Sorry this took so long but there was a lot to explain in this one and it's been a crazy week. Enjoy
James laid on his side with his arm draped protectively over M as she did her best to keep still and not let on that she was wide awake. Her mind just kept replaying the events of the original mission over and over again and then it would fast forward to the last few days causing her body to tense until every muscle ached.
"You alright?" James asked sleepily as he pulled her close and kissed her temple
"Fine" she snapped
"No need to get snarky, I was just asking" he said as he pulled away slightly
"I'm sorry James" she said rolling over to face him, lightly brushing her fingertips across his cheek
"It's going to be alright...you're going to be alright" he said reaching up to capture her hand and kiss her fingertips
M flashed him a rather unconvincing smile as she snuggled closer
"Have I told you lately that I love you?" he asked softly
"No..not in the last few hours anyway"
"Well I do, and I was thinking that when this is over I would like to take you away on a proper holiday" he said
"I see" she said with a smile "And just where did you have in mind?"
"How about I leave it up to you" he said leaning over and kissing her "Now, as you said earlier, we have a big day ahead of us so how about we get some rest" he said pulling her close
"I'll try" she said thru a yawn as she rested her head on his shoulder
The sun was just beginning to peak thru the curtains as James opened his eyes and looked down at the clearly exhausted M lying beside him. He carefully untangled himself from her , dressed and went down to the kitchen to make some coffee. It wasn't long before Jack appeared in the doorway, looking as though he needed a few more hours of sleep himself.
"Morning" said James as he got the cups out of the cabinet "Coffee?"
"What time is it?" asked Jack in a rather groggy tone
"Just past 5:00"
"And why are we up so early"
"Couldn't sleep" replied James
"And M...Where is she?"
"I didn't have the heart to wake her. She's had such a horrendous couple of days, I thought it best to let her sleep a while"
"So what exactly is the plan? I mean after we've spoken to Ivan"
"We go after Sergei" came a weak voice from the doorway
"M...What are you doing up?" asked James as he quickly closed the distance between them and escorted her to a chair
"I couldn't sleep so I thought I would come down and join you" she said with a faint smile
"You should have stayed in bed and gotten some rest" said James sternly
"I'm alright James." she said leaning her head against his hand that had settled on her shoulder "Now back to Sergei...Do we know where he is?"
"I've got that covered. My men are keeping an eye on him as we speak" replied Jack as he sat down across from her and grabbed his cup of coffee "Don't worry M. He won't get away" he said as he reached across and squeezed her hand "I promise"
"Thank you Jack" she said returning the squeeze "Where will they bring him? Ivan I mean" she asked as James handed her a cup of coffee
"They'll be bringing him straight to you at your office" replied Jack
"HER OFFICE!"
"Well not HER office you idiot. Your headquarters, the interrogation room to be exact"
"Alright you two" said M with a laugh "Calm down, both of you. Jack...Keep me advised on both Sergei's whereabouts and on Ivan's arrival, and James please do you best to remain calm and stay focused." she said as she stood up and kissed lightly kissed him "Do you think you can do that for me?" she asked with a wink
"Of course Ma'am" he replied sheepishly
"Cut the Ma'am crap James. I know that you love me, I just need to know that you've got my back on this one"
"Always" he said drawing her to him in a protective embrace as he kissed her soundly
"Good. Now that that's settled I'm going to grab a quick shower so that we can head to the office and prepare for our guest" she said giving him a quick hug before heading back upstairs
"How does she do that?" asked Jack with a perplexed look
"What?"
"Win...without ever raising her voice"
"She's M." relied James with a grin as he put the cups in the sink
Once they had all showered and changed, Jack, James and M headed to the office to go over the files one more time and wait for Ivan. The three of them took turns pacing around the office, occasionally stopping to look out the window and attempting to carry on some sort of small talk to keep their minds off the clock.
"They should be here by now" snapped Jack as he resumed the path he had made around the office
"Jack, do sit down before you wear a hole in the carpet" said M as she looked up from the file she was reading "They will call when he has arrived"
"He's right!" huffed James "They should have been here by now"
"James...No one is more anxious to speak to him than I am, but wandering around my office moaning about it won't speed things up so please, for me just sit down and try to be patient" she said sternly
"I just want to get this over...for your sake" he said as he stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder
M reached up and patted his hand and then returned to reading the file in front of her
"This is ridiculous" snapped Jack "I'm going for coffee...anyone else interested?" said Jack as he headed out the door
"I'll take one" replied James.
Once Jack had left the room, James reached over and gently took the file out of M's hand with one hand and put his other hand under her chin, tilting her face up as he leaned down and kissed her gently.
