I was watching The Hour the other night which has Ben Whishaw in it, and his reference to his friend as 'Miss MOneypenny' since his character's name was 'James', made me think of this for some reason. Anyway, this is the result of it, I hope you enjoy this little scene!
I don't own anything, I'm just playing in the sandbox. :)
Reviews/Comments welcome!
Thankfully, Q saw her first.
The young man was returning from one of the many meetings he has to attend as the head of Q branch when he saw a petite blonde, long hair back in a ponytail, chatting with another, older woman. A moment of panic goes through him before he glances around and fidgets with his tie, finally striding toward the woman with purpose while trying to make it seem casual. A difficult feat to say the least.
When he starts to get closer, the blonde glances briefly around, eyes fixing on Q and a look of shock going over her face, keeping her from talking for a moment. Long enough for Q to get to her. "Pardon us." He says to the older woman, before he grabs the blonde's hand and pulls her away, looking around before pulling her into the nearest door which happens to be a supply closet.
"Charles!" The blonde finally gasps, launching herself at the taller man and putting her arms around his neck, hugging him tight with a small, surprised laugh.
"Jenny, what in hell are you doing here?" Q demands, though he puts his arms around her and pulls her into a tight hug as well, resting his chin lightly on her shoulder and allowing himself to close his eyes and enjoy the closeness for a moment.
The blonde, Jenny, pulls back from Q a little to look into his eyes in confusion. "I work here, I got hired on a week ago as an analyst. And they also want me to assist with testing for R&D when I have time." She explains in a rush, before she puts her hands on his chest, then on his cheeks, seeming amazed that he's in front of her. "They told us you died in a car crash, Charles.. what.. why?" She demands in a frustrated and yet slightly choked up tone, deep blue eyes starting to shine with moisture.
Q sighs a little as he looks down at her, hands remaining on her waist. "Jenny.. you.. you can't call me that anymore. Charles is dead, for all intents and purposes. I can never go back to that name. I got myself in a spot of trouble, and instead of jail, MI6 offered me a job. But no one could know I worked here or anything that I did, so they got rid of my old identity. I'm sorry, I wish that I could have done more, could have told you, but it would have put you in too much danger." He explains, smiling lightly for a few moments. "I'm the Quartermaster here, Q... do you understand what that means? That's what you have to call me, is Q. That is the only name I have, the only identity I have now." He explains patiently as he looks down at her fondly.
"Wait - what? You're Q? Well, that explains a lot." Jenny muses as she looks at him, before she pulls him back into a tight hug. "Bloody hell.. I've missed you.." Leaning back from him, she punches him in the arm firmly, giving a little frown. "You would think that your best friend could have been told a little bit more. Jerk." She says with a small little frown, trying to stay angry but it's really not working very well.
With a small, patient and fond smile, Q puts his hand against Jenny's cheek gently and he nods quietly. "I know. I wish that I could have said more, but if I had, they probably would have killed me, and you, too." he points out before he smiles, stepping back a little to be able to see her. "You've changed. You look good." he says as he reaches out to take Jenny's hand, lifting it and kissing the back of it gently. "It's good to see you, Jenny. Bloody good, it's been difficult here, not having anyone to talk to about the infuriating agents." He mutters, shaking his head. "At least not anyone that knows me properly. And I can't get to know anyone because I'm Q, and the responsibility that goes with it." He says thoughtfully.
Not able to help herself, Jenny relaxes a little and sighs, shaking her head with a small smile. "You haven't changed, Cha- I mean, Q.." She giggles a little. "That will take some getting used to." She blushes a little at the kiss on her hand and then nods. "Well, now you have me to talk to. Are you still living on Earl Grey and scones? I hope you've been taking care of yourself, you're more skinny than I remember." She scolds as she looks him over with a critical eye, poking him in the stomach gently.
"I eat.. I do get wrapped up in my projects sometimes, but there's an awful lot that I have to do." Q says with a small smile, grunting at the poke and then adjusting his glasses. "Do you have time? I'd love to show you Q-branch, introduce you to R, my second in command." he says almost excitedly as he watches the blonde.
Laughing and shaking her head a little, Jenny looks down for a moment before she looks up at him with a broad smile. "Aye, I've got time, you bloody great goof." She teases with another little smile. "Really, though? Q and R? And M as the head of MI6? They are awfully fond of letters around here." She muses with a small shake of her head. "And numbers, since there's the double-ohs."
"Speaking of, do stay away from them. They may be attractive, but they're all egotistical prats. Not good material to be mixing yourself up with." Q warns as he looks at her, before sighs. "Alright, let's go." He says with a nod as he looks at her, smiling a little before he walks over to the door of the supply closet, still having Jenny's hand in his. When he opens the door and steps out however, standing next to the door leaning back against it casually is the exact double-oh that Q was thinking of when he warned his friend away from them.
"There you are, Q. Grace, from accounting, told me you went in there with a woman, I hardly believed it." Bond says as he straightens, looking between the two, and then their joined hands. "My, My, Q, you are full of secrets." He says with a smug looking smile.
