Q

[0_0_7]

Bond left medical and found a car in the car park that was foolishly left unlocked. It took very little to get it started and he was on his way. He drove to Hex's flat and parked round back, noting his Audi was gone. There was fresh gravel down, too. He entered the building and dread filled him when he found his key wouldn't open the door. Bond, however, was resourceful and a hard grip and a shove of his shoulder and he broke in the door. He'd pay to have it fixed.

The flat was empty for the most part. A few things that were clearly Hex's. Bond looked around. No food in the cupboards, none of the dishes or anything they'd bought to make it feel like home. He walked into the bathroom and there wasn't even stray cat litter on the floor.

He left quietly and went to his flat, one he'd not been to in quite some time. But when he opened the door it smelled lived in, the heat was on. The tv sat on the floor in the corner and his lone chair was in front of the table with a black cat curled up in it.

"Titania, what are you doing here?" he asked her, going to pick her up. She began to purr immediately. "Who were they, girl? Who were the bad men who have ruined everything?"

Of course she didn't answer.

Bond looked around his flat, seeing it was lived in, take away containers in the fridge, beer and whiskey, the bed wasn't made, just pulled up. It looked much too natural to be staged.

Bond found a cat carrier and took Titania and went straight for Q's. Oberon would be sad to have lost his mate...and Bond needed to see Q.

Comments

[quartermaster_q]

Q didn't know why, but everything felt ever so slightly wrong. It was nice to be back in his flat though, for some reason he felt as though he'd been away from it for far longer than a few days. Oberon appeared to feel the same way, rubbing against everything to reclaim it as his, and meowing curiously as though looking for someone or something.

Q decided it was best not to dwell on it, and easily settled into old habits.

Pot noodle, tea in his favourite mug, his playlist on repeat, and a bit of raunchy good times online in second life- A world so barren now that he truly felt like a lingering survive in a wasteland. ...He much preferred it that way, to be honest.

[0_0_7]

Bond hesitated at the door for a long moment, then took hold of the knob. At the last moment he let go and knocked instead.

[quartermaster_q]

Q jumped slightly at the knock, then got to his feet and made his way to the door. A glance at the digital peep hole let him know who it was, but he looked no less puzzled as he opened the door.

"Double-o seven, this makes it twice in one day. I'm flattered- I think."

[0_0_7]

Oberon was at Q's heel immediately, meowing at the crate Bond carried. Titania meowed right back. Before he said anything to Q, Bond let the black female out to play with the white male and they immediately began purring and grooming one another.

"I had to see you," he said. "I don't trust anyone else, Q."

And at the moment he didn't even trust Q, though he so terribly wanted to.

[quartermaster_q]

Q sighed, wondering just what Bond was going to come out with now- And then paused.

"Did you bring me a cat?" he asked, looking baffled.

[0_0_7]

Bond was already so weary of all this. But C's smarmy comments let him know he was right. Everyone else in his life had been messed about. Except, clearly, the cats.

"This is Titania. I bought her for you months ago. She and Oberon are the best of friends," he said, pleading for Q to believe even this one little thing.

[quartermaster_q]

"Please," Q sighed, pleading a bit as he shook his head. "You know how mad you sound, don't you? Please, double-o seven, just... Stop. Please."

[0_0_7]

"Look at them, Q," Bond said, pointing to the cats that had both curled up in Oberon's bed and licked each others ears. No hissing, no fighting. THey looked like very old friends.

"...I'm not mad. I swear it."

[quartermaster_q]

Q looked at the cats, then at Bond. "If I accept this one thing as truth, will you promise to admit that you are, perhaps, imagining the rest?" he asked softly, clearly not willing to budge or change his mind. He knew what he knew, and what he knew aligned with what everyone else at 6 knew and believed. There would be no changing Q's mind, no matter how friendly the two cats were.

[0_0_7]

Bond hesitated and his eyes began to sting, a rare show of real emotion from the stoic man. He didn't cry but his lids did rim red.

"It's all to real to be imagined, Q," he said quietly. How hard should he push, he wondered...how much could he say before Q had him committed?

[quartermaster_q]

"Double... James," Q said, his heart breaking at the sight of one of his best agents falling apart. "You're not well."

Q hesitated, aware of what he should do. He should call M, he should make his concerns known. ...But then what? A mad double-o? There was no way he'd be allowed to roam free. If he didn't wind up locked away, he'd wind up in the ground.

Q couldn't let that happen to Bond. He simply couldn't. He'd never admit it, but he had a soft spot for James. He always had.

"Come on. Let me get you a drink."

[0_0_7]

Bond nodded and came in, then walked past Q to go to the cabinet where the good whiskey was kept. Of course it was still there and he found a glass in the correct cupboard and poured himself half a glass. He down half of it at once and winced.

"You really believe I'm not well?" he asked. The worst part of all of this was that even with C's remarks reverberating in his brain, he was actually starting to doubt himself. Who would be so interested in gaslighting him that they'd go to such lengths?

