The Crawling of the Skin
What Q hadn't counted on with the whole "basking with his two favourite people" plan, was just how hard the side effects of the drop were going to hit him.
Within an hour after breakfast, he wanted to rip his skin off.
It had started as an itch - similar to when he went a few weeks without a nearby alpha to pet him - but as the minutes ticked by one by one, it started getting worse and worse and worse until he wanted to screaím. The headache was bad as well, but thankfully he was used to getting migraines - both due to the number of hours he spent staring at screens all day as well as his penchant for working for twenty-four hours straight - so he at least knew how to manage that, no matter how much it still sucked. His body was still sore too, but given that James had ushered him to the living room couch not too long ago while Alec somehow found even more blankets to wrap him in, the muscle fatigue wasn't hitting him as bad as it could have been.
Honestly, the worst part was just dealing with the boredom.
Q was used to working - working until he lost all track of time, even - so now that he was just sitting still without a laptop in front of him, it made his brain want to revolt.
He couldn't even distract himself with his phone since it appeared to be missing. Which probably explained why M hadn't yet rang - or, rather, he had rang but Q wasn't there to answer it.
He vaguely remembered the bastard at the club taking off his jacket and he doubted that the double-0s were thinking of finding wayward clothing when they had both an omega and an alpha to deal with, so chances were, his jacket - and the phone that was in it's pocket - were likely long gone.
He wasn't too worried; there was nothing personal on it - at least, nothing accurate - and he'd programmed the damn thing himself to self-destruct if an incorrect passcode was entered too many times, but it was still irritating not to have anything shiny to distract himself with.
Q had taken one look at the absolute block of an ancient mess of a Toshiba that James had dredged up from somewhere and had promptly decided he would never deign himself to touch it even if it was his own life that was on the line.
James had called him over-dramatic.
Alec had privately agreed.
There wasn't even anything good on the massive flatscreen TV in front of him - just reruns of Chuck and some BBC travel show. Unsurprisingly, neither Alec nor James owned any DVDs of any kind, and given that they were out of the country more often than not, they didn't have a subscription to Netflix or Amazon Prime either.
Not that it would have done much good, Q thought mulishly, given that they'd removed Doctor Who from Netflix many months ago.
He briefly debated taking apart the flat's microwave, just to see if he could give it a banana and have it not explode, but both alpha's had vetoed the idea of tinkering of any kind, given that his hands were slightly trembling and they didn't want him to lose a finger.
He wanted to mention that he'd once built a very tiny and very precise robotic killing machine with a blowtorch and a hacksaw while on a four-day bender of no sleep, a lot of red bull, and even more cigarettes, but then he'd decided hm, maybe not.
Although, speaking of cigarettes…
Q watched as Alec reached underneath the couch next to him and dragged out a dusty and slightly battered pack of Marlboro's. He pulled a lighter from his pocket - not one with a built-in hand grenade, thankfully - and placed the cigarette in his mouth as he lit it.
As soon as the lighter was flicked off, Q lunged across the couch and grabbed the cig off of him, holding the paper between nimble fingers as he took a long drag from it - all the while desperately trying not to think about the fact that this cigarette had just touched Alec's lips.
He could sense the surprised look his agents gave each other and braced himself for the inevitable interrogation.
"I thought you..."
"Didn't smoke?" he finished, giving the blond a wry smirk, "I don't... Not anymore, anyway".
"But you used to?" Alec realised, pulling out the pack again.
Q shrugged and took another inhale. "When in Rome, as they say".
"And Rome is... where, exactly?"
"In Italy, obviously" he snarked, and James barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "I meant-"
"I know what you meant".
He took another pull from the cigarette and then let out a heavy breath, sinking back into the couch as the itch finally, finally, started to abate somewhat.
"I picked up the habit as a teenager and then kept it throughout uni" he explained, "It's what my older brothers did, so… I don't know. I was just trying to copy them, I guess, but then I got hooked and…. Well. It took me a while to break the habit".
"You have brothers?"
Because of fucking course that's what James bloody Bond would choose to focus on.
"Yes, 007, I have brothers. And before you ask - yes, they're well aware of what I do for a living because they're both government too… Or, well, one of them is, anyway, but the other one breaks into MI5 so often he might as well be an honorary member at this point".
