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.

Also, despite this being supposedly present day, I intend Q to be portrayed as the old, Desmond Llewellyn Q, rather than John Cleese. Everyone else is up to date. It just seems better to me.

(PRESENT DAY)

MI6 Headquarters, London

"Et la!"

The shining steel of the long saber glinted in the bright light as it swung back and forth, silver point swiping into crucial areas of virtual opponents' anatomies, and registering points on the scoreboard. One, two, and three, and the saber completed a complex stroke, taking out the final enemy in that VR level.

Miranda Frost removed the VR glasses and stood, panting slightly. She was in Q's VR room, testing out his newest invention. Q noticed the simulation finish and strode in, beaming.

"It's rather hard, isn't it?"

Miranda nodded. "Yes, but not hard enough to stop me."

Q frowned slightly. "Well, we'll see." He went back through the doorway. Checking the virtual scoreboard on his laptop propped on his desk in the next room, he shook his head slightly. Miranda never failed to surprise him.

She came through, sipping a glass of water delicately. Raising her eyebrows, she waited for Q's verdict. The old man shook his head, and showed her the figures.

"Well, you beat my simulation again… 003."

Miranda enjoyed the feeling of hearing her new codename for a brief moment, then put the glass down and stood up.

"Thank you for letting me practice, Q. Now, I have an appointment with M, so if you'll excuse me?"

Q saw her out of his branch, then immediately returned to the laptop and began tinkering with the VR program. Frost would be back within a few days, and the Quartermaster didn't intend to have his software lose to her for a record fourth time.

Alec Trevelyan was in the canteen when he heard the announcement, filtering through the MI6 P.A. system.

"Would Agent 006 please report to the Head of Department immediately, please? I repeat, would Agent 006 please report to the Head of Department immediately, please?"

Moneypenny's familiar tones set Alec cursing. His fresh tuna sandwich was much preferable to a meeting with M. In fact, being force-fed a live tuna fish was also generally preferable to a meeting with M. Hoping the announcement was not particularly urgent, he did his usual trick of pretending not to hear, and biting into the sandwich.

The system crackled to life again.

"As you seem to always miss these announcements, Alec… I repeat, would Agent 006 report to the Head of Department immediately? And immediately means now, Alec."

Trevelyan sighed, flung the tuna sandwich down, and headed off out of the canteen, taking a right turn and heading up a short flight of stairs to where he could take the lift to M's floor.

When he arrived, dawdling as much as possible, he opened the door, hoping to engage Moneypenny in small talk to prolong the time before the meeting with M.

The secretary glanced up. "Alec! Only five minutes late. Well done. Go straight through, M is waiting."

Trevelyan opened his mouth, shut it again, and smiled at Moneypenny, passing straight through into M's office.

The imposing head of MI6 glanced up from her desk. Icy-blue eyes cut into Alec's own.

"006, if you persist in being late for your meetings with me, I will remove you from your next two foreign assignments and designate you 24-hour surveillance duties. Do I make myself clear?"

Alec forced a smile. "Perfectly, M."

"Sit down. 007, you too."

Alec glanced around, and spotted James Bond in a corner, inspecting a painting with no interest whatsoever. Bond flashed Trevelyan a quick smile, which was returned, and the two men sat down in the usual two chairs. Alec noticed the unusual third chair.

M read his mind, or so it seemed, and said, "We will shortly have our final guest for this little discussion."

After a couple of minutes, during which Bond and Trevelyan exchanged small talk while M silently sifted through documents, the intercom buzzed. The two spies fell silent as M answered. "Yes, Moneypenny?"

"I'm sending 003 through now, M."

"Thank you, Moneypenny."

Bond and Trevelyan exchanged looks. Three double-0 agents working together? That hadn't been seen since the hunt for Renard, when every double-0 agent bar Alec, injured at the time, had been pulled from other operations and mobilized.

The door opened, and Bond blinked as 003 entered.

It was Miranda Frost.

Sure, the last 003 had been recently killed in action, and the identity of his successor had apparently only been decided a few days ago, but Bond hadn't dreamed that Miranda would make it this far.

Alec had never met her anyway, and stood up, offering his hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss…"

Miranda took the hand and shook it without warmth. "Frost. Miranda Frost."

M took over greetings. "Miss Frost, this is 006, Alec Trevelyan, and 007, James Bond, who I believe you already know. Gentlemen, this is our new 003, Miranda Frost."

