A/N: I would like to thank Nera, Futureforensic, Barbarossa Rotbart and Georgesgurl117 for their kind words. I've realized that writing fan fic is easier during the winter, when we get a lot of snow in my area. Then, I just hole up and write. But with summer, and the nice weather, there are just too many distractions. :-) Anyway, here's the latest. Hope you enjoy it.

Benson & Bond

Chapter Four

Mr. Ott was taken to Lucien Marko's hideout by Lena. It was in an old, abandoned tenement building with boarded up windows. After they walked all the way down a long hallway, Lena waved off two burly bodyguards who abruptly stepped out from the shadows, their guns drawn.

"It's ok," Lena told them. "He's with me."

Mr. Ott liked Lena; the young woman was passionate about her job, and never hesitated to do what was needed to be done. 'Spectre has a new rising star in their midst,' he thought. 'If she continues to impress me, I may yet take her under my wing as an apprentice when this job is over.'

There was an uneasy moment when one of the bodyguards didn't appear to be convinced that Mr. Ott was on the level. "And who is he?"

"I am Mr. Ott, and I have a reputation for being something of a dangerous man," he said gently. "If you don't let me pass, you shall find out firsthand how I gained that reputation."

The bodyguard appeared startled as he quickly backed off. "Sorry, sir."

His comrade carefully knocked on the door in a particular pattern, then called: "You have visitors. They've been cleared."

The door opened a crack and Lucien Marko eyes peered nervously out at them. When he merely stared at them, Lena asked, "Aren't you going to let us in?"

"Who is he?" Marko asked.

Lena let out an annoyed sigh. "This is Mr. Ott."

Marko's eyes grew wide. "You!"

"I take it you've heard of me?" Mr. Ott asked.

"Yes, of course I have," Marko said, opening the door all the way. "Please, come in."

They entered a hovel of an apartment. Even if the windows weren't boarded up, the place would still be a mess. 'Beggars can't be choosers,' Mr. Ott thought.

"You're the man who assassinated Viktor Drumlin, the former KGB section chief," Marko said in awe. "He was unreachable, well-protected by a private army of his former KGB agents, but you still got him! That was amazing!"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Ott said. The fact of the matter was, Marko was right; he did indeed kill Drumlin--yet he never discussed prior hits with anybody. He glanced at Marko with a critical eye and noticed that he appeared to be sick. "Are you ill?"

"I'm fine," Marko said, wiping a layer of sweat from his forehead. "What are you doing here?"

"He's taking over security on the job," Lena told him.

Marko frowned at her. "What happened to Wyatt?"

"He's been retired," Mr. Ott replied. "The warheads will be here within a matter of hours. Are you ready to receive them?"

Marko nodded. "Yes. But what about Bond? He's been hounding us--"

"Bond will not be a problem any longer," Mr. Ott assured him. Then he glared at Marko when he started laughing. "Did I say something funny?"

"Forgive me, Mr. Ott, but that was pretty much what Wyatt promised me," Marko said. "And we know what's become of him."

"Wyatt is dead because I killed him," Mr. Ott stated. "I asked him a question, and he did not have the right answer. Let me ask you a question."

He took a threatening steps towards Marko, which caused the latter to back away in fear. "I need to know if you will be ready when the warheads get here," Mr. Ott said. "Will you?"

"Yes, I said I will. But Bond is--"

"You just worry about building the bombs," Mr. Ott told him, "and let me handle James Bond. You should get out of here, move to a new hideout."

"I won't be bothered here," Marko replied. "I own this building."

"Which is all the more reason for you to leave," Mr. Ott said. "Every law enforcement agency in this country is searching for you, and once they discover that you own this building, you will not be left alone for very long." He glanced at Lena. "Take him to the car."

"What will you be doing?" she asked.

"Setting up explosives in this building," Mr. Ott told her. "In case the FBI or local police do find this place, I want to prepare a little surprise for them."

Lena smiled. "You'll be killing a large contingent of police, along with using the chaos that follows to throw the rest of them off our tracks. Marvelous idea, Mr. Ott."

Mr. Ott watched as Lena and Marko walked briskly out of the room. 'Yes, I really like this one,' Mr. Ott thought, as his lips parted into an ever so slight smile. 'She will serve me very well.'

B&B

"Damn it," Elliot muttered. "She couldn't have just disappeared!"

Casey held her hands up helplessly. "I'm sorry, Elliot. But, according to my contacts, neither the FBI, the Federal Marshals, the DEA or the ATF have arrested Olivia."

"Then your contacts are lying to you," Elliot said.

