For RebaForever15,Prosper the XVIII, Lilylunapotter, and Alana of OulaThank you so much for all of the great reviews and the support. I coudnt have done it without you. And For RebaForever15. I chickened out on the Scarecrow theory so you will just have to use your imagination :)

Several hours had passed as M sat quietly at her desk glancing thru the endless reports that had piled up while she was gone. "Surly he must have arrived by now" she thought as she checked her watch again. Another Hour or so passed before M decided she was tired of waiting so she called down to interrogation and spoke to the guard on duty.

"Would you please inform me when 007 returns from his mission" she said sounding both tired and impatient

"Ma'am. 007 arrived a little over an hour ago with the subject" was the reply

"I see" she said "Do you know if he is still in the building?" she asked quietly so as not to relay the disappointment she was feeling

"No ma'am. He signed in the subject and left" was the answer

"Thank You"

"Will there be anything else ma'am?" the guard asked in a rather toneless voice

"Yes could you arrange for a car to take me home?"

"Of course ma'am."

With that she placed the phone back on the stand. She couldn't say she was all that surprised that he didn't come to her office to be debriefed. She wasn't the one who actually sent him out in the first place and she was almost certain that he was more than a little angry with her for not telling him about her memory. She was also quite certain that Eve and Bill felt the same as she had not seen hide nor hair of them since the incident in the command center with Mallory.

When the guard called to inform her that the car was waiting, M picked up her handbag, scribbled a quick note informing Eve and Bill that she had gone home and left, silently hoping that James would be there when she arrived.

It was very late when M finally arrived at her dark flat. She hadn't really expected to see any lights on as James had never bothered to turn on the lights any of the previous times he had broken in to wait for her. As she opened the door she entered cautiously, listening for any sign of him, but was instead greeted with complete silence. She flicked on the hall light and poked her head around the corner to look in the sitting room half expecting to see him sitting on the sofa drinking her best scotch, but the room was empty. She the continued to check the other rooms including the bedroom, but in the end she was completely alone. He wasn't there. She returned to the sitting room and poured herself a large drink and sat on the sofa in the dark as tears slowly began to fall down her cheeks. It was just as she had feared. Once the truth was known it was back to business as usual with Eve, Bill and 007 all keeping their respective distance and to be truthful it hurt. She didn't give a damn how inappropriate their relationships had become. She loved them, all three of them, and she missed them. She loved how close they had all become in the last few days, and she loved knowing what it meant to belong to a "Family" of sorts for the first time in her life, and now it was gone simply because she hadn't had the courage to tell them the truth. She had committed what she deemed the ultimate sin, she had lied, and as unbelievable as it sounded she was full of regret which, in her own words was unprofessional but she really didn't care anymore.

Whether it was sitting in the dark crying, the late hour, the scotch or a combination of all three M noticed that she was incredibly tired and just didn't have the strength or ambition to climb the stairs to her room so she settled down on the sofa and drifted off to a very restless sleep. It wasn't long before M felt the uneasiness of someone watching her while she slept. When she opened her eyes she could just make out the silhouette of James sitting in the chair opposite of her and she immediately felt herself tense as she sat up.

"You know you really shouldn't sleep on the sofa, it's bad for your back" he said nonchalantly

"How long have you been sitting there?" she asked hesitantly

"Long enough to know that your sleep was anything but restful" he replied

"I'm surprised that you came given the circumstances"

"Well this is our custom isn't it. I go away on a mission and when I return I come here"

"Well yes, but I just thought..."

"So why is today any different?"

"Well...given the events of the day..."

"Yes, about that. Brilliant plan. I really appreciated the back up. Who would have thought that little computer geek would have so much fire power" he said sounding a bit sarcastic

"Well yes Mallory didn't really think this through before..." she started to say before being cut off.

"What's Mallory got to do with it?" he asked almost sounding confused

M was completely at a loss for words. She had lost the thread of the conversation. What did he mean what did Mallory have to do with this? He had everything to do with this. It was his bloody plan to send James deliberately into harm's way with no support and orders NOT to kill. This was not making any sense at all. M slowly rose from the sofa and began to pace about the room all the while keeping an eye on James.

