Taking advantage of my day off. Hope you enjoy, even though it is another cliffhanger :)
Jack, James and M arrived at the American Safe house a short time later and began settling in for the evening. The space was cramped due to the number of British and American agents but it was necessary to have everyone together to begin the final debriefing for the mission. The British agents had been found unharmed earlier in the day several miles away tied up in an abandoned factory and the American agents had a total of four minor injuries, which was surprising considering the chaos at both the drop point and the second Safe house. Agents Boon and Connor had managed to track down and detain both of Anton Mirrinov's guards from the Safe house while the agents at the drop point had killed two guards and detained a total of nine more including Sergei Mirrinov.
"Where are they now?" asked M in her usual business tone
"They are safely tucked away in the custody of the American Government, waiting to be processed" replied Jack
"And Mirrinov...Sergei I mean, Where is he?" asked James in a somewhat disgusted tone
"Ah...well you see..." started Jack
"Well I see what? Either you have him or you don't!"
"It's not quite that simple" said Jack as he turned to look at the now clearly agitated James
"You don't really have him do you?" said M quietly
"M...Sometimes things aren't always what they appear to be" replied Jack as he reached over and took her hand
M flinched slightly at his touch as she leaned into James, who could sense her uneasiness and instinctively put his arm around her.
"Why don't you enlighten use a bit..." said James tersely
"Suppose I let him explain it for himself" said Jack as he stood up and opened the door to the next room.
James and M were stunned when they looked up to see Sergei Mirrinov staring back at them with a slightly apprehensive smile.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE!" hissed James
""Hold your horses James. It isn't what you think" replied Jack firmly "Let him explain"
Sergei crossed the room and knelt in front of M and took her hand as he nodded to James
"GET YOUR BLOODY HANDS OFF HER" snapped James
"My apologies...I know that this must be difficult…for you especially" he said looking at M "My brother was a monster, and what he did all those years ago and what he was attempting to do now is unforgivable"
M continued to stare intently at Sergei with her usual stoic expression as he continued to caress her hand and explain.
"I've known for years that he was unbalanced, and in my younger days I was a lot like him unfortunately, I had hoped that he was past that now and at his age he would no longer be a threat to anyone, but in the past few months he had become obsessed with finding the one who lived...You. At first I thought it was just talk but these last few weeks he had become more determined. You see my brother was suffering from the early stages of dementia and he was having trouble distinguishing the past from the present..."
"You don't say" said James sarcastically as he kept his protective hold on M "What's this got to do with M?" he asked bluntly
"When it was clear that he intended to go after her, I had no other choice than to go along with his plan to ensure that he would be stopped once and for all. I had hoped that we could take him peacefully but that was clearly not the case as you well know."
"I'm afraid I still don't understand" replied M
"Sergei is part of the Russian Intelligence team. He is an advisor and their main priority is to track down and neutralize any remnants of the former KGB." replied Jack
"So you're a double agent"
"Not exactly...I've been granted immunity for my assistance in finding these people and bringing them in"
"But he was your bloody brother...you knew where he was...why didn't you just make him your first target?" asked James angrily
"Because his influence was far reaching. We needed him to find the others that were still loyal to him" he replied quietly
"If you knew he was unbalanced then why did you allow him to come after me? Why didn't you stop him?" asked M sharply as she pulled her hand back
"I was supposed to be the one who came to get you, but Anton changed his mind at the last minute and decided to do it himself"
"If that's the case then why didn't you tell me" asked James suspiciously
"There was no time, and the guards at the hotel were loyal to Anton so I couldn't take the chance of being discovered" replied Sergei
"Jack...What were you thinking? She could have been killed" shouted James as he glared at his friend
"She was never supposed to be alone with him..." replied Jack defensively
"The guards that were with him were there to neutralize him, but your guards got in the way unfortunately and they were unable to complete their task" said Sergei glancing at Jack
"Don't you think you should have given these two knob heads a heads up as to what was happening?" hissed James
M just sat in silence shaking her head in disbelief. She honestly didn't know what to believe. Jack was supposed to protect her and instead he deliberately sent her into harm's way, Sergei should have been arrested years ago and prosecuted for crimes against humanity and instead was working with the Russian government tracking down old spies and James, who apparently was the only one who actually cared about her at all, ended up being held hostage by a madman.
