Chapter Text
“Bond. Come in, Bond.”
M paced her office, pushing her ear piece in harder in order to hear better. Not that it would make a difference; the technology was far advanced for that. She watched as several members of her surveillance team clicked and typed as quickly as they could as they tried to regain contact with James Bond. Tanner frowned with concern as he dished out orders to the pair nearest him.
“Forget comms. Go for satellite.” He moved himself to stand behind M who was staring at a large screen on the wall which showed all the information they had available to them. “If he’s hurt, Ma’am, we’ll find him.”
As the infrared satellite picture came into view, M quickly scanned the area for signs of heat which might show something was still alive down there. There had been a large explosion at the Iranian embassy in Paris and she still wasn't sure who was responsible for it. The French had been in talks with Iran for weeks now but she had heard nothing that might suggest they would escalate matters so quickly like this. It was very possible that Iran was attempting to sabotage themselves to frame their enemies after the previous acts of war over the last year but the embassy held some of their best men. There was no logic to that argument either.
There was another answer, of course. A much more likely answer, even if it was one she hoped not to have to admit. Bond.
“007, are you there? If you can hear us then I order you to respond. What is your location?”
“There, Ma’am,” said Tanner pointing at the screen. “There’s a man there hidden inside a container.”
The figure on the screen looked to be lying down and wasn't moving. Morbid thoughts brushed across the forefront of M’s mind but in the heat of battle she forced any emotional entanglement to the bottom of her psyche. For a fleeting second she was reminded of their final conversation before he left for this mission, “if you don’t come back alive, I will kill you.” He had to be brought home no matter what so it was important to send someone to the body. No, she told herself, to James. He wasn't a body yet.
“Tanner, where’s Eve?”
“On her way to location now.”
“Good,” her voice giving away none of the anxiety she felt. She looked to be made of steel and she wished her colleagues to continue to view her as such. Her mind was always focused on the job at hand and today would be no different. “Eve, do you still have the prime minister?”
“Yes, Ma’am. We’re almost at the safe house. After that explosion there was no problem getting her out undercover.”
The mission would be a success then, regardless of what state they found Bond in. That white dot that they suspected to be him still hadn't moved and was doing nothing to make M feel better. He had been in worse situations and now that the prime minister was safely away she supposed there was no longer much risk for him, but more than ever she felt her conscience beat inside her. She was responsible for sending him out there to a possible death and any chance of a life with him would end as quickly as his. She was also responsible for Eve and all those other agents she manipulated like a puppet on a string but somehow Bond had always been different. Despite his misdemeanours she wanted him around; sometimes she wanted him around because of his misdemeanours but those were private thoughts just for the two of them to enjoy.
“Send in medical evac to see to 007. They won’t be seen if they come from the north east. We need him back.” She had effortlessly said ‘we’ rather than ‘I need him back’ but she thought it all the same.
The white spot of heat on the screen had suddenly started moving. It had climbed out of whatever container it was in and was attempting to run in the precise direction she had told the medical team to arrive from. That was all the proof she needed.
“Ah, how nice to see you, Mr Bond. Care to enlighten us on your little distraction back there?” The man began to run faster before disappearing into an unnamed building. “I know you can hear me, 007. Report.”
There was a crackle over the intercom which was soon joined by the sound of heavy breathing.
“Just doing my duty, Ma’am,” he spat with disdain. They heard muffled movements, and then there was a loud crunch before the line went silent again. Q branch would not be happy.
“Satellite, CCTV, anything. Get him back,” Tanner ordered.
“No. Look who we’re talking about. He’s gone,” M said sternly. This had all the quirks of a James Bond holiday and she would be surprised to see him back for at least a month at which point he would stroll in looking suave and fully rested, waiting to be sent outside to play again. His little holiday would all be charged to his government and they wouldn't be able to trace a thing. She reasoned things were running just like clockwork then.