Dear all, why do I always seem to start chapters with an apology? Exams have been getting in the way for the past six weeks, BUT I have managed to get five chapters ahead of this since finishing my last exam earlier in the week. I think I went slightly mad!

Second apology - there is a lot of diving terminology in this chapter, I've been diving for a few years and I couldn't leave it out - its a passion for me.

Enjoy, and updates will be more frequent. I promise. Seriously. Will write for compliments.


The next day, the two women were up and about early. Jasmin focused on getting ready, enjoying the heat that seemed to trouble Ashleigh so much. Outside the secluded beach hut, a vehicle had been delivered for them, now waiting patiently to be loaded and used. Ashleigh stumbled out of the hut, her skin tinged with green under her tan, dark shadows in the hollows under her eyes. Jasmin looked again, Ashleigh did not look right. The normally slightly spiky dark hair hung limply, as if Ashleigh hadn't had the strength to wash it that morning, the dark eyes that usually had a knowing sparkle in them were dull and lifeless. Jasmin tossed her own lustrous dark hair over her shoulder and revelled in her ability to drink anyone under the table. However, something had to be said.

'Are you alright?' Jasmin finally asked, glancing over at Ashleigh.

Ashleigh nodded feebly. She leant against the side of the black four by four vehicle and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. The nausea rose up inside her once more and she retched, ducking around the side of the car before she embarrassed herself.

'I thought it would be me with the hangover this morning,' Jasmin called out sympathetically.

'Why was I so stupid to run in this heat?' Ashleigh muttered, coming back into view.

Punishing yourself? Jasmin asked herself mentally but decided that discretion would be the better part of valour. She gave a small, understanding smile instead.

'Is there any water handy?' Ashleigh begged. The heat was already causing her head to pound, she hated this wet, cloying heat, it gave her another bloody reason to get off this cursed island.

'In the back,' Jasmin gestured. 'You've probably got a touch of heat exhaustion.'

'Probably.' Ashleigh fumbled with the screw cap of the two litre bottle.

In fact, Ashleigh had only managed two hours sleep the night before. She had lain awake in the heat, hating the sound of the sea lapping against the beach outside, hating the smell of the tropical flowers that grew outside the shuttered windows. She had been hot one moment, sweating in the heat, kicking the sheets away from her drenched body, freezing cold the next, shivering against the night. When she had slept, her dreams had been terrifying vivid, all of them involving Alec, most of them involving death. Now she watched as Jasmin lugged the heavy equipment from the small shed it had been stored in, and set about organising it into small piles, making sure every eventuality was covered.

Ashleigh was feeling sicker with every moment that passed.

'Are you okay to give me a hand with the canisters?' Jasmin struggled to pick up one of the larger, heavy gas tanks.

'Sure,' Ashleigh swallowed a mouthful of water. This time it stayed down, just.

She reached down, and grabbed at one of the canisters, using the taps at the top for leverage. Swinging around, she almost threw it into the back of the 4x4.

'Careful! We need all of them,' Jasmin cautioned.

'What exactly are we using this for?' Ashleigh asked.

'Oh, just a little diving trip. I'll explain more when we get there.'

Finally the equipment was loaded. Ashleigh stared at the motley assortment of compressed air tanks, fins, wetsuits and masks and felt the gorge rise in her once more.

She was not looking forward to this. This hadn't been in her gameplan at all.


The 4x4 bounced through the rough terrain. Ashleigh grabbed at the handle above her head and held on for dear life as Jasmin expertly avoided the large tree that had suddenly appeared in front of them.

'When James and Natalya came this way, they used a light aircraft,' Jasmin shouted above the noise of the engine and the sound of the tyres ripping away at the terrain. 'Unfortunately, Janus pre-empted this and blew them out of the sky. James managed to negotiate the plane to safety and they landed somewhere in this bloody rainforest.'

Ashleigh nodded, wondering if she was going to be sick again. She had noticeably flinched at the use of Alec's alter ego's name, but had discovered that as long as Jasmin referred to him as Janus, Ashleigh was able to cope with the idea of it. 'Natalya?' she asked.

'Natalya Simonova,' Jasmin replied, never taking her eyes off the road. 'Russian computer expert. Managed to mess around with the systems enough to completely muck everything up. Also came to James's rescue just in time with a handy helicopter.'

Ashleigh nodded, recalling the pictures she had seen of the attractive red head. 'What happened to her?'

Jasmin shrugged. 'Still works with computers, I think. Based in the US, makes a healthy living selling Russian secrets to the Americans. Keeps a low profile. Understandable really.'

'Absolutely.'

