Moran slammed into the floor as James tackled him. Blood began pooling on the ground from the bullet wound James had put in Moran's shoulder. The sniper screamed as James landed a solid punch right to the wound before scampering back to his feet. He swung his gun around the room, but the other men had obviously run for cover when James started shooting. He ran over to Q and grabbed the smaller man under the arms and half dragged him back behind another desk on the far side of the room.
As soon as James was sure they had a moment before the other men regrouped he began to assess Q's injuries. As it turned out Q was quite lucky that his wounds were not life threatening, at least not as far as James was concerned. "Oh god, I'm dying aren't I. I feel like I'm dying." Q was muttering the entire time James was looking him over.
"You're not dying Q. It went right through your side there, but you are bleeding." James looks around for something to hold against the wound, only to find they had taken refuge right beside the trash can holding his burnt suit jacket. He pulls the ruined clothing from the trash can plucking the mic from the collar before pressing it against Q's wound. "You're lucky he missed, he was aiming for your heart."
"I suppose he thought that would be a poetic death, given the circumstances. I guess I owe you one for that. You hitting him in the shoulder must have thrown off his aim. Was that your intention?"
"I was aiming for his head." James takes a moment to look over the desk, to avoid eye contact with Q.
"It's not like you to miss that easy of a shot, are you injured?"
"I was distracted by my concern." James looks down at the microphone in his hand before attaching it to his shirt collar.
"Concern? Concern for me?" Q looks almost shocked at the admittance, as a light blush creeps up his cheeks.
"What can I say, you do things to me I'd rather not admit to." James looks the other man in the eyes as he says the words, trying to gauge Q's reaction. " i have to go, before Moran's men come back. I won't be long." James reaches around to the small of his back, and pulls out a handgun and hands it to Q.
"You're going to leave me here, on my own?" Q takes the gun from James, with fear in his voice.
James takes the younger man's face in his hand, "I promise, I will be right back for you." James gently pressed his lips to the younger man's, softly at first but as he felt Q kiss him back it became deeper and more passionate but breaking it off after a few seconds.
James, checks his ammo level and begins to move away from the desk. As he moves out of sight he hears Q whisper in his ear, " You better be because we are not done with this conversation." He can't quite keep the smile off his face.
All frivolity is lost when he comes back around to face Moran only to find the sniper gone, nothing left behind but a blood trail. Following the droplets in the direction of some seldom used offices across from Q branch, James keeps his gun at the ready as he systematically checks each room. He finds one of Moran's men hiding behind a filing cabinet, and yet another in the mop closet. James takes them out one by one until the only one left to find is Moran himself. Still following the blood trail James quickly realizes that Moran is moving in a circle back to Q branch.
"It would seem Jim's little piece of ass didn't have to wait too long before finding someone else to warm his sheets did he?" Moran is taunting James, his voice echoing down the empty hallway. "What is it about this boffin that has all the men falling all over themselves for him. Is he that tasty, perhaps after I kill you I'll take a taste for myself. See what all the fuss is about, before I kill him that is." The laughter that follows the last statement sends a chill down James' spine, and reminds him a little too much of Moriarty. No wonder these two worked so well together.
James picks up his pace as he hears Q's breathing speed up over the comm in his ear. Moran has made it back to Q Branch, and James is too far behind. He starts to run as he begins thinking about losing Q now, after everything that they just went through.
"James, he's coming. What do I do?" James wants to tell Q to run, but he knows with his injury he'd never get far enough away.
"Stay quiet, and stay low Q I'm on my way. Keep the gun up and ready in case I don't make it before he finds you." He tries to keep his voice calm, but even he can hear the edge of panic in his words. He knows Q can shoot as well as any agent, but he's never been in the field. He's not like James, he's never taken another life, at least not up close and personal like this. James isn't sure if Q is fully prepared to shoot another person, even if his life depended on it.
"Well what have we here? A little mouse hiding behind a big gun." James can hear Moran over his comm and that means he's found Q already. James begins to sprint the last hundred yards to Q Branch. " I was going to have some fun with you first, but you really are not my type. Oh well, I'll just have to have fun with your blond boy toy instead."
James is just crossing the threshold into Q Branch when he hears two shots ring out in quick succession. It's Moran's body that drops lifeless to the floor. James stops in his tracks and mutters a prayer of thanks to whatever gods are out there. Seconds later there is a loud bang as the MI6 extraction team finally makes their way through the elevator shaft to late to do any good.
As the black clad team of would be rescuers spread out to look for any more threats James makes his way over to Q. He is already be attended to by some of the medical staff. "Are these guys bothering you Q, I know plenty of ways to get rid of them if you like."
"That will not be necessary Bond, unlike you I don't mind professional medical attention OW! Watch it with those scissors, you are meant to be cutting my clothes not me!"
"Then I should leave you to their tender mercies." James smiled and turned to go find M for a debriefing.
"Oh no you don't, you are not getting out of this that easily." Q's voice had returned to his usual authoritative manner. James turned to look at the man laying on the floor addressing him. "there is still the matter of your inappropriate behavior earlier."
"Inappropriate?" James looked at Q confused as the younger man was lifted onto a gurney before waving the medical staff away.
"There are protocols to be followed, and interactions between office colleagues should be handled in a certain manner."
"Colleagues?" James was starting to wonder if Q had hit his head, he had kissed back James was sure of it.
"I know you think that you are some sort of modern day Casanova, but there is a time and a place for that kind of thing."
"Casanova!" James was starting to think that he had imagined the reciprocation.
"Perhaps we should discuss this further, over dinner. Perhaps with a nice bottle of Sangiovese." Q gave James a sly little grin.
James nearly laughed out loud in relief, "I prefer scotch, but never let it be said I wasn't able to follow someone else's lead."
