Title: Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
Author: gwylliondream
Pairing: Bond/Q
Rating: NC-17
Words: 300
A/N: Written for the 2017 00Q Last Drabble Writer Standing. Prompt: AU “I must be dreaming.”
Disclaimer: I did not create these characters. No disrespect intended. No profit desired, only muses.
Comments: Comments are welcome anytime, thanks so much for reading!
Q opened his eyes when the morning light slid beneath the curtain. He shifted his legs against the warm blankets that pinned him to the bed. His limbs heavy, his throat felt like he had swallowed knives.
Without his glasses, he struggled to define the shape of things in the room. A chair. The doorway. The machine that beeped at regular intervals and hissed out a mechanical breath.
He didn't expect to see the stranger asleep in a chair at his bedside.
Amber sunrise caressed the rugged face. His lips parted as he slept, a smudge of soot staining his cheek. His firefighter’s boots rooted him to the floor.
Q remembered the fire.
His eyes pricked with tears when he realized what he had lost. His belongings could be replaced. His projects, photos, and music were safely stored in the cloud.
But Schrodinger, his cat… gone.
Q remembered how he fought through the line of firefighters to get back into his flat. He called for the cat, but soon he was gasping for air and inhaling smoke.
The sleeping man yawned and opened his eyes.
Q recognized the firefighter who had dragged him out of his flat.
“I’m sorry. I must have dozed off. How are you feeling, sir?” he asked.
“I’m-I,” Q tried to speak, but his throat ached.
“Don’t strain yourself. I’m Sergeant Bond, James Bond,” he said, taking Q’s hand. “Chief Mallory wanted me to make sure you were well taken care of.”
Q gave Bond’s hand a squeeze.
“Oh, and we’ve got your cat at the station,” Bond said. “We gave him a bit of oxygen and he was good as new.”
A gorgeous firefighter at his bedside. A safe cat. Q let his head loll on the pillow and rasped out, “I must be dreaming.”