Italian Alps.
Moneypenny awoke with a start as the car slammed to a sudden stop. Glancing, bleary eyes out of the window she could just make out a rabbit flitting out of sight in the dazzling stream of the headlights. It took her a moment to piece together everything that had happened since last night.
She and Tremendo had been rushed quickly out of a side exit to his waiting Mercedes which sped them up to an airfield just outside Hull. From there they boarded a private jet and while Tremendo slept on the plane she'd used the G.L.O.V.E.S to contact James. For some reason she had been unable to connect directly with MI6 but still had web access and was able to send her brief message.
She hoped that James would be able to find her and Tremendo and wished that she could have given him more to go on but the simple fact was that she didn't really know very much about her current situation. They had landed wherever they had landed in the dark and although now, as the sun began to rise, she could make out the mountains of Northern Italy she had not been told a thing about the trip. Tremendo had promised that once they had reached their destination he would reveal all.
Moneypenny turned to Tremendo who was busy scolding the driver. Seeing that their near miss had woken her he turned apologetically to Moneypenny.
"I'm sorry to have woken you Sarah." He said sincerely "You looked very peaceful."
Moneypenny smiled weakly. "Well it has been quite an eventful twenty four hours. I was exhausted." She said stretching her arms as far as she could in the confines of Tremendo's Mercedes.
Again he appologised. "It was unfair of me not to have given you proper warning," Said Tremendo. "But I needed to see where your loyalties lie…"
"It was a test?" Moneypenny demanded with an incredulity that shocked even her.
"Forgive me?" The scientist pleaded softly.
Moneypenny frowned. "So you knew that Ong would do this?"
Tremendo laughed. "No my dear it was not Mai ling..."
"Who then?" Moneypenny asked genuinely shocked. She recovered herself well and asked: "Was it that Bond chap?"
Tremedndo shook his head, smiling playfully. "No," he grinned. "The British government would not be so bold as to assassinate me so publicly."
Moneypenny fought hard to suppress a disloyal snigger.
"My dear, I arranged this whole thing!" He said eagerly, his eyes wide and bright like a child proudly revealing a wonderful secret.
Moneypennys jaw dropped.
"Mr Tremendo, Ivor" She corrected herself as he shot her a meaningful expression. "You can't be serious! Do you mean to tell me that you faked your death, kidnapped me and left one of your staff to take the fall with MI6?"
Seeing that Moneypenny did not find this news as wonderful as he did Tremendo changed tact.
"I would not have done it were it not absolutely necessary!" He said firmly. "I have not kidnapped you; I merely meant to keep you safe. It would have been far too dangerous to have left you behind; you know far too much, I am sorry."
He turned away from her scowling, he seemed to be sulking. The sun had risen now. Moneypenny could see a grand Villa nestled in the hills. The pair of them sat in silence as they headed down the winding road towards it. It must have been Tremendos' home.
"Now we are away you are free to go anytime you wish." He pouted as they entered the heavy iron gates and started up a long gravel driveway "I will help you to change your identity and you may return to England."
Moneypenny smiled and placed her hand lightly on his.
"Ivor," She sighed. "I didn't mean it like that. Of course I want to be with you." Tremendo turned and smiled.
"I mean…" Monpenny stammered, "I just wish you'd have told me before."
She found herself blushing, all the while screaming in her head. 'Don't get involved! Your not James, your NOT James!' "I don't understand though," She continued, "Why did you need to fake your death? And why like that? You probably hurt someone. And what about Ong? She'll rot in prison… assuming she doesn't rat you out."
Tremendo shook his head quickly. "No," she is my most loyal." He insisted. "She will be rewarded for her sacrifice to the cause. She will be back amongst us soon. It meant everything to her Sarah and means everything to me. It is worth dying for and is certainly worth a few months inside."
"what about the guests?" Moneypenny asked hotly, the colour rising in her cheeks.
Tremendos' lip curled "What's the lives of a few spoilt cockroaches worth?" He spat.
"Just because you didn't like the people at the benefit does not give you the right to risk their lives! And for what? So that you can make a dramatic exit?" Moneypenny snapped.
Tremendo's face turned dark. "Their lives are worth nothing! The rich care for no one but themselves.
