Sitting down in the small office, the girl couldn't help but think as though she was being interrogated. No doubt she would be in the coming few minutes. The office was empty for the time being and there was no sound of voices from outside the door. The squatty leather seat she sat in was making her shift around, crossing one leg over the other before moving to do the same with the other. She had her hands folded over her lap, her gaze set on the mahogany of the desk before her.

She knew that it had been too good to be true. It had been approximately seven months since Silva had terrorised their lives. Nothing had happened since then. Everything had been quiet, and she had to admit that she was getting used to it. But now, well, things were changing.

Her thoughts consumed her for minutes until she finally heard raised voices from behind her through the door. Turning her head over her shoulder, she waited patiently until the wood was pushed open and she saw a familiar sight. She remained seated as he moved into the room, newspapers pushed underneath his arm as his footsteps hit the floor with haste. The woman remained at the door, clutching the doorknob tightly as she gave the younger girl a small smile and stern nod.

"Miss Holmes."

"It's Bond," she quickly responded, managing to look the man in the eye as the did so. "Well…it's Bond-Holmes now…I…well…took my father's name after everything. It just felt odd, not sharing the same last name."

She knew that she was being ridiculous and that the man in charge of the double-oh programme had no interest in her reasons for taking her father's last name. She knew why she was here, and it was not to explain that. Sitting quietly, she shifted with the black wool skirt she wore, pulling it down her legs as she leaned forwards slightly.

"Well, Miss Bond-"

"-Actually, just call me Alison," she interrupted him again, placing a shaky hand in her hair and pulling it downwards to unknot it. "And I know why I'm here. I read the news just as much as you do."

M seemed to weigh the girl up then, his fingers lacing together to rest on the top of his tables. He leaned forwards, looking at the newspapers he had deposited there. Each headline seemed to say the same thing, but in different words. Alison tried not to look at them, but she struggled.

"Well, Alison," M began. "Is there anything you know?"

"Do you think he tells me anything?" Alison asked back.

"You're his daughter," M shrugged.

"That doesn't mean he tells me things," Alison continued her lies. She didn't know what her father was going to say when he returned, but she knew that it was better to plead innocence than to admit the truth. "He just told me that he had to go to Mexico for a few days and that was it. I promise that I don't know anything else…after Silva…he…dad…he barely tells me anything about what he does."

M couldn't help but chew on his tongue then to stop his inquisition. He knew everything that the girl had been through. And, despite Bond's lack of affection, he truly cared for his daughter. M had not thought it possible, but Alison was the only thing which kept James sane, or so he thought.

"And he has made no contact with you?" M wondered.

"He calls me every night," Alison said, telling him the truth on that front. "But he never said anything about an explosion in Mexico. He should be home this afternoon, I found that much out."

"Excellent," M nodded. "I shall see him as soon as he is back in the city."

"Right," Alison nodded. "So can I go? I mean, I have nothing else to tell you."

"Have Moneypenny call you a car to take you back home," M said, waving a dismissive hand.

Nodding, Alison chewed down on her bottom lip before moving to stand up. She walked around the chair and practically ran to the door, her chest falling with relief as she closed the door to M's office. Standing there for a moment, she allowed herself to collect her thoughts. It took a few moments for her to comprehend what had just happened as she shook her head.

"Q called up," Moneypenny's voice brought Alison from her thoughts.

She turned on her heel to see the woman stood there, Alison's brown coat in her hands as she handed it to her. Alison placed her arms into the sleeves, feeling for her iPhone and house keys which sat in her pocket as she did so.

"What did he want?" Alison wondered.

"He heard about you being picked up this morning. He wanted to know why you had been dragged to the office," Moneypenny informed her as Alison pushed her blonde hair from the collar of her coat. "He was rather concerned."

A dumbfounded smile formed on Alison's face at that piece of information. Q was always concerned. She suspected it was never going to change. Not that she minded. She still found it endearing after nine months of dating.

"I'll call him when I get home," Alison said.

Moneypenny chuckled at that, shaking her head back and forth. "No need," she said, nodding her head to the elevator as it let out a large ding noise. "He came here as soon as he found out."

