It was an unusual day in Q-branch on this eighth of November. After the chaos of the Skyfall incident had cleared the air, Q had mentioned to the new M that he would be interested in doing a bit of outreach to young school children. The idea got brought up again in a department heads meeting and it was agreed that each department would host an outreach event one month during the year. It would please the bureaucracy and force the MI6 employees to interact with civilians.
Today was Q-branch's day. They had sent out notices to local primary schools to offer a day of math and computer science fun. Q had cleared out one of the labs earlier in the week and had been preparing for the kids. He was also using this to test out some new interactive floor tiles he had installed last month. Currently the students were on the floor with a few of his minions completing different math puzzles of increasing difficulty. A couple older students were on their personal laptops completing coding exercises together to fight the mutating puzzle that Q had on the large screen behind him. It seemed to be a success so far. A genuine smile had actually found its way onto his face which only made R smile brighter when she noticed the normally detached man was showing true emotion.
A strange sound broke through the happy chatter. A soft musical scale, a melodic minor starting on E4, played on a hammered dulcimer. Heads turned as people tried to identify the source of the sound, many people checking their phones. Q, however, immediately yanked open the drawer of the desk and grabbed his personal mobile. He glanced at the screen and paled slightly. Quickly he slid that phone into his pocket and grabbed his work phone.
"R? Take over for me," he ordered as he snapped his laptop shut and walked out of the room with his phone to his ear. "007? I need you in Q-branch now."
James Bond arrived in Q-branch to see the quartermaster furiously typing away, his eyes flitting between six different screens. Bond didn't know of any missions in critical at the moment and a glance at the few minions not participating in outreach showed they were equally confused.
"Q?" Bond asked as he walked around to peer over the younger man's shoulder. "What's going on?"
His fingers stalled for a split second on the keyboard before looking up at Bond. Then he lifted his fingers completely and nervously wrung his hands. It was strange to see the man without his cool demeanor.
"My sister has been kidnapped."
"You have a sister?"
Q's eyes narrowed. "Not the time 007." Bond at least had the decency to look slightly contrite.
"You needed me?"
"Yes," Q replied as he beckoned one of the minions forward. "Standard gun with tracker and two earwigs. One for you the other for K. My sister," he added when Bond looked around trying to guess which of the other techs was called K. 007 nodded as he stuck the wig in his front pocket. "She is still in central London right now. Near Oxford Street. The car in spot three is ready for you." The agent turned to leave but turned back when he heard his name called. "For once 007, I don't give a damn about my equipment," he said with a slight smile. "Just bring her back safely." The reappearance of his strong quartermaster saw Bond returning a small grin of his own before sprinting to the garage.
Bond flew through central London so fast there was no way Q had nothing to do with it.
"Take the next left and the following right." Bond heard Q in his ear as soon as Oxford Circus station was in sight.
"Are they moving or stationary?" Bond asked as he drove.
"Moving slightly, like going up a staircase."
"Or down." Bond drove until he reached a dead end. "Q?"
"Ditch the car." The agent pulled over, tires screeching into a questionable parking spot and lept out, trusting that Q could lock the car remotely.
"Keep going North East. Definitely underground now."
"In one of the shops or the tube?"
"One of the maintenance tunnels. The closest tube is-." There was a pause. Bond would've thought the earwig stopped working if not for his faith in Q's equipment and the sound of keyboard clicks in his ear.
"Q?" he asked as he kept moving forwards, dodging people on the busy thoroughfare.
"He's sending a message. He knows exactly who it is he has taken. It's probably a trap."
"How did you get that?"
"I know you don't spend enough time in London to recognise the street you are on but look at the name of the station in front of you before you head in." 007 glanced up. Bond Street Station.
"Ah."
"Yes. Now go to the rightmost gate and press down on the pad."
"With what?" he asked. "I don't have my card."
"With your hand 007," Q snapped. "It's an electronic system. I think I can handle a little gate." Bond rolled his eyes but stepped confidently through as the gate opens.
"Maybe it just opens because it recognises me. This is my station afterall."
