. There was no immediate threat of him breaking down. James could have told them that. The second attempt to get at Alec had rather not turned out the way they had planned it to. Alec did not let them carry him off anywhere. Instead he proved why he and James had been the best.
James almost felt sorry for them, all off them agents that had come in after Alec went missing, none of them had double oh status, but a few of them had seemed to be bright enough for it. However no one approved of the methods they had been using. Alec had proved himself, and even if pretty much everyone was still weary about him they were no longer hostile.
James was willing to settle for that, and Alec was thrilled to be allowed back.
Not active yet, or rather, not active field agent just yet. Desk job to start with. He was working with James again, and it was the first day back. To Alec nothing could have been more wonderful.
He was enjoying every second of it as he walked up to Moneypenny's desk to get his orders for the day.
His file was a lot thicker now, that was for sure, but that did not bother him all that much. He had seen all of the stuff they had given James and O'Moore to go through. There had been a lot of things there. Some of it enough to make the two hardened agents feel sick. They had not wanted Alec to go over any of the material. Because James was afraid of what it would do to Alec to see some of it. Yet he knew that James had filched some things away, made copies of some of it even if he should not. Photos, and some reports, he was not sure. James had not admitted that he had done it yet.
Most likely he was waiting for it to calm down a bit before he admitted it. Alec was not going to press him about it just yet. He had taken one look at it, there was one thing that he had to find out, how he got his scar.
He had sneaked into the study where James kept it, and had looked through that folder.
The only other thing he recalled from that night was how James had comforted him. It was sickening to find out what had been done to you. So James did not want him to find out anything about the rest of it. Hardly surprising. Maybe all of it was not bad, but he was not sure. Maybe in some years he would be going over it, he was not sure. It worked pretty well as it was now. He had moved in with James. Even if neither of them had said as much.
Alec just moved in, or rather, just never got a place of his own. As far as he could tell James did not mind, and he rather liked it that way. It was rather hard to build up a life again after having been seen as dead for so many years. He had not been to the memorial wall, he did not know if his star was still there or not. He did not want to know.
Maybe there was a star there, marked by the fingers that had brushed against it so often, maybe not, but Alec avoided it.
Still now he wanted to focus on more brighter things, of being back.
He grinned at Moneypenny.
"Alec. You look really nice today." She smiled warmly as she saw him. Alec did look his best as far as she was concerned. Green eyes sparkling mirthfully, Smartly dressed in a nice suit and his tie perfectly straight, not like James' which was the tiniest bit wry. He wore that boyish lopsided smile that she loved about him. In more ways than physical appearance he looked the best he had since he came back. She could just imagine how that golden heart of his was thumping with joy and pride, it was one of the things that had earned him the name of lady's man. When Alec was happy he radiated that feeling around him. She wanted to keep this image of him in her mind, always.
Nothing could ever be more beautiful. Even James looked good, a half step behind Alec. Protectively, yet he too was grinning that way that shoved of a boyish charm. Not quite like Alec, but not to far from it either. It was one of the things that made them so suited to each others.
"Agents Double-Ooh-Seven and Double-Ooh-Six. Reporting for duty." James beamed as he leaned against her desk. "I finally got my School boy back to work with me."
"I think it'll have to be Double-Ooh-Seven and Playboy-twin-two at the moment thought." Alec frowned. "I doubt I will be allowed my Double-Ooh status back first week."
"Not quite the first week, but I refuse to have an agent whom is officially referred to as Playboy-twin on my staff." M declared from the door to her office. "Not to mention that should anyone be referred to as such, it would be Bond."
Alec smiled, was there finally an M who could take the playboy twin as a joke, and not deadly serious. Even if it was not the case, seeing as how he already had desk duty, what kind of punishment could she give him? "Actually, he's Playboy-twin number one, while I am number two." He declared with a smile. Meeting her eye as he spoke.
The joke was not quite appropriate, but it was not so bad that she could not accept it. Also, she knew all about it from before. If you listened to corridor gossip, it was one of the first things you heard about those two. She also knew that Trevelyan had once gotten into trouble for reporting under that name. Interesting that so many thought her the worst M, and still he, dared to make a joke to her face, even thought she had learnt he was normally apprehensive about anyone in charge.