Ashleigh watched Jasmin's face curiously, wondering if she would see any reaction to any mention of an ex of James's but to her credit, Jasmin's features remained expressively neutral. Natalya Simonova. Another woman James had claimed to have loved. Perhaps he had. Perhaps she had had a chance of holding onto the handsome spy, she had certainly intrigued him. Extremely intelligent, with model looks and an innate sense of survival, she had caught James's interest from the moment she had climbed from the wreck of the satellite dish and her escape had been transmitted all the way to London. When she had been taken by Ouromov, James had followed, half knowing that she would be the key to Janus's downfall. He had been in a standoff with Ouromov, Janus, and the vicious Xenia Onnatop, that had resulted in Janus and Xenia's escape, Ouromov's death, and very nearly James's and Natalya's thanks to an explosive ridden train carriage. Their survival had thrown them together - and the new lovers had travelled to Cuba.

Had Alec felt anything for the redhead? Ashleigh bit her lip. James had told her that Alec had taunted him, claiming to have tasted her before James had. The old rivalries coming out once more. She had asked Alec, and he had shrugged the suggestion off, the computer programmer had been an easy target with which to torment James, so he had used her.

Ashleigh had decided not to push any further. In the same way she had never asked Alec about his relationship with Xenia. She suspected that their partnership had been purely professional and that Xenia's sadistic tendencies had revolted Alec in some way. Xenia had been a member of staff, a trained killer, a weapon to use against their enemies.

At least Ashleigh hoped so.

The terrain they were travelling across was getting rougher with every moment. Ashleigh swallowed down her nausea and focused instead on her surroundings. They were in a very remote area now, more trees than gaps, and Jasmin had been forced to reduce her speed so they could find some sort of safe trail through.

'Nearly there,' Jasmin muttered through gritted teeth as she fought with the gear stick.

'So what exactly is it we're doing?'

'Janus used a lake as a cover for the satellite dish. It would empty as needed and the dish would rise. Absolutely perfect. After the aerial was destroyed, the remains fell into the dish…'

Jasmin paused. This was sensitive territory, Alec Trevelyan had fallen to his so called second death from the aerial, and had only just been able to move to his broken body in time before he had been crushed.

'Go on,' Ashleigh whispered.

'The lake was refilled on the Americans' orders. Easier than cleaning up the mess, I suppose. The aerial is still there. It's a mangled mess, but its there. James asked me to show it to you.'

'Is this some sort of sick joke?' Ashleigh couldn't believe what she was hearing.

'No,' Jasmin was taken aback. 'No, of course not. Look, I think you should see this. See what exactly Alec was capable of.'

'I know what he was capable of.'

'Its up to you. If you don't want to see the aerial, fine. The ruins of the buildings are still there. But James asked me to explore the aerial.'

'Why?'

'Its part of my research, alright?' Jasmin snapped.

'Now I know you're kidding me,' Ashleigh sighed.

'Look, I know that you're not comfortable with this, but it is my work. I'm not going to pass an opportunity to witness first hand something I have been researching for years.'

Ashleigh stayed silent. There was more on her mind than just the idea of seeing the places of Alec's downfall.

'I'm going to do this whether you're beside me or not, Ashleigh. '

'I thought we'd be diving in the sea,' Ashleigh protested feebly. The sickness was rising in her once more and she could feel sweat beginning to prickle along the line of her spine.

'Why would we be diving in the sea?' Jasmin asked distractedly, as she edged the nose of the vehicle over the top of a slope.

'I don't know,' Ashleigh murmured, then gripped the handle tighter as the car swept down the slope. 'I really don't know.'

The lake was huge. Ashleigh clambered from the car, unable to take in what she was seeing. The water was a deep dark blue and spread in each direction as far as the eye could see.

'There's a satellite dish under that?' she asked incredulously.

Jasmin laughed. 'Impressive, isn't it?' She opened the boot of the vehicle and began to pull the equipment from the back. She threw a black wetsuit at Ashleigh. 'I'm sorry to have misled you. You don't have to do this if you don't want to.'

Ashleigh shrugged, in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. 'We're here now.'

'Good for you,' Jasmin nodded. She took her own wetsuit out of the back, and pulled her vest over her head.

Ashleigh took her lead, and shrugged her vest off. Underneath, like Jasmin, she wore a simple black bikini. The wetsuit fitted snugly over her body, showing off her athletic curves.

There was something comforting and familiar about the safety checks of the equipment. Ashleigh had learnt to dive in her first year at MI6 and had loved it. There was something so fascinating about being submerged underwater in an alien world.

All that had changed on a December day in the middle of the ocean.

