Chapter 38: The final judgement.

"I apologize for that, 007." Q said quietly when the committee had left. James threw him an annoyed look.

"Stop apologizing for supposedly hurting my feelings when the need arises, Q." He answered back just as quietly. "You just saved a lot of people their lives. I was going to start shooting people if I had to listen to more of her idiocy." Q broke out into silent laughter.

"Oh, she will have it coming." He answered a wicked gleam entering his eyes. "I will make her life very miserable indeed, as soon as I can get my hands on a laptop." James smiled, enjoying the hacker's bloodlust.

"007." James looked up to the source of the voice and then quickly got to his feet.

"Director." He greeted shaking the hand that was held out to him.

Beside him Q had also stood but he didn't greet the man beyond a small nod. The director paid Q no attention but kept his focus on him, looking him up and down, eyes narrowing as he went.

"You are not cleared for a mission, 007." The director's voice was quiet but dangerous and James felt a trail of dread running down his spine. How on earth had the man known that he was planning something? Beside him Q narrowed his eyes.

"Bond?" Q asked.

James didn't answer. He wasn't going to lie to Q, or the director for that matter. And he had a feeling he would be caught if he told any sort of half-truth.

"Hmmm." The director said studying him some more. "Whatever you are going to do is important." The man reported. "You have a lead on someone of interest to us. Yet you refuse to ask permission for your mission. You have not been cleared for duty, yet this cannot wait. But you refuse to let someone else take care of it which tells me this is personal as well as professional." James felt himself stiffen at being laid bare like that. This grabbed the attention of April who seemed to size him up as a potential target from her position at the Director's back. More than just an assistant to the Director then, he realized. Smart to have your personal assistant trained as your personal bodyguard. He gave her a quick signal and saw her relax marginally.

It seemed the Director had seen enough though because he nodded as if deciding on something.

"Good luck, Mr. Bond." He said and turned, walking away. James let out a minute sigh and relaxed. He sat back down, only to remember there was still someone beside him. He turned to face Q who did not look happy at all. Before Q had a chance to start questioning him however, the committee members returned.

Q took his seat beside him throwing him a quick 'we'll talk later' look.

"The committee has come to a decision." Mrs. Turner started, looking entirely too happy with the outcome of the deliberation.

"Agent Bond. Your actions in the defence of the former M Olivia Mansfield are commended. We understand you did your very best to make sure M would come out of there alive, the damage and the bodies of your opponent's testify to it. As I know you were close to her I also extend our sincerest condolences for your loss." That… was actually quite professionally done. But she had been entirely too happy for this to be the only thing she had to say.

"Thank you." He said with a nod.

"As for how M got into that situation in the first place." She continued. 'And there is the other shoe dropping,' James thought wryly. "We, the committee, are of the opinion such the suggestion of such a plan should never have been made. We understand that other decisions would have led to more deaths as you have so colourfully pointed out. However, that does not take away that M had been deliberately put into danger. For suggesting such a course of action, the committee has decided to ground you without pay for a month." James had to work to keep his body from portraying exactly what he thought of such a punishment. This was inconvenient to say the least.

"Very well." He replied.

"As for the quartermaster." Mrs. Turner had trouble keeping her face neutral. "We, the committee, consider your actions all the more serious. You deliberately placed a false trail leading straight to M on the server and then allowed the man hunting her access to find it. This has severely endangered the agency as a whole." Beside him, James could almost feel Q bristle in anger at the thought that he would ever let Silva do anything on the server other than finding that trail. "For that reason, it has been decided to remove the quartermaster from his position." The look Turner gave Q almost seemed a challenge for him to protest. Some furious whispering could be heard around the room.

"If that is the committee's decision then I will of course abide by it." Q answered calmly, his voice carrying clearly over the whispers. Mrs. Turner's glee flashed over her face.

"Then the session is hereby adjourned." She said and hit her stupid little hammer on the desk.

"Cow." James muttered for good measure as he got to his feet.

"Don't insult the gentle giants by comparing her to them, 007." Q chided him with a smirk though it seemed to hide a myriad of emotions. "I will see you outside." And he turned and quickly left the hall, preventing anyone from talking to anyone.

Damnit, James thought. What the bloody hell does Q think he's doing. Because unless he had arranged for other security, Q was about to walk out of the building defenceless. Had the loss of the tittle rattled him enough that he had forgotten that? He looked around quickly finding the Director looking at him. An urgent look and a quick jerk of the head told him enough and he quickly left the hall.

Luckily, he didn't have to search for his charge. Q was leaning against the wall a little down the corridor. At first glance he looked calm, almost bored as he stood there, but the eyes told a different story all together.

"All lives end. All hearts are broken. Caring is not an advantage." He heard Q faintly whisper, his voice breaking over the words that felt so utterly wrong for Q. It sounded like Q was trying to convince himself that they were true though.

"Q..." He started but he was quickly interrupted.

"I know the memo hasn't gone out yet so you might have missed it but I am no longer your quartermaster, 007." Q's voice was harsh and spiteful as he said it.

"They'll come to realize their mistake soon enough." James said lightly. "I'll just keep calling you Q until then. Saves me the trouble." Like hell he was going to call Q anything else. This was his quartermaster whether it was official or not. It wasn't like Q was going to change his ways whether he was called Q or Ormond or whatever his name was. To him he was Q. Period.

A small smile played on Q's lips. "Thank you, 007." He said, relaxing a little which, weirdly, improved his posture. Then he stood and pulled himself together and it looked like nothing had happened at all. Q looked the same as he always had, ready for action. "Well time to get back to work. There's a lot that still needs doing now that all this nastiness is out of the way. And don't think you've gotten away with it, 007. If you think for one moment you can skip out of town without a visit to Wiggins you've got another thing coming." James smiled, relieved that Q was still willing to stick his neck out for him.

The next few months were going to be hard, he realized. Him ignoring his suspension would not sit well with the committee and M would put that solely at his feet. But it couldn't be helped. He had a man to kill and a funeral to attend. A last mission for the woman who had played such a big role in his life. But the simple fact that he could count on Q for help, just knowing that he wouldn't be completely alone, made breathing a little easier.

Silently, each lost into their own thoughts, they walked out the door into an uncertain future.


AN:

And that's it.

Thank you everyone for reading this and liking it

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