Hello Detective

Gregson Part 9

"Mycroft I..." I spoke as I walked into his office before abruptly stopping.

"...one of the best I've had in years." I heard the end of a conversation that stopped as I entered the room.

"M? Sir.. I wasn't expecting to see you here." I stuttered, seeing my boss standing next to Mycroft's desk. There was tension in the air and it made me uneasy.

"Well I hope you've enjoyed your brief vacation 009 but I'm afraid it will have to be cut short." M began, I looked to Mycroft and he had his head down, clearly stressed.

"May I ask why?" I asked, approaching the desk.

"It's a matter of extreme discretion, but one of our men has gotten himself in a little over his head and we need you to extract him." M said, and I nodded, hoping for him to continue.

"He's been deep undercover for some time now, so we can't give you many details about his appearance as they would have changed frequently. We can tell you where he is expected to be, and that he has been going under the name Sergei Romanov. We suspect he's being held in a military prison camp off the grid in Serbia." M informed me.

"You'd risk two agents for him? What's so important about this guy?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"He's an expert in his field and we're getting intel on an imminent terror attack in London that we need him on. And we're not risking two agents, just one." M corrected me, and I raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to do this alone? I just assumed Bass would be working with me, I mean we've worked together on nearly every case over the last year or so." I stated.

"I trust you, and Mycroft trusts you. Plus I believe you speak Serbian, that might speed up the process. Now, Mycroft has your passports and other paperwork you might need. I've got to run, I've got a meeting with the Home Secretary." M said, nearing the door and I nodded.

"Oh and 009," he stopped and I turned to face him, "thank you and good luck."

He spoke cryptically and I turned back to Mycroft with a brow raised after M closed the door.

"He says that like I'm not coming back." I joked lightly.

"You're not. Well not to MI6 at least." Mycroft said, gathering some papers at his desk.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked, shock.

Mycroft slid another file towards me, and I flipped it open to find a passport and other official documents. I opened it expecting to see a made up name, and was taken aback when the name I saw was my own... on a British passport.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Your citizenship. I had to pull a few strings, you haven't met the required live in time but I think it will come over better if the Secret Service's new Director General is at least a legal citizen." He cracked a small smile.

"You want me to run MI5?" I asked, not thinking he was serious.

"Well it's more of an assistant position, a figure head. I run it but as far as the public is concerned you would be the one calling the shots. I know what you're thinking, and yes you are ready for this. It's time you take that step forward in your career, stop selling yourself short. You're capable of much more, and quite frankly we need you. I need you." Mycroft said.

"What about the agent extraction?" I asked.

"The position becomes effective upon your return. Now Mallory mentioned the matter of your discretion. Agent 007 is to be kept 'out of the loop' so to speak." He said.