Now

London, England

"Hey, cheese heads, listen up." Said Sands as he addressed a room full of people he'd been working with for a couple of years, now, though he'd never seen any of them. The scattered voices died down as the fifteen odd people turned their attention to their blind superior.

"Gump, Hunting; are you here?"

"Yeah, chief." Said Will Hunting, the American code-breaker as Forrest Gump Jr., his friend and compatriot sat next to him.

"Good." Said Sands.

"People, you've al been working for me for at least a year. You've all been doing a great job and I wouldn't rather be running this outfit with anyone else. But all that'll mean shit if you crap out on me now as I break to you what you have to do. The time has come; the moment of truth is here. You now have the most important job you're ever likely to undertake.

"We've just received a number of an account in the Cayman Islands; we only know it was used in the later eighties, possibly by someone using the alias of Oliver Warren. I want to you to milk this number for all its worth and then some; I want you to hack into Grand Cayman's mainframe, hack the CIA, hack everyone. Then I need you to track down transactions. I want to know when it was last used and where. Hell, I want to know the color of the tie of whatever bank clerk last had anything to do with that account. Cross reference everything with the name MacGuffin and send everything back to me. Let's go to work, boys and girls."


"I saw you, you know?" said Cate Archer-Bond as she sipped from her cup of tea, "Back in December, in James' knighting ceremony."

"Of course you did." Said Jack Mason with a smile.

Both James Bond's wife and one of James Bond's enemies were in the Russian tea room which was mostly vacant.

" 'Of course you did.'" Scoffed Cate, "You sound just like him. You look just like him too."

"Heh. British Intelligence's idea." Said Mason as he sipped his own tea, "They thought it wise to have two identically appearing Agents, namely because the Soviets were doing the same. God knows why it had to be me that got a new face. I was the prettier one. Right?"

"Oh look, a little bird." Said Cate as she jokingly looked out a window.

"Glad to see years of retirement haven't done away with your sense of humor."

"It has, as it did with everything else I had. Seeing today is like a refreshing tunic."

"That's the nicest thing anybody's said to me lately. So, what are you doing to keep yourself occupied these days?"

"This and that." Said Cate as she poured another cup of tea, "Emphasis on this; drinking tea with people I'm not particularly fond of."

"I'm hurt."

"Oh, sorry. When I said this I meant the tea, I wasn't imp-"

"I know, don't worry."

"I show up on James' arm when he needs me, I do a bit of charity work. I do a bit of P.R. between the League and the Government."

"So, you're not entirely retired."

"You know what they tell you at the start of training; once in the firm…"

"Quite."

"And you?"

"Working diligently. You can say that to James."

"Ha! If he knew I was sitting here with one of the four men bent on destroying everything he'd worked for, he'd kill me, that is supposing he doesn't die of a stroke first."

"Aren't you worried he'll find out?"

"How would he? The staff barely know him and for all they know I'm with him right now. He hasn't come with me here for two years."

"How is James?" asked Mason as he raised his cup of tea to his lips.

"Jack, really." Said Cate, "Do you think I would tell you anything that you might use to harm my husband?"

"Would you?"

"Of curse not."

"Then why are you here, Cate?"

Cate hung her head and a hint of sadness crossed her face.

"I'm…I feel so lonely sometime, Jack. To James I'm an old friend and house guest. He won't even touch me anymore. He hardly comes home most nights. He spends his night shagging his new secretary; a young, American, blonde chippy he'd picked up in New York. A young little number that barely looks old enough to drink."

"I'm…I'm so sorry, Cate." Mason said, feeling genuine guilt and remorse, as he had personally recruited and trained Harmony; the woman in question.

"And she's not the first. Oh no. He must've slept with every woman in his employ. Well, except for Emma."

"Emma?"

"Emma Peel; Deputy Director of the League. Don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about. It insults my intelligence, Jack."

"I wasn't, honest. I just didn't realize who you were talking about. I thought they had a fling back in the old cold war days, before your time."

"No, she had always been loyal to her husband Peter, even when he was thought to be dead… I hear you have a daughter."

"I'm not sure that's a precise word for it. I spent the night with a woman I met at a Led Zeppelin concert, the week I broke out of Alcatraz. I only met once and didn't leave a powerful impression."

"Have you tried contacting her since then?"

"To what purpose? She's grown to be a good woman without me; I have no place in her life.

"What about you, how's little Andrew?"

"Little Andrew's been appointed a judge, Jack."

"Ah. They grow up so fast. Cate, would you mind if I ask you an honest question?"

"I shudder, but go ahead."

"Do you love him?"

