Chapter 42: Averting disaster

Betrayal. Utter, utter betrayal. It hurt, seeing that look on Bond's face. It surprised him just how much that hurt. Q didn't show it, choosing to believe that he was justified in his actions. He had to protect Bond. That was his job after all. He had meant what he said about not burning any of his agents. And making sure the agent had all the information he needed was in his eyes definitely part of that.

"What do you mean, enemy? Her father had defected. She has no part in this." Bond argued angrily.

"I'm sorry to say, Bond, You are wrong on both accounts." He calmly answered, before pulling out his laptop and placing it on the table in front of him, turning it to let both agents see what he'd found.

"I ordered a more in depth search into The Pale King and his daughter after what you told me in the clinic. The fact that the man only told you one bit of information in what I imagined to be a rather long conversation, struck me as odd."

"What do you mean?" Bond asked a bit reluctantly, perhaps grudging to admit he might have missed something.

"The man was dying, poisoned by his own organisation, by people he trusted, correct?" At Bond's nod, he continued. "But his death wouldn't be imminent. You had time. If I were dying and in the presence of someone who would be capable and willing to take on the organisation that killed me, I would spill everything I knew and give him as much ammunition as possible to take my revenge. But all you walked away with was a name with no information what that name was and the promise the daughter would know more. Now do you not find that a bit odd?"

"He needed me to protect his daughter to make sure she was of value to me. To make sure I would protect her." Bond argued. "The man was rather desperate for me to protect her."

"Good point, however, that doesn't explain the transfer of 5 million euros into her account an hour after he shot himself." Q told him and Bond shot up.

"What?" He asked, astonished.

"An hour after the death of Mr White, 5 million euros was transferred into a savings account linked to Mr White that was inherited by Dr Swann this morning." Q repeated while pointing towards the laptop. "In other words she knew her father was dead before you told her. We are currently trying to figure out who the money has come from but are having trouble because the money came from a Swiss bank account."

Bond studied the information intently, before he sat back with a sigh and closed his eyes, sipping his drink, the look of betrayal replaced by bone deep exhaustion. Q was mildly surprised he didn't toss the drink back and simply ordered another one, though that might have something to do with the quality of Mycroft's liquor.

"What exactly does that mean?" Ward asked, taking over where Bond had stopped. "They deliberately placed the girl into 7's path? Why?"

"My foster brother apparently holds a grudge." Bond commented bitterly.

"What?" Ward asked, staring at him in amazement.

"Yup." Bond answered still with his eyes closed. "A whole international crime organization purely dedicated to destroying everything I love." Bond sounded so bitter and defeated. Like he was giving up. Q frowned, he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Yes, I imagine he thinks he's quite something." Q answered haughty, almost arrogantly, making Bond look up. "But in the end he's nothing more than a simple copycat. This attempt with Swann is particularly pathetic. Moriarty would be appalled if he were alive to know it. Would torture him to death for it. They are completely forgetting that they are dealing with people who are very familiar with the case and can anticipate the moves they're going to make."

"What exactly are they trying here then?" Ward asked while he saw Bond relax a little bit more.

They're trying to pull a honeypot." Ward's eyebrows shot up.

"A honeypot." He asked incredulously. "On one of us?"

"Like I said. Not terribly bright." Q answered but he had seen the slight wince Ward had missed. "They simply read his file, found a matching personality to someone he had loved before and produced circumstances in which Swann could attach to Bond. Very basic." Very effective. But he didn't say that. No need to rub it in. Besides, Sherlock had fallen in exactly the same trap. Which might make Bond actually feel a little better, he realized.

"Moriarty did the same thing" He told them. "The game he was playing with Sherlock Holmes was more elaborate of course, nothing as simple as this would be good enough for those two geniuses, but the essence was just the same. Holmes fell for it. And for a moment it seemed Moriarty had actually won. But Moriarty had missed 2 things. First was that he had misunderstood where Holmes's loyalties lie. And two that the woman would fall for Holmes as hard as the other way around. If Moriarty could make such mistakes, Oberhausen definitely will too. In fact he has already made several. It is only a matter of time. I give it less than a week before we can pull everything down."

"A week? You go through all this trouble, privatising Q-branch, setting us up in a security firm, for something that will be solved within a week?" Ward asked. Bond raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yes. Like I said I will never burn an agent. Even for a week." Q replied. "On that note however I do have news. Capetown was attacked this morning. There will be an emergency vote on the nine-eyes bill tonight, which will be passed this time, after which all double-0's will be recalled and the program terminated."

He rummaged through his bag and handed a file to Bond.

"Most of the other double-0's, I will hand their resignation papers and a contract for a security firm, 007. But seeing as you're on an important mission for the Director, we will reassign you directly to his office. This is for this mission only. Once it's complete you'll be returned to MI6." Bond opened the file and studied the paperwork intensely. Q watched his body language and was relieved when the agent finally lost his wild edge and settled into a mission mode. Bond signed the orders and handed them back. Q accepted them with a nod, opened his bag again and pulled out another file.

"I've brought you Moriarty's file." He said while handing it over to Bond. "It's redacted, for your eyes only, Bond. Read it before we land. Take note of the language and phrasing used. We want to know just how close the bond between Oberhausen and Moriarty was. If Oberhauser is just a fan or actually his apprentice. The easiest way to make contact with Oberhauser again is to play along in their game. So, that's what we'll do. I'm going to drop you and Swann off on Gibraltar as I've been ordered to return to home soil. From there you'll make your way to Tangiers where the hotel l'Americain is located. Not that you've heard that from me. Pump Swann for the information, follow the trail and find any information we need."

Bond met his eyes and nodded before settling into reading. He looked loads better than he had 10 minutes before. Steady, sure of himself again. Q let a small sigh of relief escape. He hoped he had undone all the damage to Bond's trust, but only time would tell. Ward settled down across from him, not quite as relaxed as Q wanted him to be. Probably felt a sword of Damocles hang over his head, Q reckoned. Oh well, one thing at a time. First drop Bond and his doctor off, then they could discuss what would happen to Ward.