For Rebaforever15, Prosper the XVII and Lilly0206, Thanks for hanging with me on this one. It's been hard as I've been under the weather but hopefully I can get the updates done sooner now that I'm doing much better :)
They sat at the dinner table and listened as Anton Mirrinov touted his many escapades as one of the former KGB's top agents. They heard how inept he thought MI6 was back in the day and how he thwarted many of their missions. He was very proud of the fact that he never tolerated failure and how his agents had almost a kamikaze mentality of succeed or die trying. As the evening was finally beginning to wind down he turned his attention to M.
"You've done very well for yourself M" he said as he refilled the wine glasses
"Thank you" she said coolly
"As I said before, the years have been kind to you. You are as beautiful as you were all those years ago..."
"If she is so beautiful then why did you have her shot 13 times and beaten?" asked James who by now was clearly irritated and quite frankly tired of listening to this pampas ass.
"This is no business for smart, beautiful women. M is far to intelligent to be out in the field on such dangerous missions. She should have been doing what she was born to do which was lead." replied Anton "But she was far too stubborn for her own good."
"Anton...I can see that you are enjoying this waltz down memory lane, however, I do not share the same sentiment so let's come straight to the point shall we. What exactly is it that you want?" asked M as she narrowed her eyes and glared at him
"I wanted to ask your forgiveness" he replied
"Forgiveness?...You had me shot! You had me tortured and beaten! It will be a cold day in hell before I forgive you" she snapped
"Yes it is true that I had you shot, but none of the wounds were fatal, I made sure of that..."
"You shattered my arms!..."
"Flesh wounds mostly and if you recall I had them tended to so you wouldn't bleed to death" he retorted
"You only did that to keep me alive so you could continue..."
"If you would have just flipped, as I assumed you would, then the rest would never have happened"
"So this was all my fault?...The beatings and the torture and the other?"
"A regrettable hazard of the job"
"That's what you call it? A regrettable hazard?" said James angrily "I think I've heard just about enough. I don't care what information you have, We're not interested in a deal with you today, tomorrow or ever" said James with a note of finality in his voice
"You're devotion to her is admirable, somewhat reminiscent of someone else if I recall correctly" replied Anton with a smirk
"And just what is that suppose to mean?" asked James through clenched teeth
"She didn't tell you?"
"That's enough Anton" said M angrily
"Tell me what?"
"You are not the first to go headlong into battle for her honor and undoubtedly you will not be the last" he replied with a wicked laugh "M has just one fault and that is that she tends to get too close to her agents and she sometimes has trouble distinguishing the difference between professional and personal relationships."
"I presume you are referring to Agent Maxwell, her partner, that you murdered"
"Her partner?...Is that what she told you?...My dear man, they were more than just partners, which is what made killing him all the more difficult. I assumed, incorrectly I might add, that she would do anything to save him, but sadly I was mistaken"
"That's enough Anton" said M with a crack in her voice "I've heard enough"
"Yes...You are right...enough about the past. I will meet with you tomorrow to discuss the information I have.."
"No. I don't think that will be necessary. I do not believe that there is anything you could possibly know that is of any interest to MI6" said M flatly
"Oh you will meet with me...that is if you would like to know the name of the mole that has infiltrated MI6 and would like access to the information that he or she has been passing to certain terrorist organizations around the world"
M just sat there, stunned by the information. She had been aware of a few security leaks in recent months but none of the information that had been leaked had been of any real relevance. She swallowed hard before she calmly stood up to leave.
"I will consider your request for a meeting" she said "And just what do you REALLY want in exchange for this information?"
"What I want is very simple. I am an old man, I want to be able to spend my remaining years out of sight. You people at MI are masters at making people disappear, and that is what I want...To disappear in the luxury I deserve..."
"At our expense no doubt" she snapped
"It is a small price to pay considering the magnitude of the situation" he said arrogantly
"We will consider your proposal" she said as she turned and headed toward the door with James not far behind.
After they had left, Mirrinov's two assistants reappeared from the dark recesses of the room.
"Do you think she will agree?" asked one of the men as he helped Mirrinov out of the wheel chair
"I hate that damn wheelchair, but it was a good idea to use it to make her think that I am old and feeble. I had hoped that it would soften her feelings toward me, but apparently it did not. She may need a bit more convincing" he said as he walked across the room, clearly unassisted
"I assume then that you want us to go ahead with the rest of the plan?" asked the other assistant
"Yes, but you must be very careful not to harm them. I need them both alive!"
The walk back to their room was awkward to say the least. M was having a small mental debate with herself as to whether Anton was telling the truth about the Mole, and James was lost in his own thoughts, recalling the discussion about Agent Maxwell and his relationship with M. Once inside the room James paced about uneasily, as if he wanted to ask a question but didn't quite know how to phrase it so as not to upset M anymore than she already was.
"James" she said quietly as she sat on the edge of the bed looking at her hands that were folded in her lap "I need to explain about Robert"
"By Robert you mean Agent Maxwell?"
"Yes" she said nervously "It was a long time ago, and it was a situation similar to this where we were to pose as husband and wife, but things got out of hand, and we were young and foolish and I suppose we did cross a line, but I didn't give him up..." she said with tears in her eyes "I didn't..."
"Shhhh" replied James as he sat beside her and put his arms around her, pulling her close to him rocking her gently as she began to cry in his arms "I know you didn't. You don't have it in you to be so heartless no matter what the situation. That was just Mirrinov trying to get inside your head" he said quietly as he kissed her temple.
They stayed that way for quite a while with James gently consoling M until she began to relax.
"Would you like a drink?" he asked as he wiped away the last of her tears from her cheek
"Yes" she said as she pulled away from him "A double if you don't mind"
As James went to fix the drinks, M noticed a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the table
"Where did those come from?...If they are from him I would prefer it if you threw them out the window"
"No need" said James as he read the card "They're from that American we met earlier...Another apology to the beautiful lady whose drink he spilled" he said with a slight grin
"You have to be kidding. What is with that man, I mean how many times is he going to apologize? It was only a drink for Christ sake it's not like he mortally wounded my best friend" she said slightly annoyed
As M took a sip of her drink she thought the bourbon tasted different but she couldn't quite pin down exactly what was different. After they had finished their drinks M went into the bathroom to change for bed as James fussed with the bouquet of flowers muttering to himself as he did.
"Who were you talking to?' she asked as she climbed into bed
"Myself" he said as he climbed in beside her "I'm just bloody mad that he was able to get at you so easily"
"James...we knew this could happen, in fact, I would have been surprised if he hadn't tried. It's who he is. He rules by intimidation" she said as she curled up beside him with her head resting on his chest
"You're not seriously considering meeting with him tomorrow are you?" he asked as he pulled her closer and kissed her forehead
"I don't seem to have a choice"
"And you'll give him what he wants?"
"No, what I will give him is an all expenses paid retirement courtesy of her Majesty at one of her many palatial estates. You know the high security ones with guards and electric fences where we can keep an eye on him"
"Do you really think you can pull that off?"
"The second he sets foot in England he will be arrested. He's wanted in several countries for crimes against humanity, I see no reason why we shouldn't be to ones to get first crack at him" she said through a yawn
"Let's just hope that he's stupid enough to fall for it" he whispered as he leaned down and kissed her good night
TO BE CONTINUED...