There was a long pause as Cate sipped her tea and looked out the window, as if having heard nothing.

"I do. I'm sure he still loves me, in his own way. James never was the marrying type. We only lasted this long because I've grown too jaded to object to his numerous infidelities."

Mason took one final sip of his tea before putting down the cup on the saucer and standing up.

"Well, I must be off."

"I'm disappointed, Mason." Cate said as she looked up at him.

"Why is that?"

"You have a question on your mind that you dare not ask, in fear of upsetting me."

"And what question is that?"

"You're wondering how is it that I have become what I am when I once fought tooth and nail for global peace."

"Well…"

Cate looked up at him with eyes filled with sorrow and regret.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to be, Jack. It wasn't like this at first."


Somewhere beneath the Waters of the Atlantic

"Sheldon," Nemo said as he looked at Sands' image through the computer screen, "Surely you haven't found a new trail already?"

"We're working on it, Nemo. We're getting there. I have some other news, potentially bad."

"What is it?"

"It's about an incident in Florida."

"Florida?"

"Tommy Vercetti, Vice City's crime boss was found dead this morning. He was the man who helped MacGuffin fake his death. He was killed and dumped in an ally. One gunshot wound in the back of the head with a large caliber bullet; a .357 magnum that blew his face right off. VCPD had a hard time recognizing him."

"And you expect that….?"

"The .357 is standard issue for the League's urban assassinations. The League might have found out we were getting close to MacGuffin, or maybe they were covering their tracks. Priest picked up this trail from the chairman of the reform club who wouldn't tell the League, the King wasn't approached either according to my sources. I'm going to check Avi Gellar and see about him, but it's a safe bet that the League found out that Vercetti knew about MacGuffin's whereabouts and got some information out of him."

"That could mean they know of my contact."

"Yes, the same one you saw fit to keep anonymous, even to me."

"This isn't the time for this discussion; you know I have my reasons."

"Yes, I do. We have a mole in our midst and he's probably how the League found out. What do we do?"

"You get your men to work double-time, I'll discuss this with the other three."

"And Sax and Priest?"

"Priest is in Europe, Miss Sax is in Rhode Island. They're both on a leave of absence, I'll recall them."

"Better not. Early estimates say there's a good chance the lead will turn up in Europe or the States, we could spar some time if they remained where they are. Just have them on the alert."


"Wow." Said Harmony with a contented grimace as she lay on her back, the beads of sweat covering her cooling away as her body regained it's normal temperature, "That was amazing."

"I'm…I'm glad you thought so." Bond said, out of breath as he picked off his short off the floor, stealthily taking a few pills out of the breast pocket before he put this short back on. He tossed two of the little white pills into his mouth and swallowed, then waited for his heart to slow down.

"Will you stay over tonight, Jimmylegs?" asked Harmony as she turned over on her side, nudging Bond playfully in the hip.

"Afraid not," said Bond, holding Harmony foot to keep it from poking him and reaching with his other hand to fetch his shoes, "Maybe in the weekend. I suppose I better keep Cate company tonight."

"Aaaw! That's kinda sweet. Hey, why are you getting dressed? Where are you going?"

"I better head back to the office." Bond said as he put on his shoes and got up

"Okay, let me get dressed." Said Harmony as she flung the sheets away from her naked body and got out of bed.

"That won't be necessary. You can have the rest of the day off."

"Oh, are you sure?" Harmony asked as she sidled up to Bond and straightened the collar of his shirt and pulled herself up to his lips, "Are you sure that's what you want me to do?"

"Err." Bond stammered as he felt his heart start racing again, and struggled to get away from the young insatiable siren standing before him, "Yes, I'm quit sure."

Bond pried her hands from his collar and gave her a peck on her fingers before bolting towards the door.

As if waiting for a cue, Harmony instantly reached to the briefcase by the bed that she had managed to distract Bond long enough to forget. She placed on the bed, still warm from their heaving bodies and entered the four digit combination on the lock and the briefcase clicked open.

She reached under her mattress and took out a small and slim digital camera, then opened the briefcase and took all Bond's business papers out, about a dozen or so of classified documents marked for your eyes only.

With quick and practiced accuracy, she snapped picture of each and every page, despite her speed she was careful not to cut off any edges and not to sake the camera too much and get a blurry image. Suddenly, there were loud knocks on the door as she was two thirds of the way through.

"Shit! Shit!" Harmony cursed as she tried to rush her work and finish with the remaining documents.

"Miss Kendall." Called whoever was at the door.

"Fuck. Fuck." She cursed as she was five pages away from finishing up.

