Chapter 3

Chapter 3

There was no such thing as fear anymore…only pain and sadness and degradation. Loneliness. Listening had hurt, but talking about it had been even worse. As long as you didn’t say anything, you could almost pretend that it hadn’t been real.

They had gone from talking, to crying, to drinking the twenty-year-old Scotch James had hidden in the bottom drawer. They had both sworn not to talk about the crying ever again. It was a man thing.

James lifted his glass. “Here is to betrayal.”

Jack dutifully drank when James did. “Why to betrayal?”

“Why not? It has brought me this far.”

“And that is a good thing?” Jack asked, sounding skeptical.

“No. But it was the best thing.” James replied as he stared down into his glass. “Did it make me happy? Absolutely not. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I will never be that naïve again.”

“Do you think being jaded is really for the best?” Jack asked as he took another sip of his drink.

“It doesn’t hurt as much.”

Jack looked solemn for a moment. “I will always love my wife, I will always grieve for her…miss her. But I cannot swear I will not love again…even if it means getting hurt again. Without sadness, how do we ever know if we are happy?”

“It isn’t the sadness I am running from. It is the happiness that hurts.”

Not knowing how to answer that, Jack merely finished his drink, and they both sat in a contemplative silence for a while after.

*&^%$#@

Three Weeks Later

“I think M was inviting trouble when she hired you. You know even more ways to break the rules than I do.” James said as he settled in on the weight machine next to Jack. They had taken to working out together in the mornings.

“Yeah, it was probably for the best that I quit before they could fire me.” Jack replied with a grin. “Kim wants you to come over tonight for dinner. She said, and I quote, ‘I want to meet the hunky secret agent you’ve been teaching.’.”

“You told her I was hunky?” James asked with an upraised brow.

Jack laughed. “Nah, she just assumes that all secret agents have to be handsome and dashing. I think it is a teenager thing.”

“Well, I would hate to disappoint a fan, what time should I be there?” James asked as he paused in his weightlifting to wipe the sweat from his face.

“Seven would be good. You have the address?” Jack asked.

“Yes, it is in your personnel file. I have a copy of it on my computer.”

Jack turned to look at him. “Been checking up on me, have you?”

“Hardly, M sent it to me when she was trying to convince me this was a good idea.” James shot back.

“Well, now that I’ve been here for a while, do you agree or disagree?” Jack asked.

“You’re not so bad. I guess I stand to have you around for a little while longer.” James said after a pause. Then he began to laugh, and Jack soon was laughing as well.

*&^%$#@

That Evening

“So when is he going to be here?” Kim asked.

“At seven, the same time I told you the last thirty times you asked.” Jack replied teasingly as he took the garlic bread out of the oven. He hoped James liked Italian because it was the only thing he cooked with any amount of skill.

That doorbell rang, and Kim raced for the door. “I’ll get it!”

Jack just smiled as he wiped his hands and headed for the door. He got there just as Kim opened the door. James stood outside the door dressed nicely in a cream-colored turtleneck and dove gray slacks. Kim could only gape at him in awe. He was even more handsome than she had imagined.

“Good evening.” James said. “May I come in?”

“Oh, of course. Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting, but Dad neglected to mention how hot you are.” Kim said as she motioned him inside.

Jack was scandalized. “Kim! That is not exactly the thing you say to someone twice your age. Aren’t there any nice British boys your age that you can flirt with?”

James laughed. “Thank you for the compliment, but I am afraid your father is right, I am probably a bit too old for you.” James brought out something from behind his back. “I did come bearing gifts, however. Would Godiva chocolate be enough to soothe your broken heart?”

Kim didn’t hesitate for a second. She grabbed the box and turned to go into the dining room. “It will do for now, but I may need more the next time you come over.”

Jack could only shake his head and chuckle at his daughter’s antics. “Thank you for that, I think you made her evening.”

“I actually brought them for both of you, as a thank you gift for inviting me over, but I don’t know if you will be able to get your hands on them now.” James said as they walked towards the dining room. He cast a side along look at Jack. “Nice apron by the way.”

Jack’s eyes widened as he looked down. Sure enough, he had forgotten to take off the hot pink apron he had borrowed from Kim so he wouldn’t get his clothes dirty. “Damn it.”

James could only laugh.

(*&^%$#@

Dinner turned out to be a wonderful affair. Jack couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed so much in one sitting. He could tell that James enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere as well. Kim was looking lighter than she had in months. Jack decided that having James over for dinner would have to be a regular occurrence. It seemed to be a healing experience for all of them.

