Ok...I know it's another cliffhanger, but not as bas as last time. I just thought you could use a moment to catch your breath :)
The drop point was in total chaos as the smoke began to clear and it became more than evident that there was more than one agent down. Agent Thomas had taken a direct hit and lay motionless on the pavement as the rest of the team pursued the remainder of Mirrinov's men. James had managed to slip behind a wheelie bin and was feverishly working to free his hands so that he could find one of the American agents to get the location of the Safe house.
A few hours earlier, James had been strapped in a chair patiently waiting for Mirrinov to retrieve him and take him to the drop point for the exchange, but when the time came, the man who entered the room was not Anton Mirrinov.
"Mr. Bond I presume?" said the man dryly
"Who are you?...You're not Mirrinov" snapped James
"As a matter of fact I am. I am Sergei Mirrinov, Anton's brother"
"But what happened to Anton?...I thought he was going to take me..."
"Well you thought wrong. Anton is no fool. He knows that she won't be there, but he knows where she is and by the time this is over there won't be a thing you can do about it" he said in a most irritating tone
"What the hell do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean?" He isn't stupid enough to think that MI6 let alone the American Government would ever give her up so easily no matter what information he has"
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because he wants you to suffer. He wants you to think about her, and what he may or may not do to her" replied Sergei with a sadistic laugh
"But why?...Why is he doing this to her?"
"Because she is the one who lived. Of all the agents he captured, tortured and killed, he chose to let her live, and I told him then it would be his downfall, but he wouldn't listen. There was something about her that made her special to him. Maybe it was her beauty, maybe it was her smile or maybe it was her defiant spirit who knows, but he let her live, in fact he made sure she lived. But now, her rejection of him has set him on a path of self destruction..."
"And he intends to take her with him I suppose" snapped James as he struggled against his restraints
"No...He intends to do what he should have done all those years ago"
James sat there silently as he let Sergei's words sink in. It's Silva all over again he thought only this time he isn't there to protect her. Now hours later James is struggling to free himself and praying he isn't too late. Once he finally freed himself he ran to Agent Thomas, she was alive, albeit a bit stunned by the impact of the bullets. Luckily she had been wearing a trench coat made entirely of bullet proof material so the bullets merely bounced off but the force sent her to the ground all the same.
"Are you all right?" asked James frantically
"Yes...yes I'm alright Mr. Bond.."
"Where is the Safe house?" he shouted
"What?..."
"The Safe house...Where is it"
"It's near the city centre I think..."
"You think or you know?"
"I'm...I'm not sure...they didn't tell me in case Mirrinov actually took me so I couldn't give it away" she said apologetically
"WELL WHO THE HELL KNOWS?" he snapped
"Rogers...Over there" she said pointing to one of the other agents
James immediately got up and ran toward Agent Rogers screaming hysterically as he ran. Once he reached Agent Rogers and told him what he wanted, the two of them found a motorbike and sped off in the direction of the Safe house.
Meanwhile, Jack sped toward the Safe house, ignoring nearly every stop sign and signal, careening around corners and at times driving on the sidewalk.
"Hold on M...I'm coming" he kept saying as he sped down the narrow streets
M had her own problems as she was now being firmly held in place by Anton as he smiled sadistically at her.
"LET ME GO" she hissed as she struggled against him
"And just why would I want to do that" he said as he pulled her closer "I've waited a long time to hold you in my arms again"
M continued to struggle, but he was too strong and the height difference made it nearly impossible for her to gain any leverage against him. She kept nervously glancing at the door hoping and praying that Agent Booth or Conner or even by some miracle James would appear.
"Waiting for someone?" he asked as he leaned down and began to roughly kiss her neck
"LET GO" she said through clenched teeth as she angrily pushed him away
"He won't come" said Anton as he shook her hard and stared into her amazing blue eyes "My men had orders to shoot him as soon as they started the exchange. He's dead" said Anton with a note of pleasure in his voice
"NO...NO HE CAN'T BE" she said as tears threatened to spill from her eyes
"You heard it yourself. Agent Down...who did you think they were talking about?" he asked with a wicked smile
"But why?" she asked in a tone barely above a whisper
"Because if I can't have you than no one will" he snapped as he shoved hard her toward the table
M turned slightly as she fell and put her hands out in front of her to catch herself as she landed hard against the table. As she did she spotted the gun Jack had given her on the floor. With one quick move she flung herself on the floor and crawled under the table and headed toward the gun. Anton, seeing what she was doing reached down and grabbed her ankle in an attempt to pull her back. She kicked and wiggled as she reached for the gun, but it was still too far away for her to grab so she rolled onto her back and kicked Anton in the face with her free foot causing him to let go just long enough for her to scoot close enough to grab the gun. As she turned around, Anton was crawling under the table after her and in one fluid motion she aimed the gun with one hand and pulled the trigger with the bullet striking Anton directly in the forehead. He made the most unforgettable gurgling sound just before his body landed on top of her legs. M sat there stunned for a moment as she stared at the lifeless body now laying on top of her. She gently eased her legs, which were now covered in blood along with the rest of the front of her, out from under Anton's and crawled as far away as the walls of the small kitchen would allow and proceeded to curl up in a fetal position with the gun on the floor beside her.
Jack's car screeched to a halt outside the safe house and he raced up the stairs with his gun in hand, but when he burst through the door he was horrified by what he saw. He quickly put his gun in the back of his waistband and stepped over the Anton's body throwing the table aside as he rushed to the motionless bloodied body of M lying in the corner. He gently shoved her gun aside and gently lifted her up and cradled her in his arms as he began rocking back and forth.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here to protect you" he said tearfully as he lightly kissed her forehead
"I should have been here!" he said angrily to himself
M's eyes fluttered slightly as she made a soft, moaning sound
"M...?"
"Jack...?" she said weakly as tears began to stream from her eyes
Jack reached down and tenderly began wiping away her tears as he held her closer
"It's alright...It's all over...He can't hurt you anymore" he said quietly as he kissed her temple
"James..."she managed to say "Where is James?"
All Jack could do was stare blankly at her with tears in his eyes because he truthfully didn't know the fate of his friend. M, seeing the pain on his face, reached up and placed her trembling hand on his cheek and pulled him closer so that his forehead was resting against hers as she closed her eyes and buried her head in his shoulder and began to cry. Jack held her close and continued to rock her until a noise caught his attention. As he looked up he saw Agent Rogers and James standing in the doorway. James stumbled toward them and fell to his knees, unable to speak and unable to take his eyes of M who was covered in blood. He reached out with a rather shaky hand and gently touched the top of her head as his eyes filled with tears.
"Hey" said Jack softly to M "There's someone here who I think would very much like to see you"
M opened her eyes a bit and slightly turned her head to see a nearly heartbroken James staring back at her.
TO BE CONTINUED...