Chapter Text
It was not usual for 008 to go dark on a mission. It was even less usual for her to show up without any of her equipment. In point of fact, the Quartermaster actually double-checked that Bond was still in London, out of concern that he had somehow confused matters and it was 007 on the mission!
But not only had she gone dark- disappearing from contact for two weeks- she had called back in on a regular phone with a brusque, "Lost all equipment, accomplished mission. Returning home."
The devastating explosions and fire left behind in the facility she rescued her objective from? That was... almost normal? Although the sheer overkill of destruction and use of explosions was more typical of 006.
He checked- 006 was also still in London.
The mission 008 had been sent on was, admittedly, not the type of mission she'd normally be sent to take care of. Unfortunately, there was no one else in that region and considering the high priority of the target who had been taken...? It made far more sense to take advantage of the Double-Oh already nearby than to fly another in to handle such a thing.
008 was not often- correction... She was never sent on missions that required her to retrieve someone or something; even though every Double-Oh was capable of performing acts of espionage... 008 was one of the few who was known for her very particular method of working…
She fit right in with 007, who was notorious for causing trouble and vanishing for days- weeks, even- on end, and with 006, who was known for his explosive tendencies and love of fire.
008 was known for her distinct talent of scorching and salting the earth anywhere she was sent.
To send her on a retrieval mission... well, they had been asking for trouble, but…
There were alerts placed, of course, to notify the Quartermaster once she returned with the asset, but those alerts did very little when the agent simply barged into MI6, a rather scrawny-looking fellow slung over her shoulder.
By the time he'd been notified, she was already in medical... and apparently, she'd brought the asset with her.
+++
"Here! He's... hurt." 008 said in her usual gruff tone, while more or less shoving her asset at medical.
She looked like she had vague hopes that a sacrifice would appease the medical personnel, and it... essentially worked- at least temporarily.
They weren't ready for her return, they weren't prepared for a rescued asset, and while they were dealing with him? She stalked out muttering about clothes.
+++
"Quartermaster!"
Q was set upon quite quickly after he entered medical's territory: despite not having the numerous sensors and technological advantages that his own area had, the creatures that called medical their home had developed an uncanny ability to tell when someone was stepping into their territory.
Or when an agent was trying to get out of it.
The facility had been revamped over the last year: nearly everything was new. The visit that the Quartermaster and Double-Ohs Six and Seven had to the medical facility that Moriarty had built for weres had shown, easily, how awful their own was. It hadn't taken much for the funds to be diverted to replace most of the facility, though it helped that two Ultra Clearance members (Holmes and Moriarty) were pushing for it along with M, and with more weres slowly being introduced to Project Golden Freedom and into the Double-Oh department? It just made sense to upgrade.
Apparently, a facelift was all that was needed to remove the fear that some agents held towards that department.
Some, being the keyword.
Not nearly enough enjoyed the place still…
Thilda frowned as the Quartermaster was... 'guided' into the room where their asset had been dropped off. "You didn't happen to see Double-Oh Eight on the way, did you? She threw this fellow-" Thilda thumbed at the rather sad, skinny-looking fellow sitting on the examination table, "-at us and ran, mumbling about clothes. I'd rather not throw the building in lockdown to find her..."
One of the med techs- Toni- had been looking at the poor fellow's arm, patching up a rather nasty-looking scratch or cut. "And it's so annoying to have to get the place cleaned up proper if she's dripping blood somewhere..."
"No, I didn't see her, but... I know she does have some firm ideas about texture: she likely did just want to get her own clothing..." Q frowned, "Take care of our asset here, and I will... go try to find her."
He spun and left, calling 006 who was in the building and apprising him of the situation, and asking his minions to do a 'soft lock down' of the building (just in case she did try to leave).
+++
Double-Oh Six- also known as Alec Trevelyan- was one of the agents who still disliked medical, regardless of the facelift the place had received. With his past history and expertise at escaping their clutches, it only made sense that he was being sent to find Double-Oh Eight- Sarah… No-Last-Name-And-Don’t-Even-Ask.
Also, Q asked him nicely and said ‘please’, and Alec was a sucker for the way Q pursed his lips when Alec insisted he use his ‘magic words’.
Of course, he was also a sucker for teasing and riling up the Quartermaster- there was a reason his best friend had fallen for the genius and it hadn’t taken long at all for Alec to realise the appeal…
In fairness, their boffin got his revenge plenty at home… and in the office, though that last bit was cheating, really.
“Sarah?” Alec called out in front of the showers- they were separated, of course, though it wasn’t uncommon for agents of either gender to use whatever was closest. After all, when one was covered in sweat or blood, did it really matter if the shower room you were in was for men or not?
Q had given him the hint that she might be here, of course, and… the clever man was right. There was rustling from inside the shower room and a gruff voice gave him an affirmative.
“Thank god- I was half-worried I’d be sent to hunt you down and drag you back, and honestly, I’d like to keep my limbs intact…”
That got a sharp bark of laughter, and soon enough he was able to see the other agent as she exited the shower room, hair still damp (and looking a rather natural brown in comparison to the rainbow colours she sometimes wore when she was on lesser missions). “You know the drill… Medical has their teeth locked onto the idea of you getting a check-up. And Q’s there too, now, for a briefing…”
He waited until they were heading back to ask, “So… how bad did it go?”
It had to have gone bad for her to vanish as she had: despite her rough demeanour and brutal efficiency, Double-Oh Eight was still one of the best agents they had. When she was sent out, she always accomplished the job… and unlike James, returned with all of her tech.