"Actually it does. The system recognised your DNA and let you through. Now look for the nearest service entrance, we don't want you getting nearly run over by a train again."
Bond decided to ignore that little jab and instead ask "Why does the system recognise my DNA?"
"Side project I'm working on for MI5," he explained. "I've been testing it on my commute and I thought this would be another good opportunity to test it."
"Really? When your sister has been kidnapped?"
"She'd berate me for passing up the opportunity otherwise."
"Now that I'd want to see."
"Not going to happen. She should be in the tunnel to your right." 007 silently pushed open the entrance door. Or tried to. Like most metal doors it squeaked as it scraped across the concrete. It was dark and Bond stalked along the curved brick wall.
"How close?"
"362 metres straight ahead. The signal has been stationary for three minutes now."
007 picked up the pace and continued forward, gun held ready in the lead. When he estimated he was reaching the target he asked if there were any guards he should know about.
"Unknown. I'm flying blind with only two trackers and a map." He didn't sound pleased about that.
"I think I see a figure on a chair not too far ahead."
"Well then you had better go take a look." As he neared the figure he could make out a tall woman with short hair in a mass of curls around her face. Her head snapped in the direction of his footsteps as he got closer.
"Please do take care to watch where you step," she said in a voice struggling to remain calm. "I would hate to be rescued and left blind because some idiot agent stepped on my glasses."
"She's definitely your sister Q," Bond murmured.
"Give her the earpiece to be sure," he replied. The agent lowered his gun slightly and pulled out the extra earpiece.
"Stay still. I've been instructed to give you this earpiece." She nodded and tilted her head for him to put it in her ear. Bond gave it a tap to activate it.
"Kendall?" Bond heard Q's voice ask. He wanted to roll his eyes and explain that you should never offer a name to claim in case it is an imposter. Only then Q continued. "Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn. Ci maer?" Instead Bond raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar language.
"Na vedui, muindor! Leithio nin?" Evidently the woman understood the language and visibly relaxed.
"Bond you can untie her."
"Glasses first," K interrupted. Bond looked around on the floor, eyes fully adjusted now and saw them laying not far away. He gently slid them on her face and moved onto the knots.
"Who took you K? And how?" Q asked.
"He was a new client, Jonathan Salmon, although now I realise that is probably a false name."
"Professional or personal?" Q inquired.
"He had said it was for a personal business. Mostly headshots and photos of him in a workplace scenario for a website." She stood slowly to her feet with Bond's help. "Your agent is quite helpful Q. And faster than I expected. How did you find me? He smashed my camera."
"K, do you really think my only trackers are in your camera?"
"Q did you put trackers in my skin?" She yelled, voice echoing down the tunnel. Thankfully Q had anticipated his older sister and had turned down the volume first. Bond however did not get that courtesy.
"These earpieces are far too sensitive for your yelling Miss," Bond growled.
"Oh your poor ears," K drawled. Q let out a small snort of laughter.
"K please refrain from provoking my agent and let him escort you back to HQ."
"If you buy me a new camera I'll consider it."
"Done. Had you already taken any pictures of Mr. Salmon?"
"Yea. Look under the most recent folders." K knew her brother well enough to know that he had already hacked into her work laptop.
"Q will the touchpad work her K?" Bond asked as they exited the maintenance tunnel.
"Trust me it works for her," Q muttered. "Her oyster card never leaves her desk drawer anymore."
"At least I have one," K shot back. "You only travel where your palm print works."
"I only travel between my flat and work. And my position in the government means the less things I'm carrying on my person that can be traced back to me the better," he retorted.
"If someone wanted to find you they could just do a search for the geek in the stupid cardigans. There's only one result."
"How functional is your phone?" Q returned to quartermaster mode.
"Not. I woke up and found it was smashed."
"Alright. 007 hand your phone to K." Bond unlocked his phone and tossed it at Q's sister before he opened the car door for her. She nodded in thanks and opened the new text from Q.
"Is this the guy?" Q asked in their ears.
"Yes."
"Of course it is," he groaned.
