Chapter Text
007
There are a lot of things he’s done as a Double-O that would probably be terrifying for a more normal person. Going after Q without speaking with Mallory isn’t one of those things. Not when the younger man has saved his arse repeatedly. Not when he actually gives a damn about the hacker.
So he’ll sit through this relatively boring meeting that pretty much results in marching orders from M.
According to the expressions on the face or in the eyes of others, they’re in pretty much the same headspace.
He’s curious if Mallory realizes and he smirks when he catches the exasperated expression on the older man’s face. M knows exactly what’s happening around him. This is more of a venting session than anything else. It’s also a ‘I told you so’ or ‘I gave you orders’ session as well.
He should probably pretend to be more interested but that’s not as easy as it sounds. He hates meetings almost as much as he hates paperwork. Still, he should probably listen for the greater good if nothing else.
oOoOoOo
0020
He listens to what his boss has to say. He even nods in all the appropriate spaces because that’s what a person does. It doesn’t mean he’ll obey the order. Besides, it was only a small detour on the way back to Six.
There was never any question of him going to help Q. The young quartermaster has been good to him and the others. That means a great deal to him. Threatening the INTERPOL agent was just pure fun, even if it wasn’t actually a joke. They’d never find the pieces if he killed the man.
oOoOoOo
003
When Bond first said there was a problem, she told him bluntly that she was going to help find and retrieve Q. The boffin always makes her the most wonderful improvements on her weapons. There is no way she’s going to give that up! Besides, the black haired genius is a friend and fetching friends is an important aspect to her.
She doesn’t have a lot of them and she’ll do whatever she has to in order to protect her friends. Even team up with an ex-agent that she is sure she should know even though she doesn’t actually know him.
Mallory is a decent sort, but there are times he is way too much a pencil pusher and it shows. Despite that, or in spite of that, she tries to listen to what he has to say.
oOoOoOo
001
He was in the middle of taking a lovely vacation from everything with his partner when they are notified of the fact Q is missing. Within ten minutes both of them are on their feet and ready to go. They best find Q alive or whoever hurt him will be paying in a very painful and permanent way.
When they had found Q, he was startled to see the strangers with him. More strange was the fact that a topaz blonde was guiding the young genius and Q even seemed to like it. If he was a betting man he’d figure they were already sleeping together or really good friends.
Perhaps he should see about inviting them to dinner sometime. He’ll have to talk it over with his partner first.
As for M’s currently lecture on why they are never to do that again, he’ll try listening but makes no promises. Someone else takes their Q or something happens that puts the boffin in danger, and he’ll do it again. The Q-Branch minions aren’t the only ones who love the dark haired genius.
oOoOoOo
002
It’s rare for him or his partner to take a vacation, so the fact that they both had a chance to do so was enthralling. They were in the middle of enjoying that vacation and each other when the private burner phone they kept with them in case of emergencies had sounded. Q was in a dangerous situation, and it is related to that private investigation that Bond had been doing before the boffin had convinced him to stop.
There was no question about whether they would help get him back. Hell, some would even say that this was a good sign. The Double-O’s working together in order to achieve a common goal.
Their lot would have burned the place to the ground to fetch Q.
It’s a side effect of the fact that the younger man doesn’t treat them like tools but like people. He doesn’t take shit from them, but he doesn’t give it either. The boffin has learned about each of them, careful details and more information than a lot of them are comfortable with. He’s almost a friend to them and many actually consider him a friend, whether he consider them one or not.
Mallory’s order not to do this again is one that will go un-obeyed, because it’s rare to get a handler like Q. The younger man acts like he understands them, he connects with them, and they recognize someone who would have made an excellent agent in other circumstances.