Title: Metamorphosis

Parings: James Bond & Q; Sherlock Holmes & John Watson

Warnings: Canon typical violence

Disclaimer: All characters, situations and concepts borrowed belong to their respective owners. If you recognize it its not mine. I claim no rights. I make no profit.

Chapter 7 – Not Just Another Day at the Office

Looking back later Q could tell just when the day started to go to hell in a hand basket. He'd arrived in the morning to find that the threat level had been raised due to a marked increase in chatter about and between various terrorist organizations. The analysts' had opined that this seemed to be some sort of reorganization caused by shifting alliances among and between groups. Just what had caused such major shuffling was unknown but everyone needed to be alert for potential attacks none the less.

002 was on assignment in Russia infiltrating a nuclear fuel storage facility. He was checking up on an IAEA report about discrepancies in the materials logs. Normally such thing wouldn't have been a 00 caliber mission but 002 was already positioned as the result of a previous operation so M gave the go ahead.

Q had been about to walk out of the coms room when things started to go tits up. He glanced at Mattie and noted a puzzled look on her face.

"While it is technically experimental 002 it shouldn't lose its calibration," R was saying.

Q presumed that they were talking about the highly sensitive miniature radiation detector that they had managed to smuggle in to 002 day before yesterday. They had thought it might be useful to have an accurate way to measure radiation just in case the on-site detectors were either faulty or had been tampered with. Q reversed directions, grabbed a headset and linked himself in via one of the secondary computers.

"It's certainly reading quite a bit less than the last containment area," 002 sounded puzzled.

Q looked at the map to determine location and then cross referenced with the manifests provided by the IAEA. It was supposed to be a storage area for slightly enriched uranium. Originally this material would have been further refined into nuclear reactor fuel. This particular batch, however, had been labeled as low quality and thus was destined for use in a few heavy water reactors. It would only be further refined as a last resort. No one it seemed had been terribly concerned about it because there was, after all, weapons grade material stored elsewhere in the complex.

R was looking at the readings from the device, "It seemed to be OK in the last room, well within the normal range for the type of material and the storage containers used. You are correct though, it's definitely reading less in this room."

Q was getting a bad feeling about this. He started hacking into the Russian facility's records to see if he could find anything about this particular bit of material. He tuned out R and 002 who were running a quick diagnostic on the detector. Ah, there it was. This was material that had previously been stored in the Ukraine and had been moved hastily when the Soviet Union started disbanding. He took a quick scroll down the transfer records and almost missed it, a two day gap where the shipment didn't move. The official reason was a change in crew due to radiation exposure but the exposure levels shouldn't have been that high unless...hmmm.

"How do we know what's really in those containment vessels?" Q interrupted the ongoing conversation.

"I suppose I could have a look," 002 replied. A couple minutes later he grunted and said "I don't think low level nuclear material is supposed to look like construction debris. Radioactive debris, but I can see nails, wood, metal flashings and dry wall."

"What?!" both R and Q chorused together.

"That explains the difference in the readings," 002 continued seemingly unperturbed by the outburst. "Hello Q," he added as an afterthought.

"002 can you get to…" Q started to ask when he realized he was looking at a security alert currently being circulated to all the computers in the facility, "Damn. You need to get out of there. Your cover's been blown and the alarm should be…" there was an obnoxious whooping as background noise on the coms, "…sounding. I'll see if I can hold off the automatic lockdown for a bit."

"Moving," said 002 matching action to words as he took off out of the containment room and down the hallway.

R's voice was calm, "Security unit coming at you from your 3 in 90 seconds. There's another group on your 6 about a minute behind."

R had linked into the facility's security cameras and was switching between them furiously attempting to track all the potential hostiles. At the same time Q had managed to gain control of the blast doors which were supposed to close and lock down in case of a security breach. He could now hold them open or close them off but he'd have to be careful. Once closed he wouldn't be able to reopen them without the "all clear" signal being given which would unlock all the doors at once.

Now that they had options R reopened the channel, "Take the next right."

"No can do," 002 responded, "blast door."

"Bloody cheap sensors," Q muttered. The security system was showing that door as open. He took a glance at the facility layout map with R's notations on security team locations.

"Second left, then first right. There's a locked office you can use to get the security goons off your tail," R directed.

002 took off again at a run. "By the way," 002 said in a low voice, "have I ever expressed my admiration for the electronic lock override?"