"There's no reason for them to do that," Casey retorted, looking offended.

"Everybody's trying as hard as they can, Elliot," Cragen reminded him. "And we all want Olivia back as badly as you do."

"Could somebody be lying to your contacts?" Munch asked Casey. "Could one of these alphabet agencies grabbed Olivia and Bond and are keeping mum about it?"

"Why would they do that?" Simon anxiously asked.

"In the interest of national security," Munch said sarcastically. "I mean, let's face it, all of our civil rights have been eroded since 9/11. The Feds can hold a person for as long as they want without reason if they're suspected to be a terrorist."

"That's assuming Olivia was arrested at all," Fin said grimly. "We still don't know for sure who grabbed her and that Bond guy, or where they are now."

"Casey, does your contacts with the Feds also cover the CIA?" Munch asked.

"No," she replied. "I thought the CIA's not allowed to operate within the United States borders, anyway."

"Like that little law has ever stopped them before," Munch said with a derisive tone.

"I swear to God, John," Elliot said, shaking his head, "if you don't give your paranoid ramblings about the CIA a rest, I will--"

But before Elliot could finish his threat, Simon abruptly flinched as he gazed wide-eyed at something by the doorway. Simon broke into a run, shouting, "Olivia!"

When Elliot stared at the doorway, he was immensely relieved to see a smiling Olivia warmly embrace her brother. Bond stood slightly behind her, giving Olivia and Simon some privacy.

"Hmmm, Melinda's right, he is hot," Casey muttered under her breath as she gazed at Bond.

Elliot frowned at her in disappointment.

"What?" Casey said to him, grinning. "A girl can't admire the view?"

"I'm so sorry, I know I forgot about our lunch," Olivia said to Simon when they broke the embrace. "But I got held up--literally. And I lost my phone."

"I've got it," Elliot said, handing it to her. "We were all so worried about you, Liv. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, we're both ok," she replied, as she hugged him. "Thanks."

"You're the only one I care about, Liv," Elliot said, as he glared at Bond over Olivia's shoulder. "I could really give a fuck less about this prick from Scotland Yard."

If Bond was offended--or frightened--by Elliot's deliberate insult, his icy blue eyes didn't show it. Instead he just stared coolly at Elliot, as if calmly marking him as a potential enemy.

Olivia gave a questioning glance to Bond, who nodded at her in response. "Tell them everything," he said. "We're going to need all the help we can get on this."

"Ok, the first thing is, he's not from Scotland Yard," Olivia told Elliot. "He's a special agent from MI6 on assignment here."

"M-I--what?" Elliot asked, puzzled.

"That's the British Secret Service!" Munch cried.

"Yes," Bond confirmed.

There was a moment of silence as everyone paused to absorb this piece of news.

"So you lied to us before," Cragen said to Bond.

"I was undercover," Bond explained. "But my assignment to find Luke Marcus was on the up and up. He's a part of all of this."

"We heard you were arrested by somebody," Simon said. "But that they gagged you and placed sacks over your heads. What happened?"

"Oh, yeah, those guys," Olivia said, with a peeved look on her face. "They turned out to be the CIA."

"You were grabbed by…the CIA?" Elliot said, stunned.

"The CIA?! Hah! I knew it!" Munch joyfully exclaimed. "See?! You see?! You guys always ignored my 'demented ramblings about the CIA', but this time, the 'crazy paranoid guy' is proven to be right! So eat it, Elliot!"

Elliot just nodded sheepishly at him as he reluctantly muttered, "Uh, yeah, sorry, John…."

"Oh, man," Fin groaned. "Munch is going to be insufferable from now on!"

"There's more to this story," Olivia solemnly said. "A lot more."

"Why don't we continue this conversation in my office?" Cragen offered.

B&B

"And that's it," Olivia finished with a heavy sigh. "You guys now know as much as 007 and I do about the situation."

She gazed at the crowd of people who sat around her and Bond. Elliot, Munch, Fin, Casey, Cragen and Simon all looked ashen as an uneasy silence broke out in the office. Poor Casey, whose skin was usually alabaster in color, looked even more pale than usual.

"Sweet Jesus, Liv," Elliot finally said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, that's my feeling, too," Fin muttered, looking dazed.

Munch leaned forward, staring thoughtfully down at the ground. He had removed his shades, and the concern in his eyes was apparent to Olivia.

"You just referred to him as 007, Liv." Munch glanced at Bond. "Are you with the Double-O sector of MI6?"

"Yes," Bond said with an appreciative nod. "You know quite a lot about us, Detective Munch."

"It's a hobby," Munch muttered.