Well, she would let him get away with it, partially because it was good to see him so at ease, partially because on some level she liked him, and partially because it would grate on Bond how his partner could get away with something he himself could not.
"Quite so Mr Trevelyan. And it seems to be what he thinks he is." She nodded. "I trust you will show him the proper way for an agent of his status to behave."
Alec smiled and nodded. It was quite successful, apparently Trevelyan knew something that Bond did not, when to end the joke.
She took a breath. "I can not give you your Double-Ooh status back at the moment. Not yet anyway. We shall see what happens. If all works out, you'll be an active field agent sooner than you might think. You will after all be teaming up with James, so when he goes out, you go out. If that goes well, you should get your status back." She allowed him to know that. He was a good agent, and he would work harder knowing that he was trusted.
"Thank you." Alec nodded and gave her a warm smile.
"Good luck." She reached out her hand to shake his, it was to be admired the way he had overcome everything. She had studied the full report from the evaluation closely. How they stated that it should not be impossible for someone to be trusted after that kind of experience, and yet they spoke in favour of trusting him.
Alec would be going with James, and James would make sure that he made it.
She went back into her office to allow them a few minutes before they started the day. Behind her she heard Trevelyan point out to Bond that he had been right, and that it was Playboy-twin that was his designation at the moment. She would have to make sure he got back his old status fast before that name really stuck with him.
Moneypenny laughed happily at Alec's joke. James looked as if he could not believe how he had pulled it off. Alec was grinning happily as if he did not have a care in the world at the moment. She would change that. Once in her life she had made a mistake. She had been waiting for the one man she wanted to make the move when he was ready to, but he never would. It was just one of those things that you sometimes just knew.
James saw her as his to win, and as long as he did that Alec would never even make a serious move, because there was just no way he was willing to step in on James territory. Especially not now when he considered himself owing James such a debt.
Alec was to gentle and to caring for that. She was however not going to wait until she lost him again, James be damned, but if he could not see that Alec as the winner, she would take him to task.
"You two boys gonna celebrate tonight?" She asked.
"Promised him I'd buy him a pint if we managed this." Alec gave a guilty smile.
"You're the one who did it." She stated with a smile. "I know better than to intrude on the boys celebration, but I could see buying you one later."
Both of them looked at her, Alec, as if he did not quite know what to say, James as if he was clueless about what was going on.
"How about tomorrow Alec, if you two do not have any plans."
"I don't think we do." Alec said carefully, glancing at James this was a new situation, one that he had no memory of. What more, it was not just his memory, it seemed James could not remember anything like it either.
"Good." She smiled at him, tried not to laugh over his baffled expression. So there was one way to make both of them lost their compassion at the same time. "I want to go out with you Alec." She stated, it was that or let the lad stand there and look as if he was one bulb short of a pub sign.
"Why?" He asked.
She almost felt sorry for him, did he even know what it looked like when a women expressed a desire for him, and not for one night, but for more than that. Had he ever even seen that.
"I don't believe in making the same mistake twice." She stated.
James looked between them, and if Alec was missing a bulb, he had mislaid a dozen. "You want Alec?" He asked.
She nodded, so one of them understood. Apparently James was quicker to understand defeat than Alec was to see a victory.
"Wait." Alec shook his head. "Me? But, what about James." Now he was the one who looked between them. "If you're saying what I think you're saying, then why? I mean, one of the first things I recalled was that no matter what James tried, it never worked."
"I never wanted James." Moneypenny said softly with an apologetic smile at James. "I wanted you Alec, but I did not want to make you feel as if you were taking what was James, so I never said anything. I'm not gonna make that mistake twice."
James turned to face Alec. "So this what I get for taking on you." He said with mock anger. "I knew first I saw you that you'd be trouble." Then he turned to Moneypenny. "And I knew first time I saw the two of you together that I was doomed if you preferred blondes."
At that moment he won some hard earned respect from Moneypenny. She doubted he would stop his flirting, but he did step aside.
"Seems you won this won Alec, enjoy yourself."
"What's going on here?" Alec gave James a pleading look, and James draped an arm around his shoulder.
