Sour Martinis
Surprisingly, 007 didn't deign himself to bother TSS at all that morning, and by mid-afternoon, Q had stopped looking up every time he heard the main doors to the branch open.
He wasn't disappointed.
He wasn't.
After eventually caving in and texting Eve to see if she'd heard - of course she had - he'd been more than a little bit amused to find out that James bloody Bond had been yelled at by M for the better part of three hours; something about willingly going AWOL, misappropriating company property - Q tried to let the loss of the DB5 not upset him too much - as well as "treating MI6 like your personal playground" which, although a rather strange comparison to make, it was one that the omega could agree with wholeheartedly.
Either way, hearing that 007 had been given a right telling off-to, as Eve had put it, had made Q feel infinitely better about the alpha suddenly reappearing in HQ but not in his lab. Apparently, he hadn't given the rest of the pack much of a heads-up either, although Jake had admitted that that was rather on-par with Bond's resurrection gig too.
And speaking of the double-0s, their own reactions had been just as amusing to watch.
Although James bloody Bond could easily and even effortlessly charm anyone he wanted into his bed, that gift did not extend to his pack mates.
Duncan, in particular, was rather vocal about his dislike of the agent, but given that Duncan didn't seem to like anyone except Jake, Milli, and occasionally Edie, Q decided to take his opinion on the "manipulative self-destructive pendejo" with a grain of salt.
Alec was the happiest, of course, further cementing Q's idea that the alphas were together together, but Charlie and Alexis seemed more exuberant as well, the former bringing him vanilla tea unprompted with a wide smile on his face, while the latter actually picked him up when she went in for her daily hug.
Q glared fiercely at his minions as they laughed at his shocked expression.
The remaining double-0s, however, seemed more blasé about their resident immortal's miraculous return. Jake and Milli both sided with Duncan - no surprise there - whereas Edie had actually scowled when Q had mentioned Bond's reappearance, which was very surprising given that everyone with even half a backbone immediately adored the dark-haired woman with pouty lips and mischievous eyes. She wasn't cold towards him, exactly, but there was definitely something there. Given how Charlie had been excited about his return, and given how Edie and Charlie seemed to be joined at the hip most days, it was even more odd, but the alpha refused to say any more on the matter, and Q was left to wonder about the possibilities in their past by himself.
The entire building seemed to be buzzing about 007's return, and stories of his previous missions, as well as what he'd spent the last few weeks doing, were swapping hands quicker than cash. Most of the rumors were false, something which Q himself could confirm having skimmed the agent's mission files, but as for Bond's more recent activities, he was just as much in the dark as everyone else.
And Q really didn't like not knowing things.
Either way, he forced himself to continue on with his day as normal; making progress on Ourumov's files, going through the information 003 had collected on one of the man's hideouts, and then spending an entire half-hour yelling at Daniel, who was being even more of a prat than usual. The alpha seemed to have forgotten the t-shirt incident that Charlie and Edie had put him through, and was now starting to get an attitude, which Q did not appreciate one bit.
By the time the end of the day shift came around, he was more than grateful to have a sparring lesson to work all his frustration out on.
Given that Duncan still had another month or so before his shoulder would be in any position to be fully used again, Milli had taken over his lessons completely. Although, granted, it had taken quite a bit of arguing back and forth with the man before he'd agreed to simply "observe" their sparring lessons, but apparently, Q had been misusing the word "observe" his entire life, because 003 was very very vocal in his... observations.
"No! What the fuck are you doing?! Go for the legs, you little brat, the legs!"
Q rolled his eyes at the alpha but did as told, and actually managed to tackle Milli to the ground... for all of three seconds before she flipped them and pinned him to the mat instead.
He blew his curls out of his face with a groan.
"Any chance you could go easy on me?"
"No" she said simply, blond ringlets pulled back in a high ponytail, "The enemy will not 'go easy' on you, so neither will I".
"Not even until I get better? Just a little bit?"
"No".
Q sighed again and then finally nodded.
"Alright. Round two?"
"If you wish, lille kjære".
