AN: I meant to post twice a week but missed last week because I'm trying to move. So to make up for it, I'm going to try posting three times this week. Enjoy!


Chapter 5

With two more phone calls from Q and with plenty of time for reading and exercise, James' forced vacation wasn't half bad, but he wouldn't admit that to Mallory. The way the other man smiled at James when he walked into the office, however, would suggest he already knew. Keeping his face expressionless, the agent stood tall and waited to be debriefed, but Mallory seemed to be trying not to laugh and took an impossibly long minute to compose himself before speaking.

"So R was able to decode part of the memory card you brought back. We've got a few bank accounts to investigate, some prominent figures with possible links. All boring for you, I'm sure. But in the meantime, the search for Spectre and its logo has proved very interesting." Mallory paused when someone knocked on the door. Moneypenny popped her head in and Mallory waved for her to join them. When the door was shut again, he continued. "We're sending you State side again. Washington this time. The state, not the capitol."

"What's in Washington for a global terror syndicate?" James asked as Moneypenny handed him a folder. Her stare was unreadable, purposely emotionless, and he wondered briefly what she was focusing on so intently that kept her from any of her usual facial tics.

"I suppose that's really your job to figure out," Mallory explained. He motioned to the folder and then to Moneypenny. "Eve has all the details for you."

James' brow knit curiously as Moneypenny began speaking. "There are two possible targets. One is a university lab in Olympia where they're developing some sort of hypothetical weaponized fungus. Once the studies and tests are completed, the U.S. government could have their hands on an airborne virus capable of destroying entire fields of crops and desolating the soil for a generation at least."

"Seems a bit intense and counter-productive to the whole 'save the planet' idea their country is always spouting," James murmured, but there was a nugget of information still beckoning his attention that had nothing to do with the case.

"Well as far as we could tell, the original intent of the project was to find a way to reduce the progression of diseases in crops due to monoculture farming. But you know the world we live in, Bond. Everything can be turned into a weapon." She nodded her head in a way that James knew meant she was moving on to the next topic. He flipped to the next bundle of papers in the folder. "The other potential target is in Seattle and exceedingly more difficult to extract information about."

"So it's a person," James said, looking over the face staring out from the documents. "Professor Arnold. Professor of what?"

"Neuroscience," Moneypenny answered. Her piercing gaze locked with James' and they stared intently at each other as she explained. "He proposes that technology can be used to literally turn people against each other. Use the right tones, the right frequencies, and our precious mobiles could turn into death traps. Rather ridiculous, don't you think? The way something as innocent as a phone can affect someone?" And that was definitely a jibe. Well wasn't it? She knew about the calls with Q. She had to. She-

With a knock of his knuckles on the wood of his desk, Mallory drew the attention of the conversation back to himself. "As you can see, two very different but possibly devastating enterprises going on in Washington State. The data mined from the watch and from some digging into shared global intelligence by R&D give us enough to know that Spectre is interested in one or both of these endeavors. You are to gather intel and report back any suspicious activity."

"Sounds invigorating. Or like something a security camera could do remotely." James shut the folder and slid it under his arm, already bored and wanting the mission to be over.

"Perhaps, but if you value your lifestyle, I wouldn't suggest telling those in charge how you believe technology can replace you." Mallory shook his head, evidently disappointed in James' reaction. "But a distant camera can only capture so much. We need eyes on the scene, ears in the room. We need instinct and split second decisions. We need an agent. Now do you want the mission or don't you?"

"Of course, M," James said, body shifting into a perfect military stand.

Waving off the sudden bodily salute, Mallory said, "Good, good. I have a meeting with the Prime Minister in an hour, and I'll be reading him in on the Spectre business. He'll want a report of your findings when you return as well, so the sooner you return, the better. Now go get started."

Both James and Moneypenny bowed out then, leaving the office as a pair, although James held the door open and let her walk out first. As soon as the door was shut, however, he called out to stop her.

"Moneypenny," he said as casually as he could. "Did I hear M correctly? Your first name is Eve?"

"It is indeed, Mr. Super Spy," the dark skinned woman replied with a devilish smile. She walked over to her desk and leaned on the edge of it. "And why do you ask?"

"Because you know," James said, coming to stand near her. "About the phone calls. You're the reason Q called me. Am I right?"

She didn't answer immediately, just smiled like a proud mother cat. Then she reached out and brushed imaginary dirt from his lapel. "I may have told a white lie to get you both some social interaction. As I told you before, he doesn't have many friends," she admitted. "Can you blame me, though? With both of you so cut off from the world, in such desperate need of connection –" She paused to smirk up at him. "Well you can't tell me it hasn't had a positive effect."

"How do you figure?" James asked as she pulled her hand away. Had Q said something to suggest he liked the calls? Or that James did? No. Anything Q claimed about James would be mere conjecture on his part.

"Well you did buy us both coffees," she reminded. He must have looked surprised in some small way, because her eyes gained a new confidence. "I was quite touched. You can't imagine the look on his face."