[quartermaster_q]

"I think you've been through a lot. A good nights rest, a hot shower... You'll be fine," Q said gently. "You can stay here tonight, if you'd like. The sofa folds out."

At least that way he could keep an eye on the double-o.

[0_0_7]

He swallowed the rest of the whiskey and then poured himself more. He didn't want sleep or a shower, he wanted to be fucking drunk. So drunk he didn't care anymore.

[quartermaster_q]

Q watched him, sighing softly and returning to his laptop so he could shut it down. He worked quietly, letting Bond do what he needed to do while he unfolded and made the bed.

"I'll be in the bedroom if you need anything," he said, putting his mug in the sink and glancing over at the double-o. "Make yourself at home though. ...And Bond, do try and relax. Please."

[0_0_7]

Bond brought the bottle and his glass to the sofa so he could sit and watch the news. Everything seemed so normal. Everything seemed right in the world except him. He kept rolling it around...how could they have gotten to Q in those few short minutes he'd been outside? Where had his things gone? What about Moneypenny? And Tanner? And M? God knew who else.

He drank and he watched the news coming out of Asia. India and Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan. And then on to the Nikkei markets. He was drunk by the time he got up and thought, then, that a shower sounded good. He stripped on the way to the bathroom, leaving a trail of clothes. Once in there he just stood in the spray, letting it pour over him and wash his questions away..

[quartermaster_q]

Q could hear the shower running, and he sighed as he rolled onto his side.

Bond in his shower, Bond turning up at his door... They were fantasies he'd had for ages. So why did it feel like such a nightmare right now? James seemed to think they were in love. That they'd been intimate. That should have thrilled him- But it only felt wrong. He hadn't earned this. It was abrupt and new, and he felt dirty knowing that the only reason Bond was here was because something inside the double-o had finally snapped.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Honestly, it wasn't supposed to be at all, Q suspected. However, if luck really was going to land him the man he'd been lusting after for ages now, why couldn't it have the decency to do it right?

[0_0_7]

He wished he'd had the forethought to bring the bottle in the shower with him. As it was, it was for the best he hadn't had anymore. Between the liquor and the sedatives from earlier Bond found himself sitting down near the drain and letting the hot water spray on him.

Had something happened in Moscow? Was that why he had Zukovsky on his mind? Why didn't Q recall anything? And how was there no proof? he thought as the water beat down on him until it started to get cold.

[quartermaster_q]

Q let it go on for as long as he could allow, and eventually got up and made his way to the bathroom. Bond looked... Awful, honestly. A shadow of the man he admired and worked with.

Reaching into the spray, Q turned off the water before fetching a towel off the rack.

"That's quite enough of that," he said, slipping into that familiar crisp and posh tone. "C is taking over six, slowly but surely, which means we all need to stick together. I wont have my best agent falling to bits now, it's absolutely not allowed. So get up, double-o seven. Get up, towel off, and pull yourself together. That's an order."

[0_0_7]

Q's tone controlled him as it always had and he stood and did as he was told, toweling dry and then wrapping the towel round his waist. Doing so only brought back a painful reminder of earlier and he grabbed Q's shoulders.

"I need a gun in case the power goes out," he said, his eyes wild.

[quartermaster_q]

Q flinched, pulling away with a startled look.

"My flat has a backup generator, if the power was to cut out there would be 48 hours of backup to keep the lights on," he said as calmly as he could. "I'd prefer you unarmed tonight, James."

[0_0_7]

James. His reaction to hearing Q call him that was immediate. James. He realized now he'd taken it for granted every single time Q had said it before.

"I wish I could prove it to you, Q. I wish there was some way..." he muttered as he wandered off to the bedroom and crawled into their plush bed and curled up, nude, on his side of the bed.

[quartermaster_q]

And now Bond was naked. In his bed. Today absolutely could not get any stranger.

Q hesitated, unsure of what to do, and eventually climbed into bed as well. He was dressed in blue striped pyjamas, and he made sure there was ample space between them before curling up in the covers and sighing softly.

"Get some rest, Bond. You'll feel better tomorrow."

[0_0_7]

By the time morning came Bond was a little hungover, and it was easy to chalk up what had happened being all a bad dream. It would be fine now. He rolled and pressed against Q's back so he could kiss the back of his neck and caress the curve of his hip.

"Good morning," he whispered.

[quartermaster_q]

Q tensed, waking with a start and nearly falling out of bed.

"...Good morning," the young Quartermaster replied awkwardly. "Double-o seven, as nice as it is to have you stay with me, and as glad as I am that you seem to be feeling better this morning, this does feel just a bit inappropriate. I really don't think M would approve."

God did Q want it though. ...And maybe it wasn't such a terrible idea. Perhaps what Bond needed to get back to his old self was a roll in the hay.

Q nearly had himself believing that too. In fact, if Bond hadn't been so desperate to try and convince him they were lovers the other day, he'd have gladly gone for it. ...It felt dangerous now though. He needed to see Bond was himself again before he dared to cross that line.