Alison chuckled at that as she watched the doors slide back, revealing a frantic Q pushing his glasses back onto his nose, his breathing erratic as he moved out of the elevator and towards Alison. There was something to be said about dating a nervous wreck like Q, and sometimes it annoyed Alison. He worried about everything; from traffic to stopping the latest villain. She often wondered how he managed a career in this field with nerves like his.

"Alison," Q spoke her name and she smiled over to him. "I heard that you had been dragged here. What has happened?"

"Have you not seen the news?" Alison wondered back, shocked that Q didn't know.

A blush escaped his cheeks as he recalled this morning. He didn't exactly have time to check up on the latest news whilst eating his breakfast, mainly because he skipped breakfast to stay in bed with her. He had jumped on the tube with his shirt buttoned up askew.

"No," Q admitted. "Is it Bond?"

"Isn't it always?" Moneypenny wondered, moving to sit back down at her desk and login to her computer.

Alison arched a brow and cocked her head in a form of agreement. "They think that my dad is involved in the attack in Mexico," Alison said, looking to Q as he watched her with intrigue. He knew that she knew. She had this habit of chewing on her bottom lip when she was trying to hide something. She was lucky it was only Q who had picked up on that particular trait.

"I see," Q nodded. "Well, he is back this afternoon, isn't he?"

"He is," Alison said, looking sideways to Eve and wondering if she expected Alison of knowing. Alison's main thought was yes. Eve was not blind, nor was she daft. "M wants to see him when he gets back."

"Ah," Q nodded. "Well, we should get going, shouldn't we? I thought that we could grab a bite to eat."

"Sounds great," Alison agreed with haste, wanting nothing more than to escape the office she found herself in. "Um…I'll see you around…maybe…Eve."

Moneypenny looked up from the computer to the couple, a smirk playing on her face as she saw Q wrap his hand inside of Alison's. She nodded and bid them goodbye, knowing full well that Alison knew more than she was letting on. Of course, there was no chance that M could get information from her. But she suspected that her boss would get his information when James returned from Mexico that afternoon.

Besides, there had to be a very good reason for why Bond had done what he had done.

…

Q found himself back at Alison's flat that evening, sat on the sofa. James had moved home once again and everything was still mainly in boxes. Alison was stood in the open planned kitchen, cursing her father for his lack of cutlery as she cooked them a stir-fry. Q had his laptop on his knees, his fingers typing ferociously at the keys as he tried to keep his mind occupied on that. He could hear Alison hum occasionally and he had to admit that he was more annoyed that he couldn't have been of more help.

His unexplained trip away from Q Branch had cost him an hour and he was not one to fall behind on his work. And so he had said that he would keep going when he went to Alison's that evening.

"Q," Alison piped up from the kitchen.

"Hm?" Q asked, blindly reaching for the cup of tea on the wooden coffee table in front of him.

"When does it end?" she suddenly wondered from him.

Her question earned Q's full attention then. It was more than a question of what he wanted to drink with his meal. He closed the lid to his laptop and stood, tucking his dark checked shirt firmly into his trouser waistband. His brow arched as he moved towards Alison in the kitchen, standing behind her as she stirred the beansprouts and noodles in the wok. His hand went to her upper arm and his fingers soothingly stroked against the red turtleneck jumper she wore.

"What do you mean?" he wondered in a soft voice.

He felt Alison scoot back slightly to be closer to him, the warmth of her body engulfing him.

"I mean, I thought that it was over…after Silva…that…even though my dad is out there…that there would be no more death…no more worries," Alison admitted to him. "I know it is stupid to think that, I mean he is an agent. But this is the first time he's been out there since Skyfall."

Q looked down, knowing full well that the scar on Alison's leg was a reminder to Skyfall. He knew how hard that had been for her, and for James. James had never told Alison of his occupation until then. It had come as more of a shock, especially for her then to get involved in it.

"We don't know what is happening yet, Alison," Q tried to calm her and she stopped stirring to turn and face him, that stubborn look etched on her face.

"My dad goes to Mexico…a helicopter crashes…and half a block is destroyed," Alison said. "It doesn't look very coincidental, Q. I want to know why. I don't care about anything else, but I want to know what is happening to make him do this."

Q