Title: it was dark when i found you
Fandom: James Bond (Skyfall)
Pairing: Bond/Q (with a side order of Q friendship with Moneypenny)
Categories: post-canon, action/adventure, romance,
Length: medium (7,327 words)
Warnings: none

Author on LJ: whimsicalimages
Author Website: whimsicalimages

Author's Summary: Bond stares at him. There are two men tied up against the wall and four more lying on the floor, bleeding and hogtied with duct tape.
“I ran out of rope after the first two,” Q admits.

Review:
Q is able to rescue himself after his kidnappers take one look and assume he's helpless. Later Bond breaks into Q's flat now that he can no longer go to M's, and, "Q sleeps as soundly as he ever has, especially considering the trained killer in his living room reading about faraway cities and enjoying the company of his boa constrictor."

This story moves seamlessly between dangerous missions, late nights at MI6, and tea at home, and there are several moments I stopped to reread, because they're beautifully described. Both the brisk first half and the more intimate second half are lighter in tone than Skyfall (which was fine by me), but I thought the characters were believable. Bond isn't one for talking about why he does anything here; Q is younger and less stoic than Bond, but he's also formidable and has a wry sense of humor. He doesn't expect Bond to stop behaving like Bond, and yet a genuine closeness develops over time. That and the dialogue, the evenings in Q's flat, and Moneypenny's turn as Q's friend are reasons to give it a go.

(If you're interested in Bond/Q on LJ, there are now three comms devoted to this pairing:
00q   00q_bb   007_q.)

it was dark when i found you (AO3)
On LJ