OTA

[im_torchwood]

After John Hart, after Gray, Jack couldn't be in Cardiff. He was Torchwood now, not just what he did but who he was, and he had a small crisis and had to get away. Although he'd broken with London's Torchwood after the incidents at Canary Wharf (which it seemed the population had either forgotten or written off) Jack found himself in England's jewel. He was ready to make a new start. And, he reckoned, the Doctor would probably visit London before Cardiff if truth be told.

He'd settled into the subterranean Hub that Alice and Emily had worked in. It had been long forgotten in favor of the building of steel and glass that had been built atop it. Bloody Torchwood...they were supposed to be secret. He'd made his contacts and had put himself to work. But even Jack needed to eat.

He had all of the city to choose from and rather than just go to a pub Jack stood on the sidewalk looking at his mobile reading Yelp reviews. There was a place just down the block and around the corner. Yelp was good and all but he kind of wanted a real opinion so he looked up from his screen and he smiled at the first person whose eye he caught.

"Excuse me...do you know if this place is any good?" he asked, showing the screen. His American accent immediately marked him as a tourist, even though he wasn't.

Comments

[quartermaster_q]

Q huffed, but said nothing more for the time being.

[0_0_7]

Bond said no more and instead he went to the nurse to see about getting Q out. It didn't take long and soon enough they were headed for Bond's car.

"What do you think? Home or safe house tonight?" he asked.

[quartermaster_q]

"Home," Q replied, still sulking a bit. "I'm not afraid of Jack Harkness breaking into my home."

Though he had managed to break into his second favourite hiding spot, and that was, honestly, a bit alarming.

[0_0_7]

"All right," he said.

It wasn't until they were in the car and on the way that Bond said more.

"I want to see his dossier," he said. "If he might be back for you I want to be prepared."

[quartermaster_q]

Q huffed a little, but didn't argue. He was certain if he refused, Bond would get his hands on it anyway- And he was trying to get back on the double-o's good side anyway. He needed Bond on his team if he was ever going to get his hands on that tech.

"Let's stop and pick up a meal. I'm starved. I skipped dinner last night," he said instead.

[0_0_7]

"What would you like?" Bond asked, quite glad to speak of dinner instead of Torchwood.

[quartermaster_q]

"Something dreadfully bad for us both," he said, shifting in the passenger seat until his body was angled towards Bond. "Chips, I think."

[0_0_7]

"Sometimes I think you could live on chips," Bond chuckled. "We'll go to the Swan near the flat. I know it's open and they'll pack us up something to tale away."

[quartermaster_q]

"I could live on chips, I think. Chips, good curry, battered fish..." Q said, humming happily at the thought of filling himself with comfort food.

[0_0_7]

"You're so very easy to please," Bond chuckled. "Why don't you close your eyes until we get there. You still look half drugged."

[quartermaster_q]

"Bloody retcon," Q muttered, yawning, and then nodding a little as his eyes slipped shut and he easily drifted back off to sleep.

[0_0_7]

Bond drove around rather than going straight to the pub, giving Q a bit of time to catch some real sleep. But he decided he'd wasted enough time and he finally pulled in to park and he reached over to give Q a shake.

"We're here," he said. "Stay here, I'll go get the chips. Just stay here and rest."

[quartermaster_q]

Q nodded a bit, feeling safe enough in James' car that he only opened his eyes long enough to nod a bit, before settling in to doze back off a bit.

He was always safe with Bond. Always.

[0_0_7]

Bond fetched the chips and ordered a piece of battered fish as well. It didn't take long to cook and soon enough he was back in the car with two boxes. Q looked to be sleeping and so Bond simply drove, whisking them away to their flat where they'd be safe.

[quartermaster_q]

Q didn't wake again until they were parked, then frowned as he looked up at his flat.

"Did you leave the lights on?" he asked.

[0_0_7]

"No. Didn't you?" he asked. He let Q dead with the food- he was busy drawing his gun.

[quartermaster_q]

"I never leave the lights on," Q replied, picking up the bags and following after Bond.

[0_0_7]

Bond lead the way in, breaching the door with his gun at the ready. He cleared the room, cleared all of them, then came back to Q.

"Someone's been here," he said. "Do you think it was him?"

[quartermaster_q]

"Yes," Q replied, visibly annoyed as he booted up all his systems to see just what Jack had done.

[0_0_7]

At first it appeared fine, all systems in order. But as Q dug it became clear there was an incredibly intricate trojan horse in his system. Something miles beyond most people's ability to even understand code. It was devilish to track down and it would take all of Q's work if he tried to remove it. He could get rid of it, but at a high cost.

And when Q swept for bugs there was one, just one, and its signal bounced around. Narrowing the parameters of the search zeroed in on Oberon. The cat was no worse for wear, given that Jack had injected him with a microchip listening device.

[quartermaster_q]

To say Q was furious would have been an understatement.

The usually calm boffin smacked his open palms down hard on his desk, and there was pure murder in his gaze.

It took him a moment to calm down, but he finally pulled out a pad of paper and wrote a message down on a post it.

Take Oberon to B. Tell her it's a code 254. She'll know what to do.

I have something I need to take care off.

The fact that he was silent ought to have told Bond everything he needed to know. ...Though what he didn't say was he wasn't going to fight with his systems. The moment Bond was gone, he was going to go see Jack.

[0_0_7]

Bond nodded and followed orders. He went and got the cat carrier and loaded Oberon in, then gave Q a bit of a touch to reassure him.

And then he was gone, sure Q would be fighting with the computer all night.

He locked the door on the way out.

[quartermaster_q]

Q waited until he was sure he was alone, then set about dismantling his computer, removing the hard drives and slipping them into his bag.

Changing into something a bit more casual and easy to move in, he grabbed some tech and set out to find Mr. Torchwood himself. It wasn't hard, they'd always been dreadful at keeping themselves hidden.

An hour later and he was standing outside, looking up at a hidden camera and offering his most unamused frown.

"I'm not knocking. Just let me in. We've got a lot to talk about."

[im_torchwood]

It took a minute and then the door clanked and slid open. It was an abandoned tube stop, long ago walled off from the system. White tile gleamed on the walls and throughout was some of the most high tech equipment available. Computers that were clearly not entirely earthly- or if they were they were decades ahead of their time.

Jack walked out of an office, the great coat gone. He looked casual in his shirtsleeves, cuffs rolled up. Dark blue braces broke up the spread of his shirt.

"Q," he said. "You got my message. Your cat's sweet."

[quartermaster_q]

"He is," Q agreed. "Touch him again, and you'll find yourself drowning for all eternity in a tar-pit."

Confidently, he walked into the space, looking around.

"Drugging me was just rude, by the way," he added. "You forced my hand as well- Having to call Bond in wasn't part of the plan. He wants to involve M now, and that spells trouble for you. He's not like her. He'll want a full report, which will lead to someone, somewhere, checking in on you as well."

Huffing, he pulled his hard drives out, and held them out in offering.

"Take your bloody trojan off my drives, and let's see if we can't undo some of what's been done."