"How are they planning to use the nukes?" Elliot asked. "I mean, are they planning to just explode the nukes, or are they using them to build dirty bombs?"

"Marko--or, as you know him, Marcus--is one of the premiere bomb builders in the world," Bond said. "He's capable of building any kind of bomb he's paid to build."

"So with somebody like that, chances are good that we're dealing with live nukes exploding," Elliot said dejectedly.

"I'd count on it," Bond replied quietly. "And that's all the more reason why we need to find Marko as soon as possible. Because if we find him, we find the bombs."

"You'll have whatever help we can give you," Cragen firmly told him. "From this point on, the SVU will be working on this case exclusively."

"I appreciate it, Captain," Bond said. "I'd also appreciate it if what was spoken here didn't leave the room--at least for now."

"Very well," Cragen said, as he stood up. "So let's get moving, people. Munch, Fin, you two drop whatever case you're working on and start gathering every file we have on Luke Marcus."

"You mean Marko?" Fin asked.

"We know him as Marcus, so that's the name we'll find him under," Cragen said.

Fin shook his head in disgust as he walked out of Cragen's office. "We had the mother right in the interogattion room not too long ago--if only we knew then who he really was!"

Olivia was about to speak to Simon when Munch abruptly tugged her arm. "Could we go someplace private?"

"Uh, sure," Olivia replied. She wondered what he wanted to talk about as she followed Munch into an unused interrogation room.

Munch turned to face her and said, "You know, it's not enough that Bond's with MI6, but he's got to be a member of the Double-O Sector on top of it."

Olivia knew what was coming: yet another screed on the evils of the CIA and its counterpart agencies. "Look, John…."

"No, just listen to me, Liv, please," he said softly. "Do you know exactly what the Double-O Sector is? It's a black ops organization within MI6. Essentially, you're dealing with a black ops group within a black ops group. The Double-O agents have what's known as a licence to kill, and they use it, believe me! That section was created in the aftermath of the Second World War so they could hunt down Nazis who were on the run. Apparently, the Queen liked having her own private army of assasins, and so the Double-O agents were made a branch of MI6. These guys are killers, Olivia. That's who your partner, Bond, really is. He's an assassin, and if he's anything like the other eight Double-O agents, he's a very scary person."

After seeing him in action, Olivia had no doubt that Bond could be very scary. Yet something she had witnessed today had scared her even more. "John, I watched a man commit suicide right before my eyes, just so he could avoid arrest," she said. "I know you're no fan of these black ops types, and you have a point about how they sometimes abuse their power. But we're fighting some very scary people, here. And sometimes you need scary people to fight scary people."

"I understand that," Munch said with a nod. "But I just wanted to make sure you understood who you were dealing with."

"Believe me, I do," Olivia replied, as they strolled out of the interrogation room. "But our city, our home, is at risk. And I'd work with the devil himself if it meant saving it."

"Just be careful that you don't lose your soul in the process," Munch said.

"There you are!" Fin called from over a pile of files that had been heaped on his desk. "You think I'm gonna go through all this by myself, you're nuts, Munch! Get on over here!"

Olivia looked around for Simon, but could not find him. She found Bond over by the coffee machine, making a cup for himself. "You only drink tea, don't you?" he asked. "I would have made you a cup, but I couldn't find the tea bags."

"That's because I keep them in my desk," Olivia said. "Have you seen where Simon went?"

"He went off someplace to make a phone call," Bond replied. "As did your partner, Elliot."

"Oh," Olivia said, with a sheepish look. "I think they're probably calling family. Sorry, James, but it looks like your wish to keep this quiet may not stay that way for very long."

"That's all right," he said. "If I were in their place, I'd be calling my loved ones the first chance I got, too." He gestured at the pot. "I've got the water boiled; go get a tea bag and I'll pour you a cup."

"Ok, thanks," Olivia replied, as she went over to her desk to retrieve a bag of green tea. Olivia broke into a smile as she mused, 'For a guy who works for a scary black ops bunch, James is still one of the nicest, most polite men I've ever met!'

B&B

'Come on, come on, answer it,' Elliot impatiently thought, as he stood in the empty locker room with his cell phone by his ear.

"Yeah, hello?!" Kathy, his ex-wife said as she answered the phone. She sounded harried, and out of breath.

"Kathy, it's me," Elliot said. "Look, I--"

"Yeah, Elliot! I'm glad you called. Would you mind picking the kids up a little earlier than usual this Saturday?"

"Kathy, please listen to me," Elliot said. "This is very important--"

"Oh, let me guess, you're involved in yet another heavy case and you can't take the kids this weekend, right?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"Kathy, I want you to take the kids to your mother's right now," Elliot told her. "And I want you to stay there with them."

