Q

[0_0_7]

The mission was based in Paris and Bond had insisted on the finest accommodations. He'd made sure to get a two bedroom suite to keep up appearances as Q was going with him. It wasn't entirely the Quartermaster's job to be in the field but they needed some real time on site hacking done (or whatever wizardry it was that Q did) and so the mission was really his. Bond was his muscle, his guard dog, and his gun. Bond's job was to protect Q at all costs.

The train ride was pleasant, Bond dozing for the majority of the ride. He had a habit of falling dead asleep while travelling- he never knew if he'd get sleep while active on a mission so he stocked up on trains and planes.

And then they were at the hotel, their luggage unloaded onto a cart. Bond told the porter to be careful in flawless French and then escorted Q inside.

Comments

[quartermaster_q]

Leaning back lazily against the lift wall, Q answered that question with a loud yawn.

"Not really," he confessed, stretching a little, then smiling. "No worries though, I'm ready to get to work, double-o seven," he assured the agent, patting his laptop.

[0_0_7]

"I should hope so," he said as he flashed Q a glimpse of his gun. "I'll go in the building and set everything up. You stay in the car on the comm. With any luck they'll never even know we were here...Like the Russian embassy," he grinned.

[quartermaster_q]

Q smiled faintly in return, then nodded.

It took no time at all to reach the embassy, and Q set up shop in the back of the car. He tested the coms, then passed one to Bond.

"When you have their attention and the laptop is clear, the codeword will be earl grey. When you say the codeword, I'll get to work. It'll take me approximately fifteen minutes."

[0_0_7]

"Understood," Bond said, checking his weapon once more and then getting another clip of ammo from the glove box. Then he left Q there, secure in the car.

"Can you hear me, Q?" he asked, looking around as he approached the Embassy to show his fake papers so he could get in.

[quartermaster_q]

"Loud and clear, double-o seven," Q said smiling as he made himself comfortable in the back of the car.

[0_0_7]

Bond entered the embassy and made his way to the mark's office, making excuses and spinning lies to the few people he did see. He managed to get into the room with only a little trouble, then found the laptop.

"Setting it up," he said under his breath as he opened the machine and turned it on. He was no technical wizard but he did know his way around and pulled up just what Q would need for remote access.

And that was when the door opened.

"Bon jour? said a very confused woman.

"Ah, I was just hoping for a cup of earl grey," Bond replied, quite clearly. Then there was the sound of movement and some gentle French as he set about seducing the secretary.

[quartermaster_q]

"I'm in," Q replied, tapping away on his laptop and getting right to work.

He could hear Bond pouring on the charm, and he rolled his eyes a little as he went about his work.

It took a while, but eventually he was done, and he smirked to himself as he finished up.

"Completed. I'd suggest exiting immediately, double-o seven," he said, switching his view to the embassy security feed so he could guide the man out if needed.

[0_0_7]

Bond accepted the order and he got one good kiss out of it and then left the secretary breathless and wanting. He moved with purpose but certainly in no great hurry. He didn't want to draw attention as he headed out of the building.

Quite a success. Bond smiled as he walked on.

[quartermaster_q]

"You get by on your good looks," Q teased, waiting until Bond was in the lobby, then shutting down his laptop.

He heard the driver side door open and someone climb in, but didn't look up as he put his things away, assuming it was Bond.

"That was quick," he noted, looking up and then realizing that the man in the driver's seat had dark hair.

"Double-o seven, there might be a small..."

Q's voice was suddenly muffled, and the com was abruptly shut off.

[0_0_7]

"Q?" he said sharply. "Q?!"

Decorum be damned, Bond set off at a run, racing toward the vehicle where they'd been parked. As he erupted through the embassy gates he saw it drive past, too fast for him to get a look at the driver. He chased after it, running at full bore.

"Q? Are you getting any of this?" he panted. "Tanner, are you on the line?"

[quartermaster_q]

"I am now, patched myself in when Q's tracker went offline. Report," Tanner promoted, the sound of the man's fingers rapidly moving over keys echoing down the line.

[0_0_7]

"Q's tracker's off line? He's been taken. Someone took the vehicle after the job was done but I hadn't yet left the embassy. Can you activate the GPS on the rental?"

He was quickly getting winded but he saw ahead a man parking a motorcycle. Bond assaulted him and stole the bike while the man screamed at him and pulled out his mobile to phone the authorities. Bod raced to catch up with the quickly disappearing car with Q in it.

[quartermaster_q]

"No, the signal is being blocked," Tanner replied, falling silent for a long moment, then speaking up again.

"Double-o seven, there's- There's a problem with our systems, it-"

Heavy static filled the line, then silence settled until Tanner managed to re-establish the connection.

"Double-o seven, M is requesting you return to headquarters immediately. Our systems have been compromised, all agents must return to HQ."

[0_0_7]

"I've got to get Q," Bond insisted, but the vehicle ahead of him turned sharply left then whipped right and suddenly there was a pile up in the intersection. Traffic was utterly snarled and by the time Bond maneuvered the bike around the accident...

Q was gone.

"Shit," he spat. "Shit! Tanner, what's going on there?"

[quartermaster_q]

"The GPS systems have all rebooted, and there is not a single tracker online," Tanner said. "You must return to HQ. Q will be alright, he's had abduction survival training..."

M cut in, his displeasure clear in his tone. "For all we know, Q is behind all this. Return to HQ immediately, double-o seven, that is an order."

[0_0_7]

There was little anyone could have said to make Bond want to rebel than that implication by M. Q behind this? Idiotic. Laughable. Dangerously narrow minded. Q wasn't behind the box on his stoop and he wasn't behind getting stabbed. Bond's first thought went to Terrence but it could have been anyone. Anyone at all. It could have been whoever it was had the code delivered.

