Guideline Number Two – Become used to your father's nemesis attempting to kill you

"So, we wouldn't be safer at MI6?" Alison checked with her father as they sat in the stationary train. Alison had her legs curled up on the seat as she continued to lean against her father. James couldn't help but sigh as he heard her.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you," James mumbled to her. "I have Q tracking us. He'll be making sure we're safe. Also, there are already a few agents in Aberdeen."

Alison's brow furrowed as she thought for a few moments. She closed the magazine her father had bought her and looked up to him, her orbs wide as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

"So, this is an ambush?" she checked with him and he nodded.

"Consider it an ambush," he said. "M has me sworn to secrecy about the matter."

"I'm your daughter," she reminded him as he took another sip of coffee. She sat up straight and crossed one leg over the other, shrugging ruefully as she watched him. "Don't I have a right to know this?"

"I didn't want to worry you, Ali," James replied, his voice low and controlled.

People became concerned over the lack of movement; everyone seemingly growing irritated by nothing happening. Alison shook her head and closed her eyes, her hand resting on her forehead.

"Unbelievable," she mumbled to herself.

James said nothing, choosing to keep quiet as he watched her open her eyes again and turn to look at him, her orbs wide and full of pleading. James had expected anger. It was an emotion that she did well.

"You need to stop keeping things from me," Alison urged him. "I'm twenty years old, dad. I mean, I do wear a bra now. I'm not a little child."

James ran a hand down the back of his neck, a slight tinge of embarrassment coming over him as he heard his daughter speak. She looked at him as she pulled at her blazer, straightening it out on her body.

"Can you agree with me on that?" she checked. "I get that you didn't want to worry me. I don't want to be worried, trust me on that front. But...if I have to be worried then that's fine. It is better than you keeping things from me."

"I get it," James assured her, not too sure how much of a lecture he could stomach from her. She nodded at him and settled back in her seat, pushing her hands through her hair before she heard a familiar sound coming from her satchel.

"It's probably your mother," James told her.

"I hope so," she mumbled, grabbing the iPhone and looking at the caller. She didn't recognise the number and it came up as unknown. She looked to her father, holding the phone out to him and he nodded.

"Unknown number," he commented. "Your phone is the only phone we have."

"Where's your phone?" Alison wondered, still looking at the caller's screen.

"Destroyed," James said. "I went off grid. The only person who could be calling you is Q."

"Or him," Alison commented too.

"Or Silva," James confirmed. "You won't know until you find out."

Alison sighed as she felt the train jerk forwards. She looked out the window as she slid the unlock button on her phone and accepted the call. She pressed the phone to her ear and watched as they left the platform behind.

"Alison, thank goodness."

Alison felt relieved as she heard Q's voice drift into her ears. She reclined further back in the seat and played with the hem of her skirt.

"What's up?" she wondered from him, mouthing Q to her father.

James nodded and ran a hand down his chin, wondering what the boy wonder could want from his daughter now. Q was becoming far too involved in Alison's life for James's liking.

"You need to get off of that train now," Q told her, pacing around Q Division as he did so. Alison's brow furrowed as she looked to her father and James knew that something was wrong. He moved with haste, grabbing the phone from her hands and pressing it to his ear.

"What is it, Q?" James asked him.

"Silva's placed some form of bomb on the line ahead. That's why the train has been delayed. You need to get off right now."

"How much time do we have?"

"Four minutes," Q said, "and counting."

James stood with haste, pushing his coffee cup into the bin by the seat opposite him. He folded his tray away and offered Alison his hand, capturing the phone between his shoulder and ear. He had to stop the train somehow. He just didn't know how.

"What is it?" Alison wondered.

"Just come with me," James urged her.

She grabbed hold of her satchel and moved it onto her shoulder. Taking her father's hand, she hobbled behind him as they moved further down the train.

"The driver needs to be notified, Q. Is there anything you can do?"

"He's done something to the controls, Bond. The train is stuck at sixty seven miles per hour," Q complained, doing his best to breach Silva's control. He shook his head, realising that it was no use. "You need to get off the train, Bond. It is the only way."

"And how do you suggest I do that?" James snarled back, his hand still tightly holding Alison's as he dragged her along behind him, doing his best not to bump into anyone. "Is there any water coming up?"

"A small canal. It's not a big window, Bond. You need to move now."

"On it." James said and tossed Alison's phone into his pocket, Q still on the line.

He finally came to the driver's carriage of the train and banged on the door. People turned around in their seats; wondering what was happening as James sighed and knew what he had to do.

"Dad," Alison muttered. "What are you doing?"

