Ch 1: An Unexpected Discovery

"Ten feet down the corridor, 007, and you'll find the door to the main office," Q intoned quietly, his voice transmitting the information directly to James' ear. "It's on the left. Intel suggests the main server resides in the supply closet attached to that office. Plug in the memory stick, and I can hack it from here."

"Acknowledged," James said quietly, moving quickly and silently toward the door that appeared just where Q said it would. A quick test of the door showed it to be locked. "Using lock picks," he murmured, pulling them out of an inner pocket, and making short work of the office lock. Cautiously, he stepped into the room, finding it clear. Two doors, one to his left and one to his right, showed two rooms adjacent to the main office. "I have two doors here, Q."

"Try the one on your left," Q said.

It was unlocked. James opened it quickly, glanced around, and noted that it looked like a standard office. "Office, Q," he said. "I'll try the other."

"Acknowledged, 007."

Swiftly James backtracked, and tried the other door. It, too, opened without effort, but it revealed a space identical to the office on the other side of the room. "Interesting," James said.

"What, 007?"

"Identical offices. Mirrors, down to the last detail," James said. "No supply closet. And definitely no server. And we're apparently out of doors."

"Intel faulty?" Q wondered aloud.

"Maybe." James took a slow look around. "Should I try my special bracelet?"

Q smirked. "It should negate any of the special tech that might be concealing something in either office, though intel did not suggest that would be a factor here."

James walked further into the second office, tapping the platinum wrist cuff he wore on his left wrist. It worked as a magic dampener, and if there was magic in the room, it should allow James to at least see that it was there. He strolled toward the desk, and as he approached it, it glimmered.

Glimmered.

"Well, that's put a wrench in things, a bit," James said. "It looks like special tech has been employed in here."

Q swore quietly, then cleared his throat. "Can you find the server with the aid of your tech?" he asked, conscious that the channel was being monitored by others in Q branch, most of whom remained ignorant of the existence of magic.

"Trying now."

Aware that what he was seeing was not real, James forced himself to walk a grid across the room one direction, then the other, looking for what underlay the apparent glamour that lay on the office space. He paused in one corner, where it appeared nothing existed, and lay a hand on what became a solid object-the server. "Found it, I think." Closing his eyes to eliminate the false visual input, James ran his hands long the exterior of the server to find a USB port. "I have a port. Shall I proceed?"

"Yes, 007, but exercise caution," Q said quietly, monitoring the hallway security cameras. "You appear to be alone, but with special tech, I can't say with certainty."

"Acknowledged," James said, and pressed the memory stick Q had sent with him into the USB port, automatically triggering the copy program that would transit the contents of the server to a remote location that Q could use to distill the information at his leisure. "Counting thirty seconds from now."

The men were silent as the clock ticked down, and Q checked the remote computer to find it had successfully cloned the server by the 25-second mark. "We have the intel, 007," Q said quietly. "And you're still alone. You're clear to get out there."

"On my way, then, Q," James said, pulling the stick from the port and tucking it back into his inner jacket pocket. He made his way out of the offices, re-locking the front door behind him as he left, then quickly and confidently made his way out of the building, keeping to the shadows outside the renovated offices as he walked quickly to the car he'd parked three blocks from his target, keeping an eye on his surroundings as he did so.

"You're clear, 007," Q said, as James unlocked his sedan and slid into the driver's seat. "It's back to the hotel for you."

"Is the line secure, Q?"

Q raised an eyebrow, and glanced around the branch, then tapped a few keys to restrict the communication link to just the two of them. "It's just us, 007."

"We had no indication that special tech would be needed on this one?" James clarified.

"None at all, 007, or I'd have sent in more of my own special tech," Q answered. "It helps that you knew the possibility existed."

"Couldn't have completed the mission without it, no," James agree.

"I'll start to do some digging," Q said, flipping to another screen. "This should have been straightforward. Our inside person has seen that server in that room, which suggests that your evening's entertainment is a recent development, or a special security measure set up at night. Whether it's recent or not, clearly someone's been flouting the statute for security purposes."

"Is that legal?"

"Depends," Q said, pulling up the employee database for the company-Zanetech-that James had just infiltrated. "If it was what it seemed, that is, a basic glamour meant to disguise and not alert the mundane to the presence of something, then it's probably fine. In this context, though, where the mundane know a server exists in that room? Awkward questions would be asked if it wasn't dispelled first thing in the morning."

James, driving through the streets of Singapore with an almost-worrying familiarity, grunted. "That suggests the special person involved is likely the first one in during the day and the last one out."

"If they care about the statute at all, yes," Q agreed. "We've got four possible candidates for that, according to the information sent by our insider and verified by the databases you just got me access to. You lovely man, you."

"You only love me for my ability to get you fresh data," James complained, a bit of a grin pulling at his lips.

Q lowered his voice. "That and your delicious body, of course," he flirted back.

"Oh, of course," James purred. "Will I see you later?"

"If I can get out of here at a reasonable hour, love, I'll join you. But you did just hand me hours of data to analyze," Q pointed out.

