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The Maltese sun beat down mercilessly on the training grounds. James Bond didn’t mind obstacle courses; climbing walls, crawling through tight crevices with no torch, crossing ropes suspended over shallow ravines. It was all predictable, physical, and straightforward.
But they were never easy, and he hated losing. With folded arms, he watched Monroe ascend and descend the course.
"Thirty eight seconds”, Greenway's voice carried across the compound.
Monroe dropped from the final wall and landed with a heavy thud, dusting off his hands and knees.
Of course he managed it in thirty eight seconds.
Monroe barely looked winded as he walked back toward the group. A sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead and arms, but his breathing remained steady. He caught Bond watching him, so he lifted an eyebrow and gave him a look that said, ‘beat that’.
Bond smirked, and he was about to lean in to talk to Monroe, who came to a stop beside him, but Greenway’s voice cut through first.
"Bond” Greenway pointed toward the starting line, "Your turn”.
A few recruits exchanged looks.
Everyone knew Bond, Bright and Monroe were competing for the top spots in the programme. And everyone, except for Cressida, assumed it was friendly and professional rivalry.
"Try not to embarrass yourself”, Monroe gave him a slap on the back to send him off.
"Three”, Greenway raised his hand, “Two”
Bond rolled his shoulders.
"One”.
He exploded forward. The first section disappeared beneath him. He vaulted barriers, scrambled over walls and hit the rope crossing without breaking stride. Halfway through the course, he checked his watch timer.
He was ahead. Good.
The next obstacle was a beam suspended over a steep drop into a ravine. The correct route required recruits to slow down and cross carefully.
Bond jumped it.
Several people shouted out in concern and panic.
His boots struck the beam, and for a dangerous few seconds, he very nearly slipped. But he recovered and kept running.
"Bond!" Greenway's voice echoed across the training area again, but Bond ignored him.
The final section is approached. He could still beat Monroe's time. There was a narrow tunnel, a climbing wall and then a drop to finish.
Simple.
So, he launched himself into the tunnel, and his shoulder clipped the sides. Pain flared through his shoulder and arm, but he pushed through it.
The finish line was so close.
He heard Greenway shouting again, and then a whistle. Bond dropped down anyway with a thud after crossing through the finish.
As he dusted off his hands, Greenway was already walking toward him, so Bond straightened up. "Thirty seconds”, Greenway said as he stopped directly in front of him. "Congratulations”, he said sarcastically.
Bond frowned.
"You've achieved the fastest time on the course today”
The recruits glanced at one another, and Bond wasn't sure where this was going.
Greenway turned towards the rest of the group. "Does anyone know why that achievement is completely meaningless?"
Nobody answered.
Greenway looked back at Bond. "Go on. Tell them."
Bond said nothing.
"I said, tell them”
Bond clenched his jaw. "I don’t-"
"You ignored direct instructions. You broke protocol," Greenway stepped closer. "Because you took unnecessary risks”. Another step. "And because if this had been a real operation, there is a reasonable chance you would currently be dead”.
The training ground fell silent.
Greenway looked around the recruits. "Let's all thank Bond."
A few confused expressions appeared.
"Thanks to him, we've been given a perfect demonstration of what happens when talent is combined with stupidity”
Several recruits immediately looked away, but Bond felt every eye on him.
"Sir-"
"Quiet”, Greenway didn't raise his voice, which somehow made it worse. "You know what's frustrating about you, Bond?"
James didn’t answer.
"You're good. Which means every mistake you make is a choice. You have the physical ability. God knows how, but you have the intelligence”. His expression hardened, "But every time you think you're the smartest person in the room, you stop listening. So, who posted the best legitimate time today?"
James glanced at the man in question before he spoke, "Monroe, sir”.
"Correct”, Greenway nodded, "Monroe followed instructions. Monroe completed every objective and understood the assignment”.
A few recruits shifted awkwardly. "Meanwhile, Bond treated it like a fun run"
There were some snickers then, and Bond felt his face burning.
"Tell me, James Bond”, Greenway tilted his head slightly, "did you beat Monroe?"
"No, sir."
“Sir-” Monroe stepped forward to intervene, but Greenway ignored him.
"That’s interesting”, Greenway glanced at his tablet. “Monroe completed the exercise, and you did not. Which means not only did you fail… You somehow managed to lose while cheating."
A couple of recruits snorted, and Bond wished the ground would open beneath him.
Greenway finally stepped back. "Outstanding work, Bond". The sarcasm dripped from every syllable. "You are dismissed for the day"
Bond remained frozen.
"Now"
James sharply walked away, and Monroe’s hand flinched to reach for him, but he didn’t.
Behind him, Greenway called to the remaining recruits. "Ladies and gentlemen, today's lesson: ego gets you buried. Right, next exercise”.
Bond didn’t go to the bunks; he didn’t even remain on the compound. He kept walking until the terrain changed entirely. He went all the way to the beach, made up of uneven layers of rock and salt-worn stones. Instructors had once said it was ‘outside the perimeter’.
He climbed down carefully, boots scraping loose stone, until the sounds of the compound disappeared completely. He sat on a flat slab of rock that jutted out toward the water and pulled a handful of stones from the ground beside him.
One after another, he threw them out into the bay. Greenway’s voice still sat at the edge of his thoughts; clinical and unforgiving. Each toss released a bit more anger each time. He refused to cry over him, even if he couldn’t see it; he didn’t want to give the man any more satisfaction.
Back at the compound, training continued without him. Greenway didn’t comment on Bond’s absence at all. He simply reassigned rotations and moved on to the next exercise as if the gap in the lineup was already accounted for. And everyone noticed, though no one spoke up for him.
