Chapter 58: Break away part 2

He might not work for M at the moment but he was still doing the report for him. Andrew stubbornly stared at the screen as he typed. He didn't know if M was aware of how much the director had infiltrated MI6. So he was doing his report and going to make M aware of just whom he was dealing with. And then he would wash his hands of it and go back on missions. He was not getting sucked into this shit again. He wouldn't let it happen.

His phone beeped again. Probably Arabella AGAIN. His helping Q for half a morning had opened the floodgates and now she was texting him constantly. Did they really think he could be so easily persuaded to fall back into the role of loyal lapdog of the Director? Well, they were going to learn differently very quickly. He just had to go back to screening his assignments, be insolent to everyone and keep them away. He would ask if someone else could hand over his tech. Break off any connection with Q, with the Adjunct and by extension the Director. Do his duty for Queen and Country and keep to his oaths in his own way.

He looked behind him to check on his charge. Q was still sleeping peacefully and the machines reported his stats still looked good. A doctor had been by to see Q and explain the monitors to him. With a sigh turned back to the rapport he had been writing. M had to be made aware, even if he half expected the man already knew and was part of the Director's organisation. Andrew had been pondering what he would do if it turned out his safe haven away from the Director's influence would fail. So far, he hadn't come up with an answer.

A knock on the door made him look up from his musings.

"Come." He called out.

003 walked into the room and firmly closed the door behind him, right into the surprised faces of two others who were walking behind him. Andrew greeted the man with a frown.

"3"

"10" The man greeted after locking the door and ignoring the knocking, instead coming to sit opposite the desk from him.

"What's happening?" Andrew asked, bracing himself for the worst. The knocking at the door increased to pounding before it stopped and running feet were heard.

"The Director has taken control of Q-branch and by extension MI6 as a whole." 3 answered while extracting a skinny envelope from his jacket and handing it over. Andrew accepted it and turned it over. The envelope had a broken wax seal on the back. The seal looked all too real and Andrew just knew what he'd find inside. He had never handled one himself, Rudy had never seen the need for them, but he knew what it was.

"How did you get this?" He asked 3, looking up at him with narrowed eyes. Because if 3 had nicked it he was going to have to intervene, as much as he'd hate to do so.

"I nicked it just as I was sent to get you." 3 answered with a grin. Only when he spotted Andrew's quickly narrowing eyes did he raise his hands in self-defense. "I think the Assistant spotted me but let it go. I was going to give it back, honestly. I just want you to confirm for me that it's legit."

With a sigh Andrew let it go. And turned his attention back to the envelope. If this was what he thought it was, he was screwed. Because he wouldn't go against a direct order from her. Dreading what he'd find inside, he reverently opened the envelope pulled out the summons, complete with the blue seal of the realm approving the action:

Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the faith:

WHEREAS the date of letters made Patent under the Great Seal We command control of all national security forces of the United Kingdom to be taken over by the Director until such a time a full Investigation has been conducted into the Infiltration of our Security Forces and our government officials and all said Influences have been Purged.

NOW KNOW YE that We by Our Prerogative Royal and Our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion do by this Our Charter for Us, Our Heirs and Successors will, ordain and declare as follows:

And After came a whole list of all armed and security forces, including the new branches Radius Solutions Company, and orders of what to do. Andrew read through them very carefully, cold sweat running over his back. What the Queen had done was to give the Director full control of ALL security forces, with no end date in sight. This was carte blanche. Not even Rudy had had this much power.

"It's legit." He whispered in despair. "Oh good lord, what has she done?"

"Right, it's as bad as we thought then." 3 sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Listen. Just say the word and I'll have the others here to get you out of the building. We can resign now and walk out of here. And if they try to stop us we'll fight our way out." 3 said. Andrew looked up sharply.

"You're talking about treason here, 3." He said.

"No, I don't. At least not for us. Q gave us the option to resign, remember? But my guess is your contract hasn't got that clause." 3 looked at him in sympathy. "Still, the offer stands. We'll follow your lead on this."

Andrew looked at him, slightly touched by the offer but he already knew his answer. His contract included that clause as well but with this order there no longer was a way out for him. The wording of this summons meant his oath took precedence which meant he was back in his old role. Back to being at the Director's beck and call.

With a sigh he stood. "The orders are clear and legit. Confer with the others. Do what you need to do. Come and find me if you stay. Meanwhile I have work to do."

