Summary: "So much for my promising career in espionage." Q is to face a court martial for his actions in the Skyfall affair. Mallory, the new M, asks Tanner for his opinion on the young man directly after Skyfall. Tanner tells the truth. Bright Star 'verse, but may be read alone.
Regarding Q's backstory: For this fic, basically all you need to know is that Q's father was a 007 in the 1980s, and his godfather was the old Q, Major Boothroyd.
An Ever-Fixed Mark
O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering barque
~ excerpt from Sonnet 116, Shakespeare
. . . . .
"So much for my promising career in espionage," Q muttered wryly into his ever-present mug of tea before he began laying the trail of breadcrumbs leading to Bond and M for Silva to follow.
. . . . .
November 2012
Q, as predicted, was to face a court martial for his actions in the mess that had retroactively been dubbed "Skyfall."
Q had convinced Tanner to stay out of it; as a long-standing part of the old regime, he would be integral in providing continuity in the MI6 community, which was still shaken from the losses it had suffered in the explosion. (Q had also applied a fair amount of emotional blackmail by mentioning that Tanner had a family to support, whereas Q was a single man with no responsibilities apart from those related to his work...and his cats.)
"Besides," he had added with a quick quirk of his lips that didn't make his grim expression any less determined, "You might be able to put in a good word for me with the new M, whoever they decide to appoint."
Indeed, Gareth Mallory, who had unceremoniously been appointed the new Director of MI6 in the days following his predecessor's death, soon called the Chief of Staff in to ask him for his opinion on Q.
Tanner, aware that Mallory knew of both their parts in the Skyfall business, and privately approved of them, shrewdly decided to throw in all his chips and tell him exactly what he thought of the newest Quartermaster. Having worked closely with his new superior over the last couple of weeks, he was fairly certain that Mallory would appreciate candor and a direct approach.
"Q," Tanner said firmly, "is someone you want on your side. He's the one of the few people the double-ohs will listen to because they want to, and it's likely that many, if not all, of the double-ohs and much of Q-Branch will have very strong opinions about it if he is removed from his position. At best, they'd show their flagrant dislike of anyone who had anything to do with it and make life very difficult for them."
"And at worst?" Mallory questioned mildly.
The eyebrow that Tanner raised spoke volumes.
Tanner contemplated telling Mallory about how, if the tribunal decided to lock Q up instead of dismissing him, he'd only get out as easily as Silva had and with less of a fuss, but decided against it. He likewise prudently decided against informing him about the large number of trained killers (both currently and formerly employed by MI6) the tribunal would have to deal with if they decided to...eliminate him permanently. Tanner didn't want to frighten the man, after all.
"Why would the double-oh agents be so loyal to someone so new...and so young?" Mallory asked, genuinely curious. "He's twenty-two."
He had witnessed the young man's effectiveness and skill firsthand, but the new quartermaster, having been appointed not two weeks before the Skyfall incident, would not have had a chance to prove himself to the famously paranoid agents.
"He's been here a while, and they've all worked with him at least once now. They have a sense for who they can trust," Tanner explained. "The ones who survive have good instincts. That's what keeps them alive."
"I was under the impression that their motto is 'Trust No One,'" M mused.
The Chief of Staff shrugged mysteriously. "They somehow know that they can trust Q. Don't ask me how. Even Bond does, even though he'd just met him for the first time recently. 006, too. He's known Q for a while. He's one of our more...temperamental and contrary agents on the roster and Daniel Drake is sometimes the only person who can scold him into compliance, especially when it comes to doing paperwork correctly, or even at all."
Mallory's eyebrows shot up in shock. "He scolds them? Literally?" He could not imagine that a double-oh agent would take being scolded by a man at least a decade younger than him (or her) without some sort of retaliation. And by a man who was as soft-spoken and mild-mannered as the waif-like new quartermaster! No, it was hardly believable that that young man could have such power over trained killers.
"Like naughty children," Tanner confirmed with a small smirk. "You should hear him go. It's rather entertaining."
M shook his head in disbelief and frowned. "Daniel Drake?" he asked next, curious at Tanner's usage of the name.
"Q's real name. Before we erased him," Tanner said. "It's in his file - the unredacted one. You should read it, sir."
"I have," M said slowly. "I was asking for clarification on why you chose to use the name we erased."
Tanner found himself suppressing an amused smile. "Q has been taming double-oh agents since he was Daniel Drake. You won't find a better agent wrangler than him, I promise you that."
M sat back in his chair, contemplating what he had just been told. "Do the agents know who he really is? Is that why they trust him?"