"What's going on here Alec, is that Moneypenny has informed us that there is no way she shall ever be mine, because she has been yours all along." He dropped his arm from Alec's shoulders. Of course the younger man could not comprehend it, his only brush with real love ever had been a disaster. Not to mention how James had always claimed Moneypenny for himself, Alec had never tried, and James had never thought that she might want his partner if not him. Now he put his hands on Alec's shoulders and looked him in the eye at arms length. "She prefers blonds I guess, odd, but there you have it." He brushed against the scar on Alec's cheek, the one he hated to see, but it also was a reminder of how Alec was still so innocent and naïve at times. He guessed that he would always be the same there.
Then he spun Alec around slowly by his shoulders and pointed him in Moneypenny's direction.
"Bring him back to me when you are done with him." He said softly as he left Alec there and headed to their office.
Tonight Alec was his, and only his. He grinned to himself. After this shell shock the lad would need it as well. He chuckled to himself, it was an interesting turn of events, to think that she had been after Alec much the same way he was after her. It certainly explained her coldness after Alec went missing.
Some women had gone after Alec because they thought he was as close to James as they would ever get, but Moneypenny was not like them, if she could not get the man she wanted, she was not about to settle for second best, and this time, second best had been James.
An interesting turn of events indeed.
James looked up from the paper he had been pretending to study as the door to the office opened. Alec came in, and James then knew that it was possible to get him more confused than he had ever believed. Even if it took a very feisty women to declare her love for him.
"Close the door Alec." He stated, there was no way Alec recalled to do that on his own, given how he still looked quite shell chocked.
"We really should have expected something like this." James pointed out. "I mean, the way she always refused me, and the way she was always on me about keeping you safe."
"You, you don't mind?" Alec asked.
James shook his head. "I should I guess, but I don't. I'm still gonna flirt with her, mind." James gave a laugh. "Been doing that for so long I could not figure out how to get past her if I did not stop and flirt. But you won her fair and square, so no, I don't mind."
Alec nodded, James laughed and Alec glared at him. Well, he just could not help it, this was after all the same Alec that never seemed to be the slightest surprised over the turn things took out on missions. He had done well through the training exercises they put him through. Very well, he was not in the best physical form, but Alec found ways. Yet now, he was still trying to regain his compassion. First day back on official duty, and James doubted he would really get anything done.
Then Alec shook his head and put it aside for later. He could worry about it later, not now. Besides, from what he had understood there was nothing to worry about. All was as it should be.
There was no way of mistaking it, the whole base was aware of the fact that Alec was back, James decided. There was always whispers in the corridors, but now the walls fair vibrated with them. A few, O'Moore and Q, came to congratulate him. That was hardly surprising, those two had always been looking after him.
Strange to think that Moneypenny had been doing that as well. He wondered if anyone had ever seen that, and what would come of it. Could Alec trust love enough to stay with one girl? He was trusting, he was a very trusting little lad, but it was true that Alec had believed himself to be in love once. Had he just been dumped then it would not have bothered him to much, but it had been a women sent out to snare Alec and then target James.
It had failed, because there was no way to set Alec against James, but it had been a disaster for Alec where love was concerned.
James did not doubt that he trusted Moneypenny, but did he trust himself? He would have to keep an eye on how that developed, and step in and put the younger man to rights if he could not get there on his own.
He had even won some more respect for Moneypenny on another level he decided as he accepted the first pint from Alec's hand. Given that they had to be back in the office in the morning, it was not to be a late night, but they could certainly say that they had deserved a few pints.
Alec took a long draught from his glass, a look of pure bliss on his face."
"Strawberry ale, now that's just a disgusting thought." James said in an offensive voice.
"Strawberry ale?" Alec snorted. "Why ever would you want that?"
"When you have that look on your face, you're always claiming stuff tastes like strawberries." James elaborated. "And strawberry ale would be just disgusting."
Alec nodded. "Thought maybe," he started, and then he ducked as James made a mock swing at him. "No, I agree with you, it would be horrid." He laughed.
"It shall be interesting to see Moneypenny's reaction when she finds out about your strawberry obsession." James grinned.
"She already knows." Alec offered a guilty smile. "She came with some papers once when I were eating them."
"Poor girl, she does not know what she's getting into." James shook his head.
"I think she has a better idea of it then I do." Alec admitted with a wry smile. "Really James, I had no bloody idea, I've never had any bloody idea. I thought she was sweet on someone else, that she had a man off base, or that she was just not interested in an agent." He took a swig of his ale while trying to sort his thoughts into order. "I mean, we all know that agents don't always come back, and I guessed she was just not willing to risk that, and then she says she wants me, and she already knows what happens if I don't come back."
