Alison slowly felt her eyes flutter open as a voice entered her ears. She kept quiet, her mind fuzzy before she saw Q enter her line of vision. His face was right near hers as his hands frantically pushed her hair from her face, stroking it back for the umpteenth time. She slowly sat up, leaning against his side as he felt his glasses fall from his nose.

"What happened?" Alison mumbled in between Q's constant assurances that she was going to be okay.

"You were knocked unconscious," Q informed her. "I found you here about ten minutes ago. The medical staff are on their way. How do you feel?"

"Like I have a headache," she mumbled. "Do you know who knocked me out?"

"I'm going to check the CCTV in a matter of seconds," he promised her. "Do you think you can stand up?"

"Probably," Alison assured him, taking hold of both of his hands and allowing him to haul her to her feet. She swayed for a few moments, Q's hands holding her waist as he steadied her on her feet. He kept one arm around her waist, helping her to move back down the corridor and into Q Branch.

"Take a seat," he urged her, almost dropping her into the seat by his desk. He bent down to look her in the eye, taking hold of her by the cheeks and searching her gaze. He didn't think she had concussion.

A moment later the doors opened and two men in jackets walked in, their hands holding first aid kits as they made their way over towards the couple in the high tech room. Q stood up and looked down at her, biting on his bottom lip in a nervous manner. He wanted nothing more than to protect Alison. He took her with him to MI6 division to make sure she was safe, for heaven's sake.

"What happened?" a medic asked and Q answered for her.

"She was knocked unconscious. I found her in the corridor, but she seems to have come round okay."

"We'll take a look," the other medic nodded, offering Q a smile.

The quartermaster was about to turn on his heel and try to find out who had done this to Alison, but he didn't get far. Alison's hand moved quickly and she took hold of Q's wrist. Her eyes found his and he could see she was worried. Slowly, he bent back down to kneel by her and he took her one hand into both of his, doing his best to assure her that everything would be fine.

...

"Well, well, well, this is a pleasant surprise."

"Only for you."

James took a seat opposite the man as he was cuffed to the table, the attending officer glowering at him before stepping out the room, the steel door swinging shut behind him with a loud creak. James looked up, his gaze even as he stared at the man who had caused him suffering. The suffering of not knowing whether his daughter was going to come back to him.

"I assume there is a reason to you being here. What is it this time? You've come to yell at me for what I did to that brat you call your daughter?"

"Alison is no concern of yours. She never has been and she never will be."

"So you say," Carl drawled, his eyes glittering with entertainment. He loved the taunt. It was what he lived for. "I'm telling you that I will have my revenge one day. The bitch outsmarted me...but...well, you know what they say. Revenge is a dish best served cold."

"You'll have to get to her over my dead body," James spoke.

"No," Carl shook his head. "I want you to see her suffer...I want you to watch her face as I take her last breath from her...you and her beloved quartermaster."

James held his tongue, knowing full well that he could snap Carl's neck in any given moment. Nothing would give him greater pleasure than to watch him scream for mercy. He would. They all did in the end.

"I'm not here about Alison," James said, his voice level but the anger inside building. "I'm here about Hart and Co."

Carl's brows furrowed and he leant back in his chair, a small smirk on his face. He was kept in the dark in prison. He was barely allowed to know of any news. He had committed treason; he was the number one enemy to MI6 nowadays.

"Scientific research company. They dealt with the missiles which my...well...associates happened to be interested in. What about them?"

"They took a hit at the stock exchange with thanks to Raoul Silva," James responded. "Do you know anything about it?"

A loud bark was released from Carl's throat as he laughed loudly, unable to contain himself. James's face remained strict as he waited for Carl to finish his laughter. He slowly died down, remaining calm for a couple of seconds before the menacing smirk returned to his features.

"They needed someone to finish the job. Who better than a world-renowned mastermind?" Carl wondered back from him. "Tell me; are the keys still in MI6's hands?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure about that?" Carl wondered back, shaking his head and tutted at James. "Silva is a clever man, isn't he? He's not stupid and he's hell bent on being one of the best criminals in the world. You know that, Bond, don't you?"

James kept silent, not too sure what he should say in response to Carl. The criminal seemed to find everything amusing. The entire situation was causing his beam to widen with each passing second. James couldn't stick it.

"So, if I were you, I'd run back to MI6 and see if the keys to the missiles are still there. If Silva is in on this game then they definitely won't be. I wouldn't be shocked if your lovely daughter wasn't there either."

James stood up calmly, his pulse racing under his cool demure. His straightened out the sleeve to his suit and looked back across to Carl.