"No," R replied. There was a sudden thunk, audible even over the coms, as the office door surrendered to the ministrations of the device.

"Consider it expressed. I'm in and secure. Anything you want while I'm in here?"

"No thank you 002," Q chimed in. "I suspect that anything I can't get from their servers will be hidden in reams and reams of hard copy."

"Guards just ran past," 002 reported. "So what's the best way out?"

Q glanced over at R's and her screens. She grimaced at him. None of the options were terribly good. Most of the paths to the exits required taking down at least one if not two heavily armed security unit unless…Q decided he'd better take over on the coms.

"Well, the fastest way out is through a hot zone. It does have the appeal of being less messy. In addition I'll be able to lock a good portion of the security force inside the complex."

"What's the down side?" 002 asked.

"With luck a minor bout of acute radiation syndrome and a 10% long term cancer risk increase." Q had been calculating the potential exposure amount in his head while cross referencing MI6's medical database for the common short term and long term effects of excess radiation exposure.

002 chuckled, "Like cancer is going to be a problem. I fully expect to have an acute case lead poisoning long before that!"

Taking 002's comment as permission R proceeded to guide him out of the complex while Q worked on locking everyone possible inside the facility. Once that was done he scrambled a medical unit, complete with a doctor and supplies to deal with the ARS, to join up with the extraction team as soon as they exfiltrated Russian territory.

Two and a half hours later 002 was safe in the hands of the medical team and on his way back home. Q had intentionally remained on the coms until the medical team had finished their assessment and started treatment. Luckily, 002 hadn't received as much radiation as Q had anticipated. The miniature radiation detector had proved its worth by recording exactly how much exposure which in turn allowed the doctors to custom tailor a plan of action even before 002 reached them.

Q had just barely cleared the coms room door when he was faced with his next crisis. Moneypenny was in the branch and she was frustrated.

"What do you mean he's not there?" She was looking over one of his tech's shoulder at a tracking screen. "We remotely turned his mobile on and it's there!"

The tech replied calmly, "The security system was armed at 16:07 to "away". I suspect he left it in the flat.

"Damn it!" Moneypenny swore, "The man doesn't even bother to stay on the grid when he's home."

It was at this point that Q realized that Moneypenny was attempting to locate 007 and had come down to Q branch when her initial efforts had been unsuccessful.

"Might I be of assistance Ms. Moneypenny?" Q asked causing both her and the tech to start in surprise. He hadn't thought he'd moved all that quietly but this wasn't the first time he'd startled his staff in the last few weeks. What was really surprising was that he'd been able to startle Moneypenny who, even though she was officially a desk jockey, still retained an agent's hyper alertness and hair trigger reflexes. Maybe he needed to wear a bell.

"M wants James in here ASAP," Moneypenny started in without preamble. "003 has a line on a potential high value weapons auction and we need to reactivate one of 007's old covers to get him into the bidding. It may be nothing but he'll need to be briefed and ready to move the moment 003 gets us the specifics."

"Which cover?"

"Brandon James, former arms broker for various African warlords."

The tech had been typing as Moneypenny spoke. "That one has been unused for the last couple years. Minimal upkeep performed," he reported.

"It's going to take a bit of time then," Q told Moneypenny then turning to the tech said "Pull the information and get started with the documents first. Give me a list of possible legends which will fit the upkeep actions and explain why he was out of active circulation. I want it on my desk in an hour."

Moneypenny's eyebrows went up apparently surprised at his ordered deadline but she didn't say anything.

"In the meantime," Q continued, "I'll see if I can locate our wayward 00. It's probably a simple case of wine, women and song or some combination thereof."

"A little early for that don't you think?" Moneypenny seemed doubtful.

Q shrugged, "It's Bond. If anyone can find such things on a Monday afternoon he can. I'll give you a call when I locate him with an ETA."

"I'll be at my desk," she replied.

Q watched her go, high heels clicking on the smooth tile floor. A stray thought crossed his mind about turning those heels into some sort of weapon. Throwing knives perhaps? He gave his head a little shake to clear it. Focus Q, he thought to himself. Now what's the fastest way to locate Bond? It would be simple if he had his mobile on him.

