Ch. 10: Interrogation

Q straightened his tie and stepped out into the sitting area of the suite to collect his briefcase, newly equipped with a thermos of Earl Grey and his usual toys. He kept his tablet in his inner jacket pocket, and checked that the Elder Wand was secure in its forearm holster.

"Believe I'm ready," he called back to James, who was just reaching for his own jacket.

"Me, as well," James said, settling his jacket and straightening his own tie. "Let me just get my briefcase, and we can go."

"New parameters for this one, 007," Q said, glancing at his partner. "Orders from M. Detain Claire Engels for questioning, discreetly if possible."

James nodded thoughtfully. "Before or after our meeting with Prescott?"

"Suppose we'll just have to play it by ear." Q kissed James' cheek. "Ready, dear?"

"Yes, darling."

IMBM

"Dr. Prescott had an emergency," Claire Engels told the men, cackling on the inside. "I'm sorry to tell you he's been delayed for at least an hour. Would you care to wait? I can bring you some tea."

Q glanced at James, who nodded back at him. "Actually, we'd like to talk to you," he said coquettishly. "Can we take you out for a late lunch? Or a drink?"

Claire smiled broadly. "I'd love that. Let me just get my purse and use the ladies'." Q winked at her flirtatiously, James smirked enticingly, and Claire stepped out of her office, giddy at the prospect of a late lunch with two gorgeous men, no magic required.

As she left, Q stepped around her desk, quickly casting ward detection charms. Finding none, he plugged his own memory drive into her USB port, with James blocking the view from the doorway as he counted down to thirty, then disengaged the drive and stepped back. As Claire strutted back into her main office, she saw the men leaning back on her desk, hip-shot and predatory.

Something fluttered in her chest.

"Where would you like to go?" Claire asked, peering up at the pair from under her lashes.

James stepped smoothly forward, grasping her right hand and turning it over to lay a kiss on her palm. "Would you care to join us at our hotel? They serve a lovely late luncheon."

She gasped as Q stepped forward on her other side, taking her left hand and brushing her knuckles with his lips. "Or, perhaps," Q purred into her ear, "we could get room service."

Claire gave a full body shudder. "Oh, I think that would be lovely."

Q breathed into her ear. "Follow us."

Flanked by Q on her left and James on her right, Claire walked right out of the building and into their waiting car. They chatted quietly in the back seat about the weather, with Claire giving tips on the best beaches and restaurants. As they pulled up to the Four Seasons, Claire gasped loudly. "You're staying here? Business must be good."

"Positively booming," James confirmed heartily.

"It keeps me in Armani," Q laughed, and opened his door, reaching a hand into guide Claire out. "We've got a suite. I'm sure you'll love it."

James nodded. "We can see what's on the menu when we get up there."

Claire looked coyly at them both. "Besides me?" she fluttered her lashes.

"Mmmmm," Q hummed at her, resting a hand on her lower back as he guided her through the front doors and to the elevators. "You'll be pleasantly surprised by what's on the menu, I think."

James walked behind them, keeping an eye on the crowd, but making sure the three of them looked like a trio heading for a bit of mid-day fun. His glare turned away two others looking to get into their car as Q steered Claire into it. James pressed the button for their floor and coolly turned his gaze on Claire, who was obviously leaning into Q. "How is it that a lovely woman such as yourself is able to join us out today?" he flirted.

Claire giggled. "Oh, well, my old boyfriend would have just joined in, but I'm single just now. I'm not even going to pretend I don't find the pair of you ridiculously attractive." She leaned even more into Q, and reached a hand out to James. "I admit I thought about this possibility a lot last night."

"So did we," Q continued to whisper huskily into her ear, noting her body responses as his breath hit the sensitive skin. "We'd have settled for drinks today, but if you're willing …" he trailed off.

"We're able and ready," James filled in, mentally rolling his eyes at the cheesy line.

It worked, though, as Claire shuddered again, imagining the things the pair of them could do to her.

"Oh, boys," she gave a throaty moan. "You have no idea how much fun we can have together."

Q only smirked, and James took Claire's hand as the car opened. He led her to the Suite door, and they brought her inside. "Drink?" James asked as he sat her on the sofa and headed toward the bar.