Alec sat down, processing this new information. So James already "knew her", meaning that he had probably slept with her, too. But he hadn't so much as greeted her?

M faced the three agents. "Agents, I have assembled you here to give you a joint assignment. A high-ranking Chinese operative by the name of Mao Xiang has betrayed his organization, the Chinese Intelligence Service, and has, over a period of years, accumulated a list of identities of some of the most dangerous field operatives in the world, from all organizations. MI5, MI6, CIA, NSA, KGB, NRO… the list is endless. He is willing to sell this information to the highest bidder. And in the global terrorist community, a lot of money will be staked on this. For the information held by this man, a lot of money will be paid, and a lot of operatives will consequently die. You," she indicated Bond, "and you," she indicated Trevelyan, "are almost certainly on that list. You," she indicated Frost, "may well be."

"However, Xiang's defection is not uncommon knowledge in the intelligence community. We have proof that the CIA and NSA already are working on it. We suspect that the KGB is acting on this information too. We are also going to pursue this man and attempt to kill him, or take the information from him before it is too late. And, as the best agents in this organization, you three are the ones to do it."

Alec recoiled. "So we're working alongside the KGB?"

M glared at him. "Yes, as you have so perceptively pointed out, 006, you may end up side-by-side with KGB operatives. Is there any problem with that?"

"Well, not for the moment."

"WILL there be any problem with that?"

"Er… no, M."

"Good." The icy-blue eyes scanned the other two double-0 agents sitting either side of Trevelyan. Miranda Frost was her usual calm, quiet self, and would never really contribute much to the discussion anyway. However, James Bond was not usually silent. He had a reputation for thinking one step ahead of the rest in meetings like these, but he had done nothing today.

M tried to prompt some response from them. "Is that clear with you, 003?"

Miranda's voice was as clipped as ever. "Perfectly."

"And you, 007?"

Bond stirred, and focused on M. Had he actually been listening? "Yes, M, that's fine."

M watched him momentarily. Bond was definitely out of sorts, that was for sure. Well, no point worrying about it. The man could handle himself.

"Fine. Agents dismissed."

Alec reached down to his right-hand side, to pick up a document that had fallen to the floor. "Fancy a pint now, James?"

There was no response.

Alec turned to see his friend gone, the door to M's office closing and Moneypenny audibly saying, "James?"

"I'll take you up on that offer, seeing as Bond's gone. Not a pint, though; I fancy a medium white wine."

Alec shrugged, and he and Miranda went downstairs to the bar.

Several hours later, the sun was setting. Miranda had been surprisingly good company, and Alec had learned that it was she who had taken advantage of and seduced Bond in Iceland, as opposed to the other way round. He intended to needle James with that one when he found him. But she had gone home now, and Alec was trying to find Bond before he went home too. Something was definitely up with him.

According to the security desk, 007 hadn't checked out, so unless he had parachuted from his office to the square below, he was still inside. Alec searched the canteen, the bar, the upper floors, Q-branch, and finally, found him, loitering around by a window on the top floor.

"It will be an anniversary of her birthday, you know."

Alec understood immediately. "Tracy."

Bond nodded. "Four days from now. Marc-Ange invited me to stay with him."

"Well, tell M. I'm sure she'll understand."

Bond smiled bitterly. "I doubt it. She's a bean-counter. She doesn't have emotions."

"Mmm, true."

A long silence passed.

"Sure you don't fancy a pint?"

Bond grinned. Alec couldn't keep him sad for long.

For the second time that day, Alec set off for the bar. At this rate, he would have no money left, and the three agents left tomorrow.

"So, tell me, what happened with you and Miranda in Iceland..."

The next day dawned, and Bond came into work the next day, case packed, to find the other two waiting for him.

"James! Feeling better today?"

Bond smiled. "Yes, thank you, Alec."

Miranda folded her arms. "Let's hope M gets her act together, or we might not get time to go to Q-Branch before we get the flight."

Bond shook his head. "You just knew she would be behind you when you said that, didn't you?"

Miranda winced. Sure enough, the Head of MI6, flanked by Robinson, was approaching behind. M glared at her.

"You will find, Miss Frost, that I am right on time. And your visits to Q-Branch depend entirely on my whim, not whether you and your playboy friends want some new toys."

Without even acknowledging the presence of 006 and 007, M swept off down the corridor. Robinson indicated that they should follow her. Picking up their cases, the three agents headed for their final destination before leaving for China:

Q-Branch.