"Improvising," replied James, dragging his gun out from the waistband of his trousers. People screamed and ducked as the shot echoed through their ears. Alison turned to look behind her at the panic as James pulled the door open and looked out of the window. The man sat in the back of the train looked confused as James pushed him from his seat.

"What's going on?" he snapped at Bond. "Who are you?"

"You need to stop this train. Can you do that?"

"Of course I can stop the train," the man snarled back to James. "Why would I? Are you a terrorist?"

"Do I look like a terrorist?" James wondered from him, firing another shot out the window and into the distance to make the man do his bidding. "Now, stop the train."

The man began to sweat, pulling at his tie as he tried to slow the train down. He repeated the motion a few times to no prevail. Alison looked to her father, still wondering what was happening.

James shook his head as the driver turned back to look at him. "What's happening?"

"It has been hijacked," James said. "You need to open the doors and tell people to jump in the passing canal."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because a bomb is about one minute away from us." James snapped back and broke the lock on the door to the driver's cabin. The wind rushed in as the man looked at James with wide eyes and he knew that there was no joking in James's voice.

"You're serious?"

"It's hardly a joking matter," James snapped back.

"Jesus Christ," Alison called out, looking to the passing water by the side of the train tracks. She looked down as James took hold of her by the arm, knowing full well that he couldn't save a train load of people. He had no chance of being able to do that.

He had told the driver what needed to happen. His main concern was getting Alison off alive.

"We have to jump," James told her, his voice loud above the roaring of the wind. Alison gulped, shaking her head back and forth as he abandoned her satchel on the floor. She looked up to her father, doing her best not to look so scared.

"It's okay," James promised her. "Just take a big jump and you'll be in the water. Kick and push to the surface."

"You do this often?" she wondered from her father.

"Often enough," he told her. "In comparison to a waterfall, this is nothing, Ali. You need to trust me. Everything will be fine."

"Bloody hell," Alison complained, holding onto the handle which led onto the small step outside of the train.

"You need to do it now, Alison," James urged his daughter. "You'll be safe. You have my word."

"Oh God," Alison complained to him. "This is not normal...I can't...I can't do it..."

James felt a second of guilt flood through him before he moved. He picked his daughter up by the waist and pushed her forwards, watching as she fell into the water. She went with a loud scream before the driver looked at him with a sense of bewilderment.

"Get as many people into that water as you can," James demanded him, turning to look back down the carriage.

A moment of guilt filled him as he realised that he should be there to help them. He should stay back. But he knew it would do no good. There wasn't enough time, or enough doors. Silva wanted him dead, but Bond wasn't very happy to oblige yet.

...

Q heard a loud scream from the phone. He assumed Bond had dropped it into his pocket and left Q on the line. Q was happy enough to stay there, unable to work as he heard Alison question her father as to what was happening. He soon heard her scream and then a splash of water. The line finished soon enough and Q had the police on their way to the sight.

He knew that the train couldn't be stopped. He had done his best. But his best wasn't good enough. It never had been good enough when it came to Silva. Q always felt as though he was one step behind. The only issue he faced was that he didn't know how to get one step ahead.

It was a never ending battle.

"Q."

Q turned around to see Boris stood at the back of the room. He dropped his hands to his hips and arched a brow, not intending on leaving his desk for anyone; especially not a dunderhead like Boris. Q had no time for him. He had no regard for him either.

"What is it?" Q wondered, noting how sweat was slowly forming on Boris's brow.

"M wants you," Boris said.

Q groaned, knowing that he was in trouble for not stopping the train. He only hoped that his telling off didn't last too long. He pulled at the blue tie he wore and straightened out his blue cardigan. He moved slowly towards the back of Q Division, seeing the way Boris's shirt dripped in sweat as he went.

"Are you okay, Boris?" Q wondered out of common courtesy. "You're looking warm."

"I'm fine, boss," he promised Q, following the man towards the dark corridor.

It was only then when Q saw a hulking figure blocking his way. Q turned back to look at Boris, his eyes narrowed through his NHS prescription glasses.

"What is this?"

"He...he said he'd kill my wife...hurt her..." Boris said, the sweat now visibly pouring from his brow. Q shook his head, realising that he had been sold out by one of his own workers. Q tried to push past Boris to return to Q Division, needing the safety of his laptop to stop anything from happening to him.

He didn't get far. He began to walk away only to feel his head lighten and his eyes close.

...

"They all died." Alison whispered as she sat in the hotel room.

She was curled up on the floor in between the space of the two beds. Her back was leant against the bed and she had her arms hooked around her kneecaps. She hadn't even bothered to change from her sopping wet clothes.

