Ten Pints of Blood

The first double-0 to find him, unsurprisingly, was Millicent.

One minute he was alone in his office, and then next, there was a blonde china doll standing in front of him, her perfect cupid-bow lips turned down in a frown. The rest of the pack were probably still checking the gym, the roof, the gun range - all the places one of them usually skulked off to when they were in a mood.

But not Milli.

"Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"

She didn't get the reference.

"That statement is flawed. It is impossible to know what is impossible, just as it is impossible to choose between all possible solutions if you only focus on that which is impossible".

James felt his brain implode.

"I was referring to how you found me".

"Oh". She blinked, once. "You wish to hide. In that case, it is only logical that you would hide in the one place that nobody would search for you. Your office".

"I'm glad to see my reputation for hating paperwork precedes me".

She ignored him.

"Why did you do it?"

James reached for the half-empty whiskey bottle and decided that no, actually, he really didn't want to have a clear head for this conversation.

"Why did you attempt to harm our Quartermaster? It does not make sense".

"Not everything has to make sense, Millicent".

"Of course it does. Why else would you do anything if you did not have a reason to?"

He stood up and walked around his desk, looking for a distraction. When they were selecting their offices in MI6's new headquarters, the double-0s had all unanimously decided to choose rooms that did not have any windows. The cost of having limited escape plans did not outweigh the chances of being attacked, after all. But right now, James desperately wished that he did have a window in front of him, just to give him something else to stare at other than a very unhappy cherub.

He focused on the blank wall in front of him instead.

"My reason was… I was angry".

"That is not the real reason".

"I was angry. And upset. And… And I felt betrayed".

"Why?"

"It doesn't matter why!" he snapped, spinning around to face her, "I felt… hurt".

"So you wanted to make Q hurt as well". She slowly nodded, the complexities of irrational emotions finally beginning to come clear. "That is why he ordered us not to kill you, because it is only logical that we would wish to make you hurt for making our lille kjære hurt".

James didn't know what "lille kjære" meant, but what he did know, was that if someone as detached as 008 had taken Q under her wing, then he was well and truly fucked.

"He told us not to use weapons to hurt you" she said suddenly, "Yet there is a loophole in that clause. Q did not say anything about using our fists".

And before he could so much as blink, Millicent had sucker-punched him in the gut before following up with a vicious left jab to the temple that sent him sprawling to the ground.

"Good" she said simply, "Now you hurt, just like he hurts".

"I can see who taught him how to fight" he groaned, head spinning as the alcohol in his stomach threatened to make a reappearance.

"Yes. Q has been improving quickly during our sparring lessons. I am… quite proud".

"Will your pride allow you to pass me the bin?"

She reached for the metal can next to the door and handed it to him just in time for him to throw up into it.

Millicent wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Perhaps you could also do with a lesson in self-defence if you're vomiting this easily".

"I've had nothing to eat all day but cold coffee and a bottle of scotch. Sue me".

James shoved the bin away from himself and collapsed back against the desk, uncaring of ruining his suit on the carpeted floor.

"The pup has a mean right hook. You taught him well".

"I know. But he already had the basics down. I simply advanced his combat knowledge after that nurse attacked him".

"After- wait, what?"

"A nurse attacked him" Milli repeated calmly, "He requested self-defence lessons from Duncan; being our best fighter, he was the logical choice. After Duncan got shot in Spain, I took over. We're making a lot of progress".

"A nurse" James slowly said, "Attacked Q?"

"Yes".

"Why?!"

She gave a single, dainty shrug. "I am unaware of the specifics, but your partner was involved. I believe he dislocated the nurse's shoulder. When the nurse attacked him, Q dislocated the same shoulder again. It was a surprisingly strategic move on his behalf. I did not know that he could be so vicious".

Bond's head was still reeling, though whether it was from the alcohol, getting punched, or this new information, he wasn't sure.

"Alec was involved? He- He attacked the guy who attacked Q?"

