When the morning rolled around Olivia had already been awake since long before her alarm was set to go off. She had spent the morning with a cup of tea and looking out the window across the city. It was a meditation of sorts, and now that she didn't feel as downtrodden by her thoughts she was ready to face the day.

There was another knock on her door, and of course it was Tiago, bright eyed and full of excitement. At least this time he was in a suit, looking sharp for a day in the office, and didn't seem to be wearing his offensive cologne. Olivia invited him into her room and motioned for him to sit on the sofa.

"Before we head over there, I just wanted you to be aware of something. I've been in contact with Agent Hendricks for the past few weeks, he's one of the managing agents here. I promised him a favor, and you're going to help. One of the reasons this trip is confidential is because you and I are going to be running surveillance on a mark while we're here."

"Oh? I didn't realize. I'm willing to do anything while we're here, ma'am."

"Good. Our mark is named Tomas Teixeira, he's a wealthy businessman from Sao Paolo but we believe he is embezzling a considerable amount of money and laundering it through the casinos in Macau. He's been implicated in dealings with the mainland and is currently considered a serious threat to national security here in Hong Kong. We think he's funding the CCP in exchange for a tax haven to do business. We just need to confirm that he will be in Macau on specific dates. It should be easy work, we're doing it to give the local agents a break in their caseloads."

"Sounds fun." Tiago said with a grin.

"They call it work for a reason, Mr. Rodriguez, don't get caught up in fantasy." she told him, trying not to roll her eyes, "You're ready to go?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

With that they left the hotel and stepped into the humid air of the city. They made their way across Hong Kong, finally finding the building that housed Station H headquarters. The offices were in an ugly concrete building that was much shorter than most of the other skyscrapers on the skyline. The drab exterior served to conceal all the efforts going on in those offices, but it certainly looked dreary walking inside.

Before they could even be greeted by reception, a tall man with sharp features and ginger hair rounded the corner to welcome them.

"Agent Hendricks." Olivia said, shaking his hand, "It's good to see you."

"Likewise, ma'am. And this must be Mr. Rodriguez?"

"It is." she said, and watched as the two men shook hands.

"Well, pleasure to meet you." Hendricks turned his attention back to Olivia, "I'm sure you heard the latest about the investigation into 003, ma'am?"

"Yes. I did." she said, "A shame really. He was so close to retirement and then this happens."

Hendricks nodded, "The investigation regarding the accident is still ongoing, but I'm sure it's no surprise to you that we don't believe it to be an accident at all."

"No, not in the slightest." Olivia sighed, "Do you have another agent that can you Mr. Rodriguez around while we discuss the issue of 003 in private?"

Hendricks nodded, "Of course ma'am. I can have Agent Lau show him around. Follow me."

He beckoned them to follow him and they walked further into the bowels of the Station H offices. Once they were beyond reception, they passed rows of cubicles full of people typing away and speaking loudly in both English and Cantonese on telephones. Eventually they reached a few rooms with doors towards the back of the building. Hendricks knocked on one of the first ones they saw.

Agent Lau answered, a smile on his face, and Olivia remembered him well from her last visit to Hong Kong. He'd been one of her personal hires, just like Tiago. He was a young man of only twenty five years, incredibly handsome, tall and physically gifted, not to mention fluent in four languages. He spoke English with an RP accent and charmed everyone he met – when he mentioned during his intake interview that both his parents, who had defected from the mainland, were deceased, Olivia knew he was beyond perfect for a double-0 position.

"005," she said with a smile, "How have you been?"

"Ah, wonderful ma'am. Well, aside from the recent losses we have had," he shook his head, "This must be the new recruit you told me about?"

"Yes, this is Tiago Rodriguez. He is to be reassigned here soon, so I was hoping you could introduce him to some of the staff?"

"Of course, ma'am." he said, flashing his charismatic smile again before turning to Tiago, "Don't be daunted, we're a small team here. Let me show you around."

He led Tiago back towards the noisy cubicles, and Olivia refocused her attention on Hendricks.

"Alright, what exactly happened to 003?" she said quietly.

Hendricks took a deep breath, "Follow me to my office. It's a long story."

Once they step inside his office Olivia takes a seat across from him. It's odd being on the other side of the table, and even after only 18 months of having been promoted to M she feels like she's just another subordinate again – an agent seeking approval from her higher ups, except she's the higher up now.

"So," Hendricks begins, "003 certainly loved boating, I'm not sure if you're aware."

"Well, I honestly didn't know much about Agent Chen. I had only met him once."

Agent Chen, or 003 as he was known, had been employed since 1959 and had been in his early fifties at the time of his death, not much older than Olivia herself. No one ever said it, but his career had left a huge mark on his body and the man grew weaker with each passing year. He started to get less assignments and spent more time out on his boat than at the office or on missions, and Olivia figured that on some level he knew his career with MI6 was coming to an end. Although, not nearly as abrupt an end as it came to when his boat capsized in the harbor.

"Yes, well, I have reason to suspect he had dealings with the mainland that went awry." Hendricks muttered, "We found some odd transactions in his bank account, money being wired from Indonesia but originally sent in Chinese Yuan, no sender listed."

"Can we figure out who sent it somehow?"

"I'm hoping so. We have our technical team working on it, but they can be quite slow. Some of our employees are-" he paused, "a bit old fashioned, if you catch my drift."

