'You see, I spy for a living, and I specialise in revenge. In taking the things I know will cause you pain,' 'I Spy', Pulp.
*
As they staggered through the compound, Alec revelled in the sensation of being close to her again, the softness of her body as she pressed against him, the scent of her hair that brushed his face as they moved. She was waking up, and not relying on him so much to support her, and he was surprised at how much he missed her warmth when she finally moved completely away from him.
'Where is he?' she murmured, peering through a door. There was no point in keeping quiet, there were guards all over the place, making more than enough noise, a bit more wouldn't hurt. 'James? James?' she cried, then listened. For a moment there was nothing but silence, and Alec started to say, 'He's not…'
'Shush.' She waved a hand at him, insisting on silence. She heard it again, a muffled shout. 'This way,' she dashed off down a corridor, Alec following as well as he could. His body ached, he wished that this was over and done with and he could rest. As if taunting him with her youth she ran easily, pausing to wait for him to catch up with her. She wasn't even breathing heavily, instead she was bright eyed, her cheeks flushed, enjoying the thrill of the mission, in the same way that he had in years gone by. He knew the adrenaline was pumping through her; she was on the edge, ready for anything. And again he felt a flicker of envy that she was living the life he once had.
She was reaching for his hand, holding it gently her thumb brushing across the back of his hand. 'I know you're doing this for your own reasons. But thank you.'
She was sweet, he decided, her naiveté was strangely appealing, she still was fighting for the world, still believed in what was good. Just as David had…
She had gone again, running ahead, she was peering through the door. 'Give me your gun,' she was insisting, her hand already outstretched for it. He had no choice but to hand it to her.
'James? Stand back from the door.' She called to him, and then quickly fired off three shots into the lock. The shots echoed down the corridors, the lock to the door was a mangled mess, and with a sharp kick it broke through. In a second James was out, definitely more rumpled than Alec was ever used to seeing him, wild eyed and ready to move.
He stopped dead as he saw Alec. His blue eyes met Alec's grey eyes, and the hatred was clear to see. Without a word, James launched himself at Alec, who found himself pinned to the wall, and James looked ready to kill.
'What the hell is he doing here?' James roared at Ashleigh, still holding Alec in a vice like grip. Alec to his credit decided not to struggle and simply gazed back at James with a wary look in his eyes.
'He's here to help, James,' Ashleigh tried to persuade him. 'He can get us out of here.'
'Why?' It wasn't clear if the question was directed at Alec or Ashleigh. 'When has he ever done anything that wasn't for his own gain?' James tightened his grip on Alec, who grimaced slightly in pain.
Enough was enough, Ashleigh decided. She grabbed James, trying to haul him off, surprised by how much strength her godfather had, she could do little more than tug at his shoulders. 'James, listen to me, James!' With a colossal heave she managed to lever one of his arms away from Alec, and finally Bond noticed her. She still held his arm, she had never seen him so cold before, she had to get him away. 'James, we have to get out of here. Alec has gotten us this far, we have to trust him,'
'You think I could ever trust him?' James snarled.
'He just saved my life!' she shouted. 'And any minute we're going to be overrun with guards, we have to get out of here. They've killed Dmitrov, do you think they'll hesitate to kill us any way they can?'
The exertion suddenly caught up with her, and she staggered backwards against the wall, exhausted, the blood running from her face, she slumped, and sat heavily on the floor. Her eyes closed briefly and she struggled to fight the urge to sleep.
James saw her fall, and dropped Alec in a second, 'What the hell have you done to her now?' he roared at the other man, as he crouched beside her, lifting her head, gently slapping her cheeks with the back of his hand to wake her up. She was struggling to focus on him; she was trying to speak, but Alec, equally anxious about her, spoke first.
'They've injected her with something. I think they did it to make it easier to attack her.'
'To attack her?' James was still trying to coax her round.
'When I reached her cell, a man called Kristov was already there. He was previously in my employment, and I had a suspicion that he would attack Ashleigh under the orders of Lucinda Elliot. He was following her orders. I was just in time; Ashleigh would have been dead in a matter of minutes if I hadn't been there. Kristov died instead.' Alec was calm in his explanation, calmer than he felt himself…
'I only have your word for that, and I learnt a long time ago that Alec Trevelyan's word means nothing. Who's to say you didn't do this to her?'
'Look at her, James!' Alec shouted, suddenly losing his temper. 'Look at her. Do you really think I could do that? To her?' He was breathing heavily, close to losing control, desperate to make James understand that he couldn't hurt Ashleigh, he didn't know why, but he couldn't hurt her, wouldn't hurt her.
James saw the bruise starting on her cheek bone, the blood matting in her hair where she had been slammed back against the wall, but he saw beyond the new injuries, saw the shadows where she had been bruised in the accident, the fading shadows on her throat where Alec's hands had choked her.