There was a pause on the line. "Elliot, wha--what the hell are you talking about?" she sputtered. "You know my mother just moved to Florida! How can I…what the…just tell me what's going on!"

"You're right, we got a heavy case, a really big one," he admitted. "I can't tell you the details over the phone. But just in case things don't go well, I want you and the kids out of the city--as far away from the city as possible."

"Oh sweet Jesus, Elliot," Kathy moaned. "What the hell is going on?! Please tell me you're just joking with me…."

"No, I'm not joking--"

"If this is just one of those nasty divorce pranks that ex-husbands pull on their ex-wives, you can tell me, Elliot."

"No, I would never do that to you, Kathy," he said. "Look, I know I'm asking a lot of you right now. But I would never say something like this if I didn't think there was…you know, if there was a good chance of something going wrong."

"I don't have the money for all of us to go to Florida right now, I just bought the twins' band uniforms!" Kathy said, panic creeping into her voice.

"I'll give you the money to get you and the kids to your mother's and back," Elliot said. "Just please do as I say, Kathy, and get yourself and the kids out of the city, all right?"

"We're coming over there," she angrily told him. "You can't tell me over the phone? Fine. Maybe you can tell us face to face just what the fuck is going on!"

"Kathy, wait, don't--oh shit," Elliot muttered, once he realized the phone was dead.

'Damnit,' Elliot thought, as he gently tapped the cell phone against the side of his head. Now, more than ever, he missed being a part of his family. Elliot had wanted nothing more than go back to the house right now and be with Kathy and the kids. The last great crisis they had faced together as a family had been 9/11, and Elliot fondly recalled how they all stuck together in the frightening days after the attacks. The kids were home from school, he was home from work, and all six of them had huddled together on the couch in the living room and watched the news for hours on end--until the moment when Elliot woke up and realized that they had all fallen asleep together, with the TV still burbling in the background. And in that instant, Elliot had never felt so safe, so content, in his entire life.

And now they were facing an even greater nightmare and Elliot felt miserable, as if he had been cast off from his family.

"Hey, El?" a voice asked tentatively from behind him.

He turned and saw Olivia was standing there, gazing at him with concern.

'Well, maybe I'm not cut off from all of my family,' Elliot realized with a slight smile. "Hey Liv."

"You ok?"

"Yeah, just called Kathy. Tried to warn her without mentioning anything about the case. Didn't go well. She's coming here, demanding answers."

"Yikes!" Olivia said, making a face.

As they both started walking back to the bull pen, Elliot waved his hand. "I know Mr. British Superspy wanted us to keep a lid on this, but--"

"It's ok, James understands," Olivia told him. "Hell, Fin and Simon called their families just now. Besides, thanks to all the people in this precinct who are now secretly calling their loved ones, New York City should already be evacuated by midnight tonight."

Elliot knew she was just joking to keep his spirits up, yet it bothered him greatly that she referred to Bond by his first name. "I see you've already gotten pretty cozy with the guy."

Olivia shot him a look. "What, are you jealous?"

"NO!" Elliot growled. When he realized that came out more harshly than he expected, Elliot began to wonder if he actually was jealous of Olivia being with Bond.

'But it was just a working partnership between them, that's all,' he thought. Then it occurred to Elliot that it was a little silly to be worrying about something like this while New York City was facing a major crisis. "Is Simon still here?"

Olivia shook her head. "He went home."

Elliot sincerely wished that he could do the same.

When they entered the bull pen, Fin held up a sheet of paper. "Got something. Marko--A.K.A. Marcus--owns a building over on the West Side."

"It's in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, which sounds apt, doesn't it?" Munch commented.

"Hell's Kitchen?" Bond asked with a frown. "Where is that?"

"I know where it is," Olivia said, after getting the file from Fin. "You can drive, James. I'll give directions."

Bond nodded. "Sounds like a deal. Let's go check it out."

"Your car has been towed back to the precinct garage," Cragen told them. "You can pick it up downstairs."

"Actually, James has his own ride," Olivia replied with a smile. "It's pretty sweet, too. We'll be taking that."

Elliot, who had just grabbed his jacket in preparation of leaving with Olivia, stopped short and watched with a scowl as she walked out of the bull pen with Bond. He was further irked to see that they were chatting like a a pair of old friends. Olivia didn't even acknowledge Elliot as she left.

