Hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion as to what's going on.
Bond and M arrived at the Pub a few minutes later where he quickly found a table near the back that was somewhat secluded. As they waited for their drinks Bond remained quiet, just staring at M as if she would disappear if he blinked.
"Bond...What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"No particular reason, it's just that you invited me here, so I assumed you would actually participate in some form of conversation rather than just look at me" she said sounding a bit uneasy
"Sorry...It's just that I'm not used to seeing you outside the office." he said softly
"I see" she replied, not really convinced that was the problem
"Look...I now you said we couldn't discuss work here, but I have a question" he started
"Bond..."
"I know, but I was just wondering, You sent me out to bring back the guy, who shall remain nameless, but you never really told me why he was so important. I was just wondering why is all" he finished as their drinks arrived
"Look...All I can tell you is that he was a threat that needed to be neutralized, end of story" she replied
"It just seems like he is a rather small fish to have attracted the attention of MI6, I mean he's just a small illegal arms dealer, we come across hundreds of them every day. What makes him so special?"
"It's not what he does" she said taking a drink "It's what he knows that were interested in. Really Bond, You would know this if you had actually bothered to read the entire report I gave you before you left" she said sounding a bit annoyed
"Sorry...but you know me. I tend to skip right to the important bits and skip the boring details" he said with a laugh
"Well skipping the boring bits just may get you killed one of these days" she replied as she finished her drink
The rest of the conversation was nothing more than idle chit chat about the most benign topics. Bond found that he rather enjoyed listening to her describe in great detail how she apparently had a black thumb when it came to gardening, and how the current weather made it nearly impossible to enjoy any outside activities. As the conversation went on it became more than evident that she was not about to discuss anything work related, at least not at their current location.
"Well Bond, as riveting as this conversation is, It's getting late" said M as she began to collect her things
"Would you like me to see you home?" he said as he reached across the table to gently grasp her hand
"No...That won't be necessary" she said rather uneasily
"Right then" he said sounding a bit disappointed as he stood up to help her with her coat.
The two made their way outside to wait for her car, and as she was about to leave, Bond caught her arm and pulled her back and put his arm around her as he lightly placed a kiss on her cheek.
"See you in the morning" he said
"Good night Bond" she said as she pulled back looking a bit startled by his action "And thank you for the drink"
Once in the safety of her car, M immediately pulled out her phone to call Tanner.
"Tanner...Meet me in my office in ten minutes" she said flatly
When she arrived Tanner was waiting for her, and the sudden sigh of relief when he saw her did not go unnoticed.
"What was that for?" she snapped as she brushed past him on her way into her office
"M...Do you have any idea how risky that was?" he said as he followed her
"Tanner..Credit me with a bit of common sense, It's not as if I invited him to my flat. We were in a very public place with agents no more than ten feet away the entire time" she said rolling her eyes
"I know, but as head of MI6 you should not be taking such an epically stupid risk" he retorted
"You're concern is duly noted, but just so you know, this epically stupid risk as proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that this man, whoever he is , is not 007!" she said angrily
"You're absolutely sure?" replied Tanner
"I'm sure. 007 would never, under any circumstance, question the relevance of a mission, and he always reads the entire dossier from front to back, he even points out the occasional odd grammatical error, so the answer to your question again is yes I'm positive it's not him" she said sharply "Where are we with Mr. Rene`?" she asked
"We've done as you asked and been able to establish his ties back to Philip Le Brek. If you recall, Philip Le Brek was under suspicion for trying to establish a rather large terrorist ring that would make Al Qaeda look like a boy scout troop"
"So what do you suppose they're up to? I mean what do they want?" she asked bluntly
"We believe that they want access to our current mission records in order to network with our top terror suspects. The current line of thinking is that if they know who we are actively perusing, they may be able to get to them first."
"I see" she said as she pondered the idea for a moment "So taking James was just a way in "
"In a manner of speaking" replied Tanner "Although this is purely a theory"
"I want you to continue with this current theory, and I want all available resources to concentrate of finding James, Is that clear?"
"Yes M..What do you intend to do with the "Other" Bond?"
"String him along of course. Let's face it, He doesn't appear to be the brightest so it shouldn't be all that difficult"
"Just be careful M. He may not be all that bright, but he is tied to a known terrorist organization so there's no telling what he is capable of at this point" he said, knowing full well that it really didn't matter how strongly he cautioned her, she was going ahead with her plan regardless of his concerns.
Back at the warehouse, the Voice waited for a report from Bond on how the evening went with M.
"I keep telling you she isn't going to fall for this" said James with a smirk as he continued to try to break free of the ties that held him to the chair
"We'll see" said the voice "She agreed to have drinks with him, so maybe she isn't as smart as you think"
"What the hell game is she playing?" thought James angrily "Surly she could tell it wasn't him!"
"What's the matter 007? you look surprised"
"Nope, not at all." said James confidently.
As James continued to struggle with the ties, one of his captor's associates entered relaying the message that "Bond" was on the phone with a report.
"So sorry to cut our chat short, but I simply must go find out how "you're" date went" said the voice with a wicked laugh as he left the room.
James sat in the chair mentally sizing up the situation. He had limited options at this point and failure wasn't one of them. M, as smart as she is, was treading on dangerously thin ice, weather she wanted to admit it or not and her only hope of surviving was if he could get to her in time. He knew that once he managed to break free he had at least three idiots to deal with, then there was the matter of where the hell was he.
As the door opened, he could tell that the mystery voice was less than pleased with the situation. He only heard the end of the conversation with his other self to know that things did not go as well as expected.
"WELL TRY HARDER!" snapped the voice as he ended the call
It was all James could do not to laugh.
"Trouble in paradise?" he said with a grin, which was immediately followed by a hard back hand across his face. The blow was hard enough to topple the chair upon which he was sitting. Although the blow hurt like hell it was actually a good thing as when he fell he felt the ties give way just enough for him to be able to free his left hand.
"She's a tough nut to crack, but don't worry we have ways" he snapped
As the chair was returned to its upright position, James made sure not to draw attention to the fact that he was no longer as attached to the chair as they assumed. He needed time to formulate a plan that would allow him to escape, and any attempt at this point would be just plain stupid, so he sat and waited for them to leave. Once they had gone he freed himself from the remaining ties. He knew it would only be a matter of time before they returned, but this time he had the element of surprise on his side, So armed with a chair he waited patiently, and prayed that M wouldn't do anything too foolish.
TO BE CONTINUED...