James sat on the bed across from her, a towel hung around his neck as he wore a simple white robe after showering. He was leant forwards as he watched Alison, her eyes narrowed as she thought back to what she had just seen.

"All of them...gone..."

"There was nothing that we could do," James told her. "Silva had it all planned, Alison."

"We could have been on a different train," Alison said. "We could have been somewhere else. They were all going home...visiting someone...and then...they died...because we were on that train."

"Do not blame yourself for this," James urged her. "It was Silva who put that bomb there-"

"-For us," Alison interrupted, unable to shake the sound of screams from her mind. The images of the fires rose in the sight of her vision and her orbs widened as she began to rock back and forth.

"It was meant for us," Alison whispered. "They all died because of us, dad."

"No," James said, knowing that he had to stop his daughter from playing the blame game. It wouldn't help her, and it wouldn't help anyone. "Alison, listen to me."

James dropped down from the bed, kneeling in front of her as he took her cheeks into his palms. His eyes were stern and his jaw jutted out. He didn't need his daughter blaming herself for this mess. He knew that it would driver her to insanity. Hell, everything was driving him to insanity.

"You are not to blame for this. Silva killed those people. He was the one who killed them." James promised her. "This is not your fault, Alison. Things like this...if it wasn't the train then it would have been something else. He's a mad man. He's not right in the head."

"That still doesn't stop me from feeling terrible" Alison assured her father. "I just want this to end. I want to go back to my flat in York and forget everything that has happened. That's all I want...and..."

"That will happen soon enough," James assured her. "I promise you."

"I'm going to shower," Alison whispered and she stood up, moving away from her father.

James sighed as he watched her go. He knew full well that she was breaking in front of him. And he couldn't blame her.

...

Q woke up in a groggy state. He could feel his glasses pinching the bridge of his nose as he dared to allow his eyes to flutter open. Looking around the room, he took a few moments to take in his surroundings. He found nothing that defined where he was. The walls were white washed and the concrete floor held no secret entrance.

"Finally, I thought that you'd been seriously injured."

Q moved his eyes to look at the man stood on the other side of the room. Q did his best to move, finding himself stuck to his chair by some rope. His glasses fell down his nose slightly as he struggled. He didn't need this. How could this have happened to him? All he did was sit at his desk all day. All he did was hack and write codes.

"Where am I?"

"Do you honestly think I intend to tell you that?" he replied, pushing his blond hair from his face.

Q watched as Silva moved closer to him and he gulped loudly, doing his best not to sound too worried about his situation.

"I doubt it," Q muttered. "It would be nice though."

"Wouldn't it," Silva agreed weakly. "You have no need to worry. I don't intend to kill you. I just intend to keep you here until I find Bond and his daughter again."

"Why do you need Bond?" Q wondered. "You got to M. Is that not enough?"

"I suspect not," Silva said, pretending to examine the back of his hand as he sniffed. "However, my cleverly laid plans seem to be going askew with thanks to you. You must really like that little daughter of his."

"I'm doing my job," Q exasperated. "I haven't done anything else."

"I'd care to disagree," Silva said, raising a finger to stop Q from interrupting. "You told them of the bomb. You kept Alison hidden at your apartment. You were the one who sent men after me when you knew where I was with M. You really have become a pain in my backside. It isn't attractive to me."

"So," Q drawled, knowing that he had to keep calm, "what is the plan now? Or is there even a plan?"

"There is a plan," Silva said. "Can you imagine the hype if 007 was to die? I struggle to believe it myself."

"Why do you want to kill him?" Q asked. "He did nothing to wrong you. M did. I understand that...but...Bond? He-"

"-He attempted to stab me in the back," Silva spoke. "Literally, I may add."

"I'm sure he was a bit annoyed with you," commented Q. "You did kidnap his daughter."

"No, I need to be rid of 007. Can you imagine if I get rid of him? Can you even begin to comprehend what M will think?" Silva wondered. "He'll see that no agent can beat me. If 007 can't then I doubt anyone else can. Would he even risk his agents on me then? I'd be able to defeat all of them."

"Do you think M will allow you to get away with this? He'll send as many men as possible to come after you," Q replied.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Silva replied with a small shrug. "We shall see soon enough, quartermaster."

"The working of your mind is not something that I comprehend," Q admitted. "But do you honestly think that Bond will let you anywhere him?"

"No," Silva said. "But he may not have a choice."

...

A/N: I hope that I'm not updating too quickly for people, so please do let me know what you think so far if you're reading this!