"Please," Claire said.

"What would you like?" Q said, seating himself on the sofa next to her, gently running his hands down her arms to see if he could find her wand. It wasn't holstered to an arm, so he dropped to his knees in front of her, and ran his hands along her legs, finding it holstered to her right thigh.

"Oh, that's a right good start," she squeaked, and Q grinned dangerously as he banished her wand to his secured briefcase and stood. Claire didn't even notice it missing, so caught up in the fantasy she'd had playing out in reality.

Inwardly, Q sighed at the stupidity of the easily played, but shrugged it off as James came back to the sofa with two glasses of champagne, one carefully doctored with true Veritaserum. "Bubbly?"James asked gruffly, handing her doctored glass. Claire nodded eagerly, taking a deep sip as Q took his own glass from James and sipped as well.

James went back to the bar to serve himself a glass, and held it up. "To new friendships!" he toasted. They all drank, obediently, and Q held up his own glass. "To new loves!" They drank.

Claire began to glaze over. "To money!" she shouted, and slurred it out as she finished her glass.

"And there we are," Q said quietly, then crouched down. "Claire, what is your full name?"

"Claire Elia DiNardi Engels," she replied slowly. James pulled out his tablet, aimed it at Claire, and started recording the interrogation.

"Where did you receive your magical training?"

"Castello dei Segreti Nascosti."

James raised an eyebrow, but nodded at Q to continue.

"Are you a part of a group that plans to take over the non-magical world?"

"Yes."

"Does the group have a name?"

"No."

"Name the other members of the group and where they're located." Claire began listing names, followed by their countries of origin. She named names for ten full minutes before stopping. Q calmly continued the questioning.

"What is your role in this group?"

"I keep Dr. Prescott on task."

"What is his task?"

"To create a potion that will make the non-magicals do what we want, when we want it, that can be dispersed through air."

"Has he succeeded?"

"No."

"How much has he been able to achieve?"

"He has the potion, but it still must be ingested."

"Are others working on this task?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"We each have only one task. In that way, if one of us is compromised, the entire mission is not."

"Do you have a leader?"

"No."

"How do you make decisions?"

"We decide as a council. Once a task is assigned, only the council can countermand a decision."

"Where does the council meet?"

"London."

"Where in London?" Q watched as Claire's facial features froze and she began to visibly struggle. "Never mind the question." She relaxed. "Can you tell me where in London?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"The location is under a Fidelius Charm."

"Can you tell me the Secret Keeper?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"That information is also under a Fidelius Charm."

"Who can tell me the name of the Secret Keeper for the London location?"

"Hermione Granger."

Q reeled back. James stood abruptly and placed a calming hand on Q's shoulder. "Take a minute," he whispered. "She's keeping the secret about a secret keeper, not the location. We already know they've attempted to recruit her."

Q nodded, and took a deep breath. "Hermione Granger's name was not on your list of members. Why?"

Claire's brow furrowed. "She is not a member of our group."

"Why does she hold the secret of the secret keeper?"

"They are friends. It was a favor. Ms. Granger suggested it as a method of keeping a Secret Keeper secret in conversation."

"Why?"

"She was researching ways to make the charm more secure as part of her job."

Q nodded slowly at that. "What is the name of Hermione Granger's friend?" Claire's face contorted and he added quickly, "Never mind." It relaxed.

"Why does your group not have a name?" Q asked.

"Security. In magic, if something is named, it can be contained and manipulated. Therefore, we have no name." Claire began to visibly struggle again, and Q could tell the Veritaserum was wearing off. He sat back, then looked at her thoughtfully before wandlessly binding her wrists.

"I need to brief M," he told James. "Not sure what we want to do with her now."

"Ministry holding cells?" James suggested.

"Or shall I use a curse to make her do our bidding?" Q shrugged. "That call is above my paygrade, so I'm going to call M." He watched Claire struggle to herself, then wandlessly stunned her. "She won't be going anywhere for a moment, but keep an eye out, will you, while I do that?"

"Absolutely," James said. "Want me to upload this video file?"

"Please."

IMBM

Kingsley Shacklebolt was not having a good day.