Lucinda Eliot had been determined to kill her. Trapped in the bowels of the aircraft carrier with a gun digging into the base of her spine, Ashleigh had been convinced that she was experiencing the final minutes of her life.

The explosion had shocked both of them, and they had turned to see the torrent of raging water surging down the narrow corridor towards them. It had hit them both hard, sweeping them away, until finally the surge had subsided, dumping them both against the metal corridor wall. The ship had been listing heavily, they had been almost thigh deep in water. They had struggled with each other, first fighting for the gun, and then the small silver knife that Lucinda had been carrying. They had been struggling, first one held under the water, then the other, and all the time the same thoughts had been running through Ashleigh's head. How long did it take for someone to drown? Would this be the place she would die? And the final, most harrowing thought of all; would Alec even care about her fate?

The water had been icy cold, surrounding her, pressing down hard on her. She had been able to taste salt, from the sea, and from the blood that had swirled around her. Her blood.

She had thought she was going to die.

She had known that she was going to die.

Unless she had killed first.

They had struggled for dominance. The knife had been coming towards Ashleigh, on a deathly path, until finally, Ashleigh had gripped Lucinda's hand and thrust it upwards.

It had penetrated Lucinda's throat. She had died moments later.

Ashleigh hadn't had time to think about things. She had had to save the world.

She had found James, and they knew their only escape was to abandon the rapidly sinking aircraft carrier. James had told her to jump, and she had, and yet again she had been assaulted by the stabbing iciness of the ocean. Instincts had told her to fight her way to the surface, but it had been a struggle. When James had pulled her into the inflatable craft, she had come close to breaking down, and that loss of control would forever taste of salt, and feel freezing cold.

She hadn't been underwater since. Even living next to the sea, she had always refused to go in further than her knees. She would sit on the beach and watch Alec and Natasha splash around, and shake her head when they asked her to join them.

She was scared. The sea's power scared her. She had felt its pull on her legs as she had tried to swim away from the sinking ship, a sea that wanted to take her with it. She had felt the burning in her lungs as she had tried desperately to hold what little oxygen she had in there. It had a hold over her now. She could just about manage to swim in the pool at home, but the sea? Never.

And now she was faced with a lake.

She stepped towards the water's edge, and glanced down at the dark coloured water. It would be deep, she knew that, but she had dived in deep water before. She needed to keep her head and just relax. If she hyperventilated, she would be in trouble.

She reached for her weight belt and strapped it around her waist, the three weights heavy against her hips. The tanks were already snugly fitted into the BCD jacket, and she saw Jasmin step forward to help. She turned her back, and slid her arms into the jacket, the tank already a dead weight on her back. She fumbled with the straps, then braced herself against the tank. It took a few moments to get accustomed to its solid mass, but when she had, she reached for Jasmin's and helped her strap in. She reached for her fins and mask, spitting into the mask with fierce determination - she wanted perfect visibility if she had to submit herself to this ordeal.

'Are you ready?' Jasmin asked and Ashleigh saw her holding her own mask and fins.

Ashleigh swallowed hard. She gripped her fins harder. 'Yes,' she whispered.

The water was like ice around her ankles. She tried to ignore the feeling of the water lapping at her legs, as if it was tasting her. She shuddered, and took another step forward.

She reached down and strapped her fins on, her balance slightly off as the water buffeted her. She rinsed her mask and tugged it on, leaving it resting on her forehead. She refused to put it on until she had to. She stepped out into deeper water, the inflated BCD making walking difficult. She almost wished they had a boat they could have taken, all it would take was one leap of faith backwards into the water and she would be submerged, this slow entry was a thousand times worse. Jasmin was matching her pace for pace, and she saw the other woman check her regulators one last time. Ashleigh heard the hiss of air from the main reg as Jasmin checked the mix was coming freely. Jasmin nodded, and reached for her mask, pulling it over her eyes, distorting her pretty features. She forced the reg into her mouth and breathed a few times, checking it was working.

It was time to do the same. Ashleigh rinsed her mask out one last time and then tugged it on, feeling the pressure on her nose and cheekbones as the suction took. Her world was now limited to a small area framed by the heavy plastic of the mask. She found her main regulator and slid the plastic into the mouth. She breathed once, twice and tasted the bitter air as it flowed through the pipes. She groped for the tube that would control the inflation of her jacket and then turning to Jasmin, pointed downwards into the water. Jasmin curled her thumb and forefinger together to form an 'o', the universal symbol for 'okay' and slipped slowly under the surface.

