Chapter 2

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"007, please report to M's office." said Moneypenny through the red telephone speaker on Bond's desk.

The agent lazily got up from behind his desk, taking a break from folding origami, a trick he learned while he was away in Japan. He grunted as he stubbed his toe against the hard wood of his brand new desk but he ended up making a move since it was M calling for him and not Chief of Staff.

The light was green when he entered the floor above him and Moneypenny greeted him with a warm smile, turning the light above M's door red, notifying the rest of the Service that he was now in a meeting. Bond walked through the door and into M's office, taking a seat in front of him after being motioned to do so. Mallory took a deep breath and pulled up Bond's report.

"So you're telling me of a bomb now, right?" he said.

"Yes Sir. The bomb exploded after I took the shot." Bond answered.

"Okay. Do you presume anything?" he asked.

"I don't quite know because I wasn't followed, but maybe it was intended for the Spaniard." answered the agent, scratching his head.

"Did you make sure you weren't being followed? I've heard of some cases of your carelessness from Olivia in the past. It's really easy, you know. They might be like SPECTRE, everywhere." said Mallory, stopping Bond in his thoughts.

As careful as Bond could be, he took this job a bit loosely and wasn't to concerned with the difficulty or someone tracking him. He realized that he could have been followed by anyone, be it the server at the hotel or the couple he saw in the square. He started to doubt himself but quickly shook it off since he knew he did it well. But then he remembered Vesper's words when they were at the casino, "And now they know something about you. The know that you're careless." He could practically hear her voice resonate in his head, the soft yet stern voice she adapted in the beginning of the task. He shook her off as well, not wanting to get emotional about her yet again.

"That's true. I could have been a bit careless." he admitted finally, knowing that he would be lying if he said the contrary.

"Good." said M and took a paper. "Now, I want you to finally make that IN tray of yours disappear from your office, 007. It's been waiting for you a long time and it has to be done. Then go down to see Q, he claims he has something interesting for you." And with that Bond was dismissed.


He groaned at the thought of having to go through the IN tray, being filled up ever since a couple of months, but he knew the job had to be done or else he would get a penalty. This meant not being dispatched onto further missions and training if the work was not done. Headquarters was as bustling as ever, just like it was before everything went tits up. Tanner was constantly seen running around the building with files in hands and yelling at some people to start working. Despite the working air conditioning and fans, the hot summer air caused the office to be lazy and unproductive, something the MI6 was never known for.

As he picked up the first file, Bond noticed an interesting profile regarding Italy and particularly Milan. He looked over the map containing several annotations about the mafia and other rogue groups but he took no real interest and he moved onto the profiles of the men. He saw Sciarra, someone he killed relatively not too long ago and he closed the file and tossed it into his OUT tray. Next, he found a file containing some phrases he had to learn, new code sentences for speaking with M or Tanner when in public. It took him some time to memorize them but soon enough it was simple for him and with that the file was tossed into the OUT tray.

It took him a couple of hours to get down to the very last file in the IN tray but he relished the thought of being done memorizing maps, sentences, foreign words, and facts about people and cities. He picked up the very last file and saw a familiar name on the front in Eve's handwriting.

Madeleine Swann

He groaned as he read the name, remembering all the time he spent with her, furious at himself for being so foolish and as Vesper would say, careless. He threw it on his desk and stormed out of his office and into the common room where he violently threw himself on the lounging chair and closed his eyes. He drowned out the sounds around him and cursed himself for being such a womanizer as M called him. It never did him right, except when he really fell in love, but even then something went wrong. And it usually resulted in death.

When Bond was angry, nobody dared to approach him, mainly because nobody wanted to hear him complain about his love-life. But Bond desired that someone would listen to him for once, knowing that he does wrong but he cannot help himself. Some had the thirst for thrills and food, he had the thirst for women and good alcohol.

"Everything okay James?" asked Moneypenny as she came to pour herself some tea.

He answered with a grunt. "Couldn't be better."

"You saw the file, didn't you." she said, her voice drained and he nodded in response. She gave him a slight rub on the shoulder. "You'll get through it."

"How could I be so careless?" he asked, his hands pulling at his hair in frustration as he took a deep breath.