"Yes. Although I believe the nurse attacked Q because Alec attacked him first… It appeared to be a complicated story, so I did not request further information. Ask your partner if you wish to know more".

"I will".

Milli studied him closely for another moment, her crystal blue eyes peering down at him from above.

"... I once believed him to be a liability as well. An omega in a position of power is dangerous. And yet…" She shook her head. "Q has defied all previous ideas I had about omegas, and then proceeded to destroy all ideas I had about him. He is truly unique, and he uses his dynamic as a weapon to make others underestimate him. He is not as… compromisable, as you may think".

And with that, she left the room.

James was still lying there on the floor when Charlie appeared.

The lanky man seemed more troubled than angry, although the blond had learned the hard way that looks could be deceiving, and none were as deceiving as the double-0s.

Charlie took one look at him slumped back against the desk, and sighed.

"What the fuck, James?"

"Are you here to punch me too?"

"No. Although it's not from lack of wanting to, I assure you" he shot back, crossing his arms, "Why the hell did you-"

"I don't know! Okay?! I just… I took my anger out on Q and I know that I shouldn't have and I know that I fucked up, alright? I'm working on it".

"Working on it? By getting half drunk on your office floor in the middle of the day?"

"I'd be half drunk on my office chair if it wasn't for Millicent" he grumbled, "Did she tell you I was here?"

"No, actually. I figured it out myself".

Charlie always had been the most observant one. It was one of the reasons James liked him so much.

"It won't take long for the others to figure it out either" he continued, "I passed Alexis on the way here. She was looking for Alec".

"And Alec will tell her exactly where I am". James sighed and finally looked up at the blond. "Any chance you could help me up?"

"You don't deserve it".

"I know".

Charlie stared at him for another moment before finally giving in.

"Alright, come on".

Reaching down, Bond gladly grabbed onto his hand as the taller man hauled him back to his feet. As soon as he was standing, the entire room seemed to sway around him, and he quickly leaned back against the desk to steady himself.

"You have a lot to make up for, James" Charlie said quietly, "And if you want to continue breathing, then I'd suggest you start sooner rather than later".

"Do you honestly think that the others wouldn't still hunt me down even if I apologised right now?"

"No. They would. But maybe, if you're lucky, they'd make it hurt less". The blond let go of his hand and turned back to the door. "You're in for a world of pain when the others catch you. But maybe then you'll finally realise just how important Q is to us".

Alexis appeared with a whirlwind of red hair and fae-like eyes, and for a split second, James was actually relieved. He'd always gotten along brilliantly with the fiery little pixie, after all, so if anyone was going to cut him some slack, they surely it'd be-

*WHACK*

He blinked, confused, as his brain experienced a momentary lapse of time, before the sudden heat on his face blazed into life and he found himself turning back to her with wide betrayed eyes.

"Oh, don't look at me like that!" she snapped, "You should be fucking grateful that I'm not doing anything worse!"

"... You slapped me".

"And you bloody well deserved it!"

He suddenly realised with a pang, that if HQ caught fire this very second and Alexis had to choose between saving him or Q, then the omega would be safe and sound before James even realised that there was smoke.

"Are you here to spend an entire hour yelling at me too?"

"No" she said simply, "I have a far simpler method of getting the message across".

*WHACK*

"Enough, woman!"

His right cheek burned with pain.

"You better apologise!" she snarled, sharp teeth on show, "Or there'll be a lot more where those came from!"

"I will, I swear-

"You know, when two of Q's minions found me and said that you were getting aggressive, I thought that you might be arguing, yelling, even. Maybe it would even come to blows, but I wasn't too worried about that because Q may be a scrawny little thing but he can hold his own. And then to find out that you tried to… I wanted to kill you, you know".

"You're not the only one".

Alexis shook her head in disgust.

"I vouched for you, James. I told Q that no matter how badly you were acting, no matter what stupid biggotted shit that you were saying, underneath it all, you were a good guy… I don't know why I even bothered".