'And these?' he tilted her head back so Alec could see them. 'She told me it was you. That you tried to strangle her. And you ask me if I believe you could do that to her. I've seen the evidence of what you could do to her. I would put nothing past you.'
'Believe what you want, James, but believe this, your goddaughter has been injected with a substance that could be anything from a muscle relaxant to something lethal. And she was deliberately attacked. We are running out of time, we have to get her and ourselves out of here.' He was reaching down for Ashleigh, to help her to her feet, to support her, get her out of here. 'Before someone comes to finish the job they started…'
There was no way James was letting Alec anywhere near his goddaughter. Nor did he need reminding of who she was from Alec. On his feet in a second, and pushing Alec away violently, he stepped between him and Ashleigh. 'She doesn't need your help.'
Alec raised his hands in a mocking gesture of surrender. 'Fine.' James continued to stare at him, as he lifted Ashleigh to her feet, and wrapped her arm around his neck.
It was Ashleigh who broke the silence. 'Alec, please, just get us out of here,' she whispered, licking her dry lips, clinging onto James with all her remaining strength.
Frustrated, Alec could do nothing but stride down the corridor, leaving James to follow. For some reason he felt helpless, and unable to reach out to her, he refused to turn to meet Ash's eyes, eyes that he could feel boring into his back with every step he took.
At the junction of two corridors, he paused. Looking both to the left and the right he seemed hesitant, and James couldn't resist sneering, 'Lost, are we?'
Alec ignored him, instead he listened. There was no doubt about it, and decision made, he had to get away. Turning on his heel, he ran at James and Ashleigh, 'Move, now!' he gestured down the corridor. 'Back the way we came, move, damn you!'
James paused, reluctant to follow orders from a traitor, but seeing Alec running towards him at some speed, and hearing heavy footsteps coming from the left he decided that now wouldn't be the time to quibble over loyalties, and he finally turned, dragging Ashleigh along with him.
It was too late. A small army of what appeared to be soldiers were already running towards them, turning they saw another group enter the other end of the corridor. For the second time, James had been hemmed in a hallway like this one in and as before he could see there was no escape.
The soldiers were dressed in black, from their helmets, to their heavy black lace up boots. Most of them were using some form of breathing apparatus, apparently taking no chances with a potential lethal virus being held in the building. All were heavily armed.
'Identify yourself.' One of the men stepped forward, an officer, clearly in charge, and aiming a military issue submachine gun at the trio. 'Hands above your heads, and identify yourself.'
Letting go of Ashleigh, who, with the help of a nearby wall, managed just to stay on her feet, James raised his hands above his head, trying to see any distinguishing markings on the soldier's uniform. There were none. However the man did speak with a crisp English accent. Somehow Bond doubted these were Deronda's men.
'007. MI6, British Secret Service. This is Agent Kain, also of MI6.'
'And you?' the officer gestured with the weapon at Alec.
'Janus,' he snapped. 'Alec Trevelyan. I presume you are aware of my status?'
'We are indeed.' The officer gave a grim smile. 'My men and I are operating under the orders from British Intelligence; we were instructed to escort you, Agent Kain, and 007 out of this compound.'
'Where to?' Bond asked, warily. Like Ashleigh, he had been staring at Alec, and wondering what exactly Alec had meant by status.
'To a location where you will receive your next orders.'
The answer was deliberately brief, and all three knew better than to ask for more information. Silently they were led through the corridors, it seemed Alec had been leading them the right way after all, it took only minutes before they found themselves once more in the over grown garden of the facility.
Suddenly overcome with sadness, Ashleigh looked across the garden to where Dmitrov and herself had been captured. Dawn was just beginning to paint pale fingers across the eastern sky, and she realised that only a matter of twelve hours had passed since her capture. She shivered, and pressed against James once more.
'Dmitrov,' she suddenly whispered. 'What will happen to Dmitrov?' She couldn't force herself to say 'his body'.
The officer overheard her. 'We're sending in a unit to retrieve him,' he said, almost gently. As if to confirm this Ashleigh saw a group of men in biohazard suits entering the building carrying a strange, coffin like container. She shuddered as she realised that coffin was the right word to describe it.
The fifteen or so men around them had dispersed, heading into the garden on unknown orders, only the officer and two men remained. They were standing at the now open, and imposing gate to the compound. 'We're to leave you here,' the officer said brusquely, 'You are to be transported to a secure location; a car is waiting for you one hundred metres down the drive.' A set of headlights suddenly came on, revealing the cars location, it was indeed waiting for them. 'That includes you, Janus.'
Alec nodded, he had been expecting this.
The officer nodded in return, turned and ran back to his men, shouting orders as he went.
For several minutes, there were no words to be said. Still exhausted, and realising with a huge amount of relief that they were free, Ashleigh sank onto a low wall that ran along the drive and buried her head in her hands. Alec watched her, wondering what strange fate had brought him here that he had willingly assisted that which he had thought he hated. She looked up at him, her dark eyes guarded, as if she too was thinking the same thing. For a moment he softened, and he was about to take a step forward, to hold her, to comfort her, but he remembered the way she had rejected him, the way she had walked out on him. He was torn, torn between desire and hatred, he couldn't think straight.