"Ivor," Moneypenny sighed as they continued up the long driveway. "You're one of the richest men on the planet…"
"I am nothing like them!" Tremendo insisted, looking offended. "They are over privileged and spoilt. They know nothing of hard work and the common decencies it teaches you. They do not deserve this world; it does not belong to them!"
"The world doesn't belong to anyone!" Moneypenny moaned exasperated.
Tremendo's eyes flashed wildly and a maniacal grin played on his lips sending a shiver down Moneypennys spine.
"Ivor," She asked slowly, "What are you planning to do?"
"Fight for the cause."
"Which is?" She pressed but as they pulled to a stop in front of the villa Tremendos attention was grabbed by a small gathering of people waiting to greet him. They were predominantly Asian men dressed in shabby clothing, each holding a weapon of some sort. Most favored highly visible machine guns though some had gone for a more subtle machete.
They looked most out of place standing outside the grand building. As the car drew level a young man at the front sank down to his knees sobbing. His companions struggled to pull him up.
Tremendo shot out of the car and rushed over. Quickly undoing her seatbelt Moneypenny darted after him, slamming the door shut as she leapt out. Several unwelcoming faces scowled at her as she emerged but undeterred she hastened to Tremendo's side.
He crouched low in front of the boy.
"Miko?" He urged, "Tell me what's wrong."
The boy continued to weep uncontrollably so one of the others stepped forward, a menacing man in his late thirties, built like a rugby player. He scratched his unkempt beard awkwardly as he spoke in broken Italian.
"His wife… dead."
Tremendo looked shocked. "No! Mai ling?" He gasped. "How?"
The bearded man frowned for a moment as he searched for the right word. Unable to find it he held his gun to his head.
"BANG" He cried sending the weeping boy into hysterics. Tremendo gripped the young mans shoulder tightly and shook his head.
Guessing that like Miss Ong the assembled group were from Malaysia Moneypenny addressed them in their own language.
"Tell me exactly what happened." She demanded.
"Who are you?" One of the women sneered, shooting Moneypenny a disdainful look.
"I am Mr. Tremendo's new PA." Moneypenny said sharply. "He needs to know what happened…"
"I just explain!" The bearded man grunted. Apparently Italian wasn't the only language he struggled with. Moneypenny suspected strongly the only language this man was really fluent in was violence. All the same she needed answers.
"We need a little more to go on than 'bang.'" She snapped, throwing caution to the wind the bearded man's eyebrows knotted. "I thought I'd save time and translate but if you want to tell Mr. Tremendo yourselves go ahead." Moneypenny finished loftily.
The woman opened her mouth defiantly but it seemed that she too struggled with Italian. "Mai ling was our translator!" She said scowling.
"We'll she's not here." Moneypenny reminded her. On the floor the man let out another anguished wail. Moneypenny cursed herself. She's forgotten he was also Malaysian.
"Please," Moneypenny begged the group. "I'm here to help you."
They shifted uneasily. Eventually the woman spoke.
"Tell Mr. Tremendo that she had gone into one of the offices as he'd directed. The British scum followed her in but did not arrest her. He shot her in cold blood!"
The group seemed reassured by Moneypennys look of shock, taking it as sympathy for their fallen comrade but this was not the case.
Moneypenny couldn't believe that James would abuse his license to kill without a good reason, Ong must have provoked him. But then again she was supposed to be sprung from prison, why encourage James to shoot her?
'He thought she'd killed you. Surely that's encouragement enough' Said a nasty voice at the back of Moneypennys mind. She shook it off. 'Don't flatter yourself! She told herself. 'James would have brought her in for questioning. He wouldn't be so impulsive… would he?'
"Sarah?" Tremendo called, snapping her out of it. "What did they say?"
"They think that MI6's man killed her." Moneypenny explained simply, trying to sound skeptical and to sow the seed of doubt in Tremendo's mind. It didn't work.
Tremendo shook Mai Lings sobbing husband by the shoulders. Blinking back his own tears he looked the young man in the eye. "We will have our revenge Miko." He assured the man, helping him to his feet. Mikos' comrades supported him inside.
"She will not have died in vain!" Tremendo called after them. "The cause lives on!"
"Mr. Tremendo." Moneypenny asked timidly as Tremendo wiped away a stray tear. "You still haven't explained to me what this cause is."
"Ah, my dear Miss Moneypenny." He said taking her by the arm and leading her inside. "It's time I told you everything."