By the time the final exercise ended, the sun had started to set. The bunks filled quickly with noise; boots dropped, gear dumped, conversations about timings, mistakes, and the highlight: Bond.
Monroe walked in late and looked once across the room. Bond’s bed was made, and nothing of his had been disturbed. There was no sign he had returned to his bed. Monroe checked his phone and saw no messages from him. He sent a couple and waited. A few minutes passed, and there was nothing, which was unlike Bond. He always read his messages as soon as they came through, though getting him to reply was another matter entirely.
“Jumping the beam”, Singh chuckled, “very Bond, but absolute madness”.
Ronson snorted out a laugh, and Nash tried to hide his giggles, too.
“It’s not funny,” Monroe said, putting his phone in his pocket.
The conversation faltered, but then Ronson scoffed, “He’ll be fine. Greenway always does that”.
“That’s not the point”, Monroe glared.
Nash raised an eyebrow. “What, you his handler now?”
Singh folded his arms across his chest, “he got thrown out for being reckless. That’s on him”.
Monroe’s expression tightened slightly, “You all laughed”.
“Why didn’t you say something properly then?”
Monroe held his gaze, “I tried.”
“No you didn’t, you just stood there as all of us did”.
Monroe didn’t answer; he just exhaled through his nose, turned and walked away.
Cressida was in the corridor outside the admin block when he passed.
Monroe slowed slightly, “Have you seen him?” he asked, to which she shook her head.
“Don’t make it obvious that you’re looking for him,” she said quietly.
“I never do,” he said as he started on his way again.
“Bring him back before Greenway notices he’s missing properly”, she said, though he was already out the door.
Monroe searched around the training facility for an hour or so before I decided to venture out to the rest of the island. He deduced Bond wouldn’t go to the town nearby, so he decided to check the beaches first.
The route out of the compound was simple if you knew where to look. Monroe didn’t take the main paths. He cut through the SAS buildings and then down toward the coastal edge where the MI6 training boundary markers stopped. He stopped when he saw the first set of footprints in the dusted stone, and when he was sure they were Bond’s, he followed them.
Monroe found him eventually, throwing rocks and pebbles into the sea from a slab of rock. He stopped a few metres back and watched for a moment before speaking. “You’re reckless,” he called out.
Bond didn’t turn; he just flipped a pebble over in his hand. “I’m aware”.
“That’s not what Greenway thinks”
Bond looked over his shoulder, “You agree with him then?”
Monroe stepped closer, “I agree you nearly got yourself injured or killed for no reason.”
Bond gave a short, humourless breath, “There was a reason”
“Winning isn’t a reason,” Monroe said.
“Did you come here just to repeat his fucking speech?”
Monroe didn’t flinch. “No. I came here because you weren’t in the bunks and you didn’t answer my messages”.
Bond looked away first, “Well, I’m fine.”
Monroe shook his head as he crossed over the stones, but he reached him. He stood beside Bond as he remained seated, legs crossed and hunched over himself.
Then Bond exhaled slowly. “I’m really starting to hate him,” he whispered. “I don’t know why he’s got it out for me specifically. All because of what? Because I was later into the programme? Because I’m just as good, if not better, than everyone in the fucking programme without six extra months of his atrocious lessons? Ridiculous,” he spat, tossing a stone angrily.
Monroe watched him carefully. “I don’t think it’s personal,” he said as he sat down beside him, legs spread and hanging over the edge of the slab.
Bond scoffed miserably, “Oh, right, cheers, that makes it tons better, I forgive him for everything”.
Monroe watched him, his features shifting into a frown.
“I didn’t need him doing that in front of everyone. This isn’t the fucking military, what gives him the- how can he be allowed to dress me down like that?”
Monroe shifted his weight slightly. “You were reckless, though”, he tried again.
“Of course I was, but I knew I could make it! I’ve been rock climbing for years, I did parkour as a child, I know what I’m doing”
“I should’ve said something,” Monroe sighed.
Bond looked at him sharply, “Well, you didn’t”
Monroe’s expression tightened slightly, “I know”, he sighed, “I didn’t want to draw attention to us and…I was trying not to make it worse”
Bond shook his head once, “You could’ve just said something as a friend, you’ve done it before”.
“I’m still learning where that line is” Monroe looked back out at the sea and then reached over to him to squeeze his thigh. “I was worried, in that moment, I imagined you falling,” he said. “And then I didn’t know where you went. I didn’t know if you’d actually just walked off for an hour or if you’d done something stupid to prove a point”.
“I wouldn’t have jumped if I thought I was in danger, and I wouldn’t have gone back to the course alone to try it again either, I’m not stupid”.
Monroe squeezed his thigh again, then let his hand rest there. “I will next time,” he said quietly. “Defend you, I mean.”
Bond looked at him. “Next time?”
Monroe didn’t hesitate. “There will be one.”
That earned a small, reluctant breath of laughter from Bond. Not amusing exactly. “Of course there will,” he muttered.
The tension between them eased. Monroe moved slightly closer then, until there was no space left between them. He didn’t speak for a moment, and neither did Bond. Then Monroe lifted a hand, lightly catching Bond’s chin and turning his face toward him.
Bond didn’t resist, and so Monroe leaned in. It was gentle at first, but the longer it went on, the deeper it became. Bond’s hand moved to Monroe’s knee, holding him there.
When they broke apart, neither of them pulled away immediately. “Three days is too long between kisses,” he said quietly.
Monroe hummed in agreement, “far too long,” he whispered.
They both leaned into each other again.