"She does, and I think that's why she told you." James said thought fully. "She probably thinks it was worse to not have said it." Then a thought struck him. "Do you like her Alec?" He was not even sure if Alec had ever been interested in her.
"I guess." Alec shrugged. "Never thought about it that way, but I do like her."
"She'll take it from there." James laughed. "Trust me Alec, she knows what she wants, and I think she has a pretty good idea of how to get it."
Alec did not doubt that. Moneypenny was someone to be reckoned with, in more ways than people thought. She was not the ordinary secretary, she was much more than that. It was not a good thing to underestimate her.
"I think I get along better with this M, than with some of the others." He said to change the subject.
"You're the only one then." James grunted. "She's the worst one ever, really."
Alec raised his eyebrows and gave him a lopsided grin while he leaned back confidently. "Maybe that's just because you don't know how to handle her." He suggested.
"Oh, yeah. You're right on Alec." James snorted again. "You couldn't be further from in fact. There is no way to handle her, she let you get away with that joke because she wanted it to great at me that you did."
"Maybe." Alec shrugged. "But I know a certain M, that would never have allowed me to even make the first half of it."
"Point." James drained his glass and noted that they both wanted a new one. "Still, you shouldn't get the idea that you will be able to get away with it every time." He shook his head. "We've got a women there trying to prove that she's as much a man as we are."
"Times are changing." Alec frowned. "They can do that now. "
"I don't think I like it." James gave a nod of thanks as two fresh pints were set before them.
"Me neither." Alec gave him a serious look and a small smile. "Makes it bloody hard to know what you're supposed to be doing. You can't think you have to protect them anymore, because then you are an old fossil who should know they can protect themselves. You can't hit them, because then you're a women beater. If you let them do what they please, and they get a bump from life, then you're a sadist and I don't know what." He shook his head ruefully. "Seriously, those feminists are going to far, if they could just decide I'd not have anything against them."
"I agree." James did agree, it seemed like the only thing they were after was being able to blame the men afterwards.
"Moneypenny's not like that." He declared.
"Or I wouldn't have stopped running yet." Alec grinned. "Though, she may be one of those, 'I don't need a man to protect me.'"
"I don't think she does." James pointed out. He had a feeling that if she got involved with Alec, she'd need it even less, seeing as how he was bound to teach her even more forms of self defence. Still, Alec was not the one who could allow a woman to protect herself, not if he was there. He was so used to always protecting.
"If she had been a feminist, she'd have turned you in for sexual harassment long since." Alec pointed out grinning.
"She's threatened with it a few times." James admitted with a guilty grin, and Alec laughed as it turned on his boyish charm, as some called it.
"I bet, but I think she enjoyed giving you the cold hand every time." He shook his head. "She, she's not like all those other women on the base. I don't think she's to upset about it as such. I mean, Moneypenny is tough, she can take care of herself around males, and I think she could put you in place did she want to. Verbally, she just seems to prefer not to."
James though how Moneypenny might be using it as an ace up her sleeve, but he did not say that. Moneypenny had gotten the better of him a few times, and James thought she enjoyed the challenge.
"We shall see how fun you think it is when she puts you in your place." He stated. She could do that, but he doubted she would. At least not at first. It would be some time yet when they were both afraid of hurting him. He guessed they were a little over protective at that. Who would blame them.
Even the strongest material can brake, and Alec had already been dented.
"Relax James." Alec tilted his head back to drain the last in his glass, they ought to be going back. It was not a good idea to drink to much. At least not in the middle of the week, the beginning of the week. So he decided against ordering one more round.
James nodded as Alec set down the empty glass on the table.
"Where do you plan to take her tomorrow?" He asked
"I don't know." Alec shrugged. "Where do you take a real woman?" He was used to the kind of women who would not allow themselves to give more than one night to any man. Those you usually picked up in a bar.
"Ask her." James suggested. "I think she knows more about that kind of things than you and I do." He recalled her having said something about being to the theatre once.
"I guess I will have to." Alec admitted. Both were finished and it was time to go so he rose to his feet and waited for James to do the same.