"... I have so many questions".
"Thought you might". He resisted the urge to smirk and gave the man a serious look. "I have an older sister too, you know".
"Is she in government too?"
"No". He took another long drag from the cigarette. "She's in prison".
As expected, both men's heads jerked towards him in shock, and he couldn't help but laugh.
"And to think all this time, you thought that I was the crazy one. I'm positively dull when compared to the rest of my family".
"Cub, there is not a single person on this entire fucking planet who would ever consider calling you dull".
"You obviously haven't met my brother".
Inhaling the last of the, quite frankly, disappointing cigarette, he dropped the remains in his empty teacup, already starting to feel that itch bubble up beneath his skin. Giving into the temptation, he pushed up the sleeves of the oversized sweater and scratched his arms, desperately wishing that this day would just end already.
"Hey" James protested, reaching out and gently grabbing his wrist, "Don't do that, pup, you'll make yourself bleed".
Q was surprised to find red lines raking up and down his skin but that abominable itch still wouldn't leave him alone.
"Cub" Alec warned, as he shuffled away from the blond so he could scratch his arm again, "Don't make us stop you".
"Oh yeah?", he snarked, skin burning, "And just how do you think you'd manage that?"
"Stop laughing".
"I'm not".
"I am".
"James!"
"Pup!"
"Stop it! It's not funny!"
"... It's a little bit funny".
"Alec!"
Squished in between the two traitorous bastards at the kitchen table, Q scowled at them fiercely. The tense silence only lasted ten seconds before James snorted, which set his partner off again as well.
"Stop it!" he whined, trying to hit them with no avail, the soft padding around both of his hands preventing him from doing any real damage.
"Sorry, pup" James bloody Bond lied, "But you have to admit - it's kind of funny".
The omega glared down at the two oven mitts that the traitors had managed to dredge up from somewhere before expertly pinning him down and duct-taping the damn things to the sleeves of his sweater.
They looked like oversized children's mittens on him, and even though the material was warm and soft and admittedly quite pleasant against his skin, he wasn't a bloody child!
"Take them off". He growled. "Now!"
"Not until we're sure that you won't hurt yourself, cub" Alec replied, "And besides, it wasn't as if you were using your hands for anything anyway. You can go a few hours without the use of your fingers".
"We're about to eat lunch!"
"I know". His grin was positively sinful and it make his traitorous stomach flop. "So you better be nice to me or I won't hand feed you again".
You know what? Just for that-
"I don't want you to hand feed me again. I want James to do it".
His grin immediately fell.
"You what?"
But his partner was already smirking, leaning closer to throw a warm heavy safe arm around the omega's shoulders.
"You heard him, Trevelyan. He prefers me".
Q continued to glare, his arms folded across his chest - although the stern image was somewhat ruined by the bright yellow oven gloves he was sporting.
"I would prefer it if I could eat by myself!" he snapped, "But since you've just made that impossible, I'm choosing the lesser of two evils".
"Aw, you don't think I'm evil?"
"I think you're the devil incarnate, 007" he immediately replied, "But even the devil had some good ideas. I want tea. And toast. With marmalade".
"... I don't think we have any marmalade" Alec admitted.
"Well then". Q gave him a dark look. "You better get some".
After an orange marmalade sandwich, cut up into nice neat little pieces and hand fed to him one at a time by James - while his partner sulked in the corner - Q returned to the sofa in the living room, sat down, and thought.
There was nothing else to do, after all, and what little freedom he previously had was now gone - at least until that godforsaken itch abided. His memories of Friday night were… somewhat blurry, to say the least, but rooting around in his eidetic brain would distract him for an hour or two anyway.
As much as knew that he was going to hate remembering it all, not remembering anything was somehow worse.
So he sat and he thought and he actively tried to dredge up those repressed memories of badly dyed hair and a tight grip and a compulsion that had far too many loopholes in it, like honestly-
"No one rejects me like that and especially not a bitch like you!"
"Listen to me when I'm talking to you!"
"Obey me and don't scream!"
Q frowned and shoved those memories away - they weren't important. What was important was that oh-so-familiar sense of dejavú that told him he'd missed something, missed someone.
There had been something about that smile…
He closed his eyes and did his best to remember.
