This gets a little darker near the end, a little explanation given by Q. It's not specific though. Thanks for reading!
Review/Comments welcome!
It takes a few years before Damien is comfortable at Q-branch. Though it takes less than three months for him to get out of that closet. He's trusted now, his surveillance gone, and he's matured. Become more of a team player, even though he is still a little aloof. Being the youngest person on the team he always feels he has to prove himself. Which leads him to do more and work a little harder than his colleagues. It doesn't earn him a lot of friends, but he's not there to make friends. He's there to do a job.
Never having many friends means that he's not any more lonely not having them now. If he does get lonely, he goes to a pub and finds some companionship for the night, though that doesn't happen very often.
They're working on a few new things for the Double-ohs. A new, younger one has been promoted recently they heard, though none of them have seen the man yet. Damien has been working on some new tracking devices, trying to make them easier to hide. He's good at being inventive, and slightly worse with the gadgets that the current Q seems so fond of. Exploding pens, laser watches, and the like. While he does see the merit in smaller, shaped explosives for precision, he doesn't see the use in putting it in a pen.
So far it has been a typical day, a few agents coming in for their kits and Damien overhears snippets about their missions. He's been keeping an ear open for everything, learning what he can without being nosy or asking too many questions.
By now he has learned the basics of self defense and at least how to fire a hand gun safely which means he can work testing out the guns if he needs to. Finishing up with his work, he glances up from his workbench, intrigued as he watches a man he's not seen before. Clearly an agent from the easy grace with which he moves, and the way he glances around. Damien is frustrated though, since from this position all he can see is broad shoulders and blonde hair.
Shaking his head to draw his attention away from what he can only guess is an attractive man, or at least an attractive body, Damien glances down at his work and starts to clean his station, having finished the first project he set out for himself that day.
Pulling over his next project, Damien gets a little absorbed in it before he hears a crash and someone yells, "Look out!" He barely has time to lift his head before he sees some sort of propeller blade whizzing toward his head, only to be tackled to the ground.
With the wind knocked out of him by the cement floor, and probably a nice little knot forming on his head, Damien groans softly, keeping his eyes closed as he tries to catch his breath.
"Who said boffins don't live on the edge? That was bloody close, are you alright?" The man who tackled Damien asks, lifting his body off the young man. "A bump is better than death." He notes as he looks at him.
Fluttering his eyes open finally, Damien looks up at his rescuer and stares for a few moments. Blond hair, eyes so bright and almost aquamarine and broad shoulders he remembers glimpsing from across the room. Well, he wanted to see his face, and now he has.
"I'm fine." Damien finally says in his cool, clipped tones, scooting back a little so he can sit up. When there's no dizziness or anything, he gets up and brushes himself off. "Thank you, Mr..?" he trails off as he looks at the older man.
"Bond. James Bond." The blond says with a little smirk as he stands, and then holds his hand to the younger man.
Damien nods, straightening and taking Bond's hand. "Pleasure." He says as he shakes the hand firmly, but quickly withdraws his hand. He really does try not to stare at the older man, even though he is probably the most attractive man he has ever seen. To take his mind off of it, he turns away from the agent, and goes to retrieve the propeller blade. "Perhaps be a bit more careful next time, Peters." He says in a frustrated tone as he hands the piece over to him.
Watching the boffin for a few moments with a calculating gaze, Bond puts his hands in his pockets casually. "Not in the mood to introduce yourself?" he asks with a slight smirk.
"No. I've now got a headache I have to work through because of my coworkers' incompetence. And you've no need to know my name, Bond. Or perhaps I should call you 007." Damien muses, putting the pieces together and figuring this man must be the new double-oh he had heard about.
"Oh? Why do you think I don't need to know your name?" Bond asks as he watches the attractive young man, leaning his hip against the work station and looking it over. He has yet to work up to the witty repartee` he might later be known for, still a little too emotionally detached and too cold. More of a predator stalking prey than someone who likes to play with his food.
"The chances that we will never speak again are rather high. I am but one member of Q-branch and you have only need to deal with Q himself." Damien says as he turns to fully face Bond for a moment. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." He says in clipped tones before he turns back to his work station.
"So cold. We could make a reason to see each other again.." Bonds notes in a quiet, seductive tone as he leans closer, reaching out to place his hand lightly on Damien's waist.
Jerking away when he feels the first brush, Damien steps away. "Don't touch me." he snaps, though his breathing is faster now, looking ever so slightly panicked.
"007, if you please, we have a few things to go over." Q calls from the other side of the room, sounding a little exasperated that another double-oh has wandered off.
