Owl to James Bond

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

Bond,

I'm in Ravenclaw. We need to meet. Ravenclaw common room, 1830 hours.

M

Comments

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

"Bond." Her voice was sharp. "I don't care what you feel for or do with Vesper Lynd. The school's brought her back to life somehow? Mazel tov."

She brought a hand down hard on the bar. "But I do care that it's led you to lie to me repeatedly. Lie, omit, evade, call it what you like, it's there and I can't ignore it. Our friend White felt certain he could use Vesper to turn you. Can you tell me he's wrong?"

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

"You're mistaken, M," he said sharply. "I have left nothing out that is the business of MI6. If you want information on Hogwarts, you can have it. You'll have even more once I get the bugs I brought back up and running."

"I'd told you that if she hadn't died, I was prepared to kill her myself. She lost her hold once I knew what was behind her." And she'd regained it when he'd been able to clear her name. "I can keep my personal life separated from my professional life. I'm here to the job, M. The rest doesn't belong in your report."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

"I need to be able to trust you, James. Implicitly and explicitly. What does or doesn't go in the report doesn't signify."

M took a deep swallow of her water. "All right. For the present. Meanwhile, have you been able to glean any further insight from Vesper about her dealings with Quantum?"

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

"As far as I can tell, her only intentional interactions with Quantum had been with Mr. White. She hasn't mentioned any meetings with him besides the compound. I'm not even sure if she was aware that he was at the plaza in Venice."

Bond went back to the bar and reclaimed his glass. "I felt that it would be best to inform her of Kabira's involvement. She seems to have suffered enough for that without laboring under the impression that he was still in danger."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

M nodded. "Acceptable course of action. Informing me of it a bit sooner would have been the responsible thing to do...but then after all you're you."

She took another swallow of water. "Define 'seems to have suffered enough for that,' please. In what way? Other than dying, obviously. How did she take the news?"

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

"It was a bit spur of the moment," he lied. He'd made up his mind during his brief solo visit to London. He'd let M rake him over the coals for it when she found out. "I didn't think the owl could fly that fast."

"I may have contributed to her suffering," Bond continued. "I wasn't expecting to see Ms. Lynd, and I said some things that I have come regret. She seems to be under the impression that if she was of a stronger constitution, certain events may not have happened," He knew that Vesper was comparing herself to him, which disturbed him. Bond knew himself not to be a good model when compassion or emotion were involved.

"She feels guilt and remorse for her actions. The news did not go over well."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

She hooted. "Well, good God, Bond, of course it didn't go over well! Remember how you felt when you found out she'd played you, and imagine that feeling multiplied by about a thousand. It's called being human." Another sip of water. "What is Vesper's present attitude toward Quantum? How is she likely to react if she's approached again?"

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

M's comment bothered him, but he brushed it aside for now, because ignoring troubling emotions had always worked so well for him in the past.

"Ms. Lynd's hope is to not be approached again, and she's taking some precautions to avoid being recognized if she goes out in public. I would think that if she was contacted again, she'd want nothing to do with them." Again, an understatement. It was a habit to downplay everything.

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

One eyebrow rose sardonically. "Why ever not? Could be a profitable association for her. Surely a Treasury grind like herself must see that."

M knew why, of course. But she needed to hear Bond say it.

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

"Maybe you should be asking her yourself, then," he said coldly. "She's in Slytherin. I'm sure you'd agree that it's more than slightly fitting."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

"I could and no doubt will," M replied equally coldly. "But she's under no obligation to answer me, and you are. Therefore I am asking you, 007."

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

"I highly doubt Ms. Lynd's motives have been profit," he said. "Nothing I have seen has benefited her personally."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

"No, death generally doesn't," she agreed. "Come on, Bond, give over. Is Vesper Lynd likely to be in sympathy with Quantum's aims if approached or not?"

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

This he could be firm on. "No," he said.

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

"You know I'm not going to be able to take your word for that. I'll have to talk to her myself," M warned, then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I would be delighted to be able to trust her, you know, Bond. But your evasiveness is making that impossible. Why do you always have to make everything ten times more complicated than it need be?"

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

"Because you refuse to accept that things are more complicated than you'd like them to be." Things were more complicated than even he liked them. "I have my reasons. They haven't failed you in the past."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

M gritted her teeth. "If I know what the complications are, then I can factor them into my instructions to you. If I don't, I risk everything turning into an enormous tangle. Damn it all, Bond, why can't you just trust me? We're on the same side!"

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

Because trusting M would mean trusting somebody other than himself. He'd lived his whole adult life without that trust, and the one time he'd tried, it had blown up spectacularly. "You've tried to have me arrested," he said, "when you knew I was on your side. I'd say that might give me a reason or two. This is unfamiliar territory for both of us. Nobody knows what the complications are."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

"Not by choice. I also let you get away from that arrest so you could finish what you started. Do you really think that with a small army of operatives and near-infinite surveillance capabilities I couldn't have found your next stop and brought you back in?"

She shook her head. "No, the fact is that I give you an extraordinary amount of free rein, Bond. We both get away with it to the extent that we do because that approach has so far yielded spectacular results. But for it to work we have to work together. Especially in unfamiliar territory. Who else here would you propose either of us trust more but each other?"

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

"Nobody," Bond said. Who else was there to trust?

"If you feel my integrity's been so badly compromised by what's going on here, then who would you like to send to replace me? Assuming, of course, that you can get somebody in undercover again."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

Good grief. Was Bond really giving her what one of her Net-nerd children would doubtless call a flounce? M shook her head in amazement.

"Called into question, 007, not compromised, and it's your own behavior that's raised the question and you know it. Fortunately, your supervisor is here to watch over your shoulder on this assignment."

The smile she gave him was not a pretty one.

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

If Bond had really been flouncing, there would have been a lot more exploding going on. Instead he was quite serious. It was the ghosts from his past that were causing the problem. He was wondering if it would be time for M to tell him to walk away.

"You had better be careful, M," he said. "You might find out that you're going to need someone to watch over yours."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

Another hoot. "We're making threats now? Bond, if you want to burn your bridges, just burn them. Don't try to maneuver me into lighting the match for you. I don't handle well."

[blond-bondshell.livejournal.com]

"No," he said, closing his eyes. For a second he looked tired and worn out, but it was only for a moment. Bond opened his eyes and all of that vanished. Let M learn for herself what was going on here. "It's a warning. Be careful. And let me do my job."

He finished his scotch. "I'll have the report in the morning."

[m-otherhen.livejournal.com]

"Noted. Let me know if you need anything. And I'll be waiting for the report."

She took a last swallow of water and walked away, suit of armor trailing behind.