It wasn't often that Quartermaster of MI6 was absent from Q branch when he was supposed to be there. Never, in fact.
So, needless to say, the minions of Q branch were a nervous wreck when they discovered that Q was not in his office when the morning shift began. Nor was he anywhere in the MI6 facility.
"Where the hell is Q?" Eve asked the minions, pacing the numerous screens of Q branch.
"He isn't answering his cell phone." One mentioned, adjusting his glasses, "And he's disabled the GPS, so I can't track it."
"There's no activity on his bank account." Added the petite woman at the desk next to him, frantically typing at her computer, "007 is going to kill us…"
"007 is not going to find out," Eve insisted, "because we are going to find Q before anything happens to him. And more importantly, before Bond's flight lands and he gets back."
The minions nodded, but they were still nervous. Who wouldn't be, when the husband of one of the deadliest men on the planet was missing?
"Someone check his chip." Eve demanded, referring to the tracking chip embedded in the Quartermaster's hip. "If that's not operational…"
"I got it!" A minion shouted from across the room, waving a gangly arm to get Eve's attention, "He's at MI6!"
"His access card was used to operate the lift!" Glasses added, "He's here."
"Oh thank God…" Petite sighed.
The entire room seemed to relax at the news that Q was on his way. Bond wasn't going to kill any of them anytime soon.
Eve shook her head, "He better have a damn good reason for scaring the hell out of all of us."
None of the minions said anything, they knew better than to say anything against their Quartermaster. They just eagerly awaited the arrival of their leader.
Only to stare at the Quartermaster as he entered Q branch. More specifically, the small child curled in his arms.
"I am so sorry I'm late." Q shook his head, readjusting the pink diaper bag that was over his shoulder. He stopped, looking at the faces of Q branch trained on him, "…What?"
There was a moment when none of the minions said anything. What could they say?
"Oh my God, is that your daughter?"
Well, there was that.
Q smiled weakly, "Yeah, this is Charmain." He kissed the top of the little girl's head, "Our nanny was in a car accident last night and I couldn't just leave her at home."
The child in question, Charmain, was nestled quietly in her father's arms, staring at the workings of Q branch with big blue eyes. Her black curly hair was pulled into two short pigtails on the top of her head, held in place by two bright pink ribbons. The pink ensemble was completed by a pink cotton dress, lined with lace and ribbons.
"She is absolutely precious!" Petite squealed.
This drew a small chuckle from Q, "Thank you, Becky." He cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, I better get caught up on work…"
"We can watch her while you get settled!" Petite, Becky, nodded. The other minions nodded eagerly.
After a moment's hesitation, Q nodded, "Alright then. It shouldn't take me more than an hour to finish tying loose ends on the Taipei job. Can you handle that?"
Becky nodded, nearly prying Charmain from Q's arms, "Go, Quartermaster. She'll be fine here!"
Q nodded, reluctantly moving to his office to finish the classified operation. The moment the office door shut, the rest of Q branch was out of their seats and rushing to the new addition.
"She's the spitting image of Q!" Glasses commented, playing with a black pigtail, "I can't believe she has this much hair already!"
It said something to the child's temperament that she was not bothered by the hands touching her, nor the loud noises of the minions fawning over her.
"I can't believe 007 dresses his daughter in this much pink…" Gangly chuckled, "She must be a little princess at home."
"She is."
The minions all froze, turning to face one married 00 agent. Bond was well put together, despite the long mission he had just completed, and he was watching them all with amusement.
Eve took pity on them, "You're back early, 007." She crossed her arms.
Bond shrugged, "I grabbed an early flight. I missed my family." He nodded, "I take it there's a reason my little princess is here and not at home?" He added.
The minions looked at each other before Glasses cleared his throat, "Q said the nanny was in a car accident."
"Ah, that makes sense." Bond nodded, "Q gets frazzled when he has to get the kids ready on his own in the morning. Thank you for helping out."
"How many kids do you have, if you don't mind us asking…" Becky asked, bouncing Charmain gently.
"Five." The 00 agent smiled, "Three boys and two girls. I'm sure you heard them all when they called while I was in Paris."
The minions all nodded dumbly.
Bond watched them, smirking, "…I can take Charlie now."
"Oh!" Becky blushed, handing back the little girl back to her father.
Charmain, recognizing the arms she was placed in, lit up brightly. Her mouth was soon spewing happy babbling noises, speaking nonsense to her father while her little hands reached up to grab fistfuls of the 00 agent's blond hair. The agent in question smiled fondly down at the tiny face of his daughter.
And if the minions of Q branch took several pictures of the tender moment on their phones, well, no one needed to know that.