She knew he had returned when she heard some of the women from Intensions talking about it. They knew Margot and Alec were seeing each other, and knew she was standing behind them in the lift, but some of the office workers were a bit catty when there was something they wanted but couldn't have. It seemed they all wanted Alec, and didn't understand why he didn't want them. So when they mentioned his returning from mission with the brunette CIA operative named Erin they made sure they were loud enough for Margot to hear. It seemed Erin had dragged Alec back out of MI6 as soon as they dropped off the intel and equipment. Erin had said something about finding a nice place for a drink.

So Alec had found someone while he was gone. Margot shouldn't have been surprised, it's exactly what she said would happen. Of course Alec had no way of knowing what had been happening back here, he hadn't had any time for personal phone calls. It was painful to think that he brought his latest conquest back to MI6 with him though, he had to have known there was a chance of running into Margot, or had that been the plan. No, Alec wasn't cruel enough to rub it in her face like that. Erin was CIA; she must have needed to be at the debriefing or something. Margot was suddenly glad she had been in the file room when they came through. That evening she went home alone and drank the majority of a bottle of wine while watching sappy romantic comedies.

It was amazing that she didn't have more of a hang over the next morning, but that didn't improve her mood much. She just sat at her desk and started going through Q's emails and schedule alerts for the day. Pretty soon the rest of the techs arrived and Q Branch buzzed with energy as they ran about working on proto types with R&D or running missions for other Double 0s. She was just reading over an email she had composed when the new man entered the room.

He was about the same height as Bond with short cropped brown hair and dark blue eyes. He was scanning the activity with a small grin on his face. Margot was about to say something to him when he spotted her and headed straight for her desk. "Can I help you?" Margot said simply, looking him over and spotting the guest pass clipped to his belt, it showed a fairly high clearance level so she tried to show him professional respect with her tone.

His smile broadened as he heard her speak. "You're American, awesome." He held out a hand to her which she took without thinking. He gave it a quick shake, but didn't let go, holding her hand gently but firmly, "I'm Aaron Cross, CIA, and who might you be?"

Now she felt foolish, it was Aaron not Erin. She couldn't help but smile at her mistake. Of course the women in the lift had probably left off the gender specifics on purpose to throw Margot for a loop. "Margot Phillips, it's very nice to meet you."

"I'll say it is. I wasn't expecting to find any Americans in the heart of British Intelligence, and certainly not one this lovely." Aaron raised her hand and placed a gently kiss to her knuckles. He was flirting with her, she could hardly believe it. His friendly blue eyes gazed into hers, and she couldn't help but blush. She knew she shouldn't be enjoying the attention, but Alec had yet to make any contact with her, not even a text message to let her know he was home. If this American agent wanted to throw her a harmless compliment or two, who was she to stop him. It certainly didn't hurt that he was quite easy on the eyes.

It was then that Alec finally managed to get down to Q Branch. After two weeks in the field, all he wanted to do when he got back was apologize to Margot for blowing up at her before he left. He hadn't changed his mind, he still thought she was crazy for thinking that he was going to run off on her the next time some pretty little thing wandered across his path, but he had lost his temper. It was uncalled for. He would have run by to see her last night after the debriefing but Aaron had insisted they needed to blow off some after action steam at the pub.

Aaron didn't seem to spend much time around people and had been talking non-stop since they met up a week and a half before. He was a nice enough guy, for an American, but there was only so much of him Alec could stand. Alec was ready for his downtime to start, and the only person he wanted to spend that time with was Margot. So when he got to Q Branch and saw none other than Aaron Cross perched on the edge of her desk, kissing her hand, he had to stop and count to ten before heading over. Was she smiling at him? Alec had to start counting again.

Margot saw Alec come up behind Aaron, and her smile brightened. Finally he had come to find her; he glanced at her smiling face and gave her a little grin back before clamping a hand down on Aaron's shoulder. "Hey buddy, are you enjoying your little stroll around MI6?" Alec was all smiles and light in tone, but by the grimace on Aaron's face one could tell his grip was tighter than necessary on the other man's shoulder. He was jealous. Margot knew that it shouldn't make her happy to see him being forcefully possessive like that, but her heart did do a little jump in her chest at the sight.

"I was just saying hello to Margot…OW..Ms. Phillips. One American to another…and now I think I'll go say hi to someone else." Good thing Aaron was smart; he picked up on the not so subtle hint very quickly. Unfortunately for Aaron, before Alec had a chance to let go of him Tanner and Bond came out of Q's office, stopping to drop some papers off with Margot on their way. Slipping back behind her they both placed a hand on her lower back in turn. His grip tightened and Aaron nearly collapse onto her desk, then broke loose with a quick hit to Alec's outer arm. Alec didn't even take notice of this. Aaron then made a hasty retreat to one of the other tech's desk.

Tanner looked up at Alec, "Welcome back 006, and congratulations on the successful mission." He didn't seem to notice that Alec was turning quite red in the face. Bond noticed it though and stood silently off to the side. At that moment Marcus came over with an acquisition report that he placed in Margot's inbox by reaching around from behind her, while lightly placing his other hand on her waist.

Alec turned slightly purple before blowing up at everyone, "Why the hell is everyone putting their hands all over my girlfriend?!"

Margot quickly got up, trying to think of the fastest way to diffuse Alec before he took a swing at anyone, while mentally jumping up and down with delight that he had just announced to the room that she was in fact 'his girlfriend'. Putting what they had into relationship terms was not something either had talked about before then. She ran around her desk to get in front of him, she placed her hands softly on either side of his face and pulled his eyes down to look at her. "It's not what you think, let's go somewhere and talk, okay?"

She saw him take a few deep breaths, and close his eyes for a moment as he calmed himself down. His face soon returned to its natural shade. Q silently offered his office, as he had heard Alec's yelling even through his soundproofed walls. As soon as the office door closed behind them Margot turned to explain everything but never got the chance. Alec instantly pulled her into his arms and kissed her as if he hadn't seen her in a year not just a fortnight. His hands rubbed on her back, slowly going lower till they got to her waist. He stopped suddenly, expecting her to tense up. He was surprised when she didn't.

He pulled back just enough to see her smile up at him, and that's when it all started making sense, "Reconditioning."

"It was James' idea. It's going really well." She smiled up at him and saw him smile back before crushing her lips with another deep kiss. His hands trailed along her waist, even going so far as to slip a finger under the waistband of her slacks. Margot shivered a little at the skin to skin contact, but in a good way. She suddenly wished it was the end of her day, not the beginning.