#spectre fix-it

[foxsoulcourt]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: James Bond (Craig Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James Bond/Q, Mention of Q/Original Male Characters Characters: James Bond, Q (James Bond), M | Gareth Mallory, Eve Moneypenny Additional Tags: Developing Relationship, Romance, Angst, Once again I'm ignoring NTTD, I'm late to this damn fandom and I needed to write Yet Another SPECTRE Fix-It, Post-Movie: SPECTRE (2015), Not Actually Unrequited Love, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Sexual Harassment Summary:

For nearly two years, James Bond and Q share a camaraderie that skirts the boundary between friends, colleagues and something more ephemeral that neither one of them will name because they’re both resolved to be cowards about it. At the end of it all, Bond drives away in the world’s most beautiful car with a lovely woman.

And well, that’s that, isn’t it?

That’s not it. That’s only the bloody start of it.

-----

In which Q faces repercussions after James Bond's abrupt departure, and has to pick up the pieces of himself.

Now complete!

Bookmarker's Notes:

THIS.

This is a fantastically R E A L look at Q + Bond's dynamic after Spectre. Note I didn't say relationship because that's not the focus of this fic. What we experience here is what happened to Q after Bond left w/that very expensive car. It's brutal in the way that people can be when they do not know more than what they can read in a report + assume from their particular POV. The author @thestalwartheart weaves one particular experience throughout the story in a way which feels so true + honest that it hurts in the way real life hurts at times.

Per usual, Eve is a saint + steadfast friend who loves Q in practical ways which help Q heal some of his heartaches. One of Q's previous relationships is featured throughout the fic + it's heart-wrenchingly poignant. Ditto for how Q + Bond seek to be with one another after Bond left MI6 (and Q) for Madeleine, taking that expensive + custom-built car with him.

One aspect of the story which I love so much is how much T I M E + energy it takes for Q + Bond to re-establish something approaching friendship, let alone anything else they might want to happen between them. Q is true to himself + lets Bond experience his self-respect in profound + practical ways. In turn, Bond communicates his sincere apologies several times. I ADORE that Bond's apology + his changed behaviours don't automatically Make Things Better™, because that is unrealistic.

Anyways, ENJOY READER! You're in for a fantastic ride.

[mi6-cafe]

July 5th is Spectre Fix-it Day

Let down by the latest film? Think there wasn’t enough banter? Believe Blofeld was the true hero of the movie? Today is your day!

How to participate:

Write fix-it fics

Draw what should’ve happened

Share a favourite fic that should’ve been part of the movie script

Post a headcanon about what really happened

Anything else you can think of!

Tag with #007 fest and we’ll reblog

[mi6-cafe]

Fanwork:   A Moderate Self-Awareness by JPlash

Rating:  Explicit

Word count: 9546

Summary:   Q is surprised. Q has not known him very long, and this is maybe James’ favourite thing about him: he persists in being surprised.

Recced by: anon

Why it’s awesome:   it actually makes post-Spectre 00Q make sense? like? how else to explain it I just love this

Do you have a fanwork you want to rec? Let us know!

[svengooliecat]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Summary: When Bond came back from retirement he had a lot of amends to make.

(Basically, I’ve seen Spectre twice in the last month and I’m salty as hell, so here we go again. Picks up during the last epilogue bit of Pray You Now.)

[tokyotheglaive]

*sparkly eyes* I loved your last prompt fill, darling! If I may ask, 00q, something after Spectre, preferably a fix-it of some sorts? (Because I'm still really, really salty.) Thank you so much~

Hi friend! I’m actually working on a post-SPECTRE fix-it because I, too, am salty. That passes a little beyond smol-fic status, though, so I’ll give you the first section of what I have written. Hopefully that whets your appetite :D

No warnings apply.

Bond remembered learning poetry, though it had been decades ago. His instructors had forced him to learn how to read and write in a variety of forms as part of the standard curriculum. Try though Bond did to resist internalizing a single moment, he could still remember some of what he’d been shown. If pressed, he could intuit the meaning of a specific word in a line, or how a single turn of phrase or missing comma could alter the meaning of a poem. He could muddle through imagery and symbolism, stanzas and verses both rhymed and not, and he could do it quite well. None of it was relevant to his life now, of course. He had little need for Keats or Wordsworth when he was armed with bullets and poisons, wandering hands and roaming eyes. Even so, poetry could prove useful from time to time, either as a means of seduction or simply to charm. More often than not, though, Bond favored the blunt approach: a proposition, or a bullet to the head. Simple things.

