Sorry, this took a little longer than I planned. :)
Bond pondered the latest change to his mission. "How the hell am I supposed to wine and dine the boss?" he thought to himself. "If she's half as smart as they say, she'll see right through this" He had to admit she was attractive, on that there was no argument, but would she really agree to seeing him outside the office? surly there were rules that prohibited such behavior. He eventually found himself standing outside headquarters and decided there was no time like the present to put this newest plan into action so he made his way back up to her office.
Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse on the outside of town sat James, bound to a rather uncomfortable wooden chair with a gun pointed at his head, and a light shining directly into his eyes.
"She's never going to fall for this" he said with a slight amount of humor in his voice
"We'll see 007. As far as she knows she's dealing with YOU and you have a lot of explaining to do at the moment, and if she is half as concerned about your behavior as we believe her to be she will go along with this if for no other reason than to find out what happened to you on your mission" said the voice behind the light
"You people really haven't done your homework very well have you? She's the head of MI6and she didn't get there by sleeping her way to the top, she's good at what she does. She doesn't get involved with her agents on a personal level EVER and if you think for one second that she won't see through this, you're even more stupid than I originally thought"
"We don't need her to completely believe it. We just need her to believe it enough to see where the clues might lead. That will be her downfall because by the time she figures it out, it will be too late."
"Too late for what?" he said trying to conceal the concern in his voice
"What's the matter 007? " said the voice "If I didn't know better I would say that your feelings for her go far deeper that of just colleagues"
"She is my boss and I am her agent, end of story." he said defiantly as he looked away from the light.
"That may be what you say, but your eyes tell an entirely different story."
As Bond entered the outer office Eve was just packing up for the day.
"James...What are you doing here? I wasn't aware that she was expecting you" she said looking a bit puzzled
"Well she wasn't, but I thought I would take a chance that she might still be here. I would like to talk to her if that's possible" he said with a weak smile
"Just give me a minute...I'll see if she's available" replied Eve as she lightly knocked and entered the office closing the door behind her.
M was on the phone with Tanner who was down in Q branch sifting thru the paperwork from Bond's latest mission.
"Well...Anything Yet" asked M impatiently
"Sorry Ma'am but aside from the missing 36 hours there is nothing out of the ordinary except..."
"Except what?" she inquired eagerly
"Well at the beginning of the mission, when we were receiving regular transmissions, it was a usual Bond mission with the normal amount of expenses and destruction of property, but after the missing time gap there isn't one explosion, not one car chase not so much as a speeding ticket. It's as if he just walked out hand in hand with Rene`. No mention of how he captured him... nothing" he replied sounding completely confused
"I see...well keep digging. There has to be something" she said sounding just as puzzled as Tanner
"Ma'am" said Eve when she was finally able to get her attention "Bond is outside. He wants to talk to you" she said hesitantly
" Keep me informed" she said as she hung up the phone
"Any luck?" asked Eve trying not to pry
"Not as of yet." replied M "You said Bond is outside? Did he say what he wanted?"
"No...Only that he wanted to speak to you"
"How does he seem to you?" asked M, the concern evident in her voice
"Well...to be quite honest not back to normal, but a lot closer than he was this morning" she replied with a small hint of relief
"Alright then show him in" said M calmly
"Ma'am...I was just about to leave, but if you would like me to stay..."
"No. Thank you Eve. That won't be necessary"
"Are you sure? I mean it's really no trouble" replied Eve with a worried expression
"I'm sure...But just in case, would you mind making sure that my body guard is on stand-by" replied M with a nervous laugh
"Yes of course" said Eve as she turned to leave
"And Eve...would you mind stopping by Q branch and informing Tanner that Bond is here"
"Yes M" she said as she left the office
"She's waiting for you" said Eve to Bond as she grabbed her hand bag and headed for the lift.
Bond paused for a moment, as if he was collecting his thoughts before he entered the office.
"007...I'm surprised to see you this evening. Eve said you wanted to speak to me" she said in her usual no-nonsense tone
"Yes...I did. I wanted to apologize for earlier. I realized that I may have been a bit abrupt when we last spoke and I thought the least I could do was come back, with my tail between my legs and apologize" he said, doing his best to try to be convincing
"Well, I have to say I was a bit surprised when you turned up this morning with your completed report, I mean I usually have to nag you to the point of threatening you with suspension to get you to turn in your paperwork" she said with an uneasy laugh
"I decided to see how things went if I actually tried to follow procedures, you know...see if it made my life any easier, but..."
"And how has it worked out for you?"
"To be honest, it only made things more complicated. From now on I'll wait for the for the nagging and save us all the trouble" he replied with a laugh
"Baby steps Bond, Baby steps" she said with a smile
Whether it was her laugh, her smile or the twinkle in her eye he didn't know which, Bond began to feel more at ease with her. "This may not be so difficult after all" he thought as he crossed the room and sat in the chair opposite her.
"So if I may be so bold as to ask...Did you have a chance to read the report?"he asked, carefully watching her as he asked for any trace of suspicion
"As a matter of fact, I did" she replied
"And?"
"Well to be honest, I've read more interesting technical manuals. Basically it says you came, you saw, you conquered, but you've left out practically every detail of just how you managed to accomplished the mission" she said
"Yeah...Sorry about that. It wasn't that interesting of a mission and there weren't really any notable details worth mentioning"
"Well notable or not, I would appreciate it greatly if you could elaborate just a bit more for the record" she said narrowing her eyes
"Yes Ma'am. Say...I was just wondering if you had any plans this evening?"
"None immediately spring to mind, Why?" she asked curiously
"Well, I just thought if you weren't busy you might like to go for a drink or maybe dinner. It would give me a chance to "Elaborate" more on the mission" he said hesitantly
"007...You know as well as I that discussing missions out in the general public is out of the question, however I don't see a problem with having a dinner with an associate as posing too much of a threat to National Security." she replied much to his surprise
"Great!" he said somewhat enthusiastically "Where would you like to go?" he asked
"Why don't we go down to the Pub around the corner" she said as she began to straighten up her desk
"Fine" he said as he stood and waited for her
"Tell you what...Why don't you go down stairs and I'll join you in a minute. I have a few things to finish up. It won't take more than a minute" she said with a smile
"I could wait for you"
"Believe it or not Bond, there are still things that I do that agents just don't have security clearance for so I think it's best if I meet you downstairs" she said rather insistently
"Ok...See you in a few" he said as he walked out the door
M waited at her door until she saw him enter the lift and the doors close before she went back into her office and picked up the phone to call Tanner.
"I've just agreed to go for drinks with Bond...We will be going to the Pub just around the corner...I want a full detail on surveillance...Yes I know what I'm doing, Why the hell do you think I'm requesting a team on stand-by, Do you think I'm a complete idiot? I will be in contact with you later"
With that M hung up the phone and grabbed her handbag and headed down to meet Bond in the lobby. When she got off the lift she found Bond exactly where he said he would be, looking extremely nervous.
"Something wrong?" she said as she came to stand beside him
"No...I just never imagined that you would actually say yes" he said with a grin
As she stood beside him she could tell that something was different, He didn't seem as tall and his eyes, though they were blue, just didn't seem to be as brilliant blue as usual.
"Relax Bond, I don't bite...besides it's not as if we've never done this before" she quipped as she headed toward the door "Are you coming?"
"Yes" he said catching up to her and holding the door "After you"
TO BE CONTINUED...