"Hey, it's life. You screw up and you make up. You just made up by emptying the IN tray." she joked.

"I only have her file left." he murmured under his breath.

"Then get through it. Q has something for you." she answered and left for her office.

He forced himself up and walked back to his office where he took a great sigh and sat down in his armchair. He picked up the file with disdain.

"Madeleine Swann, traitor, idiot, bitch." he said to himself aloud as he opened it.

There was her picture, her features clear and bright, the pale skin and light hair were contrasted by the rich red of her lips and the blue of her eyes. She bore such an innocent look but Bond knew better that it was full of hatred. She was a clever one, using him to get to MI6 but he still did not understand why she was bait in the SIS building. Hell, the building could have blown up with her in it! Now that Blofeld was captive, he knew that nothing could be happening out of SPECTRE but he was vigilant nevertheless. 

He read her description, her height, remembering the long legs she had, her fragile figure in that satin dress in the train, her occupation, oh yes the doctor he went to see so he could save her, her country of origin. She saved him though, that time in the train, and now he doesn't quite get it. Oh yes, so I would sleep with her and trust her. He hated himself so much for it because he made a promise to stop after Vesper's death. He beats himself up each time after, begging his lost love for forgiveness, but he knows deep inside that Vesper would want him to move on and find someone else, someone who's not a traitor as she would put it.

Affiliation: SPECTRE, unknown organization.

Last place seen: Milan, Italy.

Current job: Psychologist and model


He remembered when he didn't trust her because of who her father was, how he was so careful not to make a mistake, but he did it anyway. After the attacks, he took Madeleine to live with him and she made the impression of being happily in love with him. She wasn't stupid, which was something Bond valued in a woman, she had a unique beauty and a wonderful body, but she was quiet. She wasn't talkative and she wouldn't be like Vesper. Vesper would make a conversation with Bond out of anything, they would play games, love life, and explore. But Madeleine was always busy with work and wasn't her. That's what set Bond off, she wasn't her. Their relationship went downhill quite quickly and she decided to call it quits before he could think of it, left him alone and disappeared. He never heard from her again. Being Bond, he returned to the office and dedicated himself to the Service, going on a mission to Spain to kill a mafia man who ran brothels in the country. 

He read over the information the file gave him and he tossed it into the OUT tray before getting up and walking down to the undergrounds where Q had his little playroom.

Just as he walked down to the lift and went to ground floor, he encountered a running Tanner.

"007, Q needs to see you now, there is something happening in London." he said, short of breath.

Bond picked up speed and practically jogged his way to Q's office, taking turns and running down two flights of stairs. He arrived in the garage where the young Q stood in front of his computer, a worried look on his face. He looked up as he heard the footsteps of the oxfords against the stone floor.

"Finally. You sure are out of shape." he said and returned to his work.

"You wanted to see me?" said Bond, disregarding his remark.

"Yes. 007, after you successfully destroyed yet another car, you will be travelling by bike on the next assignment. It was a prototype. Why the hell would you take a prototype? Almost none of the controls worked on that thing, the ammunition was not loaded, and it wasn't even your car." answered Q in a rather frustrated voice. "Your little adventure in Rome cost the Service a hell load of money. Luckily we were able to get the car out of the river but repairing it will take some time. I see the fire exhaust worked." he continued.

"Get down to it Q, I don't have time for old memories." snapped Bond.

"Well then eager anteater, I have a nice new gadget for you. You see, this is a regular bottle of cologne. When you twist the cap clockwise you get a mist of wonderful eau de parfum. But here's the trick, turn it counter-clockwise and it's a flamethrower. Shoots up to 25 meters in length. Now, don't go using it too often because it makes everything blow up in matter of seconds. It's your regular Tom Ford cologne so you get a two in one on that note." Q says happily while taking a sip of his classic Earl Grey in his "Q" mug.

How cheesy, thought Bond while he examined the gadget. He hoped for a new Aston Martin but after his incident in Rome, he now highly doubted getting a new one. He stole that car out of desperation and desire to drive the beast Q upgraded but he does feel guilty about drowning it that one night. At least the eject seat worked, he thought.

"And now, I do hope Tanner told you about this, I found some mysterious trace of vehicles travelling in the city. I am getting strange signals from them so if you do see a couple of Tesla S models with a Manchester license, please do report it to me." he said.

