As I will be gone for a few days next week, I'll try to wrap this up soon, or at least leave it where it's not a huge cliffhanger :)
M stood in the small room with the window adjacent to the interrogation room waiting for the guards to bring Ivan. To the ordinary person, M looked calm, cool and collected, but to those who knew her well she was anything but. She kept wringing her hands and gnawing on her bottom lip apprehensively as she stared at the empty room.
"You alright?" asked Jack as he put his arm around her
"Never better. Why do you ask?" she replied nervously
"Because if you're not careful, you're going to bite a hole in your bottom lip"
"Am I that obvious?"
"Look M, He can't hurt you. He will be in restraints and bolted to the floor and James and I will be just on the other side of the window. Ordinarily we would have the door shut, but in this case, it will be wide open, so we will be there before you can blink if you need us" he said reassuringly
"Thank you Jack." she replied turning to face him "I need you to do something for me" she said in her usual business like tone
"Anything for you. What is it?"
"It's James...I don't know how he's going to react to all of this and..."
"Don't worry. I'll sit on him if I have to, you just concentrate on getting all the information you can"
It was about that time that James appeared in the interrogation room with Ivan and three armed guards. James insisted on accompanying Ivan so that he could personally witness the restraints and locks being put into place. Once he was satisfied that M would be completely safe he came around to the observation room to ask her one more time if she was sure she wanted to do this.
"M...He's ready when you are" said James as he stood beside her and took her hand in his.
M nodded and continued to stare thru the glass
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to" he said softly
M gave his hand a strong squeeze and walked toward the door, as she stood there for a moment, she took a deep breath and entered the interrogation room and took the seat opposite Ivan.
Ivan looked up and studied her face carefully for a moment before he finally recognized her.
"It's you" he said with a mixture of shock and amazement in his voice
"Then you know who I am?" she replied dryly
"Well I knew who you were. Is it really you?"
"Aren't you sure?" she asked
He looked at her for a few more minutes before he finally answered
"I can tell by your eyes" he finally said "They were the most beautiful bluish green"
"Thank you" she said quietly "Now that we have established that you know who I am, I need to ask you a few questions" she said flatly
"I assumed that was why you wanted to see me"
"I need to know why, after all these years were Anton and Sergei Marrinov so interested in finding me?"
A smile formed across Ivan's face as he settled back into his chair
"Anton always wanted to find you, you became his obsession in a way. He followed your career and always knew where you were, he loved you in a way" replied Ivan "Sergei on the other hand had another motive"
"But why? What is it he thinks I know?"
"The truth. You know the truth"
M cast him a slightly confused look
"About what?
"About him, and what a monster he really was. Not only do you know the truth, you have proof"
"I don't know anything" she said sounding rather puzzled at this new revelation "and I certainly don't have any proof"
"Yes you do" he said quietly "We gave it to you"
"But when? I don't remember being given anything?"
"Anton knew about his brother, in fact, in a way he was afraid of him. Sergei was so hot tempered and volatile, no one ever knew what would set him off next. It was his idea to kill your partner and make you watch. He wanted to torture you worse than you were, but Anton protected you. He saw what his brother had become, and it sickened him. The last night you were with us, Anton had planned on rescuing you and taking you away. Do not misunderstand, he still had every intention of trying to flip you, but killing you was never an option. Sergei learned of the plan and managed to make sure that Anton was detained, giving him enough time to nearly kill you, before he left you for dead on the side of the road. If you recall, it was late autumn and the cold was what kept you alive until we were able to reach you. I and a few of my men took you to a small..."
"Farmhouse. You took me to a farmhouse" replied M softly
James stood there listening to the conversation while he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists.
"You ok?" asked Jack
"I was hoping he would just tell her and not make her relive the whole bloody ordeal" he snapped as he continued to listen to Ivan speak.
"Yes. There we dressed your wounds, and kept you warm and safe until your people could come for you" replied Ivan
"But how did they know where to find me?"
"Anton himself sent them an anonymous tip"
"I didn't know?"
