Guideline Number One – Never allow your father to leave a gun lying about.
"I didn't mean for that to happen," Alison whispered as soon as she saw Q again. She had changed into one of his shirts and a pair of joggers. She looked a mess, but she felt better than she had done. She wore her flats on her feet, stopping the cold wooden floor from affecting her.
She stood by the breakfast bar in Q's kitchen, her gaze lowered as she waited for Q to say something in response to her. He looked at her from over the screen of his laptop and nodded briefly at her, coughing awkwardly. He didn't really know what to say to her.
"Which part?" he wondered after a second, his hands hovering over the safety of his keyboard.
"Well...I mean...I know that it was kind of forward-"
"-Yes," Q agreed, interrupting her. "Deciding to lose you towel was quite forward indeed."
Alison blushed and ran her hand down her arm before Q saw how uncomfortable she was. Taking a deep breath, he flicked the switch to the kettle. A good cup of tea would help to solve everything. It usually did when Q felt he was in trouble or out of his depth.
"You are a young woman, Alison," Q decided to say. "You're still at university. I don't really know what to think, if I have to be honest. You have all of your life ahead of you."
"And how old are you?" Alison wondered. "I saw spot cream in your cabinet."
"I'm old enough," Q mumbled to her. "Besides, what would your dad say if he knew? I doubt he'd be impressed with our antics."
"You don't have to be scared of him all the time," Alison said to him. "He's hardly a scary person, Q."
"I'm not scared of him," Q denied and Alison raised a sceptical brow at what she was hearing. Looking away, Q heard the kettle boil and he moved to pour the hot water into two cups.
"You're a terrible liar," Alison whispered to him and she took a seat on the stool by the breakfast bar. Q sat on the stool along from her as he continued his coding and Alison tapped her fingers against her mug.
"If you're not interested then just say," she suddenly snapped at Q, unable to hold her tongue for much longer.
Groaning quietly, Q lifted his head up to look at her as she cocked her head to the side, wondering what he was going to say back to her. Her orbs had doubled in size and Q knew that she was waiting for his reassurance. He just didn't know if he could give her it. She'd be back at university soon enough. She'd forget about him then and continue studying.
The only reason she kissed him was because he was there and had been kind to her. Q was sure of it. She was Bond's daughter, for goodness sakes. He had seen her Facebook page; she could get any man she wanted. It wouldn't be difficult for her.
"We've known each other a week," Q reminded her. "How can I begin to judge whether I am interested or not? I mean...you're a nice girl, Alison. I just worry about what will happen in the future. I work in London. You study in York. You're young, too. There are plenty of other men out there. Most of them-"
"-Are idiots," Alison commented. "No, it's fine. I understand what you mean."
"Do you?"
"Yes," Alison said. "I just...you're really nice, Q. You even like Emmerdale."
"Not all the time," Q interrupted her, going back to typing as he spoke. "We need to get through this first, Alison. Only then can you really decide what you'll do. Keeping you alive is the main priority."
"Got it," Alison bluntly nodded, sipping on her tea. "And I'd be totally fine if that kiss meant nothing to you. You know that, right?"
"It didn't," Q assured her. "Not many girls have kissed me, Alison. That one meant more than any of the others."
Keeping quiet, she smiled into her tea and Q gave her a sly look from the corner of his eye. He could feel his cheeks heat up at his own words, but he continued to watch his screen. He could tell that Alison was nervous. She sat on the edge of her seat and constantly looked to the door, waiting for her dad to knock.
Finally, she noticed the gun which sat on the end of the worktop. Her mouth gaped open and Q watched her stretch from her seat to grab it. She took it into her hands and looked down at the device, knowing full well that it was pretty dangerous.
"Be careful with that," he told her. "Your dad left it for me in case there was an emergency."
Alison observed it, turning it around in her hands whilst Q sighed.
"It's odd, isn't it?" Alison checked, holding it out and pointing it in front of her. "I mean, with one pull of a trigger, it can kill something."
Q watched with horror as she let her hand slip to the trigger and pushed against it, a bullet flying out of the end of the gun. Alison dropped the device as soon as she saw the bullet hit the wall opposite them. She pressed her hands to her mouth and Q fiddled with the glasses on his face.
"Oh my God," she drawled. "Q, I am so sorry."
"I think Bond left it off the safety mode," Q commented to her. "You certainly took advantage of that."
"I honestly didn't think anything would happen...oh Jesus..." she said, doing her best not to sound amused by the situation. At least she didn't hit his laptop. She could only imagine that Q would throw her out then.
"Well, you were right before," Q told her, moving to look at the bullet hole in his wall. "You are becoming more difficult to babysit."
