Chapter 3: Dinner
Pausing for a quick glance around, partly out of habit, James knocked on the dark wooden front door. After a few moments it opened to reveal Mattie, stood in skin tight jeans and a big knitted grey jumper. She was smiling at him; it was a genuine, warm smile, the type that he didn't see very often. This woman wasn't after the glamour of his job, the money or him for that matter, she wanted help and friendship, he mused as he stepped past her into the apartment. It was so much more homely than his, more furniture, more colour – more life. He could hear laughter coming from a room at the end of the hallway, casting a quizzical look to Mattie, she tilted her head to the side slightly.
"My contacts and informants. That's why I invited you round, I thought it was time for you to meet them."
"So the cryptic message was an invite then?" James smirked, confirming his guess had been correct.
"It wasn't that cryptic"
"It just said dinner, eight"
"You have skills I knew you'd work out where to find me" Mattie grinned leading the way down the hallway. Pushing the door she indicated that he should go in first. The laughter stopped as the men noticed his entrance, James shook his head with a slight huff of laughter.
"I should have known!" James rolled his eyes looking at Tanner and Q.
"Yes you should have done 007" Q agreed sarcastically.
"I hope there's a gin or vodka in that" James pointed towards his tall glass which contained a clear, fizzy liquid and a slice of lime.
"Gin" The younger man assured him, raising a mock toast to him.
"I might have been a bit misleading with the dinner invite – we're ordering pizza. Beer?" Mattie questioned before disappearing into the kitchen. The training that had become instinct to Bond kicked in and he appraised the room he was in. Several photos depicted Mattie's life, while giving nothing away about her work, other than a candid relaxed shot of her and M. They were sat side by side, smiling at a dinner table, from the look of the background it was somewhere in Italy – both looked gloriously happy. Others showed Mattie laughing with friends, celebrating with a bride, throwing her cap into the air on graduation day and cuddling a small child. In each photo he noticed that her smile was wide and made her eyes shine. That light wasn't there when she smiled anymore, and he had the sudden urge to return that happiness to her. He had had the greatest respect for M; one of his biggest regrets was not telling her before it was too late, this young woman was her closest living relative and she needed his help.
"You've seen the information then?" Tanner asked quietly
"Yes, and it doesn't look good."
"If it's as we think, well – it means big trouble Bond." He glanced towards the kitchen doorway "I'm worried about her. She's not been the same since M was killed."
"Here we go" Mattie breezed as she handed fresh beers out.
Five hours later Tanner and Q left the flat having discussed every possible option available to them. Their major problem was acting without alerting anyone to what they were doing, whilst investigating potential moles and leaks within their organisation. Tanner was going to use his high level security clearance to trawl through the files relating to Silva, using the excuse that the inquiry was coming up and he wanted to be fully informed. In addition Q was going to discreetly use his facilities to assess who had access to certain equipment that was referred to in some of the files that had been deleted before being appropriately investigated, feigning inexperience if questioned. That might give them some idea of who was behind the threats being posed – unless they were blocked, which in itself would tell them something, although it wouldn't be very helpful. James' task was to look into anything and everything he could think of, using official and non-official resources to his advantage. It was unlikely anyone would suspect anything, because it was widely accepted that Bond did as he pleased, even Mallory had reluctantly left him to his own devices so far. In addition, Mattie was going to use her leave to spend time collating all the evidence and data the others were gathering, conduct her own investigations and assist James as and when necessary.
Left on their own James sat on the end of one of the brown leather sofa, with Mattie sat at the opposite end, long legs curled underneath her.
"It won't make you feel better" James stated, breaking the silence.
"What won't?"
"Revenge - you think it will. It eats you up until you manage to achieve it, and then all you feel is emptiness and disappointment. All you will have managed is to destroy another bit of yourself"
"You sound like you speak from experience James"
"Then take it from someone who has been there, take a different route. There's more to life than taking one in vengeance" He advised
"I get it, you're not going to tell me. I get what you're saying, but you need to understand that this started off as revenge, but now it's so much more than that. The whole country is in danger and I took a vow to protect it. Yes I'm angry, yes I'm mad, but this is bigger than me! And I need your help" Mattie explained imploringly.
"Well you have it"