"That's it? That's what Tanner sent me running here for? You must be joking." said Bond as he rolled his eyes.

"It's important. They might lead us to the hackers." said Q.

"What hackers?" asked Bond, surprised at the notion. No one could beat Silva at hacking.

"You see, I hacked some computers who have been sources of several hacking cases in the city, and I played them at their own game. I know they drive Teslas, the hackers, I've seen some." said Q and laughed lightly.

"Sure. But please do remember that Silva managed to play you that one time." replied Bond and Q shrunk at the mention of the case.

"Let's forget that. I was quite inexperienced." he answered.

"Please..." said Bond and sighed.

"Alright, you better get going." said Q and kicked Bond out of his lair.


A couple of days passed and Bond was awaiting a new assignment. He was eager to know what he would be doing next since he was getting bored quite quickly. And the last thing he wanted to do is sit at home or at the pub bored. His Aston was neatly parked in front of his Notting Hill flat, the sleek and shining grey reflecting the sun rays of the afternoon. He put on his standard suit, something he truly did love to wear, and walked downstairs to get a cup of coffee from May, his Scottish housekeeper. She only came three times a week but she was a treasure to him. After a quick drink, he drove his Vantage to the office, parking it next to M. 

He was surprised to see a commotion happening on his floor but he walked into his office and leaned back in his chair before indulging into a new book he found. It was a title Vesper once wrote down in his notebook and he had just found it a week ago, while sorting through his boxes. He was truly interested when the red line went off. It was a phone call from M.

"007, please report to my office." said M and with that said Bond got up and patted the book on the desk before leaving.

"I won't forget about you." he murmured at the book as if he was talking to his once beloved.

As he entered M's office, he already saw a file laying flat on the desk of his superior. Tanner was there as well, accompanied by the beautiful Eve Moneypenny, someone he truly liked but couldn't get his hands on.

"Bond, I have an assignment for you." said M and Bond relished the thought of having a job to do.

"I'm all ears." he replied.

"We need you to go to Milan and encounter our agent there, Artemisia Marino, and you will work with her to resolve the cause of the sudden disappearance of the Head of I there. As you may surmise, we are talking about Frazzio, Marco Frazzio, the Head of the station we have in Italy. I trust you enough to send you there while being surrounded by mafia so please do be careful. You will be picked up from the airport by Miss Marino herself and you will work with her to solve the mystery. You will find the rest of the information in the file." said M.

"I have to work with a woman, again?" asked Bond impatiently as he hated being paired up with people to do a job. "Why can't I work alone like usual?" he asked.

"You know what, I have found the perfect sentence to describe you; a sexist, misogynistic dinosaur." replied M and Bond was dumbfounded.

He remembered the time when old M called him exactly that. He felt a pang in his chest and decided to keep quiet and work with M.

"You have to work with Miss Marino because she is the only person who hasn't been kidnapped in Milan. There you have it, I was supposed to keep it away from you; everyone in Italy is being held hostage somewhere and she is the only human being who somehow escaped abduction so you get your arse into movement and work with her." said M, rather frustrated as he spilled the secret.

"Yes Sir." simply answered Bond as he processed the information. So everyone in Italy has been kidnapped?

"You're leaving in two days. Get your things packed and Q will drop in this evening with more gadgets for your mission. Every ticket and piece of information is in the file." said M.

"Yes Sir." answered Bond and took the file in his hands.

"Dismissed." said M and Bond walked out the door.

Artemisia Marino, what a funny name, Bond thought. He remembered learning about an Artemisia in school but it was Artemisia I of Caria, the Greek gone rogue joining the Persians and fighting her own country until it burned to ashes. He was curious how his coworker looked and he anxious to find out. This time he swore to himself that he would be more careful and not seduce the woman.

Unless she was like her.

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HE-LLO!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did please leave a comment and vote, it would mean the world to me! 
I need someone to "play" Artemisia Marino, so please drop down your ideas! As much as I would want it to be Eva Green, I can't have her since she was Vesper. **DARK HAIR AND BLUE/GREEN EYES** 

Thank you so much for reading and please share with a Bond fan!

xIng

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