"Is it that bad?" Alison wondered.
"You shot my wall," Q reminded her and she stood next to him, looking at the bullet which had gone through the wall. "I'd say that is pretty bad."
"At least no one was hurt," Alison said, trying to look on the positive side of things.
"Apart from the wall," Q responded before he snorted. He smirked back and shook his head at her as she allowed a small smile to form on her lips. Q nudged her in the shoulder as he stood by her side. "I suppose it could have been worse, Alison. I'll have the bill sent to your student loan."
"Thank you very much," Alison responded and she scoffed before hearing a knock on the door.
Q turned around and moved over to it as Alison stood still and continued to stare at the bullet hole. She whirled around as soon as she heard her father's snapping voice enter the room.
"Alison, we're leaving now."
"Why?" she wondered as Q closed the door and locked it again.
James looked around the room, his paranoia taking hold of him as he stood before his daughter and ran his hand down the length of her drying hair. He bent down slightly and looked her in the eye, knowing full well that he had endangered her.
"Someone broke into your flat in York," he told her. "They tossed over all your things and made an absolute mess."
"Do you think it was him?" she enquired before James handed her a plastic bag full of clothes he had bought on his way.
"I'm pretty sure it was," James promised her. "Go and change. We're heading up to Aberdeen for a while."
"Why Aberdeen?" Alison wondered; her voice low as she felt Q's gaze lock on her.
"There's a small hotel by the sea there." James told her. "I've stayed there for a while. It's very remote-"
"-There are lots of remote places by the sea," Alison protested. "Aberdeen isn't the only place by the sea."
"No, but it is far away from London. That is my aim, Alison. I'm taking you as far away from London as I can for the moment. M is still searching for Silva. He says that there has been no sign of him."
"Ridiculous," Alison muttered before taking the bag and searching through it. "And how did you know that I was a size ten?"
"Women's sizes aren't difficult to understand, Ali," James assured her before she moved off. He kept quiet as he saw her close the bathroom door and then he noted the bullet hole in the wall.
His brow arched with amusement; "Fancied pulling the trigger, Q?"
"No," Q replied. "Your daughter decided to shoot my wall."
"And how did she manage that?"
"Well, she used a gun," Q said, his voice dry before he looked at his laptop. He took a moment to think about what he and Alison had done before and his cheeks reddened. "She could have a good shot if she tried."
"I don't want her anywhere near guns," James replied, his voice low before he ran a hand down his stubbly cheek. He pulled at his tie before he turned to look at Q, noticing a small blush on his cheeks.
"Well, she might have no choice," Q responded. "So, what are you going to do? Hide in a hotel until this blows over? Do you not think that he will find you there?"
"I know that he might," James said. "But staying in the city won't help. He knows more about me and Alison than I care to admit. I just want to know why he's doing it. He killed M. Surely that's enough?"
"Not for a man like Silva," Q said, sipping his earl grey tea and pushing the gun to the end of the breakfast bar. "He knows that he's got MI6 in a tizzy. What better way to distract them by keeping their best agent occupied with hiding his daughter away?"
"I'm not the best agent," James replied to Q.
"One of," Q mumbled. "What does it matter? He's met you. He knows that he can torment you."
"He does it well," James muttered. "M said that you're needed back at Q Division."
"Right," Q said, pushing the lid to his laptop down. "Well, I will see you off and then get on my way."
James said nothing and picked up the gun from the breakfast bar. He slid it into his waistband and waited for his daughter to reappear. She did so in a moment, pulling at the black skater skirt she wore. The tights clung to her body and were dark enough to help hide the white bandage around her leg. She wore a simple white vest top tucked into the skirt and had a blazer draped over her arm.
"I think I might be putting weight on," Alison complained as she hobbled over to her father.
"You look fine," he promised her. "Come on, we're on the six o'clock train from King's Cross."
"Got it," she nodded back to her father and he picked her satchel up for her.
Q shoved his arms into his anorak and found his keys again. He left his laptop on the worktop and followed Alison out of the door, locking up as he went. James had already rushed ahead, moving with haste and away from them.
"Are you going to be alright?" Q dared to ask as he walked by her side and James scoped the area.
"In Aberdeen?" Alison whispered back, slowly moving down the steps with one hand on the railing to help her. "I'll be fine. It's him I worry about."
Q's brow furrowed in confusion as he looked down the steps to Bond and stuffed his hands into his pocket. He looked down to the floor, his glasses slipping down the end of his nose as he did so.
"Bond?" he checked. "Why are you worried about him?"