James sighed as he pulled up to his hotel, got out of the car, and tossed his keys to the valet, still on duty at 3 a.m. "It's already after 7 p.m. in London, darling. I'd think you could knock off for the night soon, any way. Isn't there a labor law or something?"

Q laughed. "You know very well that doesn't apply." He tapped a few more keys. "Right, I've started a distance analysis and a few scripts to download the data to my laptop for morning. Are you at your hotel yet?"

"Just arrived," James said, heading toward the elevator bank.

"I'll see you in your room."

"Looking forward to it."

James made his way up to the 23rd floor of the modern glass-and-flash building, and unlocked his hotel room door just as he heard a soft pop from the other side. He knew it was likely his husband, but exercised due caution as he entered the suite, anyway. When magic becomes involved in a mission, he had reason to know, an overabundance of caution was more than a good idea-it was a necessity.

Fortunately, he instantly recognized the messy mop of black hair of the person who had just popped into the suite. "Harry, love, did you miss me?" James asked, stepping forward to kiss his bonded lightly. Bright green eyes gleamed as Q replied, "Always."

IMBM

A few long, deep kisses and an orgasm each later, James and Harry curled up together on the luxurious sheets of the expensive Singapore hotel. "What news from England, darling?" James asked softly.

Harry stirred a bit. "Not much new since you went on mission a week ago. Though you did miss the excitement of my getting an owl at Q-branch and having to explain that away."

James chuckled. "Your friends and family know better, don't they?"

"Yes, and I have an owl ward up around the branch, too, so this was a complete surprise. I explained it away as an experiment, and I strengthened the ward, but it was an interesting morning," Harry yawned a bit. "It came from the Ministry of Magic's Office of Muggle Affairs, which makes it doubly irritating, as those folks ought to know better than to send owls into the mundane world."

"What did they want?" James asked.

"To remind me that as I'm bonded to a Muggle, I'm required to present you to their office for registration, so that you're authorized to know about magic," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "It's an archaic law, but it's meant to protect you from overzealous idiots who want to keep all mundane folk from knowing anything."

James shrugged. "I haven't a problem with it, other than my anonymity in that world will be sunk."

"It kind of already is, what with your association with me and the Weasleys. I think George and Ron are having way too much fun fueling rumors about you," Harry smirked.

James rolled his eyes, and tucked Harry closer into his shoulder. "I particularly liked the one where I'm actually a wild hippogryff tamer."

"Really? I liked exotic dancer, but maybe that's because of the images it brings up in my head," Harry said, then bit James lightly on the collarbone.

"Mmmmm,"James hummed. "I'll only dance for you, darling."

Harry untucked himself and rose to his elbows, looking into James' cerulean blue eyes. "That's right. You're mine, and all your dance moves belong to me."

James reached out with his right hand and pulled Harry's face to his. "All my moves belong to you, Harry," he growled, and kissed him deeply, sweeping his tongue into Harry's mouth and holding him close as they sank into each other for round two.

IMBM

"Right, then," Harry gasped out, sweaty, sated, and panting. "When are you coming home, again?"

James got up, fetched a warm, wet washcloth from the bathroom, and came back, cleaning them both gently. "You'd know better than I, darling," he reminded his husband. "Primary objective is complete, but we've uncovered magical involvement, so that means we've got more digging to do here, I think, does it not?"

Harry reveled in the care James showed him, then tossed the washcloth aside and drew James back into his arms, letting him rest against Harry's chest. "Probably. I've got a script running to match the employee database against known magicals in the area, but that will be of limited use. We'll likely need to get a magical into the company itself."

"Not you, darling," James said flatly.

"Of course not," Harry said, absently stroking through James' hair. "I'm an internationally famous magical in that world. Undercover wouldn't work at all. Alec's a possibility; his training is coming right along. Severus would be better if he'd consent. Kingsley might have an idea." He paused, then continued. "I'm more concerned about the Zanetech intel that suggests they're making WMDs, and the fact that there's magical involvement. It smacks of the Ouroboros, and I thought we got rid of them."

"It's possible they're not the only ones to have had that idea, Harry," James pointed out. "For whatever reason, there's a faction in the magical world that really has a problem with the existence of the mundane in general."

"It's more that they want control of the magical world," Harry observed. "The fact that there's magical involvement in a mundane company that's making advanced weaponry is what concerns me. I sent a message off to Kingsley and M before I came here, so that we can meet about it tomorrow. As of now, standing mission orders apply."

"Right," James said, sighing deeply. "Stationed in Singapore and awaiting further orders it is."

Harry kissed the top of James' head. "Cheer up, love. I'm only an apparation away, if there's time for me to visit."

"True," James conceded. "There are advantages to being bonded to the world's most powerful wizard." The comment earned him a light slap on the head. "What? According to Kingsley, and every other magical I've ever met, it's true."

Harry rolled his eyes. "There's no real reliable scale for magical power, beyond a certain point, James, as you know."

"And you're off that scale, darling, as you know," James pointed out. "Casual apparation to Singapore is not something most magicals could do."

Harry tapped the back of James' head again, and tipped his face back up. "Just be grateful, eh?"

James grinned at him. "I'm always grateful for you."