Somehow, that stung even more than the slaps.

"Apologise. Now. Or not even Q will be able to find the hellhole I'll leave you in".

A brief reprieve from all the abuse came in the surprising form of Jake Williams.

Although they weren't exactly friends, James held no bad will towards the dark-skinned man, and even shared a cigarette or two with him on the roof from time to time.

Williams was the newest of the pack, a replacement for the last 004 - who James had never actually met - who in turn had been a replacement for the last last 004 - who had ended up being Raoul Silva.

A man that James had met.

Rather intimately.

But, being the newest, and also the youngest member, had meant that Williams was threaded around somewhat lightly. Admittedly, he was an old soul - kind and gentle and soft in the way that the rest of them weren't - but James had never understood why the others treated him so carefully when it was clear as day that he had the same beast lurking beneath the surface as the rest of them.

Even now, on the outside he appeared calm and relaxed - shoulders down, jaw unclenched, an easy swing to his arms as he walked - but his eyes.

Oh, his eyes spoke of murder.

The man radiated power on a good day but right now, he was positively trembling with it. He also had the first three fingers of his right hand taped together and fading yellow-brown bruises over one cheek, James noted, which was… interesting.

"I gave him my lock-picking set".

He blinked, startled.

"... You what?"

"I gave him my lock-picking set" Jake repeated, golden eyes ablaze, "I've known Q for less than one week, and I still gave him my lock-picking set".

But that was…

Jake's lock set was his baby. The man never went anywhere without it, and Bond had walked in on him talking to the metal bars as he cleaned them on more than one occasion. So for him to hand over his child like that, to a man he'd only known for a handful of days was-

"I trust him. I trust him wholly and completely and with every single fiber of my being. Q is good, James. He is loyal and honest and kind to a fault, so much so that I gave him the only physical thing that I love in this world to modify because I know that I can trust him".

That was… not how James had pictured this conversation going.

"Back in December, when you first met him, he gave you an emergency transmitter and a modified Walther, right?"

"... Yeah"

"And when you left with M to bring her someplace safe, you asked Q to leave an electronic trail for Silva to follow. Not Mallory, not Miss Moneypenny, or Mr Tanner, or even any of us. You asked Q".

"Well, yes, but-"

"And then, in January, when Mallory took you off duty and you disobeyed orders to go to Austria, it was Q that you called when you needed help. A man that you had only known for a month. And when you were captured, it was Q's watch that got you out of there alive, and Q's car that you used to safely return to England".

"What has that got to do with-"

"You trust him" Jake interrupted, "Or, at least, you used to. On some level, anyway. You trust his equipment to keep you alive… But now you don't trust him?"

"He's an omega!"

"He was always an omega!"

"No, he wasn't! He was- He- He lied to me!"

Jake snorted and shook his head in disbelief.

"No, James, he didn't. God, do you even hear how ridiculous you sound? Q didn't change. He was an omega when you first met and he's an omega now. Everything he did, everything he made and gave you and helped you with… he was an omega then too. He didn't lie to you, James. You only saw what you wanted to see".

And Bond…

Bond knew he was right.

It wasn't Q's fault that he had automatically assumed he was an alpha. It wasn't Q's fault that James hadn't asked for his dynamic. And it definitely wasn't Q's fault that he allowed himself to be betrayed over a mistake that he himself had set up to occur.

"You can't punish him for how you perceive him to be" Jake finished quietly, "He has no control over how you react to him. Only you do. So just… think about it. Think about what trust means to you, James. And then think who really betrayed who".

He didn't have long to think before the sixth double-0 of the day barged into his office, marched up to his desk, and slammed both hands down on it, hard.

James had moved back to the soft leather chair after Jake had left, searching for some form of stability as his entire world was turned on its head. But now, however-

"Stand up" Duncan snarled, grey eyes like flint.

"Why?"

"Because I refuse to fucking punch someone who's sitting down, that's why!"

"How noble".