"Bad." She sighed. "Very bad."
She was quiet for a bit and finally stopped to lean tiredly on a wall. "Got infected."
Alec had slowed when she had and then froze entirely. “Fuck. That’s…” he ended up leaning against the wall beside her, “That’s… fucked.”
What else could really be said? ‘I’m sorry’? That made it sound like a death sentence… and it really wasn’t, not in the Double-Oh program, at least. There was nothing that could be said to truly comfort someone who had such a thing happen to them: especially not an agent, who had long ago been prepared for any number of horrible fates.
To be forced to become a were, though…
Death, dismemberment, severe injuries- those were… par for the course.
To live and know you weren’t truly considered human in the eyes of the law? That was another beast entirely- quite literally- and it didn’t matter how things had gotten better in the past few years. Since James had been infected the year before, Alec had started to pay attention to such things: they were better, but… nowhere near his satisfaction.
“Did you kill the bastard who got you?” He eventually asked. Oh, he wanted to know what she was… but Sarah would be asked that a hundred times over, for the rest of her life- and Alec was damned if he’d be the first to start that trend.
"Yeah... eventually,” she sighed. After scowling down at the floor for a moment she continued, "Damnable thing is? Got bit by a human... while I was trying to shut them up. Didn't know they were..." she shrugged, "Just... cleaned it- you know... human bites, dirty."
She sighed again. "Middle of everything and then I get sick. Shifted, I guess. Took a bit." She shrugged and looked up, "Glad I listened when... Auntie Leila and... Foxy... talked about... how to..."
Alec nodded slowly, “So… you must have been a bit resistant, then- Seb said the same thing. That there was time between when he was attacked and when he shifted."
He frowned, thinking, "I... suppose it might be best if all the agents went through some sort of training. Or a demonstration, at least- so if something happened in the field, they wouldn't end up like James." With a groan he ran a hand through his hair, "Why didn't we think of that earlier...? Fuck..."
His dismay at such an obviously missed detail seemed, at least, to get Sarah to crack a slight smile, more a slight upturn of the corner of her lip than anything else: that was rare enough on its own.
"Don't have to tell anyone right now, you know. We can go back and since you're not hurt? They won't be running blood tests, not unless you say something. Give it a week or two... or five... to settle..." Alec cleared his throat, "Maybe some leave and visit... Leila for a bit."
Even after having met the woman several times, Alec wasn't quite sure how he felt about the woman: she was obviously clever and quite capable of handling herself... and that honestly made his hair stand on end when he was visiting, even if she acted harmless. "Get used to it first."
She tilted her head. "Yeah... good idea." She blinked a few times, "Can you drive? I'm still..." She shrugged, "Well, I got back..."
If there was any sign that something was wrong, that was it- Double-Oh Eight very rarely... if ever asked for help.
Let alone asking anyone to drive her someplace!
"Yeah... sure- just... why don't you meet me in the garage, and I'll handle medical and Q?" Alec watched her go off- eyes narrowed and lips pinched. She walked steadily and... sure, she wasn't physically hurt, but…
It was damn obvious that she wasn't fine.
He hurried back to medical and was nearly bombarded by Thilda and her thugs, though Q was kind enough to not swarm him as well. "I'm taking Eight home."
Thilda sputtered, "You can't do that-"
"She's been running on steam for two weeks- maybe longer- and she's not injured. I asked." Alec raised his brows and crossed his arms, "And unlike James and I, she'll at least tolerate you normally. But..." he glanced at the Quartermaster, expecting that he- of all people- would understand. "Right now she's dead on her feet and overstimulated. If you drag her back in this room you'll have to tranq her, and we all know what Eight's like when she's coming off a sedative..."
Thilda winced. "Fine. But we have to do a checkup-"
"And you will! She agreed to it- but... it was a bad one, and... she needs some rest. You can get details from the asset in the meantime," he nodded at the gangly fellow sitting on the examination table, "But I'm taking her home." Alec sought out Q's eyes- piercing green stared back into him. "Might be home late- don't wait up," he added, and then slipped back out the door before anyone else could try and stop him.
Q winced, subtly, at 'overstimulated'- god knows he was hell to handle when he was overwhelmed. He made a subtle gesture at Alec to go... and turned to address the medical staff. "I'm sure you must have noticed that Eight doesn't... handle being overwhelmed as well as some people..."
One of the medical staff commented, "Honestly, I think she may be autistic- or... well, if not that, then something close."
Q nodded firmly, "If she doesn't need medical immediately, then... let the agent decompress." He looked over at the asset, sitting looking quite bedraggled. "I take it you didn't see any sign she was injured?" Please God let her not be covering up any injuries…
"Uh... well... actually..." he stammered out, and Q felt the oncoming dismay- and you could see Medical preparing to lock down the entire branch, "I... know she isn't. She was snarling... something about the clothes? And... she sort of tore them off and stripped... one of the dead people? for other clothes... so... ah... I got a... really good look." He swallowed.
Q almost fainted with relief that he hadn't just aided and abetted an injured agent in evading medical, and all the medical people stood down.
“Snarling at clothes?" Q winced, "Oh god, that sounds like when I had to wear those medical scrubs... poor Sarah! No wonder she had to go home." Several members of medical gave him odd looks, but some nodded understandingly.
"She has a lot of muscles, and scars, and..." his voice dropped a bit to a near whisper, "She... said I had to be very quiet, or else... so I was very quiet the whole time!"
Which... did rather explain him being dropped on the medical staff and not saying a word until he was asked a direct question…