A.N. Obviously, I own none of the characters, vehicles, gadgets or locations of this fanfic unless I say otherwise in an A.N. like this one. Kudos to MGM and Ian Fleming for inventing them and bringing them all to life.

(3 YEARS AGO)

Skies above Korea

The gigantic Antonov A-124 hurtled through the skies like a grossly overgrown bird, heading for no destination in particular. Giacinta Johnson, better known as Jinx, sat at the cockpit, slumped in relief. She had managed to control the insane dive caused by the depressurization in the area below, and now they were steady, although only just under some of the lower clouds. To one side, perhaps twenty-five miles away, the glowing orange Icarus beam blasted through the skies, stretching as far up as it was possible to see. Slowly moving in a swathe through the Demilitarized Zone, which was one of the most heavily militarized zones in the entire peninsula of Korea, it was constantly surrounded by small explosions which would kill a man, but were totally insignificant compared to the destructive power of Gustav Graves' laser. Slowly but surely, the mines in the DMZ were being cleared, and soon North Korea would be able to cross the border and take its southern counterpart. Jinx, over the howling winds ravaging the aircraft and slowly picking it apart, heard a loud crackle of electricity from the floor below, a muffled cry, and the sound of a body thumping on the floor. She fervently hoped that it was Graves that was down, and not James Bond.

Suddenly, a sword flashed at her throat. It was Miranda Frost.

"My, my," the clipped English accent followed the sword. "You do get around. Give me the gun."

Jinx reached for the weapon holstered at her waist with her right hand. Miranda stopped her. "Uh-uh. Left hand."

Swapping hands, Jinx pulled out the gun and proffered it to Miranda, who took it. Great. She had now been captured by the enemy, and nobody was flying this thing. She couldn't even put the autopilot on unless Frost let her.

Suddenly, the sword was taken away, and the gun rang out. Jinx whirled to see Miranda aiming at the now-dead pilot, who had returned. Miranda motioned to Jinx. "Come on, get up." Completely bewildered, Jinx stood, and followed Miranda from the cockpit.

"Wait! I mean, I need to put the autopilot on first." Jinx tapped a few buttons, and the cockpit controls began to move of their own accord. Neither woman noticed that the plane was slowly turning, and inevitably heading for the Icarus beam.

Jinx couldn't fail to notice that the sword wasn't pointed at her, nor was the gun. Miranda strode alongside her, and obviously knew where she was going.

"Where are we going?" Jinx tentatively asked.

"To kill Graves." Miranda looked at her as if she was stupid.

"Kill… what? But… you're on his side! You're a double-crosser, who betrayed MI6 to help Graves."

"Wrong. I'm a triple-crosser. And MI6 know it. I pretend to betray MI6 to help Graves, but actually betray Graves and carry on helping MI6."

"But you used to be friends with him! You can't kill him."

Miranda smiled coldly. "You're probably right; Bond might have got there first."

Jinx was stunned. The web of deception was now so tangled that it was unfathomable.

"I accept that I made a lot of mistakes. When I and Zao locked you in the melting room, I intended to return and let you out. But Zao kept a close eye on me, and eventually Graves took me off to look at some pointless mechanism for Icarus. And when I had my gun pointed at Bond in Graves' office, I was going to turn and shoot Zao, then Graves, but the idiot broke the floor and stopped me. If you still don't trust me, take this." She handed Jinx her gun back.

They entered the corridor leading to the wrecked glass room, where Bond and Graves were clearly grappling near the biggest hole in the side. With the pair locked together and twisting around, neither woman could get a good aim on Graves, for fear of shooting Bond. Miranda took the easier option, and strode onto the floor, raising her gun to point at Graves' head from a metre. She couldn't miss.

The grappling stopped, and Graves released Bond, who slumped to the floor. Graves glanced at Miranda's face. This time there was no hint of deception, as there had been in his office. She was going to shoot him. Graves' blood went cold.

For the second time this day, he said, "So, Miss Frost is not all she seems."

Then he doubled up, as Bond delivered a mighty kick to his waist. Staggering back in pain, Graves grabbed a bare iron piece of framework and stopped himself being sucked out. Bond walked over, while Miranda and Jinx watched. This was Bond's duty; to end this thing.

"Time to face gravity," 007 smiled, and pressed the button on Graves' suit. The electric current found a circuit, and rerouted through Graves' body, the pain lancing through the Korean. Unable to hold on, he let go, and was ripped from the aircraft by the savage winds. Immediately, the engine swallowed him up, with only a short display of sparks marking Graves' demise.

Panting, Bond turned to face the two girls. "Well?"

"Well what?" Miranda shot back.

"How come you're still here and helping me against Graves? You're on his side!"

"Wrong. Just like your friend here. I was helping MI6, while pretending to help Graves, while pretending to help MI6."

Bond blinked, and decided to drop the conversation. He glanced at Jinx.

"Is she on our side?"

Jinx shrugged. "I think so. I mean, she did just enable you to kill Graves."

Miranda spoke Bond's thoughts. "We'll sort it all out back at MI6."

Hurrying through the corridors of the disintegrating plane, Bond led them to the hangar bay at the rear, where Graves' emergency helicopter stood idle. He activated the conveyor belt, while Jinx lowered the rear door, and Miranda unfastened the helicopter from restraints on the floor. Bond and Jinx climbed into the seats, and Miranda climbed over, to nestle in the diamonds.

"A girl could easily get comfortable here."

The Porsche at the back dropped out of the Antonov.

"Such a waste," Bond muttered.

Jinx looked at him in disbelief. "Shall I get out and stop the conveyor belt so that we can die saving the cars?"

Miranda smiled slightly. "Typical 007. Using all the muscles except the one that matters."

Jinx grinned at her. "For once, we agree on something."

The Ferrari dropped out of the rear, but Bond thought it best not to comment. The chopper slowly rolled towards the exit, while Jinx attempted to fire up the engines.

"Come on, come on…" she mumbled grimly.

Suddenly, with a high-pitched swooshing sound, the rotors sprang to life, and the helicopter lifted upwards just as the belt came to an end and the three spies plummeted from the dying Antonov. They safely floated away, and watched the huge aircraft disintegrate. First, an engine broke free, and then the tail. This meant that the aircraft swung crazily from side to side, shaking everything else loose. One whole wing broke off, and the Antonov began a slow barrel-roll, which sped up and kept going until the other wing snapped and fell away. Eventually, the inertia forces on the spinning plane were too great, and there was a clearly audible cracking sound as it split in half, and further broke up as what was left fell to earth. Below, there were some distant explosions, as some parts fell into the DMZ and activated bunches of the remaining landmines.

"We only made it by seconds," Bond morbidly observed. Jinx nodded, and set a course for the joint MI6/NSA base in South Korea.

A.N. Well, quite like the last chappie, this one is about how Miranda Frost didn't die on the Antonov, but proved to be a valuable MI6 agent and returned to London. By now, I guess you can guess who the trio of the main storyline are, as every story in this section involves Bond.

And don't worry; the chapters will get a little longer in future. These ones are short because they basically only need to explain how Alec and Miranda survive.

Please R+R, and Chapter 3 will be up soon!