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

[quartermaster_q]

"Keep arguing and I'll shoot you in the other arm, Bond," Q replied simply, shuffling through the photos and checking his phone.

"How bad is the blood loss?" he asked after a moment.

[0_0_7]

Bond took a breath and exhaled slowly. "Not bad," he said...but his shirt and suit sleeve were soaked through.

They arrived at A&E and Bond let Q pay the fare while he walked in to be seen. They got him right to the back- couldn't have him bleeding in queue, and soon enough he was being bandaged while he waited to see a doctor.

"Would rather be at medical. They won't ask about the other injuries. These doctors always do."

[quartermaster_q]

"Tell them the truth, you were shot while leaving the hotel. We'll leave before the police arrive," Q replied calmly, though it was obvious he was concerned.

[0_0_7]

"Ugh, the police," Bond huffed in disgust.

The doctor came in then and asked the requisite questions and Bond answered, polite yet crisp and only giving the bare minimum of truth. Before long he was stitched up, had had some plasma, and was sent on his way with a full bottle of pain medication and a donated t-shirt to take the place of his blood soaked clothes. They were directed to a waiting room to wait for the police.

Bond promptly walked out of A&E as soon as the eyes were off of them.

"I can't believe he blew up my car," Bond huffed again, still feeling quite petulant about what an unholy terror they were up against. Bond did not like the feeling of being personally targeted.

[quartermaster_q]

Q silently reached over and took his hand.

"He may have blown up your car, but you're going home with me," he said boldly. "You're still on top, Bond."

[0_0_7]

Bond looked at him and held Q's hand gently. The narcotics they had given him made him feel soft and pleasant.

"Always on top," he agreed. "Do you want to go to HQ and get to work or to the safe house?" he asked as they walked away from the hospital as two police cars pulled up to the A&E entrance.

[quartermaster_q]

"Safe house, I think," Q said, waving down a cab. "I intend to put you to bed, double-o seven."

[0_0_7]

"I don't need to go to bed!" he countered. "I got winged. Barely a scratch."

The eight stitches said otherwise but he didn't address that.

Though he didn't argue about going to the safe house. He needed time to regroup.

[quartermaster_q]

Q pulled him to a stop, then dragged him down for a rough and possessive kiss.

"Bed," he said firmly. "We are going to bed. I don't expect you to sleep, I expect you to be alive and well."

He let go, and worry finally showed on his face.

"He could have killed you."

[0_0_7]

Up until not long ago the only evidence he had ever had that anyone cared whether he lived or died was the crisp tone in M's voice when she asked after him and then told him to get back to work. Q's concern was something so foreign he almost didn't know what to do with it.

"He could have, but he didn't," he assured Q softly. "And he won't. That's not his game, is it? No...I'm learning how he thinks. He's going to take you back and make me suffer. He'll keep me alive so I'll pay. And so you'll be tormented, knowing I'm suffering because of you. That's what I am imagining. Does that sound like the man you know?"

[quartermaster_q]

Q exhaled with a shudder, then nodded once. "Yes. That sounds exactly like him," he confessed quietly.

He pulled away as a cab rolled up, opening the door and ushering Bond in.

[0_0_7]

Inside the cab, Bond let himself relax and enjoy the sleepy, heavy effect of the painkillers. If they hadn't given him any he would have simply drank the pain away- that was what he normally did. It was a pleasure to have a bottle with a childproof cap to 'get him through' as the doctor had put it.

The psychologist had made MI6 well aware of Bond's substance abuse problems, but they all- all the double-o's- had their ways of coping. And none of them let their habits interfere with work in any way.

He pulled Q close and settled in for the ride, teeling the driver at random intervals to turn.

"I don't give a fuck about the fare. Drive us around all night if I like," he said at one point. He kept looking out the back window and didn't allow the driver to go to the safe house until he was sure it was clear.

[quartermaster_q]

Q knew what Bond was saying, and he let the man go through his routine of losing possible tails as they moved through the city.

Eventually they came to a stop, and Q paid the man generously as they climbed out of the cab.

"You look like you're enjoying your pills," he noted.

[0_0_7]

"I enjoy not hurting," he said. "Too often I simply ache, Q. I don't complain, I never would, but I'm not as young as I once was. So, yes, I'm enjoying the medication while I've got it," he said, seeing no shame in being honest about that much.

He lead the way into the safehouse and armed the alarm behind them. The security here was better than at Bond's house and his own was top notch. But this was the best that MI6 could provide. It made him feel safer.

[quartermaster_q]

"I'm not scolding," Q assured him. "You deserve to be relaxed and without pain, double-o seven."

[0_0_7]

Bond put down the bag with his bloody clothes and carefully pulled the white t shirt that advertised some bar off and chucked it aside. His shoulder was neatly bandaged and he paid it no mind as he came to Q and took hold of him.

"Are you alright? I don't think I've ever seen you so...shaken."

[quartermaster_q]

"I'm fine," Q lied easily. "He caught me off guard, that's all. I wasn't expecting him to start murdering people."

[0_0_7]

"I think it's good that we know just how far he's willing to go. No one is immune. Innocence doesn't matter. He's getting sloppy and we're going to catch him," Bond assure him, pressing a soft kiss to Q's cheek. "We're going to stop him, Q. You and I together."

[quartermaster_q]

"I know," Q said quietly. "I know, Bond. Now come to bed. I want you well rested and relaxed."

[0_0_7]

"Are you sure? No tea?" he asked, though now that Q had really put the idea into his head...bed sounded good. Not to sleep, just to lay down. Maybe to kiss Q lazily and enjoy the feel of the man's body as Bond mapped it with slow fingertips. That sounded delightful.

[quartermaster_q]

"There can be tea later," Q replied, guiding Bond to the bedroom.

"Go on, lay down. Let's get you out of those clothes."

[0_0_7]

"I want you in bed with me," he said, easily lead. "I love the feel of your body, Q. I love waking up and finding you there to hold. To kiss and breathe in. You are my solace..."

The words simply poured from him as he took off his shoes and socks, then trousers too. He slipped off his pants and made to grab for his pyjama bottoms, then decided to slip into bed bare. The sheets were exquisite and felt good against his skin.

"Come to bed. COme to bed with me," he said, even as his heavy lids fell closed.

[quartermaster_q]

Q smiled, and undressed as well. Work could wait a while longer. Right now he just wanted to look after Bond.

Slipping into bed, the stroked his fingers down the other man's arm. "Sleep," he said softly.

[0_0_7]

"Mmm, I don't want to sleep," he said as eh pressed his body tight to Q's and let his hand roam the man's back. "How are you so alluring? From the moment I saw you...I could watch you forever. Beautiful man. Beautiful face. Lips. Eye-"

He broke out in a huge yawn that interrupted his doped ode to Q's beauty.

[quartermaster_q]

Laughing at the drowsy seduction, Q pressed closer and kissed the very tip of Bond's nose.

"Go to sleep," he laughed. "You can tell me how lovely I am once you've had a nap, old dog."