That little term of endearment was a recent development too. Milli had joined the other double-0s in their trend of giving him a nickname in their own native languages, much to his chagrin. It wasn't even the nickname itself that Q had an issue with, it was the fact that she completely refused to tell him what it meant. Apparently, it was only logical to give him a pet name in order to "accurately portray" their "increasing friendship", but that same level of logic did not extend to actually telling him what the pet name translated to.
Since nobody else spoke Norwegian, and Milli was more than a little unpredictable in her appearances in his office, Q had taken to keeping the recording app on his phone open constantly. It had drained his battery life completely the first day he did it, and despite bringing his charger with him the following day, his phone was still as good as dead by five o'clock and he was still no closer to recording the infuriating agent.
It did lead to some rather inspiring voice notes from his minions, however, and more than a little bit of blackmail on particularly cuddly double-0s.
He decided to keep that to himself, however.
Milli stood up and stepped back into the "optimal" fighting stance and Q quickly followed suit. Despite having been completely and thoroughly beaten in their first match of the night, Q was still optimistic. He'd lasted a lot longer than he usually did in fights with Milli, and his recent semi-victory over Jake had given him a new confidence boost.
A confidence boost that was promptly decimated as Milli managed to flip him over her shoulder not five minutes later.
Q hit the ground with an oof and would have whined had he any air left in his lungs. As it were, he did not, so instead, he lay there on his back, wheezing for breath and trying to glare unsuccessfully as Duncan mocked him from the corner.
"Told you you should have gone for the fucking legs" he snarked, "You're tiny, brat, the only chance you have is to get in close so that the other guy's arm span is used against them. Tackle them, and then use a choke hold so that they don't use your scrawny fucking frame against you".
Q would have very much liked to curse the man at that moment, but given that he was only just now starting to regain his breath, he settled for flipping him off instead, while Milli remained standing above him, as blank-faced and composed as ever.
"Hey! Who's been teaching cute little thing like you rude gestures like that?"
The omega blinked at the new voice and reluctantly tilted his head back only to find a grinning Alec standing at the door.
A grinning Alec standing at the door next to a rather amused-looking James bloody Bond.
And here he was, lying on the floor, covered in blood, sweat, and maybe a few tears.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Cause my money's on my Alexis" the blond continued, stepping into the gym, "And I gotta admit, cub, I'm kind of disappointed you went for something so simple".
"Now, now, Alec" his partner said and oh fuck had Q missed that voice, "No need to be teaching the pup even more bad manners".
They came to a stop in front of him. Or, rather, behind him. Or- maybe both? Their shoes stopped half a meter from his head - worn black combat boots for Alec and shiny black oxfords for James - and Q had to continue awkwardly tilting his head back just to even see that much.
Both men stared down at him, smirking, before Duncan - with not a single ounce of subtly - loudly cleared his throat.
James looked away first, giving the man a somewhat respectful nod. "Fortier".
"Bond" he grunted in response, but James's gaze was already sweeping over to the other agent in the room.
"And Millicent, what a surprise".
She frowned and immediately opened her mouth to no doubt ask what, exactly, was a surprise, but before she could, James had flashed her a charming smile and-
"Figure of speech".
"Figures of speech are redundant".
"Perhaps. But pleasant to hear, nonetheless".
Milli still frowned, which wasn't too surprising given how allergic she was to things such as pleasantries, so Q decided to quickly intervene, now that he had his voice back, before it turned into an all-out philosophical discussion about human greetings.
"If you're quite done looming over me like a well-dressed lummox, 007, I'd quite appreciate some help up".
And then those piercing blue eyes slid down to meet his own and-
"Hello Q". Bond's smirk widened into something almost real. "I've missed you".
-and the omega didn't think his heart had ever raced so fast.
007, shockingly obedient, reached out a hand for him to grab, and Q did so gladly, relishing in the warm calloused grasp as he was easily pulled back to his feet. The move also pulled him closer to the man standing in front of him, and he found himself once again breathless as the familiar scent of gunpowder and earth washed over him, undercut by a quiet yet unmistakable alpha.