It could have been anyone.

"Understood," he said darkly, then turned on the bike to go back to the hotel. He'd have their things sent back to England by courier and he would catch a plane. No reason not to fly if Q wasn't with him.

"We'll see you when you return, double-o seven," Tanner said. Bond heard a tick in the line indicating M was gone.

"Is he off?" Bond asked.

"Yes," Tanner replied.

"Start gathering intel. Put R on it. When I get back I want a retrieval plan ready to go so I can get Q back. He's not behind this, Tanner," he said sharply, in that tone that everyone knew not to mess him about when he was in this sort of mood.

"Of course, double-o seven. Ticket waiting for you at Air France. We'll see you when you're home."

Bond cut off the line.

[quartermaster_q]

The first two days hadn't been so bad. Uncomfortable, certainly, but mild. There was a heavy bag over his head, cloth between his teeth, and heavy, harsh rope binding him to a strict wooden chair. Every now and then the hood would be removed and he'd be forced to drink- but it was just water and cold broth. Nothing to worry about.

Day three they started to ask questions, thick accents speaking in broken English, demanding passwords and codes... Q remained silent, of course, and was rewarded with a beating and unkind words- then was left alone once again.

Day four was when they started getting creative. Day four... Day four was something he wouldn't easily forget. he'd been trained of course, but training for someone in Q branch was fairly mild, and no amount of talk could prepare you for weatherboarding or the feeling of rope around your neck.

Q cried out and sobbed, but didn't speak- Except to ask for more water when his throat grew dry.

By day five he was starting to get annoyed. Where the bloody hell was Bond?

[0_0_7]

It had taken days- days of checking cameras, of listening to chatter, of hacking into emails. R was quite capable but certainly no Q and in Bonds opinion everything took longer than it should have. He'd blustered around HQ, making his presence known. Bond had harrassed nearly everyone until Moneypenny came down and escorted him out for dinner and one decent night's rest...compliments of a sedative she slipped in his drink.

Day five finally produced answers and M was in the process of authorizing an extraction team. Bond had no time for that and had taken off for Paris again. Paris...they hadn't even taken him out of the country. It had been impossible to find transport because there hadn't been any. They had only driven to the outskirts of the city and holed up in an old warehouse.

It happened, as things tended to happen with Bond, very quickly. He came in and started to shoot everyone he saw. Some got mortal wounds, some he saw fit to injure, knowing M would demand answers and one needed to be alive for that.

He worked his way through the building, a lone man bent on death and vengeance until he found Q.

[quartermaster_q]

Q heard the gunshots, and though he was worn down and not in a comfortable position, he smiled.

They'd left him stood upon a small stool, arms bound behind him, that same smelly sack over his head, and a rope around his neck. He was exhausted and starving, but he stood stone still, even when they'd kicked at the stool and shouted threats at him.

They'd let him fall, just once, just for a moment so he'd know what was at stake. He'd hung with his feet so close to the ground that he could almost touch his toes as the rope tightened- the psychological torture almost worse than the physical. As Bond grew closer Q feared it might happen again, and he swallowed hard as he reassured himself that this was fine. This was nothing. Bond would get him out, and soon enough he'd be headed home to good tea and a soft bed.

[0_0_7]

Q wasn't alone, though. Bond entered the room, everyone else in the building dispatched, and he was faced with a hulking man who was standing guard over the prisoner. Bond took aim and squeezed off a shot, hitting the man in the chest- but not the heart. He fired again but got a click and the hulk rushed him. They fought, Bond showing him no mercy. The battle moved around the room, the flat sound of fists and bone and flesh colliding. Bond fought hard, he had more to fight for, and he eventually got behind the guard and wrapped a tight arm around the man's throat. He squeezed hard and held on.

Death was slow and cruel. Personal. But inevitable.

Once he'd put the man down, Bond turned to Q to take the hood off his head and get him untied.

"Strike team five minutes out, Bond," Tanner said.

"I have Q. It'll just be clean up. Send medical, too."

"On the way," Tanner replied. "Is he...?"

"I'll report later," Bond replied, then ignored the man in his ear.

"You look a bit worked over," Bond said gently. A bit was, of course, a gross understatement.

[quartermaster_q]

"I'm fine," Q said, shocked by how painful it was trying to speak, and how rough and shaky his voice sounded.

Rubbing his neck, he looked at Bond.

"You took your bloody time," he accused, though his gaze made it clear how grateful he was to see the double-o.

[0_0_7]

"Would have been easier to find if I'd had my quartermaster at the helm," Bond replied. "As it was, I had to make do with R."

He very delicately helped Q down and was careful of all his wounds.

"What did they get from you?" he asked. He'd been tortured, he knew how hard it was to resist after a certain point.

[quartermaster_q]

"Nothing," Q assured him. "I said..."

He coughed hard, clearly in pain, then wet his lips as he held on tightly to Bond's arm.

"I said nothing, and now I really need some water."

[0_0_7]

"Come along, they have a mini fridge out here," he said, gently leading Q out of the room he'd been tortured in. Out in another area of the warehouse was what amounted to a break room and in it there was a sofa that Bond gingerly put Q down onto and then he found him a bottle of water.

"It's alright to crack, Q," Bond said. "It's never easy. If you withstood...You'd rather die than give up any intel, wouldn't you?" he asked with a note of admiration.

[quartermaster_q]

Q drank deep, draining the bottle an a few gulps and then looking down at the raw and abused looking skin on his wrists.

"They're my systems," he said finally. "It's a matter of pride."