"-can't blame me for trying, bitch, since all your so-called friends must have some reason to keep you around. Clearly, you're easy. So why not give me a try-"
"-wouldn't be surprised if all of the double-0s were fucking you, based on what I've heard... but then again, that's all your kind are good for, isn't it? Maybe if you're lucky, I'll let you join me in bed-"
"-obviously, the little bitch doesn't know his- his place! All their kind's good for is fucking and he's- he's not bonded so- so I just wanted to remind him of-"
"-that's all your kind is good for! How the fuck else did you get to be Quartermaster if you weren't whoring yourself out-"
"-always think you're so much better than everyone else, you're nothing but a bitch who doesn't know his place-"
"-strutting around all high and mighty for far too long, bitch. It's about time that someone showed you your place-"
"whoring yourself out to all those other alphas. It's about time I had a go-"
"-must be a seriously good fuck to have kept the job this long. Maybe if you're good, I'll take you for a test drive-"
"-I'm going to enjoy this-"
"You little bitch!"
Q's eyes snapped open with the sudden realisation.
"Is there a problem here?"
A warm body pressed up against him.
"No!"
At the time, he assumed the prick had immediately backed off because he thought that Alec had claimed Q as his omega - but that didn't make any sense because-
"What?! You… You… You've claimed him?"
"Yes. I have".
"I don't believe you".
-because that bastard had never even considered for one moment that they were together, but why would he have had any reason to doubt Alec's explanation if they were simply two strangers to him? He couldn't have known that Alec and James were together - or even that Q was single in general - unless he'd somehow known them.
That bastard hadn't jerked away because he thought he was trespassing on another alpha's territory.
He'd jerked away because he'd already known first-hand just what kind of damage an alpha like Alec could do.
"Where are the others?"
Neither James nor Alec jumped, despite the fact that it was the first time Q had spoken in more than a few hours.
"The others?"
"The pack. Our pack".
"At home, I guess" James replied, smiling slightly at the words the omega had chosen, "They won't have gone into '6 yet if that's what you're asking".
Q slowly nodded, staring blankly at the TV in front of them, recognising neither the characters nor the actors.
"How close to the surface are your beasts right now?"
"... Not close enough to pose a threat to any of them" Alec replied carefully, "Why?"
"Can they come over?"
He sensed more than saw the look shared above his head before both men nodded and James pulled out his phone.
"I'll see what I can do".
"Sweetheart!"
Q barely had time to blink before he was being smushed against Edie's rather ample chest, and he distantly wondered just when on earth he'd started to get used to it.
"How are you? Are you okay? Is that a stupid question? I feel like that's a stupid question. Have they been feeding you? Do I need to call Eve? Should I call Eve anyway? Have you called Eve? Are you okay?"
"Let him fucking breathe, would you?"
"... Oh. Right".
Q was finally released from her grasp, and he gave the woman a fond if somewhat exasperated look.
"In order - I'm fine. Yes. No. Yes. No. No. Not yet. And yes!"
She studied him closely, dark eyes taking in everything - and he was beyond grateful that he'd managed to convince Alec to remove the oven mitts as James had opened the door - before yanking him forward once more.
"Whatever you say, sweetheart. Just send the word, and I'll kill James for you".
"Oy!"
"Yeah, why does he get to be murdered? Aren't I a worthy enough target for you?"
"Of course you are, Alec, but the thing is - I actually like you".
He was barely out of her hold three seconds before Alexis took her place, smelling of honey and safety and something that reminded him of his mother.
"Is there anything we can do?" she murmured against his curls.
Q couldn't help but give a wry smirk.
"Given that you've already buried the body, 001, I should think not".
She pulled back and gave him a wicked smile.
"Bold of you to assume that we even left enough of him to be buried".
Stepping back, Charlie was next, long and lean and lanky but as solid and strong and safe looking as ever.
"You're not very котеночек-like today".
"No? And what do I look like?"
"... Honestly, you're more like a dishevelled alleycat than anything else".
Q gave him a vicious look and the man gulped audibly.
"I'll just go make you some tea, shall I?"
"Good idea".
Milli took his place, with Saif not far behind. He wasn't expecting the cherub to hug him, and he wasn't surprised when she didn't.
"I am pleased that you are well".
Q smiled at the absolute Milli-ness of it.
"And I am pleased that you are well".
