When the target had locked eyes with Bond at the bar, Bond had felt a stab in his heart. The sadness and utter despair was almost palpable. Q had only given him a nickname, 'Danny', a blurred photograph and a list of times and places with the final rendezvous point at the beach. Nothing on the why, no background information or a simple alert to the fact that Danny had a slight resemblance to Q. Strictly need to know. As it had been since Bond's return after his affair with Madeleine.
With a shrug Bond tried to clear his head, returning his attention to the slumped figure in the stern of the boat. It had been surprisingly easy to slip the oxygen mask over Danny's head once he was under water. Bond had feared a panic attack or worse. It would have been easy enough for Danny to go through with the suicide. Take one big gulp of water before he reached Bond in the water. Instead, Danny had followed Bond's lead without question.
They reached their destination, a small harbour several miles away from the spot, where Danny had entered the water. Without meeting any people they were tying up the boat and switching to an inconspicuous car. Danny huddled under a blanket in the back and Bond set the car in gear. The last leg before they would meet up with Q in a safe flat.
Bond hoped it would be Q meeting them at the flat. He had felt like Q had done everything possible to avoid such a meeting since Bond's comeback. Even on the comms, Q had been cold and distant. Every time Bond had tried for their usual banter, it had fallen flat between them. Bond needed to speak to Q. In person. So much had been left unsaid between them since Madeleine. Bond knew he had made a mistake once everything had calmed down and he had had time to think things through. All the small signs had been there. Not just from Q. The trust he had in him, even now, after Bond had left Q behind, only to return without giving any explanations. Even now Q trusted him to follow his instructions without question. And Bond trusted Q, more than he ever had trusted any person before. Not even Tracy or Vesper came close.
Bond looked in the rear mirror. Checking on Danny, who seemed to be sleeping. Trust. How did Q and Danny know each other that this young man would trust a total stranger to safe him? Or was Danny suicidal, not caring whether he survived or not? Normally, Bond wouldn't care. He got the target, everything went according to plan, and that should be it. But he couldn't shake that image of a young, utterly devastated man off. Was this how Q had looked or felt, when Bond had left with Madeleine?
They arrived in the early afternoon. The flat was placed in the outer skirts of London. Q had made sure no CCTV was in the vicinity and the car could be parked in an underground carpark. Bond was wary anyway. Danny had been silent all the time and even now he just followed Bond like a lost and tired puppy. They took the lift up to the flat. Q opened the door.
"Danny, I presume?" Q said, opening the door a bit wider and letting them in. "Bond," Q added when Bond went inside. The tone of voice much less welcoming.
"You don't know each other?" Bond looked at Q, who mouthed 'later' at him.
"Surveillance," was all Danny said, as if that explained everything. He was almost asleep on his feet. Bond instinctively reached out to support him. Danny leaned into his arms, much to Bond's surprise.
"Second door on the left is the bedroom. You can take a nap, while Bond and I sort things out," Q indicated the door.
Bond half carried Danny down the small corridor. Pliantly, he let Bond undress him, and hummed a sleepy 'thank you' when Bond put him under the covers. Bond smiled despite himself. Trust. He wondered if Danny had any idea who his temporary flatmates were. Then again, Bond had no idea, who Danny was and why Q was interested in the man. Time to face some questions and seek answers. He left the bedroom door open and went back to the kitchen.
"Well," Bond began. "What is this all about?" Q had his back toward him, preparing tea. Bond could see his shoulders tense. It took a moment before Q turned around and another moment before he was able to look at him.
"You remember Scottie?"
"Scottie? Accountant Scottie?" Bond's confusion must have shown on his face. Q half smiled, before he continued.
"Scottie committed suicide while you were absent with," Q waved his hand. Bond could see the anger on Q's face. There and gone again. Replaced by the slightly arrogant demeanour of the competent quartermaster.
"Suicide? Why would he kill himself? Had someone brought up that old story again?" Bond was now genuinely confused. He had heard about Scottie as an able agent his early days in the navy, and later as an expert into finances and global economics. Of course he knew about his homosexuality, everybody did after Scottie had been degraded. But that were old news, nothing anybody would deem problematic this day and age.
