Just a short one for now :)

M did as she was told, for the most part, and stood near the door waiting for her personal bodyguard Morgan to escort her to her office. While she was waiting, she took the opportunity to call Mallory from Q's office and bring him up to speed on what had happened with Ivan, and then resumed her wait at the door. After what seemed like an eternity Morgan finally arrived, startling her slightly

"Ma'am if you're ready we can go" he said stoically

"Yes, Thank you" she replied waiving at James as she turned and headed toward the elevator

The ride up proved to be uneventful, just as she had said, and when she arrived at her office, she was surprised to find the door open. When she entered her office, she had a look of shock, followed by a small burst of anger and then a deep sigh. Her desk looked like it had been hit by a hurricane, and Tanner was desperately trying to find bottom.

"Ma'am" he said with a look of total embarrassment "It's really not as bad as it looks" he said apologetically

"What the hell happened?" she asked trying to keep a straight face

"Mr. Mallory...that's what happened" he replied with a slight edge in his voice

"Really?"

"Seems he decided that with you away, I had nothing better to do than to cross check the expenditure reports with every mission for the last year to be sure that..."

"Yes I know. It's that time of year to work out the budget and he wants to see where we can make cuts." replied M in a slightly disgusted tone "It's alright Tanner, don't worry about this, just organize it as best you can and put in over on the table and we'll look at it together later"

"Yes Ma'am" he said as he gathered up the first stack of papers

"Do you happen to know where I might find Eve?" asked M as she glanced at her secretary's empty desk

"Oh she's with Anya"

"Who is Anya?"Asked M

"Mr. Mallory's secretary, Anya something or other. Anyway she was sent to pick up a file that Mr. Mallory wanted, speaking of which they have been gone quite a while." he said looking at his watch

"Well where did they have to go for this file? Timbuktu?"

"No..." he said slowly "It is a recent file, it should have only taken her about five minutes to find it" he replied with a hint of concern

"Well come on, I'm not supposed to be wandering the halls alone, they're probably just talking in the file room" said M as she headed out the door

Bill put the stack of papers he was carrying on the table and followed M to the file room. When they got to the door, they found it shut and locked.

"This is ridiculous. They can't possibly have locked themselves in can they?" he asked as he fumbled for his keys

"Not bloody likely" replied M with a worried expression

As soon as Tanner unlocked the door and entered the room, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. It all happened so fast that M never had a chance to scream as a cloth was placed over her mouth and nose and the room went black.

The lab was buzzing with Q, James and Jack all fighting over what little space there was on the table. Each examining every piece of evidence in the box Tanner had delivered. The box contained the clothing that M was wearing when she was found, the bandages that had been removed and the bullet fragments from her wounds.

"Why the bloody hell would you keep these disgusting bandages" asked James as he carefully removed them from the evidence bag. "What could they possibly tell you?"

"Procedure Bond. Somewhere we probably have an entire warehouse full of yours so stop complaining" snapped Q

Q was concentrating on the clothing, checking every seam, pocket and button for anything out of the ordinary while Jack examined the bullet fragments.

"You say she was shot 13 times with the same gun?" asked Jack

"That's what it says in the report. Standard Soviet issue sidearm...Why?" asked James

"Because unless I am mistaken these fragments aren't from the same weapon" said Jack as he held up a bullet that was almost completely intact

"Let me see that" said Q as he grabbed the bullet and put it under the microscope for closer examination

"Hand me a scalpel and some tweezers" he said never taking his eye off the bullet

James handed the instruments to Q, who carefully pried the top off the bullet and then removed a very tiny strip of film.

"What the hell is that?" asked James

"Let's put it under the scope and find out" replied Q as he placed the film on a light board and flashed the magnified image up on a screen

"Well hells bells, It's every document including photos implicating Sergei Mirrinov" exclaimed Jack as he stared at the screen in almost disbelief.

"Sergei Mirrinov?" asked Q with a rather perplexed look

"Yeah...Why?"

"Well, curiously enough, that name kept popping up on Mr. Mallory's secretary's computer"

"It would. He was part of the mission we were on" replied James sounding rather annoyed

"But if I am not mistaken, that mission was last week correct?"

"Yeah..So?"

"I ran a sweep going back to when she started, eleven months ago, and that name appeared regularly in the encrypted transmissions..."

"Have you told Mallory?"

"I didn't think much of it since he is her great uncle" replied Q innocently

"You didn't think much of it!" shouted James

As James was preparing to launch another verbal assault on Q, Tanner stumbled into the lab with blood dripping a cut on his forehead

"What the hell happened to you" shouted Jack as he helped Tanner to a chair

"Tanner...What happened?" asked James as he gripped Tanners arms

"They've got M and Eve" said Tanner breathlessly "Morgan is unconscious and his weapon and security badge are missing" he managed to say before he passed out

"SEAL THE BUILDING!" shouted James "Q...TURN ON THAT LOCATING GADGET IN M'S ARM AND FIND THEM!" he continued as he ran for the lift with Jack close behind

TO BE CONTINUED...