The Heat Increases
Over the next few days, things started to settle once more. Alexis had stayed true to her promise of creating a roster for 'cuddle time' between Q and the double-0s, although she still dropped in to say hi every so often anyway. She also made it a point to hug him at least once a day, despite his (fake) annoyance. Being perfectly honest, it was his favourite part of each day and he loved the warm soft safe embrace that the alpha gave. Based on her amused smirk each time she finally pulled away, Alexis knew full well how much he enjoyed it too.
The other double-0s, although noticeably quieter after the dressing down Q had given them over the very-dead-fucking-body, were also more touchy than usual. The time that they used to spend causing trouble, they now spent trailing after the Quartermaster as he moved from his own office to the main office space to the workshop and garage and back again. The worst part was, Q couldn't even complain. His minions were less likely to approach him when a double-0 was hovering just over his shoulder, which meant he spent less time answering idiotic questions and staring disparagingly at Daniel until he got the hint and left. Having a silent bodyguard also did wonders during his brief but unfortunately still necessary walks to either M's office or to track down Eve or Bill. He sure as hell got a lot fewer catcalls and sickeningly lewd remarks, that much was for certain, and the very few who were brave enough - or stupid enough - to continue to wink or leer at him were very quickly put in their place by a warning growl from the double-0 of choice.
The agents were even accommodating enough to save their physical contact for the privacy of his office, although both Alexis and Saif had sworn to get Q used to it in public too. The roster 001 had created was followed almost religiously, meaning each of the five double-0s got half a day each. Apparently, having an entire day with the omega to themselves didn't quite make up for the fact that they wouldn't have him for another six days, so they had all agreed to half days that happened twice a week instead.
Q was very careful to keep the knowledge of that particular database a secret from both R, Bill, and M, just in case medical decided to come after him for crippling each of the executives with anxiety.
The constant company - more specifically, the constant alpha company - was doing wonders for his own mental health too, a thought that both pleased and greatly annoyed him. He didn't want to be reliant on an alpha - and definitely not on five alphas - but his stupid bloody biology was taking its own sweet time in realising that. It didn't help that the double-0s just seemed to know about it either, and whenever they were alone in Q's office, they were quick to rearrange him to their liking. It wasn't uncommon now for him to be immediately accosted each morning, his shoes and tie being pulled off by a grumbling alpha who then moved them both until they were satisfied.
At least they let him keep his laptop.
It also allowed him to subtly play along with Eve's story of the week, namely, that he ran away to join the circus as a child, helped a major criminal ring smuggle drugs across country borders, was later caught red-handed by M herself, and then was rather abruptly adopted by MI6 as a whole where he was never forced to do illegal activities again.
Well.
None that they knew of, at least.
During the very brief interlude Q had at the changing-of-double-0s time, he had read the whiteboard, scoffed, and then threw his hands in the air in exasperation.
"What the hell is it with people claiming that M kidnapped me?!"
Silvia, standing nearby, gave him a sage look.
"It's not kidnapping if you're an orphan, sir".
Q very quickly decided that it was time to end this prank, and sooner rather than later. His minions were quite frankly appalling when it came to emotions, at least in regards to the double-0s' emotions, and not a single one of them had even come close to upsetting one of the alphas.
He told Eve to make the next story her own, and then let that be that. Q would get to keep the chair, and he'd just have to bring out the spray bottle and have another little chat with the ridiculous double-0s about privacy and personnel files and all of that.
He did have to admit that having the idiot knotheads close-by also made it easier - and more fun - to mess with them, however. Over the last few days, 006 had become Agent Trevelyan had become Trevelyan had become Alec, and Q purposefully waited until Charlie was just about to leave before casually speaking in Russian to the other alpha while on comms.
The first time he did it, the man's head snapped around so fast that the omega was genuinely worried he'd given himself whiplash. Alec, on the other hand, had let out a pleased laugh and replied in his native tongue as well. And no, the sound of that husky low baritone speaking Russian most certainly did not make Q squirm uncomfortably in his seat, fuck you very much.