Looking a little surprised at the reaction to what was a very innocent touch, Bond nods a little. "My mistake." he says in a cooler tone as he turns away from Damien and heads over to where he was summoned by the older Q.
"Don't take it personally, Bond." Q says as he looks at the much younger man. "He doesn't let anyone touch him. Now stop bothering my staff and pay attention." He says in a sharper tone as he brings Bond back to the present.
Staring back at Damien for a few moments, James tries to figure him out, but he has to push that into the back corner of his mind. A puzzle to figure out another time, he turns his attention back to the matter at hand, and the mission that he is about to be sent on.
Damien takes a deep breath from his work station, gritting his teeth before he glances around. No one seems to be staring so they're either used to his behavior or they simply don't care. He has to do better, but the man was too close, too unfamiliar. And far too attractive for his own sanity. Thank goodness he is a double-oh, one he won't have to deal with. And one that will probably have a short life expectancy, like all the others.
A firm nod of his head and Damien settles himself before he goes back to his work, finishing his second project later that day before he retires to his computer room to work on things there, never slacking, never letting his skills lapse when it comes to computers and hacking. Determined to get a certain set of blue eyes out of his head, Damien does what's good for him: focusing on his work.
~oOo~
"I heard you met our new double-oh today." Eve says as she spots Damien in the cafeteria type place, bringing her food over to sit across from him with a small smile. She's pretty much the only one the young man tolerates. Or at least, she doesn't care if he tolerates her or not, she's determined to be friends with him.
"He saved me from a rogue propeller blade. From what I have seen, he'll fit in well with the others." Damien says as he looks up from a new coding book he was reading through. "I would have thought you heard all about it by now, Ms. Moneypenny." The young man says before he eats a few more bites of his pasta, though his food looks barely touched.
Eve chuckles a little as she chews thoughtfully. "I just wanted to see if it was true. Are you crushing on him yet? Half of the female staff already is." She says with a little smirk. "I know he was an agent before getting his double-oh status, but I don't remember ever seeing him around. Still haven't seen him. I guess he doesn't like to hang around MI6 too much."
Damien sighs a little,using a ripped corner of a paper as a bookmark before closing his book. Apparently he isn't going to be left alone to read it anyway. "Unlike some agents, you mean? Honestly, I would hardly think you were an agent. You spend more time here at MI6 than anywhere else I think. Are you sure you're suited to being a field agent?" He asks curiously as he looks at her, not intending to be insulting, but a bit curious.
"You're not the first one to ask that. But yes, I am sure. And there's nothing wrong with knowing about what goes on in your work place. I'm very good at intelligence gathering." Eve says with a slight smirk, tilting her head to the side. "What about you, you've been here a few years now. Haven't seen you pay any particular attention to anyone." She muses thoughtfully before she looks back down at her food.
Picking up his mug of Earl Grey in both hands, Damien considers how much to tell this woman, and he figures that if anyone can be a friend around here it might just be her. "I'm not very suited for relationships." He skirts around the subject, knowing it won't deter the woman in front of him, but not wanting to say it out loud either.
Eve considers that, poking her food before she leans forward. "Is it because you don't like being touched? Is it a phobia or is it because of germs or something like that?" She asks in a quiet tone.
"Nothing so ordinary, I'm afraid." Damien says as he leans forward slightly as well. "I didn't have an easy upbringing. Touch was never pleasant for me, lets just leave it at that, alright?" He's clearly uncomfortable with the subject, shifting his shoulders as he looks away from her and then over at his food, but he ignores it and just drinks his Earl Grey instead.
"Oh, Damien..." Eve whispers in a sympathetic tone as she looks at the young man, one hand reaching out slightly toward the man, but she pauses and withdraws it. "I'm sorry." S he says quietly. Sure, she may not know the details but she knows whatever it was was bad enough to scar this beautiful young man for life.
"The past is the past." Damien says uncomfortably, shrugging and taking another deep breath. "If you must know, our new 007 is very attractive. I believe you'd like him." The unspoken 'I certainly do' is behind his words, but he avoids looking at Eve now, not wanting to see the pity on her face.
Letting it go as she puts some food in her mouth to buy her time to respond, Eve finally smirks. "I bet he is. He's turned even your head, eh? Well, there's no harm in a bit of eye candy, is there?" She asks playfully with a little smirk as she watches the younger man.
"Indeed." Damien mumbles, then stands. "If you'll excuse me, my hour's up. I have to get back to Q-branch. It was good talking to you." The honesty behind that comment is shocking even to Damien, and he even offers a small smile to Eve before he turns and heads back to work, burying himself there until it's time to go home.
