Author's note: This is a one-shot I wrote to explore the relationship between Alec and James. I am intending to post a longer story featuring the two of them later, and this is partly to explore their different backgrounds first.

There are many similarities in Alec's and James' childhoods, but also many differences, and I wanted to explore what they would come to mean in their relation ship.

Disclaimer: I do not own James Bond, Alec Travelyan or any other James Bond related item or person. I have only borrowed the characters and will return them. Not even making any serious attempt at kidnapping Alec, and as I have gotten some special glue form Q, he shall appear utterly unharmed.

Happy Birthday

"Happy birthday, Alec." James grinned as he came up to Alec.

Alec spun around and stared at him with a confused expression on his face. "What did you say?" he asked. He really was feeling confused

"It's your birthday, isn't it?" James eyed him carefully; he wasn't used to see Alec look unsure of what was going on.

Alec shook his head, bewildered.

"They showed me your file once, when we were first made partners. It said this date was your birthday." James explained carefully, not wanting it to sound as if he had been snooping. Their files mostly remained personal, and not everyone could see another agents file, for security reasons. Yet when Alec was new, James had been allowed to see his file with his training records, and he had taken note of some of the information.

When they had become friends as well as partners James had made a point out of remembering it, because Alec, like himself, had no one else to wish him a happy birthday.

"I'm an orphan James. I don't know when my birthday is," Alec frowned as he recalled that James too was an orphan. The main difference was that he had memories of his parents whereas Alec had no memories of his parents at all. James could remember when his parents celebrated his birthday, but Alec did not have the same luck.

"I mean," Alec continued. "I was too young to remember. I don't know when I was born, or who my parents were. I don't even know where I was born or if I ever had any other family. I have no idea James."

He sounded sad and James thought that it was no wonder. It had to be very hard. Not having one single memory of your family.

"Come on Alec," he said with a friendly pat to his shoulder. "Sounds to me like it would be good for you to talk about it. I'll buy you a pint."

"We are agents James. We're not supposed to be emotional about those things." Yet still Alec reminded him, yet still, he followed him.

"You have no memories at all?" James asked when they both sat with a pint before them, thick foam covering the dark liquid.

"None, I was too young." Alec sighed. "I don't know how I was orphaned, I don't know what happened. I don't know anything at all. I guess they wrote down the date I got to the orphanage as my date of birth; either that or the day I was found. It could be either one I guess. I think that it was this time of the year it happened."

"What date did you celebrate when you were young?" James asked as he sipped his ale.

Alec put down his glass and stared at him. "James, I was in an orphanage. No one went to too much trouble to find a date for you to celebrate on. One or two of those who actually recalled their birthdays from before got congratulated, and we'd make drawings and such for them, but no one bothered to find a birthday for the children who did not have one." He was spinning his glass around slowly as he spoke.

"How did you get there?" James asked.

Alec shrugged. "I was found somewhere. I guess something had happened, because I think someone once told me they were looking for survivors or something. I am not sure, but they found me, and some corpses that were supposedly my parents, and they shipped me off to the orphanage. All that I had then was my name, or, at least they thought it was mine." He shrugged again and gave a dry laugh. "If it wasn't mine then I guess that it's mine now. It was written on a note that was in my pocket, Alec Travelyan, so that was what they called me."

James took a long draught to give himself time to think. He couldn't even begin imagine what that would be like. Hardly even be able to be sure of your own name.

"How was it?" he asked finally. "At the orphanage I mean, I guess that I was lucky, I never had to go to one of those."

Alec hitched his shoulder and then dropped them again. "Better than the 'little orphan Annie' one. We were given some new clothes every Christmas, and the food was good enough, we even got desert on the Sundays. They had some toys for us to play with. There were lessons, they taught us how to read and write and all that. The worst thing though, was being the only one who was never taken." Alec was still spinning his glass around slowly.

"The only one who was never taken?" James had no idea what he meant with that.

"People adopt children from orphanages. No one was ever there for much more than a year without being adopted." Alec explained. "But I never was. At that time I thought that it was because no one wanted me."

"That must have been horrible." James couldn't picture how it would be to feel so unwanted as Alec must have done.

"I think it was good for the other children to have someone who was always there." Alec shrugged. "I was there when they came, and I was there when they left. I became the one who chased away monsters from beneath beds, and told them fairy tales. The youngest ones saw me as someone who would always be there to protect them."

"But it can't have been good for you Alec," James stated. "You were only a child yourself then."

"But we never thought solely about what was good for ourselves." Alec pointed out. "We always put others first. And if I felt unwanted, I didn't want any of them to feel that way as well. Of course, later I found out that there had been many willing to adopt me, but the company had dibs on me. They wanted me to remain there so that they could give me a job offer later, and when they did I said yes."

"That is not right." James shook his head. To put a child through that to make him an agent later was just plain wrong.

"I could have fared a lot worse," Alec said, finally taking a draught of his ale.

"Still Alec, I'm really sorry," James said.

"It doesn't matter very much anymore James. I have you, I have no pressing need for a better childhood."

James felt his throat tighten upon hearing that Alec thought so highly of him. If anyone deserved a better childhood it was Alec.

"We've had a rough life, both of us." Alec sighed as he took another sip of ale. "But at least we make the world better for some others."

They drank up and went their separate ways for the time being. It was a long time later when James came up to Alec tossing him a small cardboard box.

"Here Alec," he grinned.

"What's this?" Alec asked. Turning the box over in his hands.

"Since I don't know the real date of your birthday." James grinned. "I went for the day when we were made partners instead."

"Are you serious?" Alec asked baffled.

"I thought that it was time that someone showed you how grateful they were for you coming into their lives." James chuckled. "I certainly am grateful for it."

Laughing at James and his antics, Alec opened the lid and took out a cigarette lighter. "Very beautiful." He noted as he studied the design on the sides of it.

"It comes from Q's work shop." James laughed. "I talked him into making you something, so it is not just a cigarette lighter. It has one of his special features worked into it as well."

Alec grinned as he turned it over in his hands. He was beginning to recognize a few trade marks on Q's gadgets, but he could not see anything on this one. "What did Q add to it?" he asked.

"I don't know." James shrugged with a grin. "I thought that it would be more exciting for you if you were allowed to figure it out on your own, so I didn't ask."

Alec stared at him as if he had gone crazy. Nevertheless, he had been playing with the lighter; opening the lid, and now he snapped it shut as if there was something potentially dangerous inside. Which knowing Q, there most likely was.

"Do you have anything against me, James?" Alec asked teasingly.

"No." James laughed. "I think that he wanted to explain it to you himself Alec. He didn't seem to trust me to get it right."

Alec nodded and smiled. "Thank you James," he told his partner sincerely. James just smiled and accompanied him down to Q.

It wasn't for the lighter Alec had said thanks. It was for the reassurance that he meant something to someone. That he was wanted. That James wanted him in his life.

For someone who had never been certain that he really meant something special to anyone at all, it was the greatest birthday gift in the world, even if he still wasn't sure what day his birthday was. For suddenly it didn't matter at all anymore.

Not to Alec, and not to James, who was just grateful that Alec had come into his life, and he would never forget that day.

The End

This was the firs of the one-shots in the series, and I hope you enjoyed it. More shall follow eventually.

/Elenhin