Either way, 002 was now beyond confused as to whether or not his Quartermaster really could speak Russian, and the entire debacle had the added benefit of impressing 006.
Not that impressing 006 was important.
Of course not.
Not a chance.
Not. at. all.
On a completely unrelated note, Alec's mission, unlike Q, was finally starting to get somewhere.
His fake ID was holding up against Ourumov's natural suspicion, which, of course, had the Quartermaster giving Duncan lots of suspicious looks himself because where the actual hell had the alpha gotten such realistic papers if not from Q branch?! Neither 003 nor 006 were inclined to answer him, however, and Q quickly decided that it would be better for everyone, including himself, if he never found out the truth.
But because Alec's ID was standing firm, he was able to continue posing as a security guard, working late night and early morning shifts in the otherwise empty Cuban compound. The ex-KGB colonel was after shifting his focus to the hormone drug completely, which was never a good sign, and according to 006, there were hundreds and thousands of vials being pumped out of the factory each day. The only chemical that he could confirm was testosterone, although that was mostly an assumption made on the basis that there were no alpha scientists or line workers, only omega's and beta's. For testosterone to be used in such high quantities and to such an extent that even alpha's in the same room as the vials would be affected was more than worrying.
When Q had updated M about his agent's suspicions, the man had made a slightly inappropriate if understandable joke about MI6 getting lucky and being able to use the mystery drug to calm down the double-0s in order to make them more manageable. Alexis, who had somehow managed to sneak into the meeting with Q, had given the man a vicious snarl at that, but one sharp look from the omega had her quickly shutting up once more.
Needless to say, the double-0s were officially banned from executive meetings after that.
"Any chance of M giving me proper orders this time?" Alec asked, drawing him back into the present.
"You do have proper orders, 006" Q replied absently, half-distracted by Saif's rhythmic petting of his hair, "Observe and report. Quite simple to remember, if you ask me".
"Exactly! Simple!" he exclaimed, "I'm going insane here, cub! There's nothing to shoot, nothing to hit, nothing to blow up-"
"Yet" the omega interrupted, "Nothing to blow up yet".
"... Does that mean what I think it means?"
Q sighed and leaned back in his chair. Or, well, leaned back against Saif, considering that he was the only one actually sitting in the chair while Q had been dragged down onto his lap, despite his awkward angles and general boniness.
"It means, 006, that the chances of this new drug being beneficial for humankind is very very slim. As soon as we can get a confirmation on what it is, chances are M will want you to blow the factory sky high".
The resulting pleased rumble from the alpha sent goosebumps up and down his spine, but Q very quickly shoved away that thought and blamed it on Saif's petting instead.
"I like the sound of that. Do I need to source my own explosives or will my lovely little boffin provide some for me?"
"Call me little one more time and you won't be getting anything from me!"
005 snorted, the sound only partially muffled by the omega's hair, and at the other end of the comms, Alec immediately zoned in.
"Who's on cub duty today?"
He barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the ridiculous nickname. "Oh, like you don't know!"
"Fair enough. Tell Saif I said hey".
"Tell him yourself, you're on speaker".
Alec huffed a surprised laugh that did absolutely nothing to the omega's stomach nope nothing at all nada niets nichts-
"Running an ongoing mission on speakerphone, Quartermaster? How incredibly unprofessional of you".
"What's unprofessional, 006, is you lot sharing state secrets" he replied dryly, "Not to mind manhandling your superior into whatever bloody cuddle position that you see fit!"
There was a pause at the other end of the line, and then-
"I don't think you're doing a very good job at cuddling him, Saif, if he's this angsty".
The alpha's arm briefly tightened around Q's waist even as the petting continued as normal. "Put your money where your mouth is, Alec. I don't exactly see you helping out".
"I'm in the middle of a deep cover mission!"
"So? It wouldn't be the first mission you blew off".
"Yes, but none of those missions were run by our lovely little boffin, now were they?"
Q, rather graciously he believed, resisted the urge to immediately hang up.
