Disclaimer: I don't own "Skyfall," the 007 franchise or any of its characters, wishful thinking aside.
Authors Note #1: Set in an au version post-Skyfall in a world were everyone has a soulmate and when you meet yours you generally just tear their clothes off and go to town before you even say hello.
Warnings: soulmates au, mild sexual content, Bond and Q basically judging Tanner and reminiscing, Tanner gets some, basically the couple that sasses together stays together kind of thing.
Holus-Bolus
Everyone was there the day Tanner found his one.
Unsurprising, considering it was just another day at MI6.
Still, it had to be said the timing had been rather spectacular, by all accounts.
It was explosive and absolutely nothing like the prim man himself. Messy. Loud. Involving copious nudity and an almost unhinged sort of hyper-focus that had him itching to turn to the nearest computer and save the footage for future study. For the sake of science, of course. Positive he would discover the missing link to their more savage ancestors in the moment when Tanner flipped a solid oak table from the Churchill era and shouted something that echoed into the stone eves. Translating more as a garble of syllables than any real word. Though, that might have been because his partner had her tongue half-way down his throat at that point.
Frankly, he didn't know Tanner had it in him.
The man had been delivering files for Mallory, taking a moment to get briefed by a junior agent on their most current asset. The one involving a particularly promising 006 agent who was wrapping up a case in Serbia, when one of the new computer techs walked into the room and stopped dead.
The change in atmosphere had been tangible.
Even for him.
Making him look up the same moment everyone else did, adjusting his glasses with a blink.
Breathing through a pleasantly familiar electric charge as Tanner audibly hiccupped. Almost choking through a breath. Cutting off the junior agent as the man whirled in his seat. The sides of his suit jacket flaring out like a startled dove. Inhaling lushly like he knew her by scent and taste alone.
Which, of course, he did.
That was how it worked.
The recognition was instinctive.
Natural.
Feral.
Raw.
The woman's gasp was heavy with promise as her coffee slipped out of her hand and sloshed over the freshly waxed floor. Spreading outwards in a minor explosion of milky-brown. Dappling her long, rose colored trench and dripping down her expensive brown leather boots as she stared him down from the other-side of the room. The lush of her breasts rising and falling dramatically as Tanner looked up and promptly lurched awkwardly into dead-space. Looking quite like his body and his brain had just fought through conflicting signals. One telling him to kill the space between them and take her. The other trying to remember all the reasons why public coupling was generally frowned upon in polite society.
Even if it was your one.
"Good lord, were we ever that brash?" he supplied dryly as the surrounding agents slowly backed out of range. Scattering like a clutch of startled cats as Tanner's spine stiffened. Yanking at his tie with an almost vicious movement as the woman's purse hit the floor like an answer. The words droll and amused in a way only Bond would recognize as the man himself materialized behind him.
"You put a hole in "The Fighting Temeraire," Bond answered smoothly. Reaching over him to close the screen of his laptop and tuck it safely under his arm. Nudging at the small of his back with the curl of his forefingers as he sighed and gave in. Resigning himself to a wasted day as he allowed the agent to herd him out of range of any projectiles. "It's considered one of Turner's best pieces, you know."
"I was provoked," he returned emphatically slipping the strap of his bag smoothly over his head the same moment Turner and- Jennifer? Jeanie? Jean? He couldn't quite recall- hit each other running. Taking out the monitor and equipment on his "to do" desk with a resounding crash.
"I kissed you," Bond returned, eyes smiling even as a smirk graced his lips. It was less genuine than the one hiding for him in the back of his eyes, but there regardless. Reminding him yet again of the difference between the face Bond put on for the world and the one he wore only for him. "If I recall correctly."
Something shattered behind them. Quickly followed by Tanner letting go of a swear so vulgar even Bond looked impressed.
"My standards are high," he said archly. Catching a glimpse of Tanner boldly ripping the woman's brassiere clear off. Fisting the lacy pearl fabric in triumph before she kneed him in the gut and rolled on top of him. Pinning him against the desk before she leaned down and bit a messy kiss from Tanners lips. A blur of pouting red lips and bared teeth as Tanner gripped her hips and-
"And it sounds like she's a biter," Bond remarked with a grin as Tanner snarled a fractured sound. Trying desperately not to read too much into it when the woman - who had a tongue piercing she thought no one knew about - screamed shrilly in triumph.
"Everyone has their quirks," he muttered glibly. "I seem to remember you shoving me onto a pedestal and-"
Somewhere behind them the woman let go of a keening cry the same moment the sound of splintering wood echoed distinctly through the empty room. Self-satisfied and surging. Quickly followed by a grunt from Tanner, then the unmistakable sound of flesh on flesh.
"They didn't waste time," he remarked, fishing out a set of keys as the scattered agents slowly filtered down the hall. Looking surprisingly unbothered despite the fact he was sure most of MI6 already knew what had transpired. There was nothing more gossipy than a communication tech with a story to tell, after all. "The rumor mill is going to be cut throat."
"Poor Tanner," Bond hummed, walking sedately behind him as they slowly made tracks towards the least busy elevator.
"He is currently having sex on my work space. You'll forgive me if I don't share the sentiment," he remarked with a sniff. Already imagining the state of it. He was going to have to replace all his systems. The equipment. And worse- the way they'd been carrying it might as well be a haz-mat issue on top of it.
He was jostled out of his irritation when Bond chuckled. Feeling something in him warm as the elevator door closed and he let himself lean into his one. Just a little bit. Enjoying the solid press as Bond draped a possessive arm around his waist. Knowing he would allow it.
"Want to get out of here?" Bond murmured, nosing confident and hopeful into the dip where his neck and his shoulder connected under his jumper. Making him smile small - a secret shared only with the blurred reflection against the stainless steel as he tipped his head to the side. Giving the man the pale of his throat to nuzzle, like an answer and an invitation all rolled into one.
Finding your one was something to celebrate, after all.
A/N: This story is now complete. Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think.
Reference:
- Holus-Bolus: all at once; altogether.