"You have an Italian and Australian magical citizen in custody?" he clarified with M, who was speaking with him via video chat. "And you want to do what, with her, exactly?"

"She knows who is behind the conspiracy to take over the non-magical world," M explained patiently. "Apparently, she's one of the leaders that serves on a council of sorts to make decisions about how to do that. Q wants a decision about what to do with her. Take her into custody, and risk the others figuring out that someone's on to them? Or let her go, perhaps under some sort of charm to keep her under our control? That might lead us to more information."

"How much more information do you need?" Kingsley asked, pinching his nose at the browline.

"We have names and locations, but they're global. It's beyond MI6 at this point. Q said something about the ICW?"

Kingsley groaned. "That would be a serious mission." He thought for a moment. "If we have names and locations, take her into custody. We don't know how much more we can get our of her, but at least our witness will be secure, even if she's hostile. We'll need that for ICW action. And the ICW doesn't have any sort of armed forces, so I don't know how we're going to legally deal with a global conspiracy to take over the non-magical world."

"Q didn't know, either," M soothed. "Said it was above his paygrade."

Kingsley snorted. "He's probably the only one that could do anything about it, magically. Legally, though, he'd need sanction from the ICW. And I don't know what that would be."

"Apparently, this group, which has no name, meets somewhere here in London that can't be named," M told him. "What we need to do is contain the group."

Kingsley looked up. "It won't contain the idea."

"No," M allowed, "but sometimes you take what you can get."

Kingsley shook his head. "I'll ready a holding cell for your guest and contact the ICW."

"Understood," M said. "I'll contact Q right away."

IMBM

While Q was waiting for M's decision, he began to analyze the data from Claire's computer. Claire was still out, and James was kicked back, watching the pair of them.

"You know," James commented, "we never really did have that 'past sexual experiences' discussion."

Q hummed absent-mindedly as he worked, but acknowledged the comment. "You want to have it?"

James shrugged. "I'm fairly an open book. And judging by your conversations with Ginny, you're no slouch at casual sex."

Q laughed. "I did go through a wild phase after the war. Ginny and I enjoyed playing with a number of people of both sexes, usually together, but not always. I'm more into men than women, but bisexuality is not uncommon in the wizarding world."

James nodded, comfortable. "It's probably as common in the non-magical world, though less acknowledged. I have generally looked toward women for my pleasure, but, then again, I was in the military. There's still a subtle homophobia in the military, for all that most don't care where one gets comfort from in a combat zone."

"Your file certainly sets you up as a honeypot for women more often than men," Q said absently.

"Though it has happened that I've employed my wiles on men in the field," James acknowledged. "I only ask now, not because I'm not perfectly content with my bonded and our sex life, but because you seemed totally at ease with seducing Claire."

Q blinked, and let his brain catch up to the conversation James was attempting to have with him. "Are you implying that you didn't think I was capable of seducing someone?"

"No, not at all," James said swiftly. "I know better than anyone else, I should think, that you're very good at seduction."

Q gave James his full attention. "What's this about, James?"

"You know, I don't really know," James said ruefully. "I'm sorting it in my head. I'm a bit jealous, I think, and yet I know it's irrationally stupid. Not only are we on mission, but we're on mission together. And if we ever decided to have a third in our bed, it would be a mutual decision. But somehow, I don't really feel that a third is something I want. Ever. It's you, and you alone, who are it for me." He took a deep breath. "Huh. How about that?"

Q walked over to James and straddled his lap, then leaned forward to press soft lips against his bonded's, before leaning back to look into his blue, blue eyes. "You're it for me, too, you know. You have been, since Skyfall."

James smiled, and kissed him back. They kissed lazily for a few minutes, before Q's tablet beeped with an incoming video chat. "Duty calls, I'm afraid," Q murmured, then got off James' lap and picked up the tablet to answer the call.

M stared up at him. "Transport Claire Engels to the MOM holding cells. Shacklebolt is preparing a secure place for her. I need the pair of you back in London, as well."

"Understood, M. We'll report on arrival."

M nodded curtly, then cut the transmission.

Q sighed. "That's that, then. Let's get back, drop Claire at the Ministry, and report in."

James stood up. "I'll go pack us up."

Q smirked and pulled his wand for show. "Allow me."