Thank you so much to everybody who reviewed!

Iolana: No, I won't be that mean, but poor Alec is really going to have to go through the metaphorical wringer before even he knows what really happened.

LadyDeb1970: I am so glad you like my story! I am, like you, waiting patiently for the next chapter of yours.

Alec had forgotten how green England really was. Even in the heart of London, there were trees and parks, things that one simply did not see very often in St. Petersburg because of the cold climate. The atmosphere was different too; there was none of the wary, watching air that the Russian city had exuded. He was using such observations in order to avoid thinking about the upcoming "talk" with M.

For the umpteen – millionth time the thought crossed his mind how easy it would be to lose James in London and disappear for good. He shook his head slightly, firmly dismissing the notion. That could only work for so long; now that they knew that he was alive it would be simply a matter of time before they found him again. He was not going to run scared from this.

They reached the MI6 building with what seemed like uncommon speed. Bond stepped up to the voice coder and pressed a button.

"Agent 007, reporting for debriefing." It was almost ritual at this point to him; today it served as a comfortingly routine action to offset the profound abnormality of Alec's return. Yet even here there was a reminder of what had gone before; had this been 1985 there would have been some off-color remark from Alec at the word "debriefing". This was not 1985, however, and the familiar ribaldry did not come.

He moved to the side, motioning to Trevelyan, who raised an eyebrow and also stepped forward. Either MI6 had moved uncommonly fast in putting his file back into the computer and therefore the voice coder or they had gotten lax about security in the last nine years.

"Agent 006, also reporting for debriefing." The door slid open and the two former friends slipped inside quickly.

From the moment Alec stepped inside the door he was on edge. Bond had to give it to him; it did not show in his face, or even in his eyes. It was the way that he held himself that gave away his apprehension, or perhaps his anger, to Bond's experienced eye. Alec had never appreciated being told what to do; it had to rankle that he should be forced to come not-quite-begging back to MI6.

Bond had not told Moneypenny that Alec was coming home but he had told M, who had sounded at first confused and then highly skeptical. He had not been altogether thorough with his report over the phone at Guantanamo Base, not wishing to either give out important information over a line that was not necessarily secure or to give Wade all the details; the CIA agent would probably have been just a little unwilling to release Alec if he had known who he was. Alec had simply been introduced as "an old colleague who took a bit of a bump on the head" and whom Bond had not really expected to meet there. Natalya had stood in the background during the whole conversation, discreetly glowering at Alec and flat-out refusing to listen to Bond when he tried to explain. She had returned to Russia on the first available flight, claiming that she wanted nothing more to do with Bond, Trevelyan, or spies in general.

The buzz had started. Alec could hear it as he walked across the main lobby floor toward the elevator that would take them as directly as possible to M's office, could feel the eyes turning to watch him with first suspicion and then, from some of the older members of MI6, shocked disbelief. He did not make eye contact; that would invite questions that he did not want to answer right now. Bond followed behind, doing much the same thing. The explanations and exclamations could wait.

They stood silent in the elevator. Bond hadn't killed Alec Trevelyan; that didn't mean that he was willing to forgive him or to speak to him any more than was necessary, and Alec equally had no reason to speak to Bond. The doors slid open; they stepped out and this time Bond took the lead. They were soon standing in front of M's office. Bond knocked.

"Come in!" Moneypenny's voice sounded from behind the door and Alec froze momentarily. He had somehow managed to forget about Moneypenny like so many of the people he had considered friends before Arkangelsk. He did not know whether Moneypenny had known of his past or not, did not know whether she had betrayed him like all the rest or was blissfully ignorant of his parentage as he had been until – well, it didn't matter now. He shook himself out of his reverie; he did not intend to tread that path again, no matter how angry he still was at what they had done to him.

Moneypenny looked up from her desk. "James! Well that was quick, I must say! James?" Bond had not responded at all, seemingly preferring to flash a strained half-smile and nod. Moneypenny frowned. This was not at all like him.

"James, what's wrong?"

"I expect I am," a voice answered. Moneypenny stood, startled, to look over Bond's shoulder. For a fleeting moment she thought that she was hearing things, so completely impossible was it for the owner of that voice to be here. Yet there he stood; tall, with blond hair and a well-sculpted face, scarcely changed from that day nine years ago when she had last seen him, at least in physical appearance. Those eyes, however, held a hardness that had never been there before; there was evidence of pain and bitterness in the deepest depths of those grey-green orbs. What did he mean, he was what was wrong with James? Surely James should be glad to see his old friend alive! What on Earth could have happened – how -?

"Alec?" Her voice was tinged with disbelief.

"Hello Moneypenny," he replied, confirming her belief that she was not hallucinating. "I believe we have an appointment with M." His voice was cool, not quite angry but not friendly either.

"Alec, how - ?" she started, but she was cut off.

"You do indeed, gentlemen," a clipped voice said from the doorway. M had entered the room, as was her custom, without a sound. "Come with me please." Bond and Trevelyan followed her into the office and closed the door behind them, leaving a very confused Moneypenny.