Work Text:
Q sat at his workbench in Q-branch, enjoying some rare downtime after a hectic month preparing for missions. All the agents that were going out had left, so he had decided to take a break. He was piecing together components for a prototype of an explosive pen. Why James was so set on one he didn’t know — it wasn’t like James couldn’t set off an explosion through sheer force of will, after all. The tricky part, of course, was to find a way to ensure the explosive compound would remain stable until it needed to explode. Well. Making sure the pen would escape detection would be a benefit, too.
While he worked, his thoughts drifted to the night before. He’d gone to James’ flat, as was becoming more usual these days. He’d almost expected Alec to be lounging on the couch as he usually did, but Alec had left on a mission the day before. He sometimes thought it odd that James and Alec lived together, but was it really? James and Alec were both gods from a time long ago. Their people had been lured away to other religions, but James and Alec had somehow been able to find enough believers to survive, unlike some of the others James had told him about. The two had been inseparable since then.
Trying to pin down the exact relationship between the two gods was next to impossible; it defied definition. James and Alec just were. Always together, even when they were on opposite sides of the planet. He knew that the two had been lovers, and had been afraid that he was coming between them. Truthfully, if Alec had ever wanted to join him and James in the bedroom, he wouldn’t have minded. But Alec never seemed interested in him, and never seemed to be upset at him taking James’ attention.
He wasn’t sure if he had been more embarrassed or intrigued the morning that Fenrir showed up with Alec. The night before that, he and James had done a few things that he’d never thought possible — being with an ancient god certainly had its perks — and he’d been distracted when he’d wandered into the living room, telling James about his plans for the day. M had wanted to meet with him, even though it had been the weekend, and all Q wanted was to get the meeting out of the way so he could get back to James.
He’d barely realized that there was a stranger in the room before James was pulling him protectively to the side. He’d assumed that the stranger knew James and Alec were gods when the stranger called James a deer, and he’d been curious about the man. Then Alec had introduced him as Fenrir, and it had taken Q an appallingly long time to realize that meant he was in the presence of three gods.
The thing that had intrigued him was the obvious enmity between James and Fenrir. Those two had glared at each other the entire time it had taken James to hustle him out of the flat. He’d been worried a time or two, but Alec had seemed more amused than worried. Q had decided to chalk it up to male — well, god — posturing.
The next time he’d been at the flat at the same time as Fenrir, he and James had walked in on Alec and Fenrir curled around each other, naked, on the couch. James had stiffened beside him, and he’d thought that James would drag him back out of the flat, but instead they had gone in. Fenrir had rolled lazily off Alec as they entered, and slipped to the floor to sit in front of the couch, glaring at James with a hint of challenge in his grey eyes. Alec had propped himself up on one arm, looking surprised and pleased to see James, as his other arm fell to rest on Fenrir’s chest.
He fitted two pieces together, using a jeweler’s screwdriver. It had been a very nice looking chest, if he were honest with himself. Were all gods that damn good-looking? Mercifully for his libido, Alec and Fenrir had gotten dressed shortly after that. He frowned. Had James asked them to get dressed, or had one of them suggested it? He couldn’t quite remember.
Q got up from the workbench and headed into the hall. He needed a particular click spring and a couple ratchet wheels, and if he was right, he should be able to find them in the next storeroom. He swiped his MI6 ID at the door scanner and went in, pleased to see the lights automatically turn on. Sometimes in the less commonly used storerooms, the lights would burn out or be slow to come on.
Hmmm…. Which bin was it? He thought back to the last time he was in this room. Ah, yes. There it was. He pulled out the bin and sorted through several drawers for the parts, making pleased noises with each one he found. When he had them, he replaced the bin and returned to his workroom.
He settled back at his workbench and tried to fit the first ratchet wheel into its spot. It clicked into place, reminding him of the way James and Fenrir would set down their wine glasses during dinner that last time in the flat. The two had spent the entire extremely tense meal sniping at one another. In fact, at one point, he’d thought that James would lunge across the table and strangle Fenrir.
He was still confused at the enmity between them. He’d thought that Alec wasn’t happy about it either. He put the tools down. Alec. A very handsome man — god — who was James’ best friend and Fenrir’s lover. He thought about the way James and Fenrir had spoken that night, what their body language had said. His eyes widened. They had each been vying with each other to get Alec’s attention. James had paid just as much attention to him, which was why he hadn’t noticed it before — but James and Fenrir had been squabbling over Alec like two children fighting over a favorite toy.
“Hello, Q.”
He jumped at the honeyed voice purring behind him. He turned around. “Alec? What are you doing here?”
Alec's eyes widened innocently. “You were thinking rather hard about me, Q. I couldn’t help but notice.”
Oh, shit. Q blanched. “Did you hear… uh, do you know… what I was thinking?” He watched as Alec’s wide, too-innocent green eyes crinkled in amusement.
“Only that you were thinking of me, dear Quartermaster. If you want me to know what you were thinking, you have to be a bit more… direct. Think my name, and ask for my attention. Think of it as… well, a prayer.” Alec shifted, spreading his hands a bit in apology. “I am a god.”
“Yeah…” Q studied Alec. The agent had been on a mission, but was clearly taking a break from his duties. He wore a green t-shirt and torn blue jeans, a combination Q had seen him wear when relaxing numerous times over the last few months. He worried his lip, thinking furiously. Could he ask?
One of Alec’s eyebrows rose. “You have a question, Q. It’s all right. Go ahead and ask.”
Q tilted his head, considering whether he should, whether he wanted to stick his nose into something that was none of his business. With a sharp nod he said, “James and Fenrir fight over you like each of them thinks they have the right.”
Both of Alec’s brows lifted. “That wasn’t what I expected. Well, I opened myself up for a discussion, didn’t I?” He hooked a nearby chair with his foot and pulled it over, settling into it like a cat taking possession of its space.
Q snorted to himself at the thought. Alec might be a wolf and a raven in his other forms, but he acted more like a giant cat.
“You know that James and I are the same?” At Q’s nod, Alec continued. “Fenrir and I are alike, too. Do you understand what that means?”
Q sat back, mulling that over. “They both see you as family, or pack in Fenrir’s case, and see the other as an outsider. Am I right?”
Alec nodded.
“What are you going to do?”
“The same thing I’ve done for eons, Q. I can never leave James, and I will always be with Fenrir when he needs me.”
“Where do I fit in?” Q pressed his lips together. He hadn’t intended to ask that.
Alec smirked. “Now that’s more along the lines of what I thought you would ask. We haven’t really talked about this. Mostly, that’s up to you and James. As you’ve seen, he can be… possessive.”
Q snorted despite himself. “That’s an understatement.”
That startled a laugh out of Alec. “You do know him.”
The phone on his work bench rang. Q sighed, annoyed. No one was supposed to bother him when he was in here. It had better be an emergency. “Excuse me.” Alec didn’t say anything as Q turned to pick up the phone and put it to his ear. He turned back around as his assistant began speaking, and realized that he was alone. Alec was nowhere to be seen.