"007. forgive me for asking but from where have you just returned?' she asked apprehensively

"Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious" she replied sounding a bit uneasy

"Don't you remember" he said eyeing her curiously

At this point she really didn't know what she remembered and what she didn't. Her mind was racing as she tried to recall the last few days. She clearly remembered her rather unpleasant conversation with Mallory about her "Voluntary "retirement, She clearly remembered her heated discussion with James about his recklessness on his last mission, She clearly remembered coming home and Mallory calling demanding an early morning to continue their earlier discussion and after that everything was beginning to be one giant blur. Was he just toying with her or was it all just a dream. What if she hadn't really fallen down the stairs? What if she hadn't really lost her memory? What if she had simply fallen asleep on the sofa and it was all just a dream.

James sat in the chair watching M as she paced about the room. He could see the confusion clearly on her face as she tried to work out what was going on. She continued to pace back and forth before she finally stopped and stared out the window with a look of shock and pain across her face. She looked totally heartbroken and he couldn't stand it anymore. Yes he was angry with her for keeping the fact that she remembered to herself, but then he remembered what he had told Bill and Eve. M was a private person, and if she remembered she wouldn't say out of fear of being wrong and losing the only security she had, which was the three of them.

M was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't hear James get up from his chair. It wasn't until she felt his arms around her pulling her close to him that she realized he was even still there.

"What are you doing?" she asked choking back her tears as she looked up at him

"I'm so sorry M. I never meant to hurt you, at least not like this" he said as he leaned down and gently kissed her

"I don't understand" she said in a shaky voice

"I was angry. Angry because you didn't tell me you remembered, angry because you let Mallory send me on this bloody godforsaken, ill-conceived asinine mission, angry that I couldn't be here with you when I thought you needed me" he said as he continued to place light kisses on her forehead and neck.

"Oh James, I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me" she cried as she held onto him tightly" I wanted to tell you honestly I did, but I was afraid" she said as she buried her head in his shoulder and began to sob.

"And just what were you afraid would happen" he asked tenderly as he tilted her face up to look into her eyes

"I was afraid of losing you. I was afraid that if you knew the truth things would go back to the way they were, you know business as usual" she replied with such sadness in her voice that it nearly broke his heart

"M. Don't you know by now that you have a snowballs chance in hell of losing me. I love you. I always have, it just took a tumble down the stairs for me to realize that" he said wiping away her tears

"But now that I have my memory back how can this possible work? There are rules" she said quietly as she started to pull away

"If I am not mistaken, you are the boss and you make the rules."

"Yes but..."

"Let's just take it one day at a time, shall we. Oh. I almost forgot." he said releasing her "I brought you something"

James went to retrieve the box that had been sitting by the chair

"What's this?" she asked with a puzzled look

"Well. Why don't you open it and find out" he replied with a mischievous grin

M opened the box to find a blue and white gingham dressing gown inside.

"What is this?" she said pulling out the gown to take a closer look.

"Didn't Bill give you my message?" he asked somewhat amused by her expression

"What message?"

"The one where I said I looked forward to investigating your Scarecrow theory in further detail" he smirked

"Oh I see. And so you thought it would be more helpful if I dressed the part is that it?" she asked smiling slightly

"Something like that" he said pulling her to him in a strong embrace

"Well. I for one have no intention of wearing that monstrosity" she laughed as she pointed to the dressing gown.

"Oh I think you will, but not for very long if I have anything to say about it" he said as he scooped her up in his arms and headed for the stairs.

James and M spent the rest of the night tenderly and passionately investigating the Scarecrow theory and by morning they were both exhausted, happy and content to just lay in each other's arms with her head resting on his chest and his arms wrapped securely around her.

"James"

"Hmmm"

"Do you think that Bill and Eve will forgive me?"

"Of course they will. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that I really should have told them sooner"

"They love you M. Not because you are the boss, but because they got the chance to see what an amazing person you are underneath that tough exterior you present at the office, and truth be told I think all of us, myself included wished if only for a moment that it could stay that way a little longer" he said as he kissed the top of her head

"Why? because you all liked me better without my memory?" she said sounding almost hurt by his statement

"No" he replied tilting her head up so he could look into her bright beautiful eyes "Because for that brief moment in time we were a real" family". One that cares about each other, loves each other no matter what, and it was a very nice feeling"

"I love you James" she said shifting up to kiss him

"It's a good thing, because I love you too" he said rolling her over onto her back so that he could deepen the kiss.