James abruptly let go of his hand and took a step back with a frown. Q frowned too, confused, before suddenly realising that his own scent was most likely far from pleasant right now, given that he'd been sparring for the last half hour.
He brushed sweaty hair away from his face and gave a sheepish, faintly embarrassed smile.
"Ah. Yes. I'm afraid you've caught me at my, uh… least professional".
Duncan snorted, walking over. "Professional? You? You don't know the fucking meaning of the word".
"Uh, fuck you" he shot back, spinning around to face him, "Remind me again, which of us refers to our boss by his last name instead of his title?"
"Oh, shut it, brat". The alpha shoved him, gentle enough for it to be playful rather than aggressive, and injured or not, Q wasted no time in shoving him right back in return.
Duncan quickly tried to sidestep, but the omega was too quick, feinting a punch to his good shoulder and, as 003's hands automatically rose to block it, sweeping his foot out, hitting beneath the man's ankle, and pulling back and up.
Duncan hit the ground with a thud, and his sudden shocked expression was wide-eyed enough to even get a laugh out of Milli, which, of course, was just as dainty as the rest of her, clear and bell-like and vaguely fairytale-esque.
"Do try not to cause him to have a heart attack, lille kjære. He is our only fully trained medic".
Q grinned at the man even as he reached out to help him back up.
"You little brat!"
He shrugged, modestly. "Well, you did say to go for the legs".
Duncan opened his mouth again, no doubt to argue, before suddenly realising that- oh. Yeah. He had said that, hadn't he?
Alec snorted. "He's got you there, Fortier".
"Watch it, Trevelyan!"
Q turned back to the blond pair, mostly to continue their conversation, but also a little bit maybe possibly just a smidge to see how they reacted to him taking down another double-0, because as much as he warred with his own biology from time to time, he was still an omega dammit and he needed to be praised every now and then, except-
Except James bloody Bond wasn't looking impressed or awed or even amused like he should have been. Instead, the man was still frowning, with a rather… odd look on his face. It wasn't cautious, exactly, or suspicious either. In fact, if Q had to label that expression, he'd say that it was almost… distrustful.
Which made absolutely zero sense at all.
He turned to Alec to see if he could clue him in on what was happening here, but 006 was looking at Bond strangely too, although his eyes were more knowing than confused. When he felt Q's gaze on him, however, he quickly looked back and forced a bright, albeit strained smile.
"We were just coming to ask if you fancied going to El Nido with us-"
"Alec" James said tightly, and to Q's surprise, his partner shot him a vicious look.
Even more surprising, was the just as harsh look 007 gave him in response.
Sometimes, Q really hated having a genius-level intellect. Aside from all the bullying, a troubled childhood, and the problems with going to uni at fourteen aside, it also meant that he usually came to the correct conclusion about a situation faster than most people even realised that there was a situation to begin with.
Bond didn't want him to go to El Nido.
El Nido with its fading warm yellow walls and scuffed wooden tables and illegal open-hearth fireplace, El Nido with it's kind omegian barman who had all-knowing eyes and enough sense not to ask any questions, El Nido with it's safe and cosy soft brown leather booth that could seat exactly nine double-0s and-
-and James didn't want Q in the double-0s safe haven.
Q felt a burning heat behind his eyes and he clenched his fists to distract himself, the nails of his left hand cutting into his palm while his right wrist ached at the strain. The last thing they needed was for him to bloody well start crying right now - even if that was exactly what he needed - but he knew that if he didn't distract himself immediately, then his scent would betray his feelings anyway.
"My apologies, 006". He forced a small, somewhat bitter smile. "But I'm afraid I'm rather tied down at the moment. Some other time, perhaps?"
Alec met his gaze evenly, and those sea-green eyes said that the alpha knew exactly what he was doing.
"Sure, cub" he replied quietly, "Some other time".
007 remained silent, even as Alec took a hold of his arm none-too-gently, and hauled him from the room.
The bastard didn't even have enough grace to look ashamed.
If Duncan had figured out what was happening, then he thankfully kept quiet about it, but Milli - wonderful, blunt, socially awkward Milli - didn't seem to even realise that there was a thing to keep quiet about in the first place.