"Both of you, shut up! And for the last time, you are only meant to use code names while on comms!"
Alec scoffed. "Why? It's not as if anyone could hack your system".
Which-
Yeah.
Q angrily shoved down the burst of pride he felt at the alpha's praise and tried desperately to focus on the task at hand.
"That may be, 006, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Now, I believe that we were talking about explosions?"
That did the trick.
"Should I be expecting an early birthday present, cub?"
"Well the long answer, is that it all depends on M and his orders and what he sees fit and what countermeasures the PM wants to put in place as well as his advisory board and-"
"-and the short answer?"
He bit back a smile.
"Yes, 006. You should be expecting a rather… hazardous birthday present any day now".
He felt Saif smirk against the back of his neck and resisted the urge to swat at the man.
"I look forward to it" Alec replied easily, "I'm guessing that I'm not allowed to try them out until M says so?"
"You guessed correctly, but I would still keep them on you just in case. The order should be coming in by the end of the week and I am almost certain that it will be a burn-it-to-the-ground directive".
"My favourite kind".
This time, the omega did roll his eyes. "Do, at least, try to be careful, 006".
"Why Q, it's like you don't even know me".
"I do" he replied dryly, "That's why I emphasised the try".
"That's harsh, cub… But since you're giving me explosives, I guess that I can forgive you".
"How generous".
"I'm sensing a little sarcasm".
"You should. I'm laying it on pretty thick".
Saif snorted from behind him and gave his curls an admonishing tug.
Q sighed. "Well, if that's everything, 006".
"Until tomorrow, cub. 006 signing off".
He had barely exited the call before Saif was gently yet firmly pulling him closer to his chest, ignoring his hair in favour of wrapping both arms around him instead. Q let him do it, not even remotely as reluctant as he should have been despite his token protest.
"I do still have other work to be doing, you know".
"I know" Saif replied easily, "But I have less than five minutes before Edie arrives and I'm sent to the bottom of the roster again, so I need to get in as much cub duty as possible".
He groaned in annoyance. "Not you too! That's a ridiculous nickname and I hate it!"
"No you don't". He grinned. "And besides, Alec only calls you that because he likes you".
Q felt himself flush at the possible implications of that statement, and quickly turned to hide his face in the alpha's neck, breathing in spice and warmth and something vaguely metally.
"He's a tough one to impress, you know" Saif continued, running a gun-calloused hand up and down his back, "Alec is… energetic, to say the least. He's naturally charismatic, whereas most of the rest of us had to learn it. Him and James both. But as outgoing and friendly as he seems, he doesn't actually… like people, that much. Side effect of being a psychopath, I'm afraid".
"Well, you would know".
005 poked his ribs and Q only barely fought back a smirk.
"What I'm trying to say, you little menace, is that I think Alec genuinely likes you. Which is rare, for him. For all of us, really. Some of us find it easier to make human connections than others, but at the end of the day…"
"You know that those connections can't last" the omega finished quietly, "Because of your job, because of who you are".
"Exactly" Saif said, "But luckily for us, you know exactly who we are and what we do. And it seems like you've got Alec on your side now, too".
"As long as being on my side doesn't end up with any more dead bodies, then I think we'll be okay" Q replied, giving the man a look.
Fortunately - or, technically, unfortunately - Saif was saved from answering by the sound of raised voices coming from the main office area below. Frowning, Q detangled himself and stood up, despite the alpha's pitiful whine, and quickly hit the button to make the wall of glass overlooking the rest of the branch transparent again.
Edie, in all her black leather and high-heeled glory, was almost running through his panicked minions, clearly on her way to Q's office. She took the stairs two at a time and didn't even knock before bursting in with such frightening speed that even Saif startled a little.
She looked just as put together as ever, despite her frantic movements as she marched across the room and yanked Q into a rather forceful hug. His frown deepening, the omega awkwardly managed to twist around in her hold to try and see her face and-
And Edith King, 009, was crying.
Someone had just won the bet.