"Just a minute." She shouted, and then continued with the remaining pages.

"Just a second." She shouted again as she put all the documents back in. Mason's training was rigorous and emphasized accuracy and attention to detail, so she had to place them all back in the same order she had found them.

"Miss Kendall, this is Michael Costas. Open the door."

"I'll be right there." She shouted.

"Fuck. Where's my robe?"

She ran out of her room and picked the robe off the living room floor and put it on as she ran to the door, tying the robe around her torso. She ran her hands to brush her hair back and took a moment to get back into "character".

She opened the door to see Michael Costas; a tall, strapping man with brown hair and Mediterranean features, dressed in a brown suit and sunglasses.

"What's up?" asked Harmony with a smile.

"Mister Bond has forgotten his briefcase."

"He did? Heheh. I swear, he may be dynamite in the sack, but he'd probably for get his head of if wasn't attached. And by head I me-"

"Would you please just bring it?" Costas said as he curled his bottom lip in obvious distaste.

"Sure. I'll be back before you say 'Improper and raunchy humor regarding a mutual superior'."

Harmony walked back into her bedroom and picked up the briefcase, scrambling the digits on the lock and walked back to the front door confidently, feeling pride in a mission well performed.

"Here you go." Said Harmony with a smile as she handed over the briefcase.

"Have a good afternoon." Said Costas as he walked away from her door and down the staircase.

Harmony bolted the door shut then headed back in. She had to pass word to Mernae regarding her findings and didn't want to tell her over the phone in fear that it would be tapped.

Luckily, they had made a plan a while ago. Whenever she had something of the utmost importance to report, she would move the bowl of petunias on her balcony for the right side to the left side. Since Mernae passed her building twice a day on her way to and from her day job, she would know by noticing the subtle change and call her for a girl's night out.

"Perfect." Harmony thought to herself as she stepped onto the balcony, as Mernae would be passing in about twenty minutes.

"GAHHH!" howled Harmony as she felt a sensation like being washed with acid and scampered back into the darkness of her apartment, out of the sunlight.


Doomstadt, Latveria

"Good evening, my son."

Mashu woke up and turned to where the sound had come from, to see Father Mackenzie looking directly at him.

"Umm…"

"You fell asleep during my service."

"Oh. Eh. Sorry."

"Don't be. I take it as a sign from our lord and savior that I should do a better job at writing my next sermon to be less dull; I find it important to make an effort to highlight the relevance of the wisdom found in the good book to these times."

"Erm. If you say so, Father."

"I know you're not who you seem to be, Mister…?"

"Uhh. John. John Gray."

"Small world." Said the Priest with a sly smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind about that. I conjure that's not your real name is it."

"Heh." Said Mashu with a smile as he realized the shape the conversation was taking, "You're a sharp one, too sharp to be a vicar. No offence."

"None taken. To be frank, Patrick Mackenzie isn't my real name either."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" said Mackenzie as he sat next to Mashu on the pew, "It wasn't the name I was born with, no. It is merely the name through which I hope to redeem myself."

"Redeem yourself of what?" asked Mashu as he crossed his arms.

"Too many things to mention. I'm sure your bosses would tell you if you asked."

"My bosses?"

"I know you're here not out of faith, but to watch me." Said Mackenzie as he looked reverently ahead at the cross above the alter, "I won't keep you from your job, you can monitor me to your heart's content. Just tell me, who do you work for?"

"It's hard to say."

"Is it British Intelligence?"

"No."

"CIA? Mossad?"

"No."

"Is it the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?"

"God, no."

"I guess you work for the opposition, then." Said Mackenzie as he got up and walked away.

"Shit." Cursed Mashu, "One job, and I couldn't get it right."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, son. I used to be one of the world's most dangerous spies, there's no one who can constantly watch me without me knowing about it. Now, fuck off. And be sure to be here on Sunday, I'll need some feedback on my next sermon."


That's all folks. Sorry if the last bit with Harmony seemed cheesy. It just seemed uncharacteristic for Harmony to do any job so impressively without at least one minor cock-up. Hope you enjoyed this chapter dedicated solely to espionage and spy stuff.

If you've guessed Mackenzie's identity by now, keep it to yourself.

What was your impression of Cate Archer? I plan on including her in a prominent role in the later part of volume 2.

Mona and Priest will be returning next chapter, probably. Speaking of which, were you familiar with either outside of this story?

Next Chapter: Mona and Priest reunite in the closing days of their hunt for Sir Gideon MacGuffin. Priest speaks of his opinion of the French. A deli owner named Muhammad isn't what he seems.