Q shook his head and looked towards the bed room.
"Is he asleep?" he asked quietly.
"Went out like a light. Not everyday, he's faking his own suicide, I guess."
The kettle shut off and Q finished preparing their tea. Bond took the offered mug and leaned against the counter, close to Q.
"Scottie had been investigating some," Q hesitated. "Glitches, he called them. Fluctuations in the market which shouldn't have been there. Shares, that jumped up and down several points for mere micro seconds."
They stayed in the small kitchen, standing next to each other, sipping their tea. A content silence between the two of them, while Bond considered the new information.
"Apart from people making money this way, why would Scottie kill himself because of this? As far as I know, he was well off. And if Danny was his boy, well." Bond winked at Q, who scowled back at him.
"No, Danny was not 'his boy'," Q was annoyed. "Far from it. They were best of friends, nothing else. But Danny could be the solution to this mess."
"You mean, he, what? Killed off Scottie?" Not that this came any closer to explain Danny being suicidal.
"No," Q looked exasperated at Bond. "Does he strike you like a man who can take down an agent? No. Scottie had been able to trace the glitches to some kind of programme, some kind of artificial intelligence."
"You're talking about a computer gone mad and influencing stock markets?" Now it was Bond's turn to roll his eyes. "You've seen too many spy movies."
Q didn't take the bait.
"At first it wasn't just the computer. There had to be a programmer and someone calling the shots."
"Why not the programmer alone?"
"Impossible. Running a program like this, at least in the beginning, should have needed a large team of experts," Q emptied his mug and put on the kettle again. "I know for sure, they only had one programmer on it."
Bond could hear admiration in Q's voice.
"Who 'they'?"
"My best guess right now? Someone inside Spectre. And no," Q continued before Bond could protest. "You didn't manage to take all of the organisation down. If this works out, we will be able to shut down the program for good and flesh out a large part of Spectre."
The kettle was boiling again, and Q prepared a new cup. Taking pity in Bond, Q opened a cupboard and took out a glass and a bottle of whisky, much to Bond's relief. With their drinks in hand, they walked into the living room, settling on the sofa.
"How does Danny fit in?"
"His partner was the programmer."
"Was?"
"He was killed once the program was able to run by itself. He enabled the program to learn and gain knowledge. But," Q took another sip of tea, creating a small pause for dramatic effect. "The program is autonomous now. The death of Scottie was its first move, using its resources to kill off one of the persons who knew about the program. Scottie did not know how close he was in discovering the truth about it."
Bond gave Q an unbelieving look.
"So, you are saying, we have a computer going rampant at people who could throw the switch at it? And this computer is able to, all by itself, instruct MI6 agents - "
"Not just MI6, MI5 and even CIA. Unfortunately, yes."
Bond downed the whisky.
"But if the program is autonomous, how does Spectre benefit from it?"
"It's basic algorithm is to gain wealth and influence for Spectre's organisations. That part can't be changed. It's like, well, you could call it the program's personality. Very difficult to change, and the more success the program experiences, the more you enforce it's basic personality. Still," Q's eyes went distant. "I don't think, Spectre knows what it has unleashed. It wouldn't surprise me, if the program turned on the organisation itself. Becoming Spectre, instead of just serving it."
Q stopped and looked expectantly at Bond. He had another drink, trying to make heads and tails of the situation.
"So, Danny's best friend is closing in on the computer and gets killed, then his partner, who programmed the computer gets killed -"
"The other way round. Danny's partner gets killed, Danny is accused of his murder, wrongly, I can assure you. Before he is murdered, he manages to hide his code for Danny to find." Q paused, before a non-sequitur. "The professor is a moron." Q looked down then back at Bond. "Danny got in touch with the mentor of his partner. Alleged mentor, if you ask me. He didn't even realise what he had in front of him. He was supposed to decipher the code. Bloody idiot only got the first layer of it; just a kind of lie detector. Nothing earth shattering, considering what is underneath it."
Bond chuckled. Q's excitement about the program was probably not fitting, considering the implications, but his enthusiasm had always been endearing.
"Which brings us back to Danny. Who is he and why is he here now? Can't be anything about a ransom or blackmail, since everyone coming close to him seems to die mysteriously?" Bond considered.