Still, Bond thought of poetry as Q slipped off his undershirt. Bond had never seen Q in any state of undress, though he had wondered from time to time. He’d always pictured smooth skin, marked only by the notches of his spine and the gentle curve of his ribs.

Oh, how he’d been wrong. Q’s back was covered almost entirely in brilliant flowers, a breathtaking bouquet that left little skin unmarked. Bond admired how the stems intertwined, how the leaves curved just so, and how the shape and texture of the blossoms had been carefully depicted so as to appear lifelike. The ink had faded—clearly the tattoos weren’t fresh—and Bond thought of Shelly: The flower that smiles to-day / To-morrow dies.

“Is something the matter?” Q snapped.

Bond immediately came to Q’s side, taking his sopping shirt and cardigan out of his hands. As he did so, he couldn’t resist the urge to take a long look at the lines of Q’s back, both natural and inked.

The slam of metal on metal brought Bond back to reality, again. Q had pulled a spare shirt—one far too large for him, from the looks of it—out of one of the lockers.

“I’ll get these cleaned,” Bond said, hoisting the tea-stained garments in one hand, careful not to let anything drip onto his own sleeves.

“See to it that you do,” Q said, his mouth hardly moving. His chest, when Bond caught sight of it, was red. A mild burn, but a burn nonetheless. “I’ll have you know that was my favorite mug.”

Bond went for a smile. “You say that about all of them,” he said.

It wasn’t the right answer. Q fixed him with a glare as he worked up the buttons on the clean shirt. Bond was right: it was comically large on Q’s frame, all too broad in the shoulders even if it was just long enough. Bond doubted it was his at all, though after Bond had knocked Q’s tea all over him, Q had said that he had a spare. This, allegedly, was it.

“If you ever—ever—decide to tinker with something that I expressly tell you not to touch ever again, I’m sending you into the field with nothing at all.”

M wouldn’t permit that, but it was clear that Q was upset and wanted to mean it. Bond sincerely doubted this was about a simple spill, even if Q had been burned.

You know damn well what this is about, Bond thought.

“I’ll be sure not to,” Bond said as Q brushed past him, muttering something about how some of them had actual work to do.

Bond thought of the flowers, imagining he could see them through the ugly fabric of Q’s oversized monstrosity. The flower that smiles to-day / To-morrow dies.

[elspethhale]

Adrift

Q had a feeling that this wasn’t exactly what MI6 had had in mind when they’d told him to keep a low profile for the next few weeks.  Still, Q wasn’t going to complain.  It wasn’t every day that a double oh agent kidnapped you with the intent of taking you on vacation.  He couldn’t even complain about being out of touch since their sailboat was well equipped with wifi.  And even the cats were enjoying floating around the Adriatic and being spoiled by James.

A hand trailed down his back, and James leaned over his shoulder.  “What sort of trouble are you causing this time?”

“Just playing with some code.”

“Mm.” Bond hooked his chin over Q’s shoulder.  “Come swimming with me.  The code can wait.”

His fingers stilled on the keyboard as Q considered the proposition.  James nuzzled at his neck.

“I promise to make it worth your while.”

Q shut his laptop.  “Oh, all right.”

No, this probably wasn’t what M had in mind when he said take some time off and keep out of trouble, but Q rather like like result.

[multifandom-madnesss]

Firesale, or: How the Q-Branch Minions saved London

by JayEz

Summary: Life as a Q-Branch minion has all the perks of working in global espionage without the dangers and potentially lethal side effects. That is, until terrorists disable London’s infrastructure and take out all senior staff on and off site, including M, Q, and Bond.

Now it’s up to Farid, Tess, and their fellow minions to save the day… unaware that it’s all just a drill.

[read it on AO3]

This is technically a sequel to “The One Who Made Him Stay” and “House of M”, but it can be read as a standalone. 

[multifandom-madnesss]

James Bond/Q, post-SPECTRE

Summary: MI5 and MI6 have finally merged and the required adjustment seems to take its toll on everyone’s sanity. Gareth has enough problems – people who are after his job, not to mention fighting for national security from his desk – so the last thing he needs are spies acting like pre-schoolers.

Meanwhile James lets Q complain about his new co-department head and steadfastly ignores the fact that his latest injuries are taking longer than ever to heal.

It’s finally here! Chapter 1 of the sequel to my SPECTRE fix-it. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it =)