"Good Morning" he said tenderly as he pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her
"James..what do you think you're doing?" she asked with a sly grin as she wrapped her arms around him
"I didn't have a chance to do this earlier, what with Jack around" he said with a smile
"What is it?" she asked curiously "What's got you so worried? You said it yourself. He can't hurt me, and Sergei is nowhere near here" she said quietly
"I just want this to be over so that we can get on with our lives" he said as he leaned down and kissed her again
Jack came bounding back into the office with two cups of coffee only to find M in James' arms.
"Oh for Christ sake you two, I can't leave you alone for two seconds can I" he snapped as he put the cups down and grabbed the files
"What are you doing?" asked James as he reluctantly released M
"He's here...Let's get this over with" replied Jack as he motioned toward the door
James and Jack headed toward the door, but M just stood there as if she were bolted to the floor
"M...you don't have to do this if you don't want to" said James quietly
"No...No I want to." she said in a shaky voice as she literally willed herself to cross the room and take his arm
"I'll be right beside you" he said as he covered her hand with his
The three of them made their way down to the interrogation room and stood in the adjoining room looking thru the glass at Ivan Kaminski. In general he was a rather ordinary looking older gentlemen. Tall, thin with white hair and a white moustache, rather frail looking, to anyone else he looked completely harmless.
"Are we ready?" asked Jack as he looked at M
"Yes" she replied quietly as she gripped James' arm
"Well here we go" said Jack as he disappeared out of the room
"You're absolutely sure you want to be here?" asked James with obvious concern in his voice
"Shhhh...He's entering the room"
Jack entered the interrogation room and took a seat opposite Ivan
"Mr. Kaminski...I'm sure you've been told why you have been brought here"
"Yes"
"And you are willing to answer our questions?"
"Yes...If I can" he replied in a thick Russian accent
"Then let's begin shall we. What can you tell me about Sergei Mirrinov" asked Jack bluntly
"He doesn't waste any time does he?" replied M, looking up at James before retuning her attention to the interrogation room
"What do you want to know"
"He insists that he was never really part of Anton's missions, that he was only a driver. Is that how you remember it?"
Ivan snorted as he shifted in his chair
"Is that what he told you?" he asked with a laugh
"I take it this is not true" replied Jack as he narrowed his eyes
"It is true that Anton had the authority, but Sergei had the real power. The men did whatever Sergei wanted, they were loyal to him and him alone. Many times Sergei accused Anton of being too soft"
"Too soft?"
"On several occasions, Anton wanted to let the women and children live, but Sergei wouldn't hear of it. He said that the higher the body count the more power they had, and Anton eventually went along"
"So it was Sergei who ordered the deaths of all of those innocent people"
"Not entirely. Anton would make the call on occasion, but for the most part it was his brother calling the shots"
""When is the last time you spoke to Anton?"
"It was about a year ago, before I was captured. It was pathetic. He was losing his mind, kept wanting to find the one that got away...he said something about wanting to ask her to forgive him"
M began to sway slightly at this statement causing James to put his arm around her to steady her
"It was really quite sad. Sergei played on his brothers feeble mind, he could talk him into just about anything. Poor soul couldn't remember a thing so it was easy" said Ivan
"In your opinion would Sergei also want to find the one who got away?"
"Of course. Anton had a special place in his heart for her, but Sergei saw her as a threat. Anton had every intention of "rescuing" her from his brother, but he was detained that night and when he got there she was gone. They, the men, had orders to kill her, but after she was tortured, raped, beaten, shot and left for dead, a few of us who were loyal to Anton went back and cared for her until her people arrived. When Sergei found out he was furious, he had several men shot and made it known that if anyone ever disobeyed his orders again they would suffer a fate worse than death"
"So it was on Sergei's orders that all of this was done to her?" asked Jack hesitantly as he looked over at the mirror
"No one carried out the orders, He did it personally, to prove that he had the real Power not Anton"
M turned and buried her head in James shoulder as she began to cry. James put his arm around her and led her out of the room.
"What are you doing?" she asked angrily thru her tears
"You've heard enough" he said firmly as he led her toward the lift
As the lift doors closed James waited until it began to take them up before he stopped the lift between floors and turned and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as her knees began to buckle and she began to sob uncontrollably. When she had regained some sort of composure, James started the lift again and took them to the lobby and escorted her out the door to a waiting car. James turned to the guard before he got in and asked him to deliver a message to Jack.
"Would you inform Mr. Ward that I have taken M home and ask him to join us when he is finished"
TO BE CONTINUED...