"Relax Alec." James patted his shoulder as he walked past him. He could understand why the younger man was nervous though. It was not every day this kind of things happened. "It's Moneypenny we're talking about here. She's not gonna expect some miracle, I think she'll be happy enough over you."
Alec shrugged, he thought James was right, and he was not really sure how he felt about Moneypenny since it was a new concept. Still, since it was her, because of all she had done for him during the years. He wanted to make it special. She was the one that would tell James off if she though he was taking his teasing to far. She was the one who had always had a kind word for him, and a scolding at times when she thought he had taken to great a risk.
He recalled a lot of times when she had been there when he had gotten hurt on a mission. She had always been there for him, always, and he had appreciate it so much. If for nothing else, he wanted to make it special for her because of that.
The question was how? Jewellery would not be the right thing, the problem was that he did not know what the right thing was. He had never been this nervous about meeting a woman, and it was odd to be so anxious.
James glanced at him and chuckled as he could tell the train of Alec's thoughts. He would drop a line with Moneypenny how nervous Alec was about this, make sure she'd go easy on him. Okay, so it bordered on overprotective, had they not decided that he leaned towards that since getting him back?
"You're giving me those funny looks again." Alec said absently as they walked home.
"Sorry." James gave a guilty shrug as he tried to school his expression into a more neutral look.
"What are you thinking when you look at me that way?" Alec glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Never mind about it." James shrugged, hoping Alec would not pursue the matter.
"You give me one of those really odd looks, and don't want me to ask about why?" Alec asked thoughtfully. "Do you even imagine it'll work."
"I was hoping it would." James admitted.
Alec gave him a look that seemed to hint that he thought James was just a little crazy. "When could I not blame you?" He asked. "And did you ever know me when I was so easily sidetracked."
"No." James admitted, still he was very grateful. Alec was not sidetracked, not the slightest, but neither was he pursuing the subject any more. It was his way of letting it lie, instead of demanding to be told he was teasing instead. It would be more that he could agree to just ignoring it, but he could pretend to. James looked at him, Alec wanted to know, he could tell.
"It's because your finally back." He admitted. "It's strange, really strange."
"Almost like before, eh." Alec looked lazily down the street before crossing. James thought it was lucky for him there was no cars coming from the other direction, the one he was not bothering to look in. He spoke with more certainty now, it was just a small hint of his insecurity when speaking about old times that still showed. No one who did not know him as well as James did would be able to tell.
It was just a trace of it remaining, showing at odd times, when Alec was pondering something, but it was no more than it might be for James. Even he could not recall everything that had happened in his life.
No one did.
"I think it will be just like before." James nodded, glancing down the other way since Alec seemed to be set on only checking the street one way today. He frowned, they always claimed that they worked best as a team, but maybe thinking that they should look one way each was taking it a bit far.
"You're giving me that funny look again." Alec said absently. "If you don't want me to ask about it, you had better stop doing it."
"Sorry." James tried to hide the puzzled look behind an amused frown. "You know Alec, just because there is no cars from one direction does not mean there is no from the other one."
"I figure there is a fifty percent risk of a car for each crossing." Alec sounded utterly unfazed by the statement. "So, two ways and a fifty percent risk means it can only be coming in one direction out of two. I look one way, and the risk is no bigger than twenty five percent."
"Those twenty five could still get you in a spot of trouble." James stated, curious about how far down the scale Alec intended to take the percentage. The guy was pretty good at reasoning down the risk, or make it sound as if he had. He usually did it at other times, but James supposed it worked for this as well.
"It comes from that way, and it'll take you first." Alec gave him a big grin. "Figures that evens out that last twenty five percent, right?"
"You're a bloody bastard Alec." James tried to sound angry, as if Alec would ever have believed he really was. It was just his duty and so he did his best.
"I know, I did learn from you after all, and that twice." Alec pointed an accusing finger at James, choosing to see it from the brightest side he could.
"I never did anything like hoping you'd get hit by a car." James pointed out with a mock scowl.
"No, but I'm pretty sure that you nearly did hit me with one a time or two. Remember that nice piece of machinery that you saw fit to demolish." Alec asked conceding and giving the other direction a quick glance.
"I know which one you mean." James nodded. "You know, I always think I came out the worst out of that trade there."
