M had summoned Q to his office… again.

"I don't think MI5 caught my intrusion into their systems last week, and this can't be about Bond's latest mishap. I've set up a search program to tell me if anything in M's email mentions Quartermaster and psych eval in the same message, so that can't be it either!"

Q was desperately looking for an answer. After all, he needed a really good excuse for whatever it was M found.

Q stood at the door and knocked once, then entered a few seconds later. It felt a little like that time he was sent to the headmaster's office after blowing up the chemistry lab.

"Q, sit down. We have to discuss something." M was friendly, but cut straight to the business. "I got the most peculiar invitation from Tony Stark. Do you know him?"

Q, relieved that he wasn't in trouble, responded truthfully.

"I know of him, and I can recognize his work easily enough. He's the American superhero and former weapons developer. What did he want?"

M was puzzled.

"He said, and I quote, 'Dear M, your tech has grown dramatically better in the past few months, almost onto my level. Whoever's behind this is invited to Stark tower R&D for a week to play with some of the awesomest people in the world, namely myself.'"

Q laughed at the strangeness of the message. That seemed to be pretty typical behavior, if what he knew of the billionaire was true.

"And you wanted to share this with me...why?" Q was a bit perplexed by his boss's motivations. Why share this with him, when he could just as easily ignore it?

"I want you to go." M said, simply.

"What?" Q responded. "Why?"

M leaned back. "Think about it. You go, spend a week in one of the best R&Ds on the planet, experimenting with exotic materials while using a billionaire's credit card, talk with other brilliant people, and bring MI6 back whatever the group invents. It'll be like your normal design process on steroids, and you'll have access to all of Stark's designs too."

Q doubted M's pure morals- this was the head of MI6 speaking, after all.

"You want me to steal Stark's designs? That's industrial espionage, and I refuse to use anyone's intellectual property without their permission!" Q was many things, but he was not a hypocrite. He hated when hackers tried to copy unique bits of his code, and intellectual property in the form of inventions were sacred. Q also knew that people trying to steal from Stark were never successful, and usually met financial ruin, social ruin, or both.

M was steadfast.

"Psych says that you're overdue for an appointment. If you take Stark up on this offer, it'll create an unfortunate schedule conflict. Just to put the out there. Your department's budget is up for yearly review as well. Think about it."

Damn, the carrot and the stick. He really wanted to go to candyland, though. Maybe he could go and confront Stark with his problem in person.

"I'll go, I suppose. When do I leave?"


"Bruceeeeeey" Tony Stark whined. "Why hasn't MI6 responded to my email yet? I just want a new playmate!"

Bruce Banner sighed at the childish actions of his friend.

"What's wrong with me, Tony? Am I not enough anymore?" Bruce figured if Tony was going to be dramatic, he might as well too.

"No, no, it's just-" Tony sighed, suddenly serious.

"Look, this person, whoever they are, their inventions are" He paused. "Awesome, for lack of a better word. And I want to meet them and pick their brain clean, because if there's that much imagination in just the simple items an agent takes on a mission, imagine what they could do with a bigger goal, Bruce. We could help so many people."

Bruce didn't know what to say to that, so he smirked and shot Tony a sideways glance.

"You just want an excuse to blow things up with a fellow nerd, don't you."

Tony cocked his head.

"Well, that is a plus."


Dear Mr. Stark,

Our Quartermaster will be visiting you from the 14th to the 21st. I trust you will provide a secured lodging?

Sincerely,

M

Dear M,

What does M stand for? Mysterious, manipulative, maverick, meddling, meticulous, mettlesome, miffed, mirthful, momentous, muddy, megalithic?

I'm dying to know.

Tony

PS. Your Quartermaster will stay in my tower, which is secured by a sentient AI. If that's not good enough for you, nothing is.