"If you are that busy, Quartermaster, then we can reschedule our sparring lesson".
"No" he said quickly, forcing himself to look away from the still-open door, "No, that's alright, thank you, I just… A good fight is exactly what I need right now".
Her crystal blue eyes sharpened for a moment, before she slowly yet purposefully nodded. She might not have understood the social slight that had just happened, but she knew that something had happened, and that something had left Q feeling far more emotional and unbalanced than he'd care to admit.
He really loved her sometimes.
"Hydrate first" she ordered, "Then we shall spar again".
He nodded and turned away, quickly walking over to the water cooler to get a plastic cup. The double-0s themselves were far too paranoid to ever drink from something that they hadn't seen poured themselves, so the water tank had been shoved up against the opposite wall long ago, and aside from Q himself - and perhaps a few junior agents - it remained largely unused.
Filling a plastic cup and gratefully downing the icy water in one go, the omega willed his heart rate to slow down and for the heat in his face to dissipate.
Bond didn't want him to go to El Nido, so what? It wasn't like he could forbid Q from going there; he didn't own the place. And Alec clearly had no issue with bringing him, so- so he'd just have to go with the other double-0s instead.
It meant nothing to him.
Really.
It didn't.
So what if he'd run a few off-the-books missions for the man and had risked his career, future, and even his life on an unconfirmed tip-off? So what if he'd gotten on a plane and flown to another country on a second's notice despite his mortal fear of being trapped with two dozen unknown alphas just to make sure that Bond was alright? So what if he'd fallen head over heels for the clever, witty, and charming bastard who smelled like safety and looked like home?
It. Meant. Nothing.
Q downed another cup of water, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
If James bloody Bond had simply used him for his intelligence, then he sure as hell wouldn't be the last. If he had lied and manipulated and simply pretended to be friends with him, then the agent had simply been doing what he did best. And if he had played the role so well that the omega had actually believed, truly and deeply, that the man had given a single damn about him?
Well then.
That was Q's fault, now, wasn't it?
He crushed the plastic cup in his hands and debated throwing it into the bin next to the door. Knowing his luck, however, he'd miss, and then he'd have to do the walk of shame to go pick it up in front of Duncan and Milli who were not being subtle in the slightest with their staring.
Q sighed and reluctantly trudged over to throw away the cup.
"-the hell is this a problem for you?!"
He paused, two feet from the bin, as the voice reached him.
"Oh, don't play dumb, Alec, it's not a good look on you".
Alec? And… James?
"The only one being an идиот here, is you!"
Q slowly leaned closer with the pretense of reading the sign on the wall above the bin.
"... You know how I feel about omegas".
"No, James, I know how you feel about one omega who turned out to be a steel-clad bitch! Oh, don't give me that look, you absolute prat! She's dead, James. And I'd have thought that if your years as a double-0 had taught you anything, it'd be not to condemn an entire group of people based on what one person did!"
There was a low yet vicious growl before the sound of angry footsteps started up and then slowly faded away.
Swallowing thickly, Q cautiously stepped closer to the door and peered around it.
Alec stood in the hallway, alone, with a resigned and almost helpless look on his face.
"... I take it that I won't be dining with 007 anytime soon, then?"
The alpha jumped - not that he'd ever admit it - and spun around to face him. When he realised who had spoken, he briefly closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
"... How much of that did you hear?"
"Enough" he replied vaguely, stepping out into the hallway, "I wasn't aware that your partner in crime had such an issue with omegas".
"Not many do". Alec grimaced. "James is… I'll try to talk some sense into him".
"007? Having sense? It's like you don't even know the man!"
The joke fell flat.
Stepping closer, Alec reached out for him with a question in his eyes. A single nod later, and Q was firmly yet gently surrounded by warmth and smoke as the alpha wrapped himself full-bodily around him.
"... I can't tell you everything, cub, because it's not my story to tell" he started quietly, "But what I will say, is that once upon a time, James fell in love. Hard. Like you wouldn't believe… But she ended up betraying him, in the worst way possible, and…"
"He hasn't gotten over it since" Q finished, voice muffled by the man's shirt, "... She was an omega?"