"He's under far too much pressure," Alison whispered, one hand pushing her hair behind her ear. "He's going to go crazy soon enough."
"It seems that everyone is full of worry," Q informed her. "Exactly what Silva wants."
"Alison, can you manage?" James checked as he threw his head over his shoulder to look at his daughter. She nodded and finally came to the bottom step. James took her hand into his, holding it tightly before coming to the street.
"I'll take a little walk before getting a cab," Q informed the pair of them.
"You'll be keeping tabs?" James wondered, finally hailing a cab.
"Of course," Q said, his gaze moving over to Alison as he said it.
Alison didn't want to say anything in the presence of her father. She knew that he would hardly approve of her thoughts at that moment in time. Q also knew that James would shoot more than his wall if he said anything out of place.
"Come on, Ali," James urged her, opening the back door to the cab.
She took another second to glance at Q, smiling softly as she did so.
"Bye, Q," she spoke.
"Bye, Alison," he replied and the girl moved into the vehicle.
James smirked, his hands his pockets before he dropped her satchel into the cab.
"Make sure you lose the blush, Q," James advised him. "It doesn't become you."
...
"Must you flirt with every woman you see?" Alison wondered from her father.
She sat by the window in Coach C of the train, looking outside as the sun slowly set behind the clouds in the sky. Her father rested the coffee he had bought on the pull down table in front of him. He opened a sachet of sugar and poured it in, a small smirk on his face as he did so.
"It was harmless, Alison. I could hardly help it if she found me attractive."
"Jesus," Alison mumbled, folding her arms around her waist.
"Besides, I could ask you the same about when you're in the presence of Q." James retorted and Alison almost choked. James turned his head to the side to look at her. She looked down to her lap and fiddled with her fingers.
"He's hardly your regular type."
"And you'd know my regular type?" Alison wondered back from her father.
"Yes," James said, "and they're definitely not like Q."
"And is that a bad thing?" Alison wondered, her voice low. "Look, I've just met Q. I don't know how he...how I..."
"He's attracted to you," James assured her. "He can't deny that."
"Anyway, I'd prefer not to talk about it," Alison mumbled to her father, leaning her head against the window whilst James watched her close her eyes.
He sighed and moved his arm around her shoulders, pulling her back to his side. Alison rested against his shoulder before he spoke to her.
"You're still in university," he whispered. "I want you to do well, Alison."
"Dad," she complained. "I've only just met Q. Can you stop this, please?"
"Fine," James told her, backing off from the conversation he had intended to have with his daughter. He had another six and a half hours on the train left. He'd approach it another time with her.
Alison said nothing more to him as she closed her eyes and willed for sleep to find her. James finally heard her breathing shallow as he tightened his arm around her shoulders and closed his own eyes for another few moments.
...
Q wandered back home later on that evening, yawning loudly as he went. He fastened the zip to his anorak and ran a hand through his messy brown curls. He took a few moments to think about where Alison was, shaking his head after he did so. There was a strange feeling inside of Q's stomach as he thought about her and the way she had pressed her lips to his earlier that day.
He poured himself a cup of earl grey before he sat back at his laptop, doing his best to find Silva. He was slowly tracking Alison on the train, watching the movement before he sipped on his earl grey.
Q kept quiet as he noticed that the train hadn't moved in five minutes. Q's brow furrowed and he went back to looking at the CCTV. Everything seemed fine at the station they had pulled in to. Apparently there was some technical fault on the line ahead.
Technical faults happened all the time. They were hardly a thing of mystery. Yet Q couldn't help but think that there was something more to it.
He moved the CCTV further along the line, looking for the fault before he saw a team of workmen on the lines. Q zoomed in, scanning each face he saw before his computer informed him that every man on the track worked for the rail company. He leaned back in his seat and sipped on his tea before looking over his laptop to the bullet hole in the wall.
A small smile played on his lips as he wondered what the landlord would say. His orbs turned back to the screen and he frowned before he paused the CCTV as he saw the familiar sight of bleach blond hair.
"Shit," he mumbled to himself. "Bugger it."
Q zoomed in, watching as the blond hair bent down by the track and Q caught the sight of something flashing near the man's hand. He said nothing for a few seconds, wondering what Silva was playing at before he saw him turn his attention to the CCTV.
It was at that moment in time when Q felt worry flood through him. Silva seemingly bowed to the camera before rushing off from the screen.
Q felt a gulp move down his throat before he dared to move and reach for his new mobile phone.
He didn't know what Silva had done, but he knew that he had to get Bond and Alison off of that train.
...
A/N: So I am back off of holiday and I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed the story so far. I do hope you will let me know what you think so far!
