Q

[0_0_7]

Bond was sitting on a train, watching the target talking on the phone. He had his keffiyeh slung around his throat and sunglasses on to disguise himself a bit. No one paid him any attention, all talking amongst themselves, business men heading into Damascus, mostly, but others as well. He knew that he had to be discreet, he couldn't just execute the man in a crowd.

The train slowed and then stopped and the target rose. Bond followed, pushing his way through the crowd.He made it up next to the target and slipped a tracker into his pocket, then peeled away from him.

"Alright, Q, he's yours to follow now. I'm going to go find transportation while he hails a cab. And keep an eye on the satellites," he said, telling Q how to do his job a bit. But as he exited the station and he saw the target slip into a black Audi, he realized this wasn't what they'd had planned.

"He's not taking a cab. I'm improvising," he said, stalking through the crowd and slipping into a waiting Range Rover, its owner standing mere feet away as Bond outright stole the vehicle.

Comments

[0_0_7]

He likely could have pressed and gotten his way but he knew this was a delicate matter and Q was especially vulnerable where Terrance was concerned. Bond wasn't about to roll over him and dictate what to do.

"Alright," he said. "We will find him. And stop him. I'll not leave your side, you know."

[quartermaster_q]

"I know," Q nodded, wetting his lips with a flick of his tongue as he started to look around again.

"We should take these. All of them. In fact, we should take everything we can carry," he decided as he began to pull them down a few at a time.

[0_0_7]

Bond began to pull down pictures and pages as well, making sure to keep them in some sort of order.

"What are the marks? The exes and question marks? There's a pattern to it, isn't there? What is it?"

[quartermaster_q]

"The checks are friends, the crosses are people I'm neutral towards, the question marks are- People I've been intimate with," Q said quietly.

[0_0_7]

"And they're the ones most at risk, correct?" Bond said, making absolutely no judgments about the number of question marks he saw. He pulled down the next- Q's nurse in a picture obviously pulled from a hospital security camera.

[quartermaster_q]

"I believe so- Yes," Q said softly, giving Bond an apologetic look.

[0_0_7]

"Are you sleeping with anyone but me now?" he asked. "Because if you are then we should put a detail on them. Otherwise, if it's only me, then I think...well, I'm not afraid."

[quartermaster_q]

"I have not slept with anyone but you since you told me you loved me," Q replied.

[0_0_7]

A smile tugged at his lips. He'd flirted with Lucrezia and had been soundly scolded for that, but Bond had been true to Q as well. There would come a time when, in the course of work, he would seduce someone- or allow himself to be seduced- but he wasn't about to set out to find someone else. He didn't want anyone else.

"Then no one needs a detail," he said, then looked back to the wall as his smile grew.

[quartermaster_q]

"No one but you," Q said, though Q knew Bond was no more likely to allow that than he was.

[0_0_7]

He huffed a soft laugh at that.

"Hardly," he said. "I can't have people following me and there's no one better at staying alive than I am."

Though it did occur to him that maybe staying alive wouldn't be the problem. It may be Terrance wanted to keep him alive and make him suffer. In fact, bond thought, that was much more likely.

[quartermaster_q]

"I'm being serious, Bond. You are slowly becoming his primary target. There are more photographs here of you than of me. He's fixating, and that's dangerous. He either perceives you as an obstacle or a threat- What do you do when faced with those things?" he prompted.

[0_0_7]

"I tend to face it head on, gun drawn," he replied. "I'm not afraid of him, Q. He's not a monster, he's a bully. A thug. He's a child who can't have what he wants and I suppose I'm just childish enough to fight him for you. Simple as that."

[quartermaster_q]

"That's exactly what he thinks of you, Bond. I can almost promise you it. You're the bastard who took his favourite toy," Q said softly. "And he will fight you. He'll have to. He wont be able to stop himself."

[0_0_7]

"Then we will fight. And he will lose, Q," Bond replied. Of that he was absolutely certain. He finished gathering the papers and photos and then put an arm around Q.

"Anything else you want to take? We should go before the firefighters get to this room and notice the door broken open."

[quartermaster_q]

"No, this will do. We should go," Q said softly, leaning into Bond, and then slowly pulling away.

[0_0_7]

Bond nodded and began to lead Q out of the hotel, using the service stairs at the far end of the hall, the ones the firefighters were less likely to be in.

"Take these," he said, handing Q the pile of papers so he could shrug off the coat and hat to leave them behind.

[quartermaster_q]

Q nodded, taking everything and then going still as two firemen came around the corner.

The first opened his mouth to speak- and was instantly silenced by a bullet that seemed to come out of nowhere. Before Q could even process it, the next had fallen as well.

Outside he could hear people screaming, and dread settled in his gut. A glance out of the window confirmed his fear- There were bodies all over and pure panic all around.

"We need to go. Now."

[0_0_7]

There was nowhere to go but into the chaos. Bond grabbed Q's arm and pulled him along, heading for the car. He fumbled for the keys and hit the fob to unlock it.

THe explosion was, by all accounts, quite small. It clearly wasn't meant to kill anyone. But it ruined the car and drew attention. Mobiles turned their way to find Bond and Q running from the scene.

"Keep going," Bond said, not even winded as he ran as fast as he could with Q in tow. They made it to the street and hailed a cab and just as Bond shoved Q in something hot bit into his arm. He got in and slammed the door.

"We need to get to medical," he said. "And quickly."

[quartermaster_q]

Q nodded, and as the cab started to take them to A&E, Q didn't correct the driver. Perhaps it would be best if they went somewhere Terrance didn't expect them to go.

"We upset him," he said quietly.

[0_0_7]

"Good," Bond said as he looked to his shoulder which was quickly becoming dark with blood. It wasn't fatal, wouldn't even take him out of action. He wondered if Terrance had missed on purpose.

"He's ruined my suit," Bond pouted...because it was that or fly into a blind rage and run off into the night hunting a ghost.

[quartermaster_q]

Q looked down at the papers in his hands. The photographs and documents.

"I think we've finally got something though," he said softly. "I can use this, I'm sure of it, Bond."

[0_0_7]

Bond looked over at him, ignoring the pain. That was a spot of hope he didn't dare let take hold. He couldn't think they were any closer, it would only lead to disappointment. The best they could do was work hard and it would all come together.

"You should get to work. While I'm patched up you should go to HQ where it's secure and I'll meet you there. Get to work putting the puzzle together."

[quartermaster_q]

"I'm not leaving your side," Q said firmly. "That isn't happening, not right now."

[0_0_7]

"Q, be sensible," Bond said. "I want you where you're secure."