Jordan pressed the elevator call button and started pacing, wondering if he should take the stairs, even though he was on the 20th floor. He cursed the lack of advice in his ear again. His phone was downstairs, past security. A lot could go wrong before he could get to it.

The elevator dinged and he quickly got on and pressed the button for the ground floor, multiple times in frustration when the doors didn't close immediately. He paced again as he descended. The situation was deteriorating rapidly, the Director had said. Or at least that's how Jordan chose to interpret it. He hoped it wasn't bad enough for him to be under scrutiny by the JSS. If MI6 took an open stance against Denbigh and the Joint Security Services, he would be an obvious suspect for espionage. He hoped that wasn't the case yet. Because he still needed to get past security. It would be easy to detain him there.

The elevator doors opened and he stepped into the main security area. There were a couple of stations there but only one was currently occupied. Jordan gulped as he saw the guard was on the phone. Bracing himself he walked towards the gate, scanned his pass and nodded to the guy in the booth as he got into position in the scanner. The scanner did its thing and gave him the all clear. He got out quickly and started walking towards the lockers, purposely not looking behind him.

"Mr. Bruskin." Jordan froze and slowly turned around. The security guard had opened his door and was leaning out.

"your boss called down to explain why you're going early. Good luck with your mom."

The relief that flooded him made him feel slightly dizzy and he couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped him.

"Thanx." He answered and then added to make up for the sigh. "Gotta go, see you when I get back."

"Sure man, you hurry on outta here." the man answered with a wave and went back inside his booth.

Jordan turned and hurried towards his locker. Fumbling a bit with the combination lock he cursed silently. The relief of getting past security was making him sloppy. He wasn't even out of the building yet. It was too soon to celebrate. Taking a couple of deep breaths he calmed himself enough to get the door open. Grabbing his bag and phone, thanking himself for having a go-bag just in case, he smashed the locker shut and headed for the door while scrolling through his contacts for Faith and dialing. It was answered by Arabella immediately.

"Please exit as quickly as you can without drawing attention to yourself, Mr Bruskin."

Immediately the anxiety returned. Jordan felt his heart race as he quickly walked towards the exit, praying to whomever was listening that he wasn't stopped, that he would get out safely. The revolving door was agonisingly slow before finally spewing him out onto the pavement.

"Good, we have you in sight, Mr Bruskin. Turn right. There's a car waiting around the corner." With a sigh of relief Jordan turned and walked towards the corner.

"It's heavily guarded so keep your hands away from your side and approach slowly. Once you're close you'll say to them: You protect the eagle. They will answer you with: But God will save the queen. Get into the car."

After that she rang off immediately. Jordan walked around the corner and froze, slowly lowering his arm. It wasn't just one car. There were four cars in a small street right beside a fire-escape and guarded by men with semi-automatic rifles. He got noticed immediately and the men gripped their weapons. Jordan swallowed visibly as he slowly approached the car, hands away from his body as instructed.

"What do you want?" One of the men bit out. His accent was weird, Jordan couldn't quite place it.

"Yyyou pppprotect the eagle." Jordan stuttered in his nervousness. The men however lowered their guns immediately.

"But God saves the queen, you arrogant brits. A warning about extra passengers would've been nice. Get into that car, quickly, they're on their way out." The man pointed to the second car from the front. A man opened the door for him and he hurried forward and got in.

Jordan sat back and relaxed, relieved he was safe. But instead of closing the door behind him, the man who'd held it open for him leaned in.

"Scoot over to the end and strap yourself in. It's going to be a quick retreat. Do you have any weapons?" He said. Jordan shook his head. The man shook his head exasperated.

"What kind of spook are you if you don't even carry." He said exasperated and condescending. Jordan bristled in indignation at the arrogant reply.

"An undercover one." He bit back defensively. "I just came out of that building too, you know."

The man smirked and Jordan knew he had just fallen into a trap to reveal information about himself. Then the man took out his own gun and held it out to him.

"Good to know you can use this. We might need to." He said.

Well shit. Jordan thought as he accepted the gun, suddenly not feeling all that safe anymore. The other man walked around the car and got into the driver seat. Drivers got into the other cars as well just in time for the fire-escape door to slam open and several men to burst out of it.

The men in the street immediately raised their weapons but apparently they were the people they were expecting because not a shot was fired and M was pushed into the car. The man nearly face-planted into his lap as someone jumped in after him and slammed the door shut. The other cars filled up quickly as well and they pulled out of the alleyway immediately, seamlessly merging with the building afternoon traffic.