Q glided absent-mindedly along the corridors of MI6 Headquarters, never realizing the fright he was causing to some of the newer employees meeting him for the first time. As such, he didn't see Kathy, who had just begun the day before with the cleaning staff, jump upon the sight of him and hit her head into the shelf she was supposed to be rearranging. Neither did he hear Bruce, who had only recently started as a janitor, give a yelp of scared surprise and drop a lightbulb he had been about to change. And, of course, they had both been warned in advance. What would happen if someone really encountered him unexpectedly?

Others were used to him by now. He had come back from Austria nearly two months ago right after having been captured and tortured there first, then – already seriously injured from said happenings – had been shot in the back in London during the car chase with M and Moneypenny sitting in the vehicle with him. He hadn't even noticed it in the hustle that had been going on with Blofeld and all, but had collapsed on the bridge not long after Bond had so nicely turned his back on them and left with Doctor Swann without further thought towards his once-friends and comrades in times of need. Q then had died a few hours later in the hospital, with Moneypenny, Tanner and M by his side, actually witnessing his funny transformation from living to something… not entirely living. So, his friends had had enough time to come to terms with the fact that their favorite Quartermaster would be a ghost from now on. Since that circumstance didn't seem to hinder him in doing the duties he had as Head of Q-Branch with the – for him – habitual stamina and witty humor, nobody minded this new development all that much to tell the truth.

So, what if he was transparent and sometimes – only when he forgot himself or was in a great hurry, honestly – stepped through solid walls? Who cared if he floated two or three inches above the ground instead of walking on it? Why should it bother anyone that he never ate or slept anymore? Especially since he hadn't been doing much of either of these activities before anyways. Now, they at least didn't have to worry about him working himself to death. Surely, not even Q could die twice, right? So, his new state was merely a bit of an inconvenience, nothing more. At least, that was what they all told themselves.

Q knocked on M's door, and, as soon as he received a 'come in', entered the boss' office. He even opened the door for courtesy's sake. Yes. He could do it; he had discovered very early on that when he concentrated hard enough he could actually touch and move things. He just had to pay attention; otherwise his hand would easily pass through solid things without encountering any resistance. It could be quite vexing at times and very entertaining at others.

"Quartermaster, good morning. Please, take a seat." – Greeted M regretfully, probably still feeling guilty about not having been able to save one of his most treasured employees from a painful death, and gestured towards the armchair in front of his desk for the young spirit to take a seat.

The ghost tentatively lowered himself into the piece of furniture as if afraid it would burn him. He didn't fall through it. Good start. Only when he was absolutely sure he wouldn't end up lower than he meant to sit, thus scaring the poor man to death, did Q speak up.

"Good morning, M. R said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, Quartermaster, indeed I wished to. But first: how are you feeling? I mean… Are you even feeling something? Physically, emotionally? Sorry, I don't really know how to express this. I just want to make sure you're all right with this certainly unique situation."

"I'm fine, thank you, sir. I mean, I can't really be 'not all right' since I'm already dead… But I understand what you wanted to ask… and I'm fine. I think…"

M narrowed his eyes and silently regarded him for a few seconds as if trying to see into his very soul. But he didn't have a soul anymore, did he? It was confusing and slightly frustrating that even he himself had no clue about his current state. He was used to knowing everything; how could he not know what he was!? Anyway, what Q knew very well was that M felt responsible and that he had never been able to forgive himself for the happenings. The ghost hoped to change this someday: he didn't blame either of his friends. Except for… well, but he wasn't a friend, was he? No, probably not anymore. And he wasn't blaming himself for sure. What a mess…

The silence continued and it stretched into the 'uncomfortable' zone, and Q started to fidget nervously. This, in turn, resulted in him sinking deeper into the armchair and having to hoist himself up with difficulty onto the level of the seat while Mallory politely looked away and pretended to read a document so as not to make his companion even more self-conscious. Or so that he himself wouldn't start to cry.

The head of MI6 finally took pity on him and went on with the explanation.

"I wished to talk to you about 002's upcoming mission in Berlin. Do you think he and your department are ready for the task?"

"Yes, sir. I talked things over with him and, while he's sadly not handling my current… state… very well, he's willing to cooperate completely and he has promised to follow all my instructions, just like always before. Q-Branch is ready as well, we have been able to fix things since the incident. Everything should be fine."

"That's good then, I trust you. Tell me if 002; or anyone else for that matter; gives you any difficulties. I don't mind what you are; you could be a zombie, a vampire or even the Devil himself for all I care: you're the best we've got and we need you. Everyone who doesn't want to understand this will have to answer to me."

"Thank you, sir. I don't think there'll be a problem." – With that he excused himself and headed back to Q-Branch.

In reality, he'd had a bit of problem with some of the Double-Os at first, though not too bad: they seemed a bit apprehensive of him in the beginning of this new era, and were a bit reluctant to follow a ghost's instructions. He had quickly solved this problem by demonstrating that he was still just as capable of making their lives a living hell as he had been during his life. First life… Living life… ah, whatever. Anyway, that had helped. Well, that, and the respect they so obviously felt about the sacrifice he'd had to make for 007's cause; especially since it was what had eventually caused his untimely demise. They regarded him as some kind of hero right now who had been quite literally willing to give up his life for one of them. Nobody else had ever done anything like that for a Double-O agent.

His minions were a different tale altogether: they even found his predicament hilariously convenient for their field of work – thought they were a crazy lot in everyone's opinion, so Q couldn't decide if he should be reassured by their easy acceptance or run (fly) the other way, screaming in panic. Either way, they had the most creative ways of making fun (but not mockingly, rather friendly) of him, like when two of the bravest ones had barricaded his office door with a desk, claiming he didn't need it anymore anyway and this way they could keep overly curious agents out of it easier. Besides, they had said, the light was exceptionally good there, so it would be a pity not to put a work desk there now that they didn't need the place for anything else anymore. Actually, Q had thought that they had a point, so the desk remained and the ghost simply slipped through it every time he wanted to enter his own room. Inviting any mortal inside could be a real adventure though. Q didn't mind. He didn't like having to entertain visitors in his personal sanctuary anyway.

"Hi, guys!" – He greeted his subordinates. Sarah, who had had been the lucky one on the draw to win the desk in front of his office door, involuntarily shuddered as he passed through her. He had been told it was a funny feeling, like being dropped into icy water. He wouldn't know: he couldn't feel anything. Others snickered and waved at him happily. They had always liked and respected him well enough, but it seemed that having a ghost as their 'Overlord' was considered the 'coolest thing ever' in their book, so now they absolutely adored him and worshiped the very ground he walked on… ahm… floated over.

He shook his head fondly at the sight of his team and settled down to study 002's mission plans, once again looking for potential flaws to be able to correct them in time to prevent a catastrophe. He had to make sure everything would go smoothly on his first job after 'The Incident' – as he now referred to the unfortunate events leading up to his untimely death.