Taking a deep a breath as she could manage through the reg, Ashleigh pressed the valve on the end of the inflation tube and felt the jacket deflate around her. The weight of the tank and the weights around her waist slowly dragged her downwards into the depths.

She wanted to scream.


So far the dive had been surprisingly easy. Ashleigh had coped well so far, focusing on the rhythmic kick of her fins, and the steadiness of her own breathing. They were moving towards the centre of the lake, slowing getting deeper as they moved forwards.

Jasmin was a confident diver, Ashleigh noted, admiring the fluid movement of the other woman through the cold water. Jasmin would turn every so often and Ashleigh would immediately 'ok' her. She was okay. She was coping.

The water was murkier than she thought it would be, a deep dark green, and she would almost panic sometimes as Jasmin would pull ahead out of sight. A few kicks usually caught her up, but Ashleigh wished the other woman would slow down.

Ashleigh blinked. She had lost Jasmin again. Through the murkiness, she thought she could make out the flash of a fin, so she propelled herself forward, heading for that movement.

The flash of silver that shot past her didn't register at first. Ashleigh slowed, and glanced around her left and right. Behind her she thought she saw something.

Jasmin.

She had to get to Jasmin. She threw her arms out, dragging herself through the water, kicking as hard as she could. She could see Jasmin up ahead and struggled to reach her.

Jasmin turned, and Ashleigh lifted her hand into the stop signal. They treaded water, looking at each other. Ashleigh could see Jasmin's confusion, and she raised her hand once more, palm face down, and rotated her wrist, a basic distress signal. Jasmin saw the signal and glanced around, then replied with a 'stay together' signal. Ashleigh followed closely.

All hell broke loose.

Ashleigh felt arms encircling her clumsily, halting her forward moving, and preventing her from swimming. She struggled to see what was happening to Jasmin.

There were four or five of them in black wetsuits and armed, heavily armed with what looked like harpoon guns. That explained the silver flash she had seen.

Jasmin was trying to fight them off, but three headed for her at once. She fought, but they were dragging her away, further into the murkiness. Ashleigh lashed backwards with her elbows, hoping to jab them in to the sensitive ribs of the diver holding her, but still he held on.

Ashleigh began to panic.

The mix in her tanks wasn't coming through quickly enough, she breathed faster, trying to suck it harder into her lungs, her rational mind telling her not to, that she was beginning to hyperventilate, that she needed to slow her breathing down, that she needed to think and work out a plan of action, but fear was winning Ashleigh over rapidly, and she fought now not only to get away from the man but to get to the surface. Whoever was holding her was strong, he pinned her easily, grappling with the straps of her BDC so that the tanks were no longer stable on her back, rolling her around as her centre of balance went. The tanks slipped around to her side, taking her with them, and she saw him them, dressed all in black, his mask revealing nothing but a reflection of her own terrified face. She fumbled for the straps herself, hoping to tighten them, hoping to regain her equilibrium, but his hand darted out and grabbed at her mask, pulling it viciously from her face, water swamping in, cold against her face, swamping her nose and eyes. Instinctively she shut her eyes, knowing it to be a mistake, but unable to help herself.

Taking a deep, rubbery breath, she forced her eyes open, and saw him coming at her once more. Her hands found her weight belt, and she managed to rip it off, trying to swing it at him. Although the movement was halted by the water, it was enough of a threat for the masked diver to back off.

It was time to move, and Ashleigh knew it, kicking out she swam forward frantically, desperate to get away, desperate to find Jasmin. She couldn't see very well in the dark water but she forced herself forwards all the same.

Jasmin was still struggling up ahead, she was not much more than a shadow, but Ashleigh could just make her out. Jasmin saw her, and tried to break free, to head back to her companion, but the three divers were stronger.

Another flash of silver shot past Ashleigh, and this time she saw the lethal point of the harpoon. It flew threw the water, losing its brightness as it went, heading straight for the struggling four, and then, it hit.

The figure in the middle stopped struggling.

Jasmin seemed to slump forwards, her dark hair streaming over her face, her movements stilling. As her body slipped downwards, the three divers hoisted her up, supporting her.

Jasmin was dead.

A scream rose within Ashleigh.

The blow to her head was sudden, a hand was clawing at her mouth, trying to drag away her regulator. It was wrenched suddenly, and painfully from her, and Ashleigh tasted blood in her mouth.

She couldn't breath. She instinctively clamped her mouth shut, and tried to find her secondary regulator, knowing that if she got it, there might be a chance.

And then she stopped.

The mysterious diver hadn't forgotten her. As Ashleigh turned towards him, he raised the now reloaded harpoon gun.

It was levelled directly with her stomach.

Ashleigh stared death in the face.