Title: Bragging Rights
Pairing: James Bond/Q
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own any recognisable characters ... they all belong to Ian Fleming
Challenge: best
Length:879
Summary: Q gets called in to talk to his son's reception teacher.
Authors Note: Part of my Into the Unknown verse


~*~

“Mr Bond? Could you come into the classroom for a few minutes? I’d like to talk to you about something. Theo will keep an eye on Andy while we talk.”

“Yes, of course.” Q was more than a little confused but agreed readily. “Andy, will you go and play with Theo for a little bit while I talk with Miss Prince?”

“Yes, Papa. Come on, Theo.”

Q watched as Andy toddled off with the teaching assistant assigned to his class, babbling away about something before he turned his attention back to Andy’s teacher. He had to confess that he had no idea why the woman wanted to talk to him; as far as both Q and Bond were aware, everything had been going well for Andy at school. He hoped that there wasn’t a serious issue with his son.

“Is there a problem, Miss Prince?”

“Please, take a seat, Mr Bond.”

Q took a seat on a chair that was far too smile, feeling completely out of his depth and wishing more than anything that James was with him. “Miss Prince, please. I’m starting to get more than a little worried now.”

“Firstly, Andy is a delightful addition to my class and, for the most part, he’s an absolute pleasure to teach. He’s helpful and has no problems making friends with his classmates. He’s a little mischievous but he’s a very smart little boy and has no problems whatsoever with the academics that we do.”

“If that’s the case – and I was aware of most of what you’ve just told me already – I’m still at a loss as to why you’d like to talk to me. I see nothing problematic in what you’ve just told me.”

“Tell me, Mr Bond, is Andy in the habit of telling tall tales? Fantastical stories? Things that seem too good to be true?”

Q was genuinely shocked. Picking through her carefully phrased words, there was no denying what this woman was accusing his son of and Q was horrified. “Miss Prince, are you accusing my son of lying? Because I can assure you that both myself and my husband, not to mention the various members of our family, have always taught Andy that lying is wrong.”

“That may be so, Mr Bond, but some of the things that Andy has been saying this week … they’re just so far-fetched.”

“Yet I’m sure there must be a perfectly reasonable explanation. Perhaps if you told me what Andy has been saying?”

Miss Price fumbled with some papers before she spoke, clearly not expecting to have been pushed on the subject. “Well, we’ve been talking about families in class this week and what jobs various members in our families do. Obviously, given the age of my students, I’m used to them thinking that their parents do the best job in the world and that they are the best at it. However, I’ve never had any students take it quite to the level that Andy has today.”

Getting bored of the way that woman was dancing around the subject, Q put on the voice that he used for dealing with wayward double-0 agents. “Miss Price, will you please get to the point and tell me what my son has been saying.”

“Apparently Andy’s father is a spy who travels the world and, not only that, but he is the best spy in England while his Uncle Alec is the second best.”

Q hid a smile; Alec wouldn’t like to hear that. “Anything else?”

“Andy claims that you make the guns for them and do ‘computer stuff’.”

“I see. Thank you, Miss Price. I can assure you that I will have words with Andy about this.” The words and my husband went unsaid.

~*~

“Hello darling.” Bond leant in and dropped a kiss to Q’s cheek, sneaking a quick peek at the designs that were currently spread across the table and wondering if there were any new fun toys there for him in the future. When no response came, he immediately started replaying everything that he’d done during the mission, trying to figure out how he had pissed off his husband.

“Q? Darling?”

“I got called in to speak to Andy’s teacher this week; apparently they’ve been talking about the jobs that their families do.”

Ah. That would be where he’d screwed up. “Oh?”

“Yes, oh. Andy told his whole class that his daddy is Britain’s best spy and that his uncle Alec is the second best – I can’t wait to tell Alec that one. He also told them that I make your guns.”

“What four-year-old doesn’t want to be able to tell his classmates that? Ultimate bragging rights.”

The look that Q levelled Bond with was positively vitriolic and Bond knew that he had some major grovelling to do.

“Q. Mr darling husband, love of my life….”

“Save it, Bond. You are going to clean up this mess – I don’t care what you tell Miss Price as long as she doesn’t think our son is a little liar - and talk to our son about what he tells other people about our careers. Once you’ve done that, well, you’d better hope that Alec cleaned his bedlinens because otherwise you’re going to become incredibly well-acquainted with our couch.”