"I'm sorry, but am I the only one who sees a giant flaw in this plan?" asked James
"James…" started Jack before being interrupted by M
"I think I've heard enough" she said as she rose from the sofa and headed toward her room
"M?" said James as he rose and followed her down the hall
"I don't want to talk about it right now" she said as she entered her room and shut the door in his face.
James stood outside the door with a rather bewildered and yet angry look on his face. The whole point of his being on this mission was to protect her and he had failed miserably.
Jack stood in the doorway of the small hall watching James for a moment before he started toward him.
"James…I don't know what to say…When you called me asking for my help I ran it past my superiors and it was an opportunity we just couldn't pass up" said Jack quietly
"So you took advantage of our friendship…Damn it Jack…You knew how important this was to me…You knew full well that if you had told me what you intended to do I never would have agreed…"
"But you see that's just the point…"
"What is?"
"It really wasn't up to you, my superiors contacted Gareth Mallory and he is the one who authorized this joint mission…albeit after the fact"
"That slimy little bastard…just wait till I see him…I'll ring his scrawny neck"
"And as for Sergei…he over exaggerated his past a bit" said Jack
"What do you mean?"
"He was an underling during his brother's heyday, he never really did anything but drive the vehicles. He was never allowed to be involved in the really messy parts"
"So that's why the immunity" replied James nodding his head
"So how is she really?" asked Jack changing the subject as he tilted his head toward M's door
"I don't know truthfully. She tends to shut people out when she is really upset which is not to say that she won't kick your arse up one side and down the other when she's really angry. You will find that with M there is a huge difference between upset and angry."
"Tell you what…why don't you go get a drink and relax for a bit and let me have a try…Besides I have a lot of groveling and apologizing to do and I would just as soon not have an audience"
"Fair enough, but just remember, Hands to Yourself" replied James in a half sarcastic half serious tone
As James walked back down the hall, Jack stood outside the door for a few seconds, taking a few deep breaths before he finally lightly knocked on the door.
"M?' he said quietly "May I come in?" he asked
There were a few moments of silence before he eventually heard her unlock the door and pull it open a few inches so that he could enter.
M stood with her back to him with her arms wrapped around herself as he entered and quietly shut the door behind him. He waited to see if she would turn to face him, but when it became clear that this wasn't going to happen he slowly came up behind her and put his arms around her waist, pulling her back into him.
"I am so truly, deeply sorry for all of this" he said softly
"There is nothing to be sorry for. It is the nature of this business and it is a side that I haven't had to deal with for a very long time" she said as she leaned back against him. "I think that as administrators we tend to forget certain aspects of this job, I in particular because I am rarely in the field much anymore. You on the other hand see this first hand all the time…"
"That doesn't mean I like it or agree with it" he replied with a note of sadness in his voice
"True, but it is what it is, and had the roles been reversed, I would have done the same thing" she said turning to face him
"Can you and James ever forgive me?" he asked hesitantly as he stared intently into her eyes
"I forgive you" she said with a slight smile "And as far as James…well… you just leave him to me"
"You really do love that cheeky little pip squeak don't you" he said with a laugh
"Yes…which is why I have an apology of my own. I never should have kissed you back at the other Safe house. It wasn't fair to use you. I was hurt and angry and you were there and well…"
Jack put his finger to her lips, silencing her.
"I understand…heat of the moment thing…not that I minded" he replied with a mischievous grin as he gave her a playful squeeze
M just smiled as she stood up on her tip toes to give him a light, friendly kiss. Innocent as the kiss was, the timing left a lot to be desired as this happened to be the moment that James opened the door to find Jack with his arms around M, and M kissing Jack.
TO BE CONTINUED...