"You were barely conscious, so I'm not surprised that you don't remember what we told you"
M shook her head as she tried in vain to remember that awful night
"You have had all the evidence you need for the last forty years. Anton knew it and in the last few years, it became increasingly important to him that you find it and let the truth be known, but Anton's mind was failing and he let it slip to a filmmaker one day that you had proof. Sergei was furious and vowed to hunt you and anyone associated with that mission down"
"But I..."She started to say
"I assume that your government keeps all evidence when an agent is shot" he said bluntly
"Yes" she said hoarsely "It's kept in the archives"
"Then that is where I would start looking if I were you" he replied
M could tell by the last statement that Ivan was done talking and rose to leave.
"For what it's worth Mr. Kaminski, Thank you" she said as she left the room and burst into tears.
James quickly came around the corner and put his arms around her as he led her away from the interrogation room. Once M had calmed down, she immediately went into Boss mode barking out orders and demanding a phone.
"M. Who the hell do you think you're going to call?" asked James as he reluctantly gave her his burner phone
"First Tanner, then Q" she said as she started dialing the number
Bill sat at M's desk attempting to wade through a mountain of paperwork when Eve buzzed and informed him that M was on the phone.
"M...Good to hear from you" he said nervously as he looked at the shambles that was her desk
"Tanner, no time to explain. Do you remember the files I asked you to pull from the archives the other day?" she asked sounding rather impatient
"Yes of course" he said fumbling for a pen and paper
"Good, I need you to go to the evidence archives and retrieve anything pertaining to those files and meet me at Q branch immediately" she said in her all too familiar "You had better be waiting for me when I get there" tone
"Yes Ma'am" he replied before he realized he was speaking to a dial tone
"What was that all about?" asked Eve as she stood in the doorway
"I've got no bloody idea, but I had better get going. We all know how she hates to be kept waiting" he said as he rushed out the door
As James, Jack and M neared the door, it suddenly occurred to Jack that he did not have the proper security clearance to be granted access to the famous Q branch, so he abruptly stopped dead in his tracks.
"Jack...what are you doing?" asked James with a quizzical look on his face
"I shouldn't be here" he said quietly
"Of course you should" replied M as she put her hand on his arm "You of all people should be here"
"But I don't have the proper clearance, and it could cause a bit of a stink later"
"Jack" replied M as she stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek "You have ME and that's all the clearance you need, so get you arse moving"
"You're the boss" he said with a win as they continued their walk
"I guess we know how the New Zealand chap fits into the picture now" said James as they waited for the lift
"Poor guy. Had no idea what he was getting himself into" replied Jack
"Enough chatter" said M sharply "When Tanner arrives I want you two and Q to go over every inch of that evidence, there has to be something we missed" replied M
When they reached the lab doors M turned and started to walk away.
"And just where you think you're going" asked James as he reached out and caught her arm "I thought we agreed that you would stay close until this is over!"
"I'm in MI6 headquarters for Christ sake, how much safer could I be?"
"Look!" he said pulling her aside, "We don't know who we can trust at the moment, so if it's all the same to you, I would prefer that you stay with me"
"James, Stop Worrying, I'll be fine" she said leaning against him
"You'll at least stay here until I can get Morgan to escort you upstairs" he said as he leaned down and kissed her
"What do you think you're doing?" she said pulling back "I told you, hands to yourself when we're at the office"
"I decided if you can bend a rule then so can I" he replied with a slight grin followed by a serious look "I mean it, I really would prefer you stay with us, at least for now until we figure out what we're dealing with. You can use Q's office if you want some privacy"
"I'm sure he will be thrilled that you commandeered his office" she said with a laugh
"He'll be fine, I'll just tell him you did it"
"Thanks a lot," she said playfully slapping his arm "Like I said I'll be fine in my own office, just keep me informed if you find anything"
"You will wait for Morgan, right?"
"James I am perfectly capable of taking the lift to my office by myself" she replied pulling away from him
"And I am perfectly capable of kissing you again in front of the entire staff, so which is it going to be? Morgan or dying of embarrassment?"
"Fine, I'll wait for Morgan" she finally said with an angry yet adorable pout
"Good" replied James with a rather triumphant grin "Just be sure to wait where I can see you" he said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the lab
TO BE CONTINUED...