Disclaimer: Still don't own Bond. I don't even own all of the movies – just two…
This story is a continuation of "Snow White Queen", but as this one is not a songfic (and is the start of something larger) I thought I would post it separately.
Bond hid in the dense foliage of the jungle. It had rained recently, giving a more exotic air to the trees around him. He had already made a note of where his target would appear, and now the wait began.
In the three weeks since Vesper's funeral, he had tried to keep himself busy, though there wasn't much to do. Mr. White was being interrogated, but M wouldn't let James anywhere near him. She had claimed it was because the mess of his resignation still hadn't been cleared up, but Bond knew better. She was worried about his seeming lack of emotion, and likely didn't trust him to be in the same room as White. Not that he could blame her, after the state in which he had delivered the prisoner. It didn't help that she had ordered him to see a psychiatrist – common procedure, she had claimed, after undergoing severe and/or prolonged torture.
James was annoyed by her implied lack of confidence in him, and had taken to avoiding her office. Instead, he sent daily emails to her, asking about his work status. She had finally replied to one of them in two succinct sentences. "Leave me the hell alone. I'm trying to work." He was given a new mission the next day.
It consisted of the live capture and transportation of a known fugitive. Miles Standing was a British terrorist who had taken to hiding in Panama – where he clearly hoped MI6 wouldn't find him. Bond was more inclined to believe that M didn't care much about the man. His attacks had never been successful, and he hadn't tried anything recently; he was, in essence, quite a small fish. But this small fish had just been made Bond's assignment.
When James had read the details of his mission, he had written a scathing email to M, telling her in no uncertain terms that if she was going to treat him like a child, than she should just consider his resignation final. It took all his self control to stop himself from pushing the "send" button. Instead he had erased it and sent, "Hardly the big picture."
Her reply? "I know who you were. Now I need to find out who you are." James shook his head as he read the post-script. "One piece, Bond. Preferably not bleeding." He was right – she didn't trust him.
The hell with it, Bond had thought. He set off on the mission, knowing that if he wanted a future at MI6 it was M, alone, that he had to convince of his mental state. So now he sat in the jungle, waiting for the near-worthless mark to cross his sights. I had more exciting assignments when I was still in training, James thought as he lay on the jungle floor. He took a moment to smear some of the local dirt on his already camouflaged skin, and wished again that he had thought to bring his brown contact lenses. Ice blue eyes were easily noticed, and not easily hidden.
A sudden sound of crunching footsteps through the fallen leaves made Bond stare at the ground. He wouldn't risk looking at the man until he was much closer. Waiting patiently, James focused on keeping perfectly still. His tranquilizer gun was already in position – all he had to do was fire, and Standing was his.
The footsteps were still 8 feet away when he felt the muzzle of a gun pressed up against his neck. "Take your hands off the gun. Slowly…" Bond did as he was told, suppressing his surprise. "Now stand up."
He stood, and found himself face to face with the target. Standing had a triumphant smile on his face as he nodded to someone over Bond's shoulder. "Good work," he said simply.
"Turn around," the gruff voice commanded. James had to look up to see the man's face – he had to be at least 6'7". How could I have missed him? Bond wondered. "Hands up," the large man commanded, brandishing a machine gun. His finger was dangerously close to the trigger.
Bond raised his arms slowly. This just got a lot more complicated. His mind began to compute possible avenues of escape, when the butt of the machine gun was slammed into the bridge of his nose. Bond gasped involuntarily and fell to his knees. Before he could bring his hands up, the big man hit him again – this time on the back of the head – and everything went dark.
The adventure will continue soon!
Reviews, anyone? ;-)