"Only 006, sir," Tanner said, "and perhaps some of the old timers in Q-Branch who were here when his father was a double-oh, back in old Boothroyd's day."
He tactfully didn't mention that even the old generation of boffins (all of whom, from an outsider's view, had been bypassed for promotion by the young upstart) were rather fanatically loyal to their chief genius and wouldn't share his personal secrets.
M frowned, and crossed his arms. "And can we trust Q? If the double-ohs and Q-Branch are as loyal to him as you say, can we trust him?"
Tanner had known that this was coming. "Q will always do what is best for the nation, then his agents and staff, in that order. His own personal well-being is much further down on his list of priorities."
He paused, then went on with an unusual amount of passion for such a mild-mannered man:
"He cares, sir. Some people are only in it for the paycheck or the power. Many are here to serve, but only up to a point. He's in it to save lives, however he can. That includes going against orders, if necessary. If you don't like that, then one of you will have to go, and only one of you would likely take a large number of the most dangerous people in MI6 with him without even meaning to or really knowing why."
He coughed, evidently embarrassed at having revealed so much. "That wasn't a threat, sir."
"A warning, then?" Mallory said lightly. "He's that well liked here?"
Tanner continued, emboldened by his superior's response. "By the people who matter. It's really only the politicians who don't. He's clever and confident, and young to top it off. Bureaucrats don't like any of that. He makes them feel obsolete. He's got a streak of stubbornness and recklessness to rival the double ohs, too, so he'll win if they go up against him."
"So my support of him - or not - would make no difference?"
Tanner cleared his throat. "It would help a lot, actually," he said slowly, "He's very good at insulting people in the politest of ways when he thinks they're being insufferably stupid. It's not always taken well."
"Oh?"
"He's a belligerent, sarcastic little shit, sir," Tanner said plainly, "But you need him."
M's lips twitched with quickly-suppressed mirth. "I do need him, and everything he brings to the table, including the inexplicable loyalty he has from the double-ohs and Q-Branch….and my Chief of Staff, apparently, on top of that big brain of his," he said, fixing Tanner with a probing look.
Tanner didn't deny it. "And, if you'll permit me to say it, sir, I think you like him, too."
M chuckled, relaxing for the first time in what seemed like days. He was finding that he also liked Bill Tanner very much indeed. "That I do. You have to admire someone who can scold the entire double-oh section without coming out of it with an extra hole, or a black eye at the very least."
"You'll have to do that now, sir," Tanner pointed out quietly, clearing his throat and averting his eyes. "You're M."
Mallory sighed wearily. "I suppose I do. Do you think Q would be willing to give me some pointers?"
Tanner huffed out an amused laugh. "I think he genuinely thinks of them as naughty cats or particularly unruly and destructive children, and acts accordingly."
"Now there's a mental image," M laughed, and shook his head. "Does M stand for 'Mother,' then?"
"Possibly," Tanner said with a small smile. "Also," he added carefully, "You should know that despite Q's apparent lack of respect for orders from what I've said today and what you witnessed that day, he will respect you as his superior and take your orders- "
"Unless he thinks they're stupid or if they put his pet agents in danger?" M finished with a wry smile. "Understood, Tanner."
"Very good, sir," Tanner responded, and stood back, settling his bland civil servant mask back on his face. "Will that be all, sir?"
"Yes, thank you, Tanner," M said.
Dismissed, Tanner left the office with a satisfied little smile lurking about his lips. A job well done, he thought. Mallory would back Q.
Once alone, Mallory pulled out the quartermaster's personnel file (unredacted) and shook his head over it, unsure if he ought to be amused or if he ought to invest in a large bottle of paracetamol instead.
"Naughty cats?" he muttered, chuckling, and poured himself a stiff drink. "Bloody hell. What have I gotten myself into?"
. . . . .
Note:
"Does M stand for 'Mother,' then?": Definitely not a reference to Looney Tunes: Back in Action, in which the character M (played by Joan Cusack) was also code named 'Mother.' Also, Timothy Dalton played Damien Drake, which is totally not where I got my Dalton 007 character's name. *very loud cough*
I should note that Bill Tanner is also a very dangerous man. Mostly it's because he's the kind of bland dogsbody who doesn't attract attention the way double-oh agents like Bond do. He's very good at manipulating situations…for the good of the nation, of course. I've been working on a sort of character study of both Tanner and Q that goes into this a bit more. I like the idea of Tanner getting more done in his quiet behind-the-scenes manner than Bond does in his 'blow up buildings' and 'car chase through busy thoroughfares' way.