*&^%$#@

The Next Morning
MI6 Headquarters

M called both Jack and James into her office. James had been expecting it, he was overdue for a mission, but both of them wondered why she wanted to see Jack since he was not an active field agent.

“What I am about to tell you has to be guarded with the utmost secrecy.” She said as they came into the room.

“Of course, that goes without question. If everyone could know about what we do, then they wouldn’t call us secret agents.” James joked, but he soon regretted it as he caught sight of M’s glare.

“What I meant, was that this has to stay secret even from other MI6 personnel. Even in an office such as this, gossip still gets around and makes its way into to other departments. We cannot afford for any other government agencies to find out what we are going to do.” M answered.

“Why is it so important to keep things from our own government? That seems…uncharacteristic of us.” James asked.

“In all likelihood they would try to stop us. You see- I want to investigate another government-sanctioned agency. The most secret agency in England.” M replied.

“If this is so top secret, why am I being included in this discussion?” Jack asked.

“I need your help. I want to keep MI6 personnel out of this as much as possible. I am asking James to go on this mission because he is one of the few people I trust with my life, but he will need a partner. I was hoping I could persuade you to come out of retirement for this one mission. If it helps, I do not classify this as an extremely dangerous mission, just one that must be handled with great delicacy.”

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me hear the details, then I will decide.”

“Understandable.” M replied. “The group I want you to investigate is the Hellsing Agency. Rumor has it that they report directly to the royal family, that is the reason I fear that an official inquiry would be stopped.”

“The Hellsing Agency?” James asked. “I have never even heard of them. I take it they are black ops?”

“The blackest. Even I only know their name, not what they do.” M replied.

“I’ve heard of them before.” Jack said, looking thoughtful. “I came across it once when I was studying the treaties we have with other countries. Jurisdictional law becomes kind of tricky when you are looking for terrorists internationally, so it is good to know what deals we have made with other countries.

“America had a treaty with England that gives the Hellsing Agency complete jurisdiction over any case they wish to take. The treaty doesn’t say why though, or what they do. I remembered it because I thought it was highly unusual.”

“I must admit that I am curious.” James said. “But why did they draw your attention all of the sudden?”

“About a week ago a top secret government lab was destroyed. No one knows what was going on there because all of the personnel are dead, and all of the technology was either destroyed or stolen. No one has been able to find any external records that tell what was going on there.”

M paused to look through some papers on her desk. “There were reports that the lab may have been involved with a large kidnapping ring, but nothing could ever be proven. No one has taken credit for the lab’s destruction, and many suspect that it was the Hellsing Agency, or someone connected with them, doing a little in house cleaning. Meaning, they may have destroyed the lab because it was involved with something illegal that they wanted to cover up.”

“So, you want us to investigate the lab?” James asked.

“I would like to know what was going on there, but you won’t get the answers there. I want you to investigate the Hellsing Agency to see if they did it, and if they did, find out why.”

“How are we supposed to investigate this top secret agency that very few people even know about? Add on to that the fact that we cannot ask anyone in our government…it sounds impossible”

“I never knew you were such a pessimist, Mr. Bond.” M teased. “As it happens, we are in luck. For unknown reasons, the Hellsing Agency has abandoned some of their secrecy this week. They have even made the location of their estate public knowledge. Before, it wasn’t even on any map.”

“Why?” Jack asked. “That seems rather counterintuitive for a secret agency.”

“They are holding a grand ball tomorrow night. Catering personnel has been shipped in from London by the dozens. The official reason given is that the last remaining heir of the Hellsing family is going to announce her engagement, but there is something strange about it.

“People are flying in from all over the world for this ball. Several thousand. I cannot believe that that many people care if this girl gets married. I want you two to crash the ball and find out what it is all about. With that many guests, no one will notice two more.”

“You’re right, I don’t think it sounds that dangerous as well. I’ll go along.” Jack said. “If they find us, I doubt they will like the fact that we are snooping, but I doubt they will harm us considering how much negative attention that would bring.”

“Excellent, I expect you both to see about getting new suits for the ball. Send the bill to us, but we need to make sure you both look spectacular. The cover we are using for you is that you are a gay couple who heard about a great party going on and decided to crash it.” M said as they turned to leave the room.

Both men spun around. “What?!”

*&^%$#@

To be continued in Chapter 23 in Neverwhere. I wanted to write a longer story for these two, but this is what I came up with as a plot device to get them together, so this story is going to merge with the main story now.

Reviews and recommendations are always welcome. ^-^