"Yes." she said, nodding, "Well maybe the new recruit I brought along can help, he has quite a knack when it comes to computers and networks. He is replacing 003 after all."

"Replacing 003?" Hendricks says, raising an eyebrow, "So soon, ma'am?"

"You're lacking in agents here, Mr. Hendricks, I figured we should fill the vacancies as soon as possible."

"And you don't think he's a bit too young to be promoted to the double-0 program?"

"No, not at all. He'll be twenty one in a few months, young enough to start a long career don't you think?"

"And you think he's capable of…" Hendricks trailed off, "He doesn't strike me as the type to be a great shot."

"Well, his marksmanship scores show otherwise." she told him. It was hard to think of Tiago as an assassin, but he had been adamant in his interviews that he was capable and willing. Olivia had no choice but to take him at face value.

Hendricks shrugged, "Whatever you say, ma'am. I trust your judgment. Maybe he can be the one to figure out what happened to his predecessor."

"I think that's a fine idea." Olivia told him, "We have two weeks here, that should be enough time for him to make some headway with your team. Anyway, what is the story with Agent Ellsworth?"

Hendricks rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Argh, pure idiocy, if you don't excuse my words, ma'am."

"He was compromised?"

"He compromised himself! He was sleeping with some tart who got his gun away from him. We found his own bullets lodged in his brain, and the hotel he was found at let us know he was there with a well-known 'lady of the evening'."

"Good lord." Olivia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I wonder what she got out of him."

"Who knows. He didn't have a ton of intel at the time of his death, but he knew enough, obviously. At least he wasn't a double-0."

"True."

"Morale has been low, ma'am, as I'm sure you can guess." Hendricks said, crossing his arms over his chest, "I've been getting multiple requests for transfer from our agents. Obviously, we can't accommodate all of them. And then there's the issue of retaining double-0's on top of that, all we have is Lau right now and he's becoming overwhelmed by his caseload."

"I'm well aware Agent Hendricks, and I'm already considering which other new hires would be a good fit here. I know we need more eyes on Asia, I worry about the influence of China and Russia on our allies here."

Hendricks nodded, "It's been frightening lately, considering the rumors I've heard coming from the mainland. Anyway, are you ready for the Macau mission?"

"Yes, well, as ready as I'll ever be. I haven't been in the field for ten years now."

"It shouldn't be too difficult. We have your ferry tickets purchased, you'll be headed out in two days time. I'm interested to see how your new recruit does, especially since he's partnered with you for it."

"I'm sure Mr. Rodriguez will do just fine." Olivia said, standing up, "I regret to cut this meeting short but I do have other members of staff to speak with today, Mr. Hendricks. I'll see you later tonight for dinner?"

"Of course, ma'am. Here, let me show you out."

For the next few hours Olivia spent her time going between different colleagues, hearing everyone's complaints and giving some people their new briefings. Hendricks wasn't wrong, morale was incredibly low these days. The common theme of their criticism was that everyone felt as though they were forgotten and abandoned by MI6 headquarters in Britain, feeling as if they were just a far-flung satellite office who didn't get the funding or support they needed.

After she was done speaking with every individual who had requested her audience, she went in search of Tiago, feeling relatively optimistic about their first day on the job.

She found Tiago and Lau sitting in the breakroom and drinking coffee, lost in some conversation about the business practices of IBM and what the next generation of computers would be like.

"I hope I'm not interrupting you gentlemen, but I've come to collect Mr. Rodriguez. We're finished here for the day. Thank you 005 for showing him around."

"Of course, ma'am." Lau said, flashing her his handsome smile, "I'll see you at the dinner tonight?"

"Yes, Mr. Lau, we will see you there."

With that Olivia and Tiago left the offices, with only a few hours to prepare before the staff dinner. It was a tradition started by the prior M, that whenever he should be in Hong Kong he'd treat the higher ups to a fancy meal to commemorate the visit. She didn't feel like changing the status quo, and figured after everything that happened the staff needed something to look forward to.

They had only walked a few blocks from the office when Tiago decided to start pushing her buttons.

He turned and smirked at her, "So did you and Lau ever have a fling?"

"What?" Olivia snapped, "I beg your pardon, Mr. Rodriguez?"

"Mm hmm," he said, "I saw the way you looked at him. Handsome, isn't he?"

Olivia closed her eyes in annoyance, "That's highly inappropriate to speculate about, Tiago, and to answer your question not a chance in hell!"

"You haven't thought about it?"

"Thought about it? Tiago you do realize that I'm M now. And I'm a married woman, to boot! I've never had any sort of salacious relationship, real or imagined, with any member of MI6. Unlike you, of course." she said, shooting daggers at him with her stare.

Tiago shrugged, "It just seemed like there might have been something there."

Olivia frowned. She couldn't deny that she found Lau incredibly handsome, but had never once let her mind wander to the sorts of places she let it wander when she thought of Tiago. Was it really so obvious that she was attracted to Lau, or was Tiago just trying to provoke her? Or perhaps it was projection?

"Don't get any ideas, Tiago. I brought you here because you've dipped your pen in the company well a few too many times. Lau is off limits, as is every other MI6 employee, as I've told you numerous times now!"

He put his hands up, "I didn't mean anything by it, ma'am. I was just speculating."

"Well you should stop doing that." she grumbled, "It's highly unprofessional."

"Understood, ma'am." he said, but he continued to smirk at her as they walked.

She could tell this evening's meal was going to be unbearable.