"What did he look like?" James found himself asking before she could continue, and perhaps Moneypenny looked shocked at his urgency, but she could not be more stunned than James was. The anxiousness to hear how Q had responded to the gift was unexpected. He'd paid for the drinks with total confidence, but now he found himself insatiably curious and annoyingly self-conscious.

Smile softening, Eve shrugged. "At first he thought there must have been a mistake, but Heidi was certain. 'James' had stopped in and paid for our drinks. He almost dropped his wallet. Kept saying he didn't know how it happened, that never mind he knew exactly how it had happened, that he'd given you too much information. Ended up spending most of the lunch date in awe over the demonstration of your attentions to him. I'm pretty sure he's still flustered about the whole thing. In the end, he left still not able to comprehend exactly why you did it." There she paused for a moment before frowning and saying, "Why did you do it?"

Good question, he thought. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

"I make a lot of money and never spend it," he said. Then, after a beat so short that Moneypenny didn't even have time to give him a disbelieving stare, he added, "And what else are friends for?"

"Friends?" she asked softly, her entire posture softening. "Well now. Everything is going even better than I had hoped for you, isn't it? You have a friend."

"So it would seem," James agreed, the smallest of smiles tugging on his lips. "And I suppose I have you to thank for it all. You devious colluder."

He said it with no heat, and her proud little smirk returned. Then he wondered if she ever stopped to realize that she was about the closest thing to a best friend James had ever had. The force with which she was trying to encourage James and Q to become friends gave James the distinct impression that she honestly had no idea just how invaluable and important she truly was to him.


Before embarking on his flight to exciting and fun Washington State, James made a pit stop at home. He wanted to change his voicemail and check for any new message from Q, and he was not disappointed. The red light was blinking at him when he walked through the door, but he was proud to admit he did not rush over to it immediately.

"You know bloody well who it is," the message began and James was amused by the harried tone. "You went to Prufrock, you- You complete and utter git. You bought me coffee! James, I don't even like coffee! I like tea! Earl Gray with a spritz of lemon and a tiny bit of milk on occasion, and that's not even the point! Well perhaps it is, actually. I've either given you far too much information about my personal life or you're a spy or both. And really, James, if you were going to go to Prufrock, you could have at least waited until Wednesday when I'd have been there. Could have avoided this whole useless frenzy. You truly are a total wanker."

As the rant paused, James rubbed a hand over his mouth to stop his continuing amused smile. Moneypenny hadn't been lying about leaving Q flustered. His entire spiel oozed embarrassment as Q tried to hide how flattered and surprised he was. Being the cause of that made James feel… Well he wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was a feeling he wouldn't mind repeating.

"Anyway, thanks for the cup, I guess. But next time, just call me or wait until Wednesday. Honestly, James," Q added in a much calmer tone. Then, realizing what he'd just said, became embarrassed again. "Not that you have my number. I mean I could give it to you if you'd like. Maybe next time I catch you in person. Or not."

And after a hushed 'goodbye', the message ended. James let the silence reign for a few minutes, going over the message in his head a few times. Q's demeanor was never perfectly composed, but it appeared showing him personal attention ruffled his feathers more than normal. And James wondered if he should try the experiment again sometime – see if Q reacted the same, see if James got the same rush of pleasant emotions. What could go wrong, right?

But for the time being, James had a plane to catch and an organization to root out. So he hit the record button on his machine and made a new message for Q to hear when he called.

"Hello. You've reached James. If you have important information to relay, continue only if it is life or death." He thought back to Eve and the friend she'd mentioned before – before James knew she was the mastermind, before he'd admitted to being friends with Q, before it all came to light. "If this is Daniel, continue as planned. Call Eve if you're confused. Your messages may or may not be received in a timely manner."

Daniel, he thought. It was a good name, but it felt odd to say it in relation to Q. Q was Q. He called himself that. He didn't correct James when he said it.

With a grunt of agitation at himself, he erased the new message and rerecorded it to be closer to the original message. "Hello. You've reached James. If you have important information to relay, continue only if it is life or death. If this is Q, continue as planned. Your messages may or may not be received in a timely manner."

Simple and blunt. And Q.

Then he pulled out his mobile and brought up Moneypenny's contact. He edited her first name to 'Eve' and then opened a message to her. For a moment, he stared at the blank screen, trying to decide if he should ask her for Q's contact information – a last name perhaps or just his mobile number. In the end, he backed out and brought up the contact number for one of the only other females in the world that he kept in his phone.

He hit the call button. It only took two rings for the woman on the other end to answer.

"007, this had better be important. You're meant to be on a train to the airport, not lollygagging around at home," R said instead of greeting him. Of course she knew his location the moment he called. She was R.

"Yes, about that. Before I pop off to good ol' USA, I thought I'd ask a small favor," James said and lightly tapped the top of his old answering machine, its little red 'one' staring up at him unfazed.


Sorry it's a short one.

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