"And is that it?" Carl checked. "You're going to rush back to your precious girl?"

"You'll never get to Alison," James spoke, his voice low and deadly. "You'll spend the rest of your life in here for your treason."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Carl shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll make it my mission to find her. Has the quartermaster had her? I'd thought about taking her...her mother was never that good in bed...but Alison? She looks like-"

Carl never had the chance to finish his story as Bond leant over the table, his hand balled into a fist which made contact with Carl's nose. Bond stood up straight as blood dripped down Carl's nose and a guard came rushing in, his eyes set on the scene in front of him.

"He assaulted me!" Carl yelled through his hands, doing his best to keep breathing.

Bond made eye contact with the guard who just shrugged, clearly not bothered in the slightest about what had just happened right under his nose. James took a moment to nod at the guard as Carl continued his shrieking to no prevail.

Straightening out his sleeves, James checked his phone on the way out to find a worried text from Q.

...

"Dad, I'm fine," Alison promised her father once he had reached Q Division. He knelt by her side, kissing her on the forehead quickly. "I think you need to worry more about the fact that the keys have gone missing now."

"I can't believe it," Q complained. "The CCTV going down made his panic...when it went back up we felt secure...and that's when he struck. Two guards took it for him and the CCTV can barely identify them. Not that they matter."

"They knocked my daughter unconscious," James informed Q. "They matter."

"Not that much, dad," Alison mumbled. "I think the keys are more important at this moment in time, don't you?"

James pursed his lips together and Alison stood up and went to take a stand next to Q as James looked to the massive screen on the wall from behind them. Alison took a sip of Earl Grey from Q's mug and the quartermaster arched a brow at her.

"I don't believe that's your mug," he whispered so Bond couldn't hear him.

"It's gone cold anyway," Alison shrugged, watching herself being hit against a wall for the twelfth time.

"They must have took them in that briefcase. I managed to track them as far as the M25, Bond, but I have no idea where they went after that. I have an alert out on their car. Hopefully we can find them before they get the keys to Silva."

"What has M said?" Bond wondered.

"You haven't spoken to him?"

"I came straight here as soon as I got your text," James replied.

"M isn't best pleased."

"I can imagine," James muttered. "Anyway, shouldn't you head home, Q? You've been working around the clock. Surely there will be others coming in soon enough."

"I will work from home," Q nodded in agreement. "I assume you'll be going after Silva."

"Again," Alison added on, looking over her shoulder to her father. James moved to rest his hands on her shoulders, kissing her on the cheek again as she sighed loudly, doing her best not to seem too worried or anxious.

"You'll go back with Q for a while," James whispered to her and Q held his tongue about the plan he wasn't involved in. "You'll be safe enough at his apartment."

"Fine," Alison muttered. "You need to promise me that you'll try to be safe though?"

"I promise," James agreed and Alison wrapped her arms around him, her chin resting on his shoulder as she hugged him. James returned the motion, looking over to Q with a stern gaze. Q nodded back, knowing full well that Alison was the most precious thing to Bond. He had no intention to see her get hurt.

...

"Checking the clock every five minutes won't make time go faster," Q informed Alison as he leant back on his leather sofa, his laptop balanced on his lap as he typed at an alarming speed. Alison sat beside him, the remote to the TV in her hands as she watched some reality TV programme.

"You don't know that," Alison muttered in response.

"I do, and it won't," Q promised her. "Bond has been doing this job for years. He knows what he's doing, Alison."

"Does he?" Alison wondered. "I'm still worried over him."

"That's understandable," Q yawned, knowing full well that he was tiring. He needed to sleep; his body was going into shut down mode.

"Q," Alison spoke, her hand wrapping around his arm. "You need to sleep."

"I'm fine."

"You're dropping off now," she said to him. "You can't do anything at the moment. There are people back at base who are working the case. They need you rested and at your best."

Q couldn't help but agree with her. He slid the lid to his laptop down and placed it on the floor by his feet. He slowly wrapped his arm around Alison's shoulders, watching her nestle into him as he closed his eyes and she continued to worry and watch TV.

"I'd distract you if I could," Q mumbled. "I just don't know what to say to make any of this better."

A small smile spread onto her face at his words. She peered up to look at him; his eyes already closed.

"You do enough," she promised him in a whisper. "You do more than enough."

...

A/N: I know I haven't updated in a while so thank you to Amy, SpockandNyota7638, Fingirl and LadySuadela for reviewing the previous chapter. Hopefully there will be more to come soon!