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The night cold sunk deep into my skin despite my warm outerwear as I took a deep breath of air that filled my lungs with invigoration and made my senses come alive. Q shoved his hands into his coat pockets and I swear I could hear his teeth chatter.

I turned towards him, "Where are we going first? Your place or mine?"

"Let's stop by mine first and feed Amelia," he said with a straight face while I rolled my eyes. "Then we'll head over to yours and we can go from there."

"Lead the way."

We walked to the nearest tube station and sat down to wait for the next train. The station was all but empty except for some drunk students on their way home from a night out and an older gentleman with . . . unique company.

Suddenly a voice spoke up startling us both. "What are you two doing out at this time of night?"

I looked up and saw Tanner. "We could ask you the same thing."

He lifted up a grocery bag. "Wife's pregnant and had a late night craving for the tuna melt from that place that caters MI6 every 2nd Wednesday." He looked at us suspiciously. "Alright, spill. What's got you both sitting at the tube station at this time of night."

Q and I turned towards each other, and he opened his mouth to speak. "Just doing some late night work. Trying to get oriented and caught up, that's all."

I nodded in agreeance. "Q Branch has been overwhelmed. Ma'am should look into getting Q an assistant to handle some of this."

Tanner laughed, "Don't hold your breath on that one."

"Don't worry, I know better than that."

A train pulled into the station, and I looked at Q to see if it was ours, but he shook his head indicating that we had to wait a little bit longer.

Tanner turned towards the train and looked back at us. "This is me. I'll see you both in the morning. M wants me in earlier than normal. She said something about her wits and retirement." He gave us one last suspicious look before climbing onto the train.

Suddenly we were alone and the November night felt even colder. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. I turned to look at Q, "You really do look tired you know. I'm not just saying that; I'm genuinely concerned."

Q had a slight frown on his face and sighed. "I know. I need to do better, but there's just so much that needs to be done."

"Q, you don't have to prove yourself to anyone. You already have the job."

"Yes, I do, actually. I have to prove it to the agents like Bond and the other 00s that depend on me. I have to prove it to the staff. I'm younger than everyone except for you and O'Connor. I have to prove it to everyone who said I couldn't do anything from behind my computer screen." He paused. "But really, I just need to prove it to myself. Once I've done that I can sleep."

"How long will that take?"

"Let's see if Bond gets off that plane tomorrow and then ask me."

Another train pulled into the station, and this time Q stood and I followed him onto the train where we sat in silence for a few minutes before exiting the train. We turned left out of the station and walked down the street until we arrived at a 5 story brick building.

Q walked inside, and I followed.

"I'm afraid that the elevator is currently undergoing repairs. Something about it not being up to code, so I hope the stairs are alright."

"They're just fine."

We walked up towards his apartment with dim wall fixtures illuminating our path. "I know it looks a bit like a horror movie set now, but during the morning it lights up brilliantly," he said while gesturing towards the large windows on the right side of the hall. "Alright, here we are."

We had stopped at a door number 5D. It was black with a large brass handle and a peep hole. Q unlocked the door and held it open for me. I walked in and he reached around me to flip on the light illuminating the small, cozy space. The kitchen was on the immediate right; it had white cabinets with dark handles and looked as if it hadn't been used in weeks. There was a small cherry wood table with newspapers littering the surface. Straight ahead there was a large TV screen and a brown sofa that had large pillows and blankets tossed haphazardly over the arm.

Q stepped into the kitchen while I walked in towards the couch. I slipped my jacket off and draped it over the arm of the couch. "Have a seat, I'm going to put some more food into Amelia's bowl. It's an interesting contraption actually, it puts food into her bowl twice a day all I need to do is—." Q's voice was becoming increasingly distant until it ceased to register in my mind anymore.

The next thing I knew I was being shaken awake. Where am I? I realized that I was laying on Q's couch and there was a warm blanket draped over me. Bleary eyed I sat up and looked at Q. "What time is it?" I rasped.

"It's just after 4:30. You feel asleep on the couch so I decided to let you sleep while I showered and changed clothes." He smiled and pointed to the end of the couch, "looks like Amelia has taken quite a liking to you."

I smiled and reached my hand down to scratch the head of the tabby. "Should we head out?" I pushed the blanket off of me and stretched. Standing up I folded my arms immediately missing the warmth of the blanket. "Thanks for letting me sleep for a bit." He nodded and went to grab his coat.

"Ready to head out?" Q asked.

"Yeah," I said getting up from the couch. I grabbed my jacket and slipped it on over my head. I grabbed my scarf and began to wrap it around my neck when I noticed Q's still wet hair. "You do realize that your hair is likely to freeze outside, yes?"

"I appreciate your concern for my hair, but I think I'll be fine."

"Oh no, I'm not concerned at all. I just wanted to make sure you were aware that you're crazy."

Q rolled his eyes and opened the door. "After you." He quickly locked the door behind him, pulled his jacket over his striped turtleneck, and we walked down the stairs to the front of his building. "Which way?"

"This way," I said pointing to the right. "I'm just a few blocks over."

By the time we arrived I was quite sure that Q was just moments away from pieces of hair snapping off so the blast of heat we got walking in the door was more than welcomed. We took the elevator up to the third floor and walked down to my door, 314. I opened the door, walked in and flipped on the light.

"Jack!" I called out and heard the bells from Jack's collar signaling to me that he was on his way.

"Your cat responds to his name?" Q questioned, surprised.

"He thinks he's a dog." Q quirked an eyebrow as Jack came around the corner and I picked his fat, fluffy body. "A very fat, cranky dog."

"Charming."

I scratched Jack's head, "come on pussy, let's get you some food." I turned back to Q, "Go ahead and make yourself at home. I swear I'll be quick." I put some food in Jack's bowl and darted to the bathroom to turn on the water. I showered quickly and changed my clothes. I pulled out my hair dryer and snarkily called down the hall to Q with a cheeky grin on my face. "When I'm finished with the dryer would you like to use it?"

Q's voice rang out from the living room, "You're so very charming, did you know?" I could practically feel him rolling his eyes.

I finished drying my hair and checked the time. 5:40. I grabbed my bag and walked down the hall to find Q sitting on the couch with Jack sitting on the floor across the room staring at him. "Any more word from M?"

"None. What do you want to do until we have to be back at MI6?"

"Let's go grab some coffee. I'm out here, and I'm going to need it if I'm going to survive this bloody day."

With a final head scratch for Jack, we made our exit and wandered out into the cold once more.