Alec snorted, as James had known he would. It had been one of the more spectacular crashes of his carer, the car had been a complete wreck, one of the worst he had seen. It had been a close call getting away from it before the whole thing blew. It had been very close, more so than James wanted to think on, because when he escaped the flames he had been dragging Alec bodily from it. It had been close because it had been all he could do to keep Alec alive there.
The crash had been unfortunate, but it had gotten Alec help in time. He had never had any regrets about the outcome of it all. Alec kept brining that up, because he was grateful that James had gotten him out of there. Because he knew how close that had been cut. They were not immortal, they were most certainly not, and Alec was very well aware of just how lucky he had been there.
"That's twenty five percent right there Alec." James stated as he hauled Alec back by his sleeve, frowning because it was not like him to be so caught up in his thinking that he near stepped out into the road, and this time there was cars coming. "You don't watch out, and you'll have to cancel your date for tomorrow." He shook his head and aimed for a tease. "You really that nervous about it Alec."
The younger agent shook his head with a guilty look, very guilty. "I was thinking about that car." He admitted.
"I remember it." He wished he did not. "Moneypenny gave me an earful about not taking better care about you there."
"What?" Alec had never known that. "You saved my sorry hide there."
"She was upset." He could understand that, he had been quite upset himself. Having just been told how close it had been for the lad, did Alec really know? Alec thought he knew, but did he really? He was not sure he had ever been told all the details about it. "So she told me off for getting you into the mess."
"I got myself into it."
James cursed, this was not the mood he wanted Alec in if he was to go with Moneypenny. So the younger man had made a mistake, it was not a critical, James had handled it. Alec was a brilliant young agent at the time, but there was no one who was perfect.
Moneypenny had made a good point that James should have kept a closer eye on the more inexperience agent. He had failed to do that, and Alec had made a mistake, the result was that Alec near died. He could understand why the female friend, and apparently secret admirer as well, had been so upset, he had been just as upset, and he did not want Alec to think about it the way he was doing now.
"Stop looking at me like that." Alec demanded, wondering what was going on that was making James give him all those funny looks.
"Then you stop thinking like that." James demanded.
"You started it." Alec objected.
"You're the one that won't let it go." James pointed out, he was not about to let Alec get out the winner this time. He was not about to give in this time.
"You still started it."
"And it's still your own fault." James laughed patting him on the back. "If you're thinking in the way that sends you right out into a heavy traffic street, you can't expect me not to give you strange looks." He thought it was a rather well made point.
"That was because of all those funny looks you were giving me." Alec objected, stopping just before he stepped out in front of another car.
James shook his head with an exaggerated sigh. "Did no one ever teach you to look both ways before crossing a street Alec, if you keep that up, you won't have to worry about meeting Moneypenny in the morning."
"I'm not worried." Alec made to cross, but thought better of it, where was all those cars coming from anyway?
"Okay, alternate tactics required." James grinned, if he would have to embarrass Alec to get him home he would do it. "Come now here and we will teach you have to do this. You look booth ways, and then if there is no cars, you can cross." As he began the crossing he took Alec's hand, hoping the younger man would find that very embarrassing.
"I know how to cross a street." Alec objected with a few discrete attempts to free his hand. There was not many pedestrians out, but they who were, was looking.
"I'm not letting go until you prove it." He could have laughed, he wanted to laugh, Alec was so distracted he hardly got it right even one time. At least not good enough for James. So what if it made people draw conclusion, it was fun since most of it was directed at Alec anyway. He unlocked the door and grinned at Alec who was glaring at him. Distracted from his previous line of thoughts to say the least.
Oh, Alec was not angry for real, he just made a play out of it, the same way James did. It was not the first time one of them had tried to embarrass the other. He doubted it would be the last time either.
Alec felt nervous when he approached Moneypenny in the morning, was he supposed to say something or not? He was supposed to say something to her, that much he knew, but what? How was he supposed to go about this, and why was he so nervous about this? It did not make sense at all.
He was better than this, he was more experienced than this, he swallowed and tried to prove it.
Moneypenny smiled when she saw how nervous Alec was looking, he was so cute in that manner. He could blush like a schoolboy, and he did.
"Hello Alec, did you have a nice time with James last night?" She asked, he looked as if he did not know what he was supposed to say. Since she was the one who had confused him so, it was only fair she helped him out about it.
"Yes, very nice." He nodded.
"Alec." James hissed in his ear. "You act like a school boy in first grade."