"What?" Bond asked.
"He's on our delta list." Bond swore. "I'll let M know and brief you later."
"I can take my earpiece out if you want," K offered.
"No need K. Besides if I tell 007 now he will be the one to kidnap you and go track this guy down."
"I would not kidnap your sister," Bond denied.
"Need I remind you of that mission in Russia early in your double-oh career?"
"That was different. She was a part of the mission."
"Yes and your current mission is to bring my sister to me so if you could stop taking the most circuitous route back to headquarters I would consider not sending your after this man armed only with a clothespin and a thumbtack."
"You wouldn't."
"But I might. It would teach you to use what is readily available rather than destroying all the expensive technology I give you."
"I don't try to destroy it; you just build great explosives."
"And only M knows why she keeps telling me to give them to Alec." The two continued their banter with K joining in when she could, as Bond drove them into the MI6 garage and they walked into the building and through to Q-branch. Without looking up from the computer, Q snapped his fingers and pointed to the tray on his desk. K immediately took out her earpiece and set it on the tray. Bond only looked bored.
"007 take that earpiece out before I dig it out with my nails." Bond turned to K in surprise.
"She's not bluffing," Q added. Bond nodded and placed his earwig on the tray as well. Both Q and K turned to the agent and raised identical eyebrows of expectation.
"I hate you both," Bond muttered as he added his gun to the tray. Q continued typing, ignoring the surprised murmurs of the Q-branch minions before he finished and turned his full attention to his sister and Bond.
"Report."
Bond spoke first assuming, incorrectly, that he was the person the question was addressed to. "Found primary, rescued primary, no severe injuries, no signs of torture, did not lose or destroy equipment, mission success." Q nodded and flicked his eyes to his sister.
"No lasting injuries, minor headache as a result of being knocked out and slapped awake, wrists and ankles sore from bonds, frustrated for being taken and furious that my camera was taken and my phone smashed." Q looked more pleased at her report. A little of the tension faded from his posture as well.
"How were you taken?"
K sighed. "I was stupid. We were working later than my normal hours and he offered to take me to dinner to make up for it and my stomach agreed for me. I remember we hopped on the tube and were heading into the city. I had closed my eyes briefly, I thought, and suddenly my glasses were slapped off my face." Q looked puzzled.
"How were you drugged?"
"I am guessing gassed in some way," she replied uncertainly. "I don't remember him pressing anything up against my face or holding anything near my nose for me to smell."
"Surely that would have affected the whole train car though." Bond was puzzled as well now. "Could he have access to a noxious gas with a limited range?"
"Gas doesn't really work that way," Q replied. "It would not be concentrated enough at such a distance that K wouldn't notice."
"And it would be suspicious for someone to be knocked out suddenly on the tube and have to be carried off. He must have drugged the whole train."
"Sir?" a minion spoke up. Q turned and nodded at her to continue. "This would have been Jubilee Line, correct?"
"Yes," K affirmed.
"Sir there was a reported signal failure in between Baker Street and Bond Street around the time she was taken. It was reported as having taken longer than usual to fix."
"Which would have allowed him to take you into the maintenance tunnels without anyone noticing," Q finished.
"Wouldn't it be suspicious when the others woke up from the drug to see two people missing?" Bond asked.
"You are an agent, 007," Q said. "You notice much more than the average London commuter. Especially a commuter who has just woken up a bit dazed because of being knocked unconscious." Bond rolled his eyes. "Go report to M. And tell him that I am taking the rest of the day off to make sure K is alright. R can take care of outfitting you if you leave today." Bond slipped out of the room with a nod and Q and K disappeared into the former's office.
Within a week, the man who kidnapped K was apprehended and his network dismantled. All was well. Until:
"Q, sir? 004 has got himself into trouble again."
Fin.
Q: A light shines on the hour of our meeting. Are you well?
K: At last, brother! Release me?
AN: Thank you all for reading this story. If any of you are in the mood for leaving helpful reviews I would really appreciate feedback on the ending. I am not good at writing endings so constructive criticism would be very appreciated.