Sighing a little in exasperation, Q glances at Jenny. "Speak of the devil." He notes as he looks at Bond. "007, this is Jenny, she and I are old friends, we grew up together. Naturally I haven't had any contact with her since I joined MI6, but apparently she got hired. A bit of a shock for both of us, but I had to explain to her about my new position." He explains, then looks at Jenny. "Jenny, this is James Bond, one of the most infamous and troublesome agents. Did you need something in particular, Bond, or were you merely trying to terrorize me again?" he asks in a dry tone, a slight shift from how he was acting just moments earlier.
Staying silent for a few moments and just looking between the two men, Jenny finally smiles up at Bond. "Well, now I see why I was warned away from the double-ohs. They are definitely trouble, Q, thank you.." She says with a mischievous smile before she continues. "It's a pleasure to meet you, 007, I'm Jenny Anderson, I'm merely an analyst. Q is right though, we're merely old friends." She says with a slightly flirty smile. "But I think you weren't entirely telling me the truth, Q.. you do have friends." She says with another smile as she looks between the two.
Bond smirks a little as he looks at Jenny. "Always a pleasure to meet a beautiful woman." He says as he bows his head a little, claiming her free hand to give it a small shake and a squeeze, before he releases it. "And a friend of Q's. We should go to lunch sometime, then you can tell me if Q was always like this." He says as he looks at the younger man. "But that will have to wait, I'm afraid." He turns more serious as he looks at his Quartermaster squarely and holds out a black folder. "I came with a purpose, Q."
"Another mission? They are running your ragged, aren't they, 007?" Q asks, immediately distracted as he takes the folder. "Well, then. I was going to show Q-branch to Jenny anyway, might as well all go there. And if you do intend to tell Bond anything about my past, Jenny, just remember how good I am with computers and that you do have a public persona still." He says with a sharp look at her before he steps toward the elevator, somewhat dragging her behind.
All of this just makes Jenny laugh as she trots after Q. "Not so fast! Not all of us are bloody giants!" She complains before she gets into the elevator, grinning up at Q. "This is going to be so interesting." She says happily, very nearly bouncing where she stands.
Looking down at his friend, Q arches an eyebrow slowly. "I'm starting to regret this already." he says with a small sigh as he glances over at Bond for a moment, seeing the man watch him curiously he just sighs a little. "Bloody hell." he mutters under his breath, stepping off the elevator and heading toward Q-branch when they get to the right floor.
James smirks a little as he follows the two, admiring Jenny from behind before he says, "I'll be leaving in three hours, Q, I hope it's enough time for you to get everything together. Though I'm sure it will be, you always seem to pull together an interesting kit." he says with a little smile, walking into Q-branch with a brief glance around, as comfortable in this environment by now as he is anywhere else.
"R, this is my old friend Jenny, she just got hired on as an analyst. Would you keep her company for a bit while I get together a kit for Bond?" He asks as he pulls Jenny forward and introduces the two.
While Jenny pouts a little at what is a sort of dismissal, R merely grins a little."Of course, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you, Jenny." The woman says, being Asian and a little older than Q, but not old by any stretch of the imagination. "Shall I show you around? Though in truth it will be a short tour." She says with a smile at the younger blonde, putting a hand on her shoulder to draw her away from the boys.
For a moment Q watches her go, and then he adjusts his glasses and heads to his office after punching the code into his door to unlock it. "Alright, Bond. Let's see what you're off for today." He says as he opens the folder, looking over everything and nodding. "Seems it will be a long few days for the both of us, this is something that M wants me to monitor an provide support for as well." He muses as he puts the folder down on his desk and then walks to the wall of drawers and blocked boxes at the back of his office, pulling a set of keys from his pocket to unlock one of the doors and pull out a gun case, retrieving a few other things from the drawers before he returns to Bond. "Your Walther, good as new despite your last attempts to destroy it. Standard issue ear piece." The young man says as he brings out a different gun case with the proper slots cut in the foam and starts to put the gun and earpiece in. "Radio of course." He says as he puts one in before he considers for a few moments. "Unfortunately, that is everything I have at the moment, since the details of your mission are somewhat scarce. We'll know more once you arrive. I can arrange for you to get anything else you may need." he says before he closes the case and holds it out to the agent.
"Thank you, Q." Bond says as he accepts the box and then smiles a little as he looks at the younger man. "It seems you are more capable of interacting with beautiful women than I would have thought. Though if you remained just friends with a girl like her..." He trails off and arches an eyebrow curiously.
Giving Bond a shrewd look, Q puts away the old box into a drawer, before he says, "Save your fishing expeditions for your marks, Bond. I don't have time to answer your questions." Closing up the black folder on his desk, he shuffles around a few more papers before he looks out into Q-branch to watch R and Jenny wander around a little, the blonde obviously getting introduced to some of his minions which brings a fond smile to the Quartermaster's lips.
After tucking the box beneath one arm, the agent steps up slightly behind Q and he nods a little. "She'd be good for you, Q. We all need some sort of release from this job. You won't let anyone else here get close to you, so perhaps you should take this as a good opportunity to talk to have someone to talk to." He suggests as he looks at the younger man, sounding genuinely worried about him. "Just think about it. I'll contact you when I land." He says before he turns toward the door and walks out, speaking with Jenny for a moment with a charming smile before he strides out.
It takes a little bit for Bond's words to penetrate Q's thoughts as he watches everything and then he nods quietly. "Yes.. perhaps I shall." he says thoughtfully before he puts a hand on the handle of his door and strides out into his domain, one that perhaps he'll be able to share the joys and pains of at last.