Alec glared at him and cleared his throat. Should he ask her out, but that was silly, she had already done that.
"Alec, there is no expectation for you to meet here." She smiled. "I'd like to go out somewhere nice and eat afterwards, but I don't care if it is a restaurant or a pub. I'm not someone you have to impress here."
It was a really nice to know that, he appreciated it. "So, as soon as we are done here?" He asked.
"Sounds perfect to me." She smiled. "And James, you don't behave yourself and you'll have to answer to me. Just so that you know."
James grinned over his shoulder as he prepared to leave. "Really, Moneypenny, have some faith in me." Still grinning he draped an arm over Alec's shoulders. Let her think he was up to some teasing with his friend. She would get worked up over it, and he would be enjoying himself without having to use so many words to tease Alec.
"James, funny looks again, stop it." Alec demanded. What was he up to anyway with all those weird looks.
"You're to suspicious." James complained.
"No, with you, there is nothing such as to suspicious." Alec objected. "I know you to well for that. I also know you are using me to get to her at the moment."
James was guilty of charge, and there was no use trying to deny it where Alec was concerned, so instead he tried a disarmingly smile.
"Do you mind?" He asked and Alec laughed.
"Not as much as I am sure she will." He grinned back at James. "Playing with fire here James." It was true, as far as he knew it was true.
"Yeah, but I figure I am safe at the moment. She needs me to baby sit you."
"Baby sit." Alec stopped with his hand on the doorknob to their office. "You bloody bastard." Then he turned around. "Hey, that's what you said at first, when I joined up here."
"And I still say it." James stepped in and pushed the door open. "The only thing that has changed is that I don't mind anymore."
Alec snorted, that was James for you, always trying to sound as if you could not get along without him.
He was nervous when he approached Moneypenny's desk at the end of the days work. Damn nervous. He looked at her as he came closer. It was odd, had he ever looked at her that way before? He was not sure. He did now however, and he quite enjoyed it.
"I'll be ready in a moment Alec." She said without looking up, she had long since learnt how to tell most of them of them apart from how they approached. It was not as hard as some would think.
"Okay." Alec nodded, remaining where he was, watching while Moneypenny cleared of her desk and stacked away all the papers and everything. She was efficient, but then again in her line of work, it was very important. It forced him and James to try and be at least half as efficient as well. Even if the two of them did it more grudgingly.
She stood up and grabbed her coat, smiling at him.
"Ready to go?" She asked him and Alec nodded. For once he would allow the girl to take the lead. She knew what she anted and he did not. He stepped up close to her and walked at her side.
"How about we go to a pub for a glass?" She asked knowing it was the kind of place he favoured. She knew enough of Alec's and James's exploits to know as much.
He nodded gratefully, it could be really nice. Though he had not known she would enjoy it, for being considered to be her friend, he did not know anything about what she enjoyed doing of work. To his defence it had always been a work relationship, and if nothing else, he could always blame it on the amnesia he supposed.
Not that there would be any need. Moneypenny was not the one to get upset about that.
He was enjoying himself very much, more than he usually did. He was enjoying himself very much, even so much that he was not nervous anymore. He was not sure why he had been nervous to start with. It was nothing special. Or on second thought it was, very special.
James looked up as Alec came in through the door, it was not even late. He had been set on waiting up, but there had been no need for waiting. He would have thought that he would have been out longer.
"I would ask if you enjoyed yourself, but I can see that grin." He chuckled.
Alec nodded a bit guiltily, there was no way to deny that he had been having a great time.
"Still, I can't understand why you are home so early unless she tiered of you." James mocked.
"No, but you go out with the one who times you in, in the mornings, and she insists on avoiding late nights." Alec grinned.
He dropped down in the sofa. "You wouldn't believe it James, I never thought Moneypenny could be like that, but she's just wonderful." Then he became silent, feeling just a big guilty because James had always been trying to pick her up.
"And to wise to fall for my seduction." James said sitting down beside him. "She knows what she wants, and I can't give her that. She wants to know that she can relay on a man, that he will always be there for her."
Alec turned to look at him. "But how could I do that if I am out on a mission?"
James sighed, Alec was an adult, but he was a novice in matters of love. He had one love experience behind him, no, a love disaster. He knew women liked flowers, but he did not really know why.