'Ok, I guess I'll stay here and help sift through the information we've got on Marko,' Elliot thought. He abruptly realized that it was just as well he stayed, because Kathy was coming over later anyway. He noticed that Casey sat morosely in a chair by the door. It appeared as if she had been on her way out when a sudden fit of depression made her stop.

Elliot came over to the ADA and said, "You ok?"

Casey glanced up and started to nod--until she stopped and said, in a small, frightened voice: "No. I'm scared out of my mind, Elliot."

"I can't say I blame you," he said. He bent over and whispered, "Listen, is there anyplace you can go, someplace far out of the city, for a while?"

That only served to make Casey even more alarmed. "Oh, my God, Elliot!"

"I don't mean to scare you," he quickly said. Although, judging from the phone call he just had with Kathy, he seemed to be making a bad habit of scaring the pants of off people today. "But we need to think about what to do just in case…you know…."

"Just in case the city gets vaporized by a nuclear blast?" Casey blandly finished for him.

Now it was Elliot's turn to feel a chill run up his spine. "Yeah…."

"I've never felt so…helpless before," Casey said softly.

As he glanced down the corridor where Olivia and Bond had left, Elliot murmured, "Believe me, Case, I know just how you feel…."

B&B

When Jergens arrived on the bridge of the Icelander, the captain nodded at him and said, "We're almost there, sir."

Jergens could see that for himself. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge could be seen emerging from the mist ahead of them. Once they went under it, the next port of call would be New York City.

"Excellent work, Captain," Jergens said, smiling with pleasure. He left the bridge and went below to a secret compartment at the very bottom of the massive yacht. The gleaming chamber housed two large cases that were olive drab in color with writing on the sides that were in Russian.

A team of men dressed in overalls all snapped to attention once he arrived. They all had shaven heads and stood with a military bearing.

"We're entering New York harbor," Jergens informed them. "Get ready!"

As the men began their preparations, Jergens could not help but smile. 'Soon, Operation Diamondhead shall be underway,' he thought with excitement. 'It was a shame the Master decided to go back to headquarters. He should be here to enjoy firsthand the glory that Spectre will achieve by bringing the United States to its knees.'

B&B

"Right here," Olivia said, gesturing at the dilapidated building on their right.

"This is it?" Bond asked, as he brought the Aston Martin to a stop by the side of the street. The car purred as he examined the building, which looked like a boarded-up brownstone that hasn't seen any tenants in ages.

"Place looks run-down and abandoned," Olivia noted. "Probably a dead end."

But Bond knew better. "You'd be surprised, Liv. The worst rat traps often make the best hideouts."

He shut the car off and got out--but not before getting a pair of special sunglasses from the glove box.

"It's a little late in the day for shades, isn't it?" Olivia asked, indicating the darkening skies. "Unless you're like Munch, who wears shades all day long."

"These are not quite the same shades that you have in mind," Bond replied, as he placed the night vision goggles--which were slimmed down to the size of ordinary eyeglasses--over his eyes. Both Olivia, as well as the landscape around her, were cast in a greenish glow as Bond scanned the abandoned building with the night vision goggles. After a sweep of the area, Bond said, "Looks like you were right, Liv. This place appears to be abandoned."

"Is that a night vision thing?" Olivia asked, with longing in her voice.

"Yes," Bond said with a smile. He took them off and handed them to her. "Want to try it out?"

"Sure!" She eagerly put them on and looked all over the building with them over her eyes. Bond stood lookout, with one hand close by the Walter, just in case somebody tried to surprise them. "Hey, this is cool! I could have used this to sneak out of Dave's apartment that night."

Bond shot her a curious look. "And what were you doing sneaking around some bloke's apartment at night?"

"Uh…it was just a one night stand that was a big mistake," she said, sounding sheepish. "Nothing happened, he was too drunk and fell asleep on me. Whoa, what's that light?"

"What light? Where?" Bond wanted to know.

Olivia handed him the night vision glasses and Bond put them back on. He took a step forward and aimed the glasses right where Olivia pointed. He saw a blinking light that emitted from one of the ground floor windows of the abandoned building. The blinking light shone a beam across the ground, and when Bond glanced down at his feet, he saw that he had broke the beam.

'It's another one of Marko's bloody toys!' he thought in a panic. 'And I just broke the beam of a laser!'

"Get back to the car, now!" Bond shouted, as he grabbed Olivia's arm.

"What is it?" she cried, running along side of him.

"Something very bad, trust me!"

Just as they reached the Aston Martin, Bond's eyes grew wide as a humungous flash, accompanied by a horrific roar, erupted from behind them. It felt as if the very gates of hell itself had been opened, and all that dwelled within were bearing right down on him and Olivia.

To Be Continued...