James stood up anyway, and took a small sense of satisfaction from the surprise that flashed across Fortier's face.

"What, you're just going to fucking stand there? Not even defend yourself?!"

He shrugged. "I deserve it".

The surprise quickly changed to disgust.

"Self-pity won't get you anywhere with me".

"Look, Fortier, I've got better things to do today, so either hit me, or don't, but-"

He punched him.

James staggered back until he hit the wall behind him, his hands automatically rising to his face as blood spurted from his nose. He hissed when his fingers made contact, but nothing felt crooked and he didn't remember hearing a crack, so he didn't think it was broken.

"You've got a lot of fucking nerve, you know that?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to explain why".

"That brat has risked everything for you! His career, his equipment, even his fucking life! And this is how you repay him?!"

He was actually mad about this, James realised. Duncan was easily the most aggressive agent in the pack, and asides from Jake and occasionally Milli, he never seemed to give a damn about anyone. But he was genuinely upset right now, muscles flexing and sharp teeth bared. Alec's words suddenly echoed in his mind.

Q gets under your skin. He burrows a hole in your chest and worms his way in there so deep that you can't even remember living a day without him.

And if the pup had managed to even get their resident psychopath to love him…

"I know I fucked up, alright?" he said, grimacing as blood dripped into his mouth, "And I've had more than one person today already threaten me with a painful death, so it's not as if I don't realise that you lot… care about him".

"We would die for him" Duncan replied seriously, "Just as he would die for us. Just as he's already almost died for you!"

"Look, none of us knew that those Spectre agents had tracked him to Austria-"

"I'm not talking about fucking Austria. I'm talking about here!"

James paused, confused, and the man gave a disbelieving scoff.

"You don't even know everything that Q has done for you… He got shot, Bond. Back in January. While hacking into one of the most complicated computer systems in the world in the backseat of an SUV to fix your fucking mistake".

"... He got shot dismantling Nine Eyes?"

"Yeah. With no fucking thanks to you".

"But-" He stopped, trying desperately to remember. "But he was there. That night, on Westminster Bridge, he was there. He was… fine".

"No. He looked fine. Turns out that brat is as adept at hiding injuries as we are". Duncan shook his head in disgust. "He took a bullet for you. And you just… left. Who the fuck does that?"

Well, he did, apparently.

"That was the night we met" Fortier continued, "I found him wandering around HQ with blood pouring down his arms and had to stitch him up in the gym locker room. And instead of going to medical, instead of going to a hospital, instead of even going home, he went straight back to his office in case you fucking needed him".

"Good morning, Q".

"I thought you'd gone".

"I have… There's just one thing I need"

"The only thing you do, is hurt him" Duncan said quietly, his voice trembling with emotion, "Even now, even after trying to fucking compel him, even after he was forced to hit you just to defend himself, he…"

"He what?"

The man shook his head, looking away as his jaw clenched tightly.

"He what, Fortier?"

"He broke a bone!" he snapped, rounding on him, "He broke a fucking bone punching you because he was so fucking terrified that he hit you with every single ounce of strength that he's got. Even when he's defending himself, you manage to fucking hurt him".

James felt something… shift in his chest. Something… strange and squishy and achy and definitely not a result of Milli's sucker punch. In fact, if he had to label it, he'd almost say that it was… concern.

"Did you fix it?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain even.

"It'll take another six weeks for that to be fucking fixed".

"Fortier".

The man gave him an odd look but eventually shook his head. "Mallory arrived before I could splint it. But if anyone can make the brat go to medical, it's him… but why do you fucking care, anyway? You're the bloody cause of it in the first place!"

"I know!" His voice was too sharp, too… guilty, so he forced himself to take a deep breath before continuing, promptly wincing as it stung his nose and caused more blood to drop on the carpet below.

"I know I'm the cause of it. But I'm… trying to change, alright? I will change".

Duncan studied him for a moment before slowly, ever so slowly nodding.

