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It was Scarlett who started it. 0010 had just returned from a mission in which she had been forced to seduce the leader of a child trafficking ring and she insisted she needed to “scrub the bastard from her skin.” So she proceeded to the 00’s communal showers (she never did use the women’s showers) and turned the water on as hot as she could stand and began to scrub at her skin.
James happened to be in the showers at the same time, having just returned from a mission in which a new agent had been killed. So needless to say, James wanted to forget his mission as well.
Scarlett had taken one sideways glance as James before grabbing a tin from her shower supplies, “Hey Bond.”
007 had barely enough time to turn his head towards the other agent before she tossed the tin to him.
“Help yourself.” Was all she said before she turned off her shower and grabbed her towel.
James blinked, looking at the tin in his hand. It was a sugar scrub, one that Scarlett had just been using on her own skin. He didn’t think twice of opening the tin and using a liberal amount to scrub the terrible memories of his mission from his skin.
And if Q noticed an hour later when James finally returned from the showers that he smelled faintly of jasmine, he didn’t say anything.
James got his own scrub after that, with a manlier scent (he preferred peppermint, it was invigorating). He kept a large jar of it in his locker, so whenever a mission went wrong (and honestly, when didn’t they go wrong?), he’d scrub the hell out of his skin.
It was during one of these sessions that he saw Jack attempting to drown himself in the shower (metaphorically speaking of course). James had heard that 003 had just returned from spending four days in solitary confinement at the hands of the enemy. It was never a good fate for any agent.
Well, time to spread the wealth.
“Jack,” James called out. When 003 looked up, James tossed him his peppermint scrub, “Take what you need.”
It spread quickly after that. Soon it was a common occurrence for the 00 agents to take long showers at the end of the day. People knew better than to question why they took such long showers.
They all kept their own scrubs now, as well. If Q was honest with himself, he could tell exactly which 00 had a bad day based on the scent that wafted into Q branch whenever a 00 walked in. Jasmine was easy enough to recognize as Scarlett’s choice scent, and peppermint was James’s. Cinnamon seemed a fitting choice for Alec, and 004 seemed like a clove kind of man, but there were others that were more surprising. Such as 009’s love of citrus or 008’s cotton scent.
And Q would never, ever, comment on how Bill, 002, would, on occasion, smell strongly of vanilla.
Q knew that being a 00 agent took a lot out of the agents as people and sometimes, all they needed was a few moments to scrub off the bad memories.
And if he enjoyed the way James seemed to glow afterwards…well, that was his secret.