She gave a nod, short and single, before turning to follow Charlie into the kitchen, her "job" done. A split second later, his face was being pressed against tanned skin, the edge of the man's goatee tickling his ear as Saif picked him up off the floor and spun him around.
"As much as I loved the present you gave me, you little menace, perhaps in the future you could stick to giving me bad guys to beat up before they beat you up first? And, speaking of, are you alright?"
"If you don't put me down this instant, 005, then you shall be the one who is not alright!"
With a great heaving sigh, the alpha reluctantly lowered him to the ground once more, and Q narrowed his eyes at him challengingly.
"I may have only been here two days, Mr Fitzroy, but I am already well acquainted with Alec's knife rack!"
He grinned, lazy and attractive, the corner of his eyes crinkling and his white teeth gleaming, and Q was reminded yet again just why this absolute idiot was the most successful honeypot agent MI6 had ever had.
"Yeah, you're fine".
The omega huffed in indignation, but was thankfully saved from the lunatic when a gruff voice told him, "Move out of the fucking way before I fucking make you!"
"Oh keep your hair on, Fortier". Saif rolled his eyes before giving the Quartermaster a wink. "I'll just go bother James then, shall I?"
Only Duncan and Jake were left, and it shocked absolutely no one when they approached him together, standing side by side - one with an irritated scowl and the other with a concerned frown.
"You're alive then?"
"Looks like it" he replied carefully, noting the tenseness in the man's shoulders.
Duncan merely grunted in response and - much to Q's surprise - headed straight for his usual armchair without so much as a pat on the shoulder.
He'd been quite looking forward to a 003 hug.
Brows furrowed in confusion, he turned back to Jake who merely smiled apologetically before holding up a small slim case.
Q blinked.
"Is that-?"
"Season ten" he confirmed with a grin, "Your favourite companion is Bill right?"
"Is she fucking ever" he breathed, staring with barely concealed delight at the Doctor Who DVD set, "Do you know if James or Alec has a DVD player?"
"No idea". He shrugged. "But we can always find out. And even if they don't, I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that you'll be able to whip something up, mukundwa".
"Oh ye full of faith" he teased, "With the way I feel right now, I'd be more surprised if I didn't blow anything up".
His grin fell, and Q was suddenly struck with a memory of the trembling alpha, trying his best to hold them both together as he led him away from that bathroom stall onto old cobbled streets, holding him up when he could barely stand himself, his voice shaking as he tried to explain that-
"... You got any menthols on you?"
Jakes gave a slightly bewildered nod, and the omega forced a smile as he carefully took the DVD from the man's grip, placing it on the coffee table before taking his hand and dragging him towards the nearest window.
He knew that Alec couldn't care less if they smoked inside or not, given that the man regularly smoked there himself, but Q also knew that Jake was likely feeling something akin to his own jitteriness right now and that it would be far easier to talk to this knothead of an alpha if they were alone.
One of the many advantages of Alec and James choosing to live in a penthouse apartment was the near unobstructed view of the City of London surrounding them. From a double-0s standpoint, that meant better safety since it would be nearly impossible for any enemy to scale the building and come in through the windows, but from Q's point of view, it just meant that they had a particularly spectacular view.
Swinging the glass open wide, he breathed in the warm early evening air, staring out over Archbishop's Park, the Thames behind that, and even glimpsing a part of Westminster Abbey on the opposite side of the river.
Sitting down on the ledge next to him, Jake took out the familiar green packet of Everest's and handed him one, cupping his hand over the lighter as the breeze threatened to extinguish the flame.
It probably wasn't a good idea for Q to have any more than one cigarette in a single day - or in a single week, for that matter - but given the hellish week he'd had, he decided to let it go just this once.
The minty buzz helped scratch that itch just beneath his skin far better than Alec's regular pack of smokes did anyway.
He took a long drag, gave a satisfied sigh, and glanced over at Jake. The man was sitting close - close enough to brush against him with every breath - but his gaze was firmly on the view of the city in front of them. Q didn't mind - he knew that all of the double-0s struggled when it came to expressing and dealing with their emotions, and no matter how human Jake appeared to be, he still was a double-0 for a reason.
So, turning back to the window, relishing in the crisp breeze that ruffled his hair, Q continued to smoke and started to wait.