"Alright. I believe you… But if you ever pull a fucking stunt like that again-"

"I'll wake up in three separate ten-gallon drums of acid".

"Good. As long as you know. Now get a fucking tissue or something and clean yourself up. You look like you just walked out of a fucking horror movie".

With only two double-0s to go, James felt pleasantly relieved when the next one to find him was Saif.

The half-Iranian man came in with his fists up, ready to strike, but as soon as he caught sight of him, he paused.

Bond couldn't blame him. He knew he must look like something right now, and whatever that something was, it wasn't good.

The cut on his lip from Q had reopened when Alexis had slapped him, his chest was still aching from Millicent's surprise attack, and thanks to Fortier, there was now an ever-widening stain of blood on his classic Finamore Napoli white shirt collar. His hair was a mess from Millicent's second surprise attack, there were bruises already forming along his right cheek, and by tomorrow, he'd undoubtedly have two black eyes to match them.

Put simply, he was a disaster.

Both physically and mentally.

"Oh" Saif said, hands slowly lowering, "Okay".

James took another swig of scotch and gave a mocking toast with the bottle.

"The, uh… the others have… seen you, then".

"You could say that, yeah".

"... Well it's not like you didn't deserve it!"

"I know. I'm not complaining".

"That'd be a first".

They stared at each other in silence.

"Fortier texted me. Said where you were".

"I thought you and Fortier didn't get along".

"We don't. Not usually. But we both care about Q".

"Keep your friends close?"

"Something like that, yeah".

James took another mouthful of whiskey to wash away the taste of blood.

"So what angle are you taking then? Come for revenge? A little heart-to-heart? Did you prepare a speech about trust and loyalty and how I should apologise immediately or else face the wrath of an angry woman?"

"... Alexis?"

"Yeah".

Saif slowly nodded, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Well then. Since it seems like all the good angles have already been taken, I'll just settle for a threat. I like Q. I always have. On the very first day I met him, he insulted me and complimented me in the same breath. I stepped up, made myself look bigger, and he didn't so much as flinch... When I found out he was an omega, nothing changed. He kept up with my sarcastic remarks, quid pro quo. And then he told me that most of MI6 had been spreading rumours that he'd slept his way to the top. That certain people had been throwing out insults as he passed them in the corridors. That certain other people had been getting far too grabby for their own good... I asked for their names. And he said that he'd already broken half of their fingers himself".

James blinked, startled, and Saif smirked at the response.

"To use that little minx's own words - he's not some fragile fucking flower. He's resilient, tough. And he'll bounce back from just about anything. Which is why he's going to forgive you, eventually. Why he's going to accept you as you are, despite everything that you did. Just as he's accepted all of us… But before that happens, I'm going to make sure that you fucking deserve his forgiveness".

And suddenly, the relaxed man didn't look so friendly.

"So yes, James. I will be seeking revenge on Q's behalf. And I will lament to you about trust and loyalty and how you better fucking apologise immediately or Alexis will be the least of your concern. Life's a game, don't you know? And right now? You're just another stepping stone on the ladder. And if you so much as think about Q in any way that isn't remorseful? Then I will step on you. And I will shove you so far into the earth that they will never even find your body".

The man paused with one hand on the door.

"So how's that for a little heart-to-heart?"

The eighth and final double-0 was the one that James dreaded the most, a fear that was immediately justified as not ten minutes after Saif left, Edith slammed open his office door, prowled straight up to his desk, and pressed a loaded gun to his head.

James let her.

After a long, tense moment - one where he seriously considered closing his eyes and she seriously considered murdering him with hers - she finally gave an aggravated snarl and lowered the weapon.

"The only fucking reason that you're still alive right now, is because Q doesn't want me to kill you" she hissed, "But the very fucking second that he changes his mind? I'll be there".

"I expect nothing less" he replied evenly.

She growled again, low and vicious, before spinning on her very high heels and storming from the room.

"Ugh! I hate you!"

Yeah, James thought, somewhat ironically, you're not the only one.