Chapter 30: The loss of 006

"Welcome back, 006." He heard far too close to his side to be safe and he reacted immediately, pinning the owner of said voice to his car a second later. It wasn't until he felt the knife at his throat a blink of a second later that he came back to where he was. Heathrow, MI6 private parking, not in the field. And the head he was holding was all too familiar. He quickly released his quartermaster and stepped back into the arms of the guard while raising his arms to the side. The guard took a step back and he went with it, taking him out of Q's range. Damn it, this whole situation had put him on edge and now he'd gone and fucked up.

He had only gotten the messages when he was about to board his flight. Too late to disappear without drawing suspicions onto himself. Cursing his luck, he had spent the entire flight thinking up ways to disappear as from the UK, which was a whole lot more difficult than it was to drop off the radar at the end of a mission. He had hoped to drive out of the airport and then ditch the car and buy one fit for the junkyard second hand before hopping the channel. And now those plans had been thwarted before he had even gotten to his car.

"Damn it, Q, do you have a death wish or something? What the fuck are you doing sneaking up on me?" He asked grouchily, mindful of the knife that was still at his throat. He wondered who was guarding Q today. Maybe 10? He was in the country, wasn't he? But 10 would've released him by now. And the guard wasn't bulky enough to be a man.

"I apologise. I didn't mean to startle you but you were a bit distracted." Q replied leaning against the car with his arms crossed, clearly not impressed by his inability to refrain from violence. Stephen winced. Being able to asses the situation in a second and keep from reacting is one of the things a double-0 agent, or any special forces operator really, should be able to do in his sleep.

"Well, it's not every day your country decides to try and do away with you." He defended himself grouchily, only realizing that he wasn't supposed to know that when he saw Q's eyes narrow. Damn it, what the fuck was wrong with him.

"What do you know?" Q asked slight hint of danger in his voice and the knife at his throat increased in pressure. He raised his hands a little higher hopefully signalling his peace. Well, he had already opened his big mouth… There was no use for it now.

"The same as 7 and 10." He simply said. Q raised his eyebrows.

"It seems double-0's gossip. About very, very classified information." He said quietly at the guard behind him. He felt the woman behind him brace herself and for a moment Stephen knew that this could be it, this could be how he was going to die. He knew, without a shred of a doubt, Q only had to nod for him to lose his head.

"Only about things that matter. Only to protect us." He tried to justify their gallant disregard for secrecy act. "The government has always been in two minds about us and after M so blatantly burned the last 5… Let's just say we build a warning system." Q watched him with narrowed eye for a minute before nodding and gesturing. It was only after the knife was removed that he felt safe enough to breathe again.

"And yet here you are." Q observed questioningly.

"Got the message just as I was boarding. Too late to slip away. Was going to make a break for it as soon as I got into the car." He said with a shrug. It wasn't like he hadn't incriminated himself enough already.

Q chuckled. "Well, consider this your rescue." He said and gestured for the guard behind him, who stepped into his field of view. Stephen gaped as the Assistant opened her briefcase and handed Q a file. This slip of a girl who never looked up from her phone had him at knifepoint within a second. And her hold had been strong enough that he wouldn't have been able to break it without slicing his throat. She just was… wow. Stephen wondered if she would be interested…

"No, she won't be interested in a date." Q commented with a grin. "Now if you would pay attention, 006, I'm going to make you quit your job." And he held out the folder for him to take.

Stephen blinked. That… was not what he had expected. 7 had said to trust Q. That Q was on their side. But Q was still a government employee. Was still part of that same structure that had wanted to do away with them. And the story about Q-branch being privatized by Q singlehandedly was so absurd that he hadn't believed it. So, Stephen had taken those words with a grain of salt, or rather a spoonful. It seemed he was wrong. He accepted the folder hoping Q wouldn't notice his hand shaking slightly.

He opened it and stared at the papers in disbelieve. There they were. Resignation papers from MI6. After having signed a lifelong commitment when he became a double-0, he never thought this day would actually come. Prepared as he was to die for his country he suddenly felt as if he was standing at the edge of a cliff, staring over the edge into the unknown. And Q was asking him to jump. Well, he wasn't going to sign anything without a damn good reason. He started leafing through the papers. Scanning through them as he went.

"Resignation to MI6? Employment contract to Bamford?" He muttered out loud as he leafed through it.

"It suddenly decided that, after gaining a new technological department, it needed a new personal security division too." Q commented lightly. Stephen looked up at him.

"How did you manage this?" he asked, lightly awed that yes this was real.

"The owner is a friend and let me use his company as a cover." Q answered lightly and then continued when he saw Stephen was going to argue. "And no that isn't the entire explanation but that's the only one you're going to get." Stephen stared at him some more before going back to the papers, reading them more thoroughly.

"Why would I sign instead of simply disappearing? What are your plans and goals?" He asked Q.

"My goal is to keep you out of Denbigh's grasp until we can take him down. After that to restore Q-branch and the Double-0 section back to where they were. I have no intention to keep it privatised. Should the worst come to pass we will keep the two branches separate from the rest of Bamford. And we'll see how personal security suits you. If it doesn't, we'll find you something else to do." Q answered. There were a lot of I's and we's in those sentences, Stephen noticed. Q took this personal then and it sounded like he wasn't going to let this go anytime soon. But Q wasn't done.

"I would prefer it if you signed because then I can protect you better. You can still take off of course. I'll even make sure you're well out of the country before it was discovered that you were missing. However, do give a way for me to keep in touch with you so I can update you on the situation here. Because, I will never leave my agents out to dry and I will never burn you." That last sentence was said with such conviction that it dislodged something in Stephen's throat. The last person who had told him such things was his adoptive mom, but that was before he had left for his training for the Royal Marines at Lympstone when he was 17. Something she hadn't approved of. They hadn't talked since.

He knew he didn't need such sentiment. He had one fine for plenty of years without it. With the former M you never really knew where he stood. And that was okay. It had kept him alert. Kept him focussed. It also kept him from trusting anyone, letting anyone get close enough to hurt him. But lately the years of always sleeping with one eye open had left him fucking exhausted. And right now, he just wanted to be able to come home to something. A dangerous craving to have, he knew. Betrayal was always around the corner, waiting for him to let his guard down.

Q was looking at him patiently. Just waiting for him to make his decision. He looked so calm about it. Like he would just accept whatever Stephen decided to do. But he just couldn't believe Q would just let him go. Even help him get out of the country. The risk was too high. If he got caught, if Q betrayed him, they would most likely make him disappear. No, the safest route would be to sign and wait and see.

Q held out a pen for him to take with a neutral expression that seemed to hide something. Stephen accepted it and signed the paperwork that took away his identity. Now, he was no longer 006, MI6 agent, licenced to kill. Now, he was a civilian. He hadn't been a civilian since he was 17. He had no idea what being a civilian was like. For now, it just felt empty.

"I have need of a protection detail, 006." He heard suddenly. "Are you interested?" Q was looking at him calmly. "If not, you have some vacation time coming up. I'm sure I can book you a flight to the destination of your choice." Stephen took a deep breath. And another. To breath was to be alive, he'd learned in his marine days. Breathing was what kept you going, calmed you down. So, he breathed and centred. And then decided. Vacation was the last thing he needed. He needed to be busy.

"I am." He said and just as simple as that he was back being himself. Nothing had changed. He had guarded Q before. That was nothing new. And if he needed the illusion that nothing was different, then Q had just handed him a mooring to anchor himself to.

"Good, then your first task is to stand down and do nothing unless provoked. You aren't the only one coming in today. Miranda's been recalled. Her flight has just landed." Q sounded grim.

Stephen paled.