Q headed for his office. Several weeks ago Bond had bribed one of the techs to disable the GPS on his personal mobile. Of course the tech had told Q who had taken the opportunity to install not only a remote activation feature but also the ability to give a return ping to the cell towers in response to a coded signal even if the unit was off with the battery removed. He'd only done it as a precaution. If any 00 was going to get jumped on their home turf it would be James. Q also knew that London was the only place where 007 would carry a personal mobile as opposed to the MI6 issued version which, if his minion was correct, was currently locked in Bond's flat. Now was a good time as any to test the modifications. It was only a matter of minutes before Q got a response to his coded signal. A quick triangulation between the cell towers that had received the ping put Bond in a pub called The Wolf's Head Inn.

Q grimaced. James had said there was a pack in London and that after their little interaction late Friday night he'd need to talk to the alpha or leader of that pack to let him know what was up. It couldn't be that obvious. Why not put up a great big sign saying werewolves congregate here. Then again, Q thought, it might not be as dumb as one might think. How many pubs were there in greater London with some lupine reference in the title? There was something to be said about hiding in plain sight. As his middle brother was wont to say, people see but they do not observe.

The strength of the ping he had received back told him that the battery was in and mostly charged. A few keystrokes and Q had the mobile turned on. This was going to be tricky. If it was indeed a pub full of wolves Q would need to assume that everyone could hear his end of the conversation. He'd have to be careful to get Bond to come in without blowing whatever cover he was using. Even if the cover remained intact Q knew that Bond was going to be seriously annoyed about the additions to his mobile. He dialed the number.

"Bond," James answered on the fourth ring with a snarl.

Uh oh. "Touchy," was the first thing out of Q's mouth. He winced. Not a good start. "I thought you were going out for a pint. Drinking is normally something one does to unwind. You sound awfully tense." Q tried to pitch his voice higher and sound uncertain. He was hoping that to anyone listening in that he sounded like a co-worker calling to ask for a favor of some sort.

"Quentin," Bond sounding exasperated, used the most common of Q's aliases.

Yep. James was in a situation where both ends of the conversation could be heard. Q put a little more uncertainty and a touch of fear into his voice, "Sorry James but I've got a bit of a problem and you're the only friend I've got that has even half a chance of helping me sort it."

"How urgent is it?" Bond's voice sounded concerned but with a reassuring note to it.

"Well, I suppose it could wait a bit." Q dithered trying to sound like he was in a quasi-panic.

"Calm down Quentin. I'll get there as soon as I can."

"I'm at my office," Q clarified for any lupine listeners putting a touch of relief into his voice.

"I'm on my way," Bond said and rang off.

Q estimated it would take 45 minutes or so for Bond to get across town. A bit more if he stopped by his flat on the way to swap out mobiles. Q called Moneypenny and told her that James would be arriving in under an hour.

Since there was nothing that specifically needed his attention at the moment Q decided to pull out a design for a miniaturized explosive device. Something that you could slip into an enclosed space like a car's petrol tank then remotely detonate. Of course he'd no sooner pulled the specs out when one of the branch agents reported directly in.

This agent had been assigned to infiltrate The Crimson Lotus an upscale executive spa that actually was a brothel. In addition, it allegedly was the front for a major drug trafficking operation. There were also indications that other things besides drugs were routed to and from the location. Unfortunately the agent's cover didn't allow him access to the areas of the building where the records were presumably kept. To make matters worse the security was top notch and the entire complex was not connected to the internet in any way shape or form to ensure the members' privacy. The whole thing was a bloody Faraday cage and there were only a few areas where you could get a mobile signal. A quick peruse of the report indicated that the only way in was going to be to insert an agent as either a customer or a service provider. The agent apparently thought so too and had helpfully included information on obtaining membership as well as a list of current job openings as an addendum to his report. That was well done and Q made a mental note to recommend this particular agent for more complex assignments in the future.

Q paused as he looked over the information. Given the amount of scrutiny a new member was subjected to the fastest way in was going to be as an employee. The nature of the business meant that the best option would be a specialized employee that would cater to a specific high end clientele. A bit of research on agents and skill sets gave Q the answer he needed. 004, who happened to be in transit through Southeast Asia, was diverted followed by an all hands scramble to backstop her cover and attempt to locate high quality dominatrix gear at 22:30 local in Mumbai.

Of course the next potential disaster hit just as Q was looking over the suggestions for 007's Brandon James cover. A muttered Serbian expletive from what was unofficially known as the "hacker's corner" in the bullpen caught his attention. Larry "Ranger" Gill was typing furiously and cursing under his breath in a variety of languages. The computer specialists, like most of Q branch, took immense pride in being multilingual when it came to swears. This lead to some amusing combinations of invective the most inventive of which ended up posted to a list prominently displayed in the break room.