Q got up and looked down the corridor. Satisfied that Danny was still asleep or at least inside the bedroom, he went back and sat down close to Bond, one leg drawn up under the other and facing him directly.
"You saw him. He is my lookalike," Q smiled widely at Bond's disbelieve when he realised what Q was hinting at.
"You - he. You want him to be your stand-in?"
Q's serious nod was met with a frown.
"I need to be able to work on this without having any kind of surveillance. This program I'm talking about, I'm sure it has access to MI6 - maybe not the inner core of Q-branch, but it knows that I'm getting closer."
"But, that would put Danny at risk? Does he know about the implications for him? Aside from you being a genius?" For all Bond knew, Danny was just a civilian, and from what he had observed in their short time together, Danny didn't strike him as a strong, levelheaded person who would be able to withstand the kind of pressure, such a ruse would put on him.
"And wouldn't the computer be able to tell the difference? If it has access to CCTV and the like, it should be able to compare its data on you with the new input?"
"But that is the beauty of it. I've run Danny's face through my face recognition program - it couldn't tell the difference! Glasses, hair and eye colour can be changed, but we are look-a-likes on all the points that counts for the program," Q got all excited again, and Bond stopped him before he would start on a lecture of bone-structure, algorithms, and statistics.
"There is the tiny issue about him being able to assist agents and whatever else you are up to at Q-branch," he reminded Q.
"M, Tanner and Moneypenny are in on the plan. I can't rely on anyone else from Q-branch or MI6. You will be Danny's backup if anything goes wrong with a field agent. We'll be able to have direct contact with him from this flat. And," Q said with a triumphantly gleam in his eyes. "Since you are officially declared missing, presumed dead, nobody will be thinking twice about 'Q' being a bit distracted or getting things wrong."
Bond smirked.
"Is that so?" he said, leaning closer towards Q. Q, who at first looked puzzled, then realised what he had said, what it implied. Q, whose face flushed, biting his lips, avoiding Bond's eyes.
And Bond didn't let him recover, but instead laid his arms around him and drew him closer towards himself on the sofa. Q did not fight him, just watched Bond closing in on him. Both their eyes were blown dark; their breathing fast and shallow. Forgotten was the mission, the upheavals of the past months, computers that could kill people, Danny in the bedroom next door. The world narrowed down to the here and now, the living room, the sofa, the two men on the sofa.
Gently Bond took off Q's glasses and placed them on the coffee table. He cupped Q's face with his hand, caressing his cheek, savouring the moment before he closed the distance and touched Q's lips for the first time. A small sound escaped Q, who had closed his eyes at the contact. Lips parted and tongues were licking, tasting, exploring. Hands were entangled in clothing, trying to get to the skin underneath. Bond responded to Q's nervousness and need with a calm confidence. This was not another notch on his bedpost, to be conquered and laid. He wanted this moment to last, wanted to drown in the sensations caused by the slim body wrapped around him. The whines and moans, still suppressed, still holding back, Q cautiously trying to protect himself from the onslaught of Bond's tender moves. His reassuring voice fondly humming endearments, responding to Q's wants and increasing urgency with the reassurance of a generous lover. Bond's hands found their way down Q's body, slipping below layers of clothes, touching and teasing, igniting a long buried longing. When Bond started to open Q's trousers, pressing small reassuring kisses to his neck and shoulders, Q finally let go. Pushing up into Bond's hand, breathlessly begging for release, while both hands were buried in Bond's hair, pulling Bond's lips towards Q's open, pleading mouth, eyes focussed, want and wonder written all over Q's face. Bond revelled in the trust, shown in the openness of Q's expression, letting Bond watch as he tensed, the orgasm hitting full force with panting turned into a low sob of satisfaction. The body in Bond's arms went slack, a single tear following a crinkle under the eyelashes and Q's breathing turned peaceful and even.
Bond sat back in the sofa, holding Q's sleeping form in his arms. The quietness of the flat enveloping them in safe bubble, the fading light from the setting sun creating soothing shadows in the living room. Bond settled for a vigil, keeping watch over two men, who would have to face the world and its cruelty once again come morning.