"She won't break down just because you're on a mission." He explained. "She knows your job Alec, she's very well aware of what you'll be doing, but she wants to know that when you come back, she will still matter. She couldn't trust me not to fall for someone else's charm, but she can trust you. Listen, I absolutely refuse to tell you about the birds and the bees here, but I'll try to explain this."
Alec nodded his agreement to the terms, so James went on.
James drew a deep breath before starting. "Okay, if I brought her flowers, she'd know I wanted something, and I would be wanting something. You on the other hand, would do it with only her in mind, it would not be a selfish action with you, and it would with me. If it was necessary for a mission you would sleep with another women, I would enjoy it. That is the kind of things she wants to know."
"And you claim you don't understand women." Alec said in an accusing tone.
James chuckled. "I know what they want, but I don't understand them, why they want it? You do Alec, even if you don't think about it. You always seem to know what to do and say to make them feel better. That is one of the reasons she wants you."
Alec nodded thoughtfully, most of it made sense, at least enough for him. He knew about subtle touches, but he did not know that he knew when and how to employ them. There was really only one thing he wanted to know at the moment.
"What does birds and bees have to do with any of it?" He asked, frowning and tilting his head to the side.
James mouth dropped open with surprise, he had not known Alec was that innocent, but he was not joking, really he was not joking. "No one taught you about the birds and the bees?" He asked, not willing to believe it.
Alec shook his head, and James stared at him. "Ask Moneypenny." He managed. "You're her responsibility now, it's only fair she gets to be the one to tell you." That would be something to see. Oh, Alec was so very innocent. He had not even figured that part out. He really wanted to see what would happen. "In fact, you can do it when we go to check in, in the morning."
"With other words, you'll be standing laughing yourself sick." Alec stated. "I'll pass. It's not really my fault either you know. I take it is a thing that most learn from their parents."
James nodded, it was, he was just surprised Alec had never heard about the expression before. He doubted anyone would sit down with the kids at the orphanage for that sort of things, but he had thought he would have heard about it somewhere. Though maybe he had, only he had not been paying attention to it at the time.
"So, what's the plan for tonight?" James asked. He was happy for Alec, really, and he did not mind him with Moneypenny. Not as much as most would think. It was just that Alec was his friend, and he was a little afraid Alec would suddenly only have time for her. He had seen enough men put on a collar and a leash when they got girls. He would hate it if Alec did that. He would really hate that.
"I don't have a plan for tonight." Alec shrugged. "You don't have to worry just yet James."
Like if it would be humanly possible not to worry about him, James thought.
"I'm just worried you'd take off marrying her already next week or something." James admitted. "Maybe I'm possessive about you, I don't know. I don't really mind sharing with her, but I want to know I can always get my fair share."
Alec snorted. "You talk as if I was some inmate object you own." He shook his head a little. "And you are possessive, but I guess you have right to it. I promise I won't go marrying next week or anything. It's not gonna change for a very long time."
"Thanks." James smiled at him, then looked down at his desk. "We should probably get started on this now." How he hated paperwork.
"I think you're right." Alec admitted, then his face lit up as he came to a decision. "Lets clear it away fast and then go out for some lunch."
"Good thinking." James grinned as he started on his share.
It would take time before Alec was ready to continue his life on his own, before he was ready to include Moneypenny in it every day. Yet he had come a long while in a short time, he was getting back to his old self more and more. Their relationship was closer to what it used to be in stead of him simply taking care of Alec. The man had suffered betrayals, the loss of hope and the loss of his earlier life but he was the kind of man who never could stop fighting and so he struggled on and bit for bit reclaimed what had been his, and, he had to admit, a little extra beside it if one considered Moneypenny.
Thinking of her he wondered if he could ever truly stop flirting with her, even if he knew she belonged to Alec, but he thought also that it did not matter. It was the way his relationship with her was, and both of them knew that. Alec wasn't likely to be offended, if James knew him half as well as he thought he would, he would appreciate the challenge.
Smiling to himself he decided that they had finally reached the point where what had happened was past them, and they only had to look towards what was in front of them…
The End
My humblest apologies that the end was so long in coming. I fear at times my ambition for this story was bigger than my ability and I was afraid it would fall short of standard. Huge thanks to all of you who has stayed with it to the end.
Kindest Regards, the Cricket.