Q realized that there was a serious problem when he heard Ranger say, "Angela, some help here!"

Since by this time it was technically swing shift there were only three computer specialists on duty. Ranger and Angela were the only two in the branch at the moment since Max had gone to assist the normal IT department with some server upgrades. Q took a look at what the two were dealing with and winced. It was a multiple point hack, most likely coordinated from the look of it. Due to the server upgrades they were down a good bit of processing power so back tracing the source was not an option. About all that could be done was to fight off the attack and see how fast they could get the other servers back on line. Q jumped into the fray with a few keystrokes and with his other hand texted Max to have him put as many of the servers back on line as quickly as possible. It took Q and the two computer specialists an hour to derail the hack and isolate the Trojan that it left in its wake. By the end of it Q was feeling tired and drained. Luckily there was only 007's cover to finish before he could pack it in for the day.

Q grabbed his mug of now tepid tea and almost dropped it. His fingers felt stiff and fat making his grip clumsy. It didn't help that he also seemed to have a low grade itch that was working its way up his forearms toward his shoulders. Q noted to himself that it felt very similar to the sensation right before a full moon shift. That thought galvanized Q into action.

"Ranger call R," he ordered. "Tell her she has the con."

The tingling was getting worse now. He knew his behavior was abrupt and atypical however it didn't matter what the rest of the branch thought, for their safety he needed to get out of the common areas and locked down. He didn't even bother to grab his mobile but took off for his personal lab as fast as he could without running. It was close. Q managed to get in, door locked and shoes off before the change took him. His last coherent thought was that James had been correct, busting out of clothes while shifting was painful.

When he came back to himself he found that he was curled up behind a set of boxes that he had stored under his lab bench. It took a moment before he could determine what had disturbed him. The door lock had disengaged. For safety's sake there were only two people who could override the level of security Q had enabled before shifting, one was Bond and the other was Moneypenny. He heard the lock reengage. He took a sniff, James.

"Q?" James' voice was low but commanding.

Q scrambled to his feet and edged out from behind the boxes. He felt shaky even with four feet to balance on. It also didn't help that he felt ashamed that he'd lost control enough to not only shift but also be completely submerged in the wolf part of himself. By the time he had extricated himself from under the lab bench James had sat down on the floor next to the door. A covered bowl was on the floor next to him. Not knowing quite what to do Q just stood there and looked at him.

"Come here," once again it was a soft command.

Q complied walking slowly up to where James sat. He could tell his ears were drooping and his tail seemed to have a mind of its own. It was attempting to tuck itself down between his hind legs making it difficult to walk. When he was within arm's reach James suddenly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. Q found himself unceremoniously hauled into James' lap. Much to his surprise this manhandling caused his body to go limp in an instinctive reaction.

"It's O.K. Q," James soothed using one hand to keep a grip on his neck while the other caressed his flank. "Stress and hunger together will sometimes force a change in new wolves. That's why it's important to keep well fed regardless. R told me that you hadn't eaten since you extricated 002 from that Russian facility."

Q was surprised at that but was in no condition to react as he lay quiescent in James' lap. An indeterminate time later James hand on his neck stopped being a hold and became more of a rub. Soon after that James reached for the bowl knocking its cover askew one handed. A piece of meat was held in front of Q's nose.

"Eat Q," came the gentle order.

Q ate. James fed him piece by piece, until the bowl was empty. It should have been embarrassing but Q found it oddly comforting. At the same time James was murmuring nonsense into his ears while stroking his back. Somehow the scent, voice and physical contact created a palpable feeling of security. Sated and safe Q closed his eyes and slept, content in his alpha's arms.

Author's Note: Gentle Readers: I'm attempting to update this at least once a month. While the whole story is plotted out with a rough outline I'm still drafting the later chapters. When I get a new chapter completely drafted I go back and edit an earlier chapter then post. I have no idea about a final chapter count since some things seem to take a good deal more words than I expected when I outlined the thing. It doesn't help that certain characters (yes, you Sherlock) won't shut up and let me get onto the action sequences!

As always help with grammar, typos and brit picks via comments or PM is always appreciated. Reviews make my muse happy and more productive.