Q

[0_0_7]

[From here]

"I've been told I'm very good company," he replied, softening around the edges as he did around Q- and only around Q. Only the young quartermaster got to see this side of Bond.

He began to walk backward slowly, leading Q to the bedroom so they could undress and Bond could take him into the shower.

Comments

[quartermaster_q]

"I very much don't want to do this," Q replied, perhaps a bit sharply. "I don't need six digging about in my brain. ...There has to be an alternative."

[0_0_7]

"The only alternative would be to go to that experimental clinic in Switzerland we'd looked into when I came back from that prison," he replied. "But even then you'd have someone digging in your mind. That's if you don't simply want to take leave and see if it comes back when the swelling goes down..."

He was being quite practical but only because he's been in Q's shoes and he knew how much he'd appreciated the quartermaster's deciciveness.

[quartermaster_q]

Q was silent for a long moment, and then swallowed hard. "I'll do that then- I'll take leave."

His privacy was too important to him- He'd rather do nothing than let someone in.

[0_0_7]

"Then stand firm when you talk to M," he said. Bond reached over and laid his hand on Q's leg. "And in the mean time we can figure out those numbers."

[quartermaster_q]

Seeming to relax slightly, Q nodded his agreement.

"Alright," he said softly.

[0_0_7]

MI6 was on alert to Q being missing and when they entered and passed the scanners they were immediately surrounded by security. Bond could have easily dispatched them but he knew they were to protect the agency in case Q had been compromised. It was only protocol. A team of six escorted them to M's office where Moneypenny and Tanner met them.

"You can stand outside," Moneypenny told the guards. When they didn't move she added, "Now."

It's good to see you in one piece, Q. We were all terribly concerned," Tanner said.

[quartermaster_q]

Q barely even nodded, sinking down into an empty seat and putting his phone down on M's desk- Q branch would want a look at it after all.

"I'm sure," he said flatly. "I don't recall what happened, so if you're hoping for a report, I'm sorry to say you'll not be getting one today."

Moneypenny gave him a look, one that warned him not to get too lippy if he was hoping to have things go his way. She then turned her gaze onto M, who didn't seem bothered by the young Quartermaster's outburst.

"Yes, well, if you'd come here first, instead of returning to that bookshop I could have told you we finally located you on CCTV. We couldn't retrace all your steps- You're very good at hiding from the cameras it seems- but you were clever enough to lure whoever was following you into a well monitored area," M replied, sounding more like a tired school teacher than a high ranking official.

Turning his laptop around, he showed the pair a somewhat fuzzy image of Q and his attacker.

"Do you know who this man is?" M asked.

Q squinted, leaning in slightly and shaking his head. Though it did spark a memory of the man coming at him- A few words spoken...

"I do remember him speaking though," the young quartermaster noted. "His accent was heavy- German, I believe... Do you recognize him, double-o seven?"

[0_0_7]

"I don't," he said, his brow furrowing as he studied and memorized the face.

"We've got him running through facial recognition but we haven't found a hit yet. Perhaps something will yet turn up," Tanner said hopefully.

"And until then, you're on leave, Q. No argument. You're on leave and Bond your assignment until further notice is personal bodyguard. If this man came after Q once he may do it again," said M.

[quartermaster_q]

Q only nodded, silent and uncomfortable as he sat and waited to be dismissed.

[0_0_7]

He couldn't possibly be so lucky as to be summarily dismissed.

"I want you to go to medical," M said. "You need an MRI and an ECG before you go today. We'll cover everything before you go off and disobey the orders I give for you to stay home and leave this to us."

[quartermaster_q]

"I don't need an MRI or anything else, I'm fine," Q insisted, his tone growing sharp again. "Just let me go home, I'm bloody exhausted."

It wasn't like Q to be so raw or confrontational, and Tanner in particular looked somewhat taken aback by the outburst.

Eve, however, made her way closer, bending down and speaking softly in Q's ear. ...Whatever she said, it clearly worked, because Q seemed to relax and eventually nodded.

"Fine," he huffed, getting to his feet, then pausing to look at Bond- A silent look that begged the other man to get as much information as he could while Q was in medical.

[0_0_7]

Bond stayed put as Moneypenny left with Q and he turned to M.

"So I'm going out on a limb and guessing you do know who the German is," he said once they were alone.

M nodded. "Helmut Bogdonow, radical leftist and one of the better hackers on the planet. We have no doubt Q knows him, but online rather than in person. THat the phone is wiped is deeply concerning. And the fact that Q likely knew his persona...Bond, this is a very delicate situation. We've no idea if Q has been compromised or if he's gone rogue. Are you sure his memory is gone? It's not an act?"

Bond bristled at that.

"Yes, it's amnesia. He's not playacting," he snapped back.

"Calm down, Bond. You know these questions are routine."

[quartermaster_q]

The tests seemed to take forever, and Q was growing restless by the time they finally let him go.

He wasn't surprised when they didn't escort him back to M's office, it had been clear he wasn't to be included in whatever they were talking about.

Instead he was walked out to a small waiting room, seven guards lingering nearby, watching him.

[0_0_7]

Bond and M went rounds with Tanner playing referee. It got heated but Bond never outright disrespected M. He knew that there were protocols and they couldn't put them aside simply because Q was Q. In fact, they were likely even more necessary.

Bond came out some time later and found Q, nodding toward the door.

"Let's go," he said. Taner says they'll call when they've got this sorted."

[quartermaster_q]

Q huffed saying nothing as he followed Bond out to the car.

"What do they know?" he asked once they were alone.

[0_0_7]

"They suspect you, Q. This is quite serious," Bond said, then told him all about the German and what MI6 knew about his online identity.

"Does that jog your memory?" he asked hopefully.

[quartermaster_q]

"I... Maybe," Q replied, frowning and rubbing his head as he tried to think. "I think I know who we're dealing with- An old contact of mine. We used to work together, back when I was still living with..."

He trailed off, then sighed. "I never met him though, we only spoke online."

[0_0_7]

"It appears you met last night," Bond said. "Knowing that, do those numbers make any more sense now?" he asked.

[quartermaster_q]

"No- but perhaps there's something on my laptp that will make sense of them," Q said, looking uncomfortable as he looked out the window.

"I didn't say anything to you about meeting an old friend?" he asked.

[0_0_7]

"No, you didn't say anything. And you acted as you always do. I didn't suspect anything. Could he have contacted you at work? Perhaps that's the reason your phone is wiped..." he suggested, hoping for something so simple. He knew it was hardly likely, though.

[quartermaster_q]

"Unlikely, that would be too risky- For him and me both. If he contacted me, he did it carefully," Q insisted, looking at the code again, then frowning.

"Take us to the train. I've got an idea."

[0_0_7]

"The train? Alright," he replied, turning the car in that direction. "WHat are you thinking? Perhaps departure times? Or...?"

[quartermaster_q]

"I'm thinking if he contacted me, he contacted me under my old alias. ...I have a panic room hidden in one of the abandoned stations, if he contacted me, he contacted me on the machine I have there."

[0_0_7]

Bond was quiet for a long moment as he drove on. After passing through the second light he said, "You're almost too clever for your own good. I'll never know all of you."

He said it with a warm note of appreciation, though. He liked that Q wasn't- and would never be- simple.

[quartermaster_q]

"I don't believe for a moment you don't have something similar squirrelled away to fall back on if it all goes to hell, Bond," Q replied, glancing over and raising a brow. "We all have our back up plans."