'Get away from her.'
The voice was low, dangerous, menacing, and Alec turned to James. 'So. You've finally learnt to show emotion for a woman. I'm surprised.'
'Stop it!' Ashleigh was only too aware of how volatile the situation could be and wanted to stop it before it even started. 'Let's just go, please. Get the hell away from this place.'
'Not yet.'
Alec was walking towards her. 'Our deal, Ashleigh. We need to work out a few of the conditions.'
She stared at him, feeling her breath catch in her throat. Why was he bringing this up now… she couldn't find the words to protest, he was leaning over her, one gloved hand gently stroking her face, bringing forth all those feelings she had denied since she had last seen him. She couldn't help but look at him, her breath coming in small frozen clouds in the predawn chill. 'Alec, please don't,' she finally whispered.
'I helped you Ashleigh, that was part of our deal,' he reminded her, 'and soon, it will be time for you to fulfil your side of it.'
His voice was hypnotic, drawing her in with sincerity, the cool rationalisation of their situation. She hesitated, feeling his hand against her cheek, and in that moment James interrupted.
'A deal?' his voice cut through the dawn like a blade.
'Not a deal, a truce,' Ashleigh whispered.
'With certain conditions,' Alec reiterated. 'I help you, you help me.'
'You made a truce with this monster?' James repeated, his voice rose to a roar in disbelief.
Ashleigh glanced at her godfather nervously. To her surprise, it was Alec who jumped to her defence.
'If she hadn't, you'd still be rotting in your cell waiting your turn at playing lab rat,' he hissed, 'You think you could have gotten out without my assistance?'
'As I remember, we're out due to the timely intervention of the British Secret Service.'
Alec gave an almost strangled laugh, but didn't reply.
'Ashleigh. Get in the car now.' James didn't even look at her as he ordered her away. She glanced at him, a protest already on her lips. 'That was an order from a superior, Agent Kain. I am in control of this mission, you will obey me!'
His tone left no room for argument, with a final glance at Alec; she stalked off to the car. James and Alec remained locked in a battle of wills and words.
'So tell me, what are the conditions of this so called truce between Ashleigh and you? How exactly have you manipulated her?' Once more he was coldly calm, his voice like ice, his anger of a few minutes ago replaced with a chill that was more familiar but equally intimidating.
'It is a matter for discussion between Ashleigh and I. But she required my assistance, and I gladly gave it as I had agreed I would do. I wish nothing more than to aid this mission in any way I can.'
'Why?' Bond was suspicious, and Alec's confident tone was grating him.
'A personal vendetta that has gone too far. I want to see Deronda destroyed. However it's not as simple as that. I don't think you quite realise what you are dealing with here, this is far bigger than just Caleb Deronda. Which is why I wanted to offer you these.'
He had pulled from his overcoat two envelopes, and was holding them out to James. 'Deronda is holding a 'conference' upon his aircraft carrier tomorrow. He plans to sell the opportunity to receive the genetic immunity against Hermes to anyone who is willing to pay the price. Of course, personal invites are extremely difficult to come by, which is why I'm offering you these. Two passes to get on board. Flying out from Macona airbase tomorrow morning. It's the perfect opportunity to remove the threat of Hermes, if you're willing to take the risk.'
Bond laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound. 'And you expect me to accept these? I take them and find myself in the middle of an elaborate trap set up by you.'
'I can assure you that this is no trap set by me. This is far bigger than you or me James, I realised that recently. Now you have to. I'm authorised to give these to you.'
'Authorised? And what authority would that be, Janus?' He spat the words out, still hating to call Alec by his name.
'The very highest, James.' Alec savoured the words, delighting in the stunned expression on Bond's face. 'Official permission from M herself, to offer assistance to her agents. And that includes these.'
He still held the envelopes out to Bond, who was still refusing to take them. Alec sighed.
'I'm doing this for her, James, no one else.'
Bond hesitated. He took the envelopes.
*
At James's order Ashleigh had stalked off, furious at her obvious dismissal. She shot a lethal glare back at the two men, unnerved by the way they were staring at each other, with obvious hatred. Yanking open the car door, she threw herself into it.
'Patronising bastard!' she swore, lashing out with a vicious kick to the seat in front of her, her temper fraying.
'Kain.' A composed familiar voice said in greeting.
Ashleigh turned and saw that she was sitting next to the last person she ever expected to see in St. Petersburg.
'Sir,' she managed to stutter out in reply. M nodded at her, and then carried on staring ahead.
Minutes later the door opened and Bond slid in, stony faced, soon afterwards Alec climbed into the front without a word. The driver started the engine, and they left the research facility at last. Ashleigh didn't look back.