"Yeah".
"Were they going to bond?"
"... It's not my place to say, cub".
Which was as good as yes.
Q sighed and sank even further into his hold. Either Alec didn't care about the blood, sweat, and tears that he was undoubtedly covering him with, or else the omega's calming scent triumphed above all that anyway.
Although, now that Q thought about it, if Alec didn't have an issue with his in-need-of-a-shower form, then James likely didn't either, and if it wasn't his seriously-in-need-of-a-shower form that had surprised him, then it must have been his natural scent, his underlying scent, the scent of-
"He didn't know that I was an omega, did he?"
It wasn't exactly a question, although Q was still very much confused as to its answer.
"Apparently not" Alec confirmed anyway, "He hasn't been in touch since he left, not properly at least, and I know you used to wear scent blockers, so I had assumed that he just didn't know what dynamic you were, but James said that when you first met, you smelled like an alpha".
When they had first met?
Q frowned and thought.
Before Spectre, before Skyfall, before Silva, all the way back to… the art gallery. The National Gallery, to be more precise, in room thirty-four on Trafalgar Square. Q had been wearing scent blockers back then as well though, and he certainly hadn't been getting close enough to any alpha for them to scent him, so why…
"Fuck".
The coat. The bloody damn cursed coat.
"Cub?"
"... It was December, and it was snowing" he explained, "We'd just moved into the Old Vic Tunnels, and I hadn't been outside in weeks, there was so much to do… Bill lent me his windbreaker when I went to meet Bond. But it had smelled like- like peppermints and- and M. Old M. Our M. It was… The coat had smelled like her".
"And James scented the alpha off of it, and thought that it was you" Alec realised, "... Well, that explains a lot".
Q quickly pulled back, out of his lovely warm safe grip because-
"I didn't mean to lie to him, Alec, I swear! I had no idea that he would- I mean, it was- it was cold and- and I had no coat of my own and- and I didn't even ask Bill for his jacket, he just gave it to me and told me to wear it but I would never have- never have worn it if I'd known-"
"Hey" he interrupted softly, "Hey, hey, hey, cub, it's alright, I know you didn't trick that idiot on purpose, you're not that kind of person. James just got confused and… and came to the wrong conclusion, that's all".
"But he doesn't know that!" Q lamented, "He probably thinks that I did do it on purpose, that I was- was knowingly lying to him all along because- because- I don't know, because of some stupid reason! But now he thinks I was lying to him all along just like that other omega had lied to him all along and-"
"Cub!" Alec said, reaching up to take hold of his face, "Breathe. Just calm down, and breathe. I'll explain everything to James, alright? It's okay, you did nothing wrong, he was just an idiot, as usual, and didn't bother to double-check his facts... also as usual".
That, at least, got a small smile from the omega.
"I won't say that he'll suddenly start talking to you again, or that he'll even be less of a dick in general" the alpha continued, "But he'll come round, you'll see. If for no other reason than you managing to win the rest of us around. What's one more double-0 when you've already got eight?"
"More trouble" he automatically quipped, "But if he… hates omegas like you say he does, then it's not exactly going to be that simple, is it? And besides, I don't- I don't want him to just not hate me! It's not right that he's just decided to condemn an entire dynamic either! And I don't want a bigoted prat like that to be on my side anyway, not if he's so clearly an asshole to an entire group of people who get enough abuse as it is!"
"I'll talk to him" Alec reassured, leaning down to place a soft kiss on his forehead, "Don't worry about it, alright? You've got enough things to be working on than wondering if that prat has come to his senses. He's just being dramatic, but he'll get over it, if he knows what's good for him. The pack will make sure of it, I promise".
But Q... Q wasn't feeling so sure. Nobody could hold a grudge like James bloody Bond, after all, his last few missions had more than proven that. And if this dynamicism, this bloody bigotry, was as deeply rooted as he thought it was...
Then Q wasn't sure if it was even possible for James to change.