Chapter 1: Cold
Chapter Text
Isabelle sat with her little sister in their room, Madeleine playing around with some a little game that their dad had gotten for her while Isabelle was sitting on her bed playing music softly on her guitar, freezing when she heard their mother calling for them. She looked over to Madeleine and gave her a soft smile and a roll of her eyes to make her laugh softly. "Allez gamin, voyons ce que veut la mère." (Come on kid, let's go see what mother wants.) The pair got up and started down the winding stairs from their room to the living room, Isabelle's face slowly losing the smile to be replaced with just a blank look as they approached their drunk mother.
A bit later as the pair were cleaning up after their mother, Isabelle froze and looked up out of the window to see someone in the treeline. "Madeleine... nous devons entrer dans le coffre-fort." (Madeleine...we need to get to the safe room.) She said softly, not taking her eyes off of the figure as they slowly got closer and closer.
Madeleine looked up at her big sister with a frown at her words. "Mais pourquoi?" (But why?) She asked as she got to her feet.
"Ne me questionne pas, fais ce que je dis." (Don't question me, just do what I say.) She said as she grabbed Madeleine's hand and started to pull her over to the door to the safe room and tried to put in the code but it failed the first few times. "Merde! Pourquoi ne travailles-tu pas?!" (Shit! Why won't you work?!) She cursed, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes to try and remain calm. Isabelle let out a breath and tried one more time just as she heard footsteps in the house, the door to the room unlocked and she quickly pushed Madeleine inside. "Reste ici et ne sors pas quoi qu'il arrive. Ne pensez même pas non plus à vous disputer." (Stay in here and don't come out no matter what. Don't even think of arguing either.) She said before closing the door and made sure that it locked tightly shut, she turned just in time to see the silhouette of someone on the other side of the frosted glass door.
The figure stood there for a moment before it turned and walked away to where their mother was passed out sleeping. Isabelle was shaking as she watched the figure walk away before she hurried to the kitchen where she knew her dad hid a gun under the sink. As quickly and quietly as she could, Isabelle grabbed the Beretta and made sure it was loaded before starting to head back to the living room and up the winding stairs to her and Madeline's room, she just made it to her bed when a gun shots went off and she let out a cry of surprise, covering her mouth quickly before she quickly hid, laying on the floor by Madeline's bed.
The sound of footsteps coming up the steps caused her whole body to tense up, she held her breath as she heard him getting closer until he was on the other side of the beds. She listened closely as he turned and started to head for the stairs again, slowly and silently letting out the breath that she had been holding in. When the sound of her little sister's phone going off chimed through the open room, Isabelle's eyes became wide and she turned her head to see that the man had stopped and turned back to the beds. This would be her only chance, she had to keep her sister safe, make sure that this man couldn't hurt her even if she was hidden away in the safe room, getting up to her knees quickly, she shot at him at the same time that he shot his 58 Compact at her, the impact of her shots hit him and knocked him back, causing him to break through the banister and to the floor below.
"Oh dieu oh dieu oh dieu, qu'est-ce que j'ai fait?" (Oh god oh god oh god, what did I do?) Isabelle said as she rushed over to look down at the man on the floor before she hurried down the stairs and moved to stand over the man, she was at a loss as to what to do as she stared down at him. Glancing in the direction of the safe room, she knew she had to let her little sister out soon to make sure that she was still alright. Walking over to the man's feet, she picked up his legs and started to drag him out of the house, wincing as his head thumped against the steps and she had to force herself not to apologize. Isabelle was able to drag him outside and into the snow, only to slip on a patch of ice and fall to the ground with a small cry, dropping the man's legs in the process.
The sound of a gasp coming from what she thought was a dead body caused the young woman's heart to freeze in her chest. When the man suddenly sat up, Isabella quickly got to her feet and started to back away, she had to get him away from the house, away from her sister. Without thinking about it, Isabella quickly turned and started to run across the frozen lake as he started to get up to his feet. She'd made it to the middle of the lake before she heard cracking under her feet that caused her stop dead in her tracks. She looked down at the ice as she turned, wondering if she could get away from the cracking ice before it gave way, but just as she took another step, the ice gave way and down into the freezing cold water she went.
Safin stood there for a moment after seeing the girl fall through the ice before he hurried over to where she had gone down, looking down to see her under the clear ice, trying to free herself. He knew that she wouldn't be able to hold her breath forever and luckily he still had his 58 Compact on him, as he took aim he could see the panic and fear in her eyes before he started to fire around her. Once the ice was weak enough, he punched through it and grabbed her by the back of the jacket she was wearing, pulling her back out to safety. Isabella coughed up water as she was tossed to the ground, her body shaking from the cold that immediately took over her thanks to her soaking wet clothing, she looked up at the man standing over her as he stared down at her. "Remember this day." He said softly before he turned and started to walk away from her.
Chapter 2: The Mask
Chapter Text
The crisp morning air filled her lungs as she jogged down the sidewalk, Isabelle was just starting up to her house when her phone started to ring. "Yes, hello?" She answered as she slowed to a walk, walking up the steps and gave a small frown at the innocent looking package that was sat there by her mail box waiting for her.
"C, it's Q, we could use a bit of help at work." Said the voice on the other end of the phone, distracting her from how odd it was for a package to be on the steps and picked it up as she went inside.
"Q, what's going on?" She asked as she closed the door behind her, too occupied with the phone call to realize that the door had been unlocked already. She placed her mail on her kitchen table and started to look through it while listening to Q.
As Q spoke, Isabella froze suddenly while opening the package that she had gotten. "Q...I think I've been compromised." She said before hanging up her phone, not letting him say anything back. Her eyes were glued to the mask that was in the box, that mask that the man who killed her mother wore. The man who pulled her out of the ice.
Her heart was racing in her chest, eyes wide with panic, her hands were shaking as she slowly started to reach under the kitchen table, only to freeze when she didn't feel the gun she kept underneath. "Looking for something?" A familiar voice came from behind her suddenly.
Isabella spun around, her eyes going wide when she saw him standing there across from her with her gun in hand. He was older than he had been when they first met, but so was she, he looked a bit different not wearing a parka. Now he was wearing a dark blue kimono jacket, a high collar blue button up, black fitted slacks, and black boots.
"Long time no see Isabella." He said with a small smirk on his face as he tucked away her gun.
"How did you find me?" She asked as she stood a bit straighter, doing her best to be brave and not show how scared she really was. "M should have hidden everything about my past, only those who need to know anything should know where I live." She had only ever told her sister and Q where she lived.
Lyutsifer Safin gave a smirk as he tilted his head slightly to one side. "That's just the thing my dear, nothing can be kept a secret from me. I've kept a very close eye on you since I saved your life and spared your sister." He said, making sure that she knew he could have killed them both. "You know... saving a life is almost like making sure that a person belongs to me." He said as he stepped closer to Isabella.
Isabella gulped nervously at his words as she took a step back away from Lyutsifer, if she could just hold him off from whatever it was that he was planning, maybe she would survive and the people she knew Q would have sent would get here before he could do anything. "Are you trying to say that I belong to you?" She asked him with a frown on her face.
Safin stopped and gazed at Isabella with a curious look before shaking his head at her words. "I don't think that you belong to me...I know that you belong to me." He said with a small smirk on his face before he took a step back and looked to the door. "How are your sister and niece doing? Living away back at that house you lived in as a child?" He asked suddenly.
Blue eyes went wide as already pale skin became almost deathly white at those words. How did he know this? How did he know about her niece? Even Bond didn't know about her! "What do you want from me?" She asked, her body shaking in fear, she knew that she would do whatever it took to keep Madeleine and Mathilde safe.
"I'll tell you that later, for now though my dear, I will take my leave before your friends get here. With my mask you will find a cypher, one that only you can solve, solve it and you'll find where I want you to meet me...don't solve it or try to get someone to help you and I'll have to make sure that I pay a visit to your sister and niece." Safin said before he turned and left Isabella's house without another word.
Isabella stood there, shocked, as she was left alone, she stood frozen until she suddenly felt hands on the sides of her face and heard her name being called. As she snapped back to reality, she saw Q standing there, trying to get her attention. "Quincy? W-What are you doing here?" She asked, blinking a few times to try and clear her head.
Q frowned slightly as he shook his head slightly, checking Isabella's eyes to make sure that she was alright. "Isabella, what happened?" He asked as he continues to check her vitals to be positive that she was alright.
The young woman shook her head as she shifted slightly. "I'm fine...I just got spooked by forgetting to lock my door before I left." She lied easily, taking a deep breath to calm herself down and focus again. She had work to do and she needed everyone to leave before she could get started. "I think I'm going to take today off, I must be over working myself if I think someone is breaking in." She said as she ran her fingers through her hair.
Q studied her for a moment before nodding his head and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Get some rest." He said before calling out to the team, everyone filing out of her home to give her some peace and quiet.
As soon as she was left alone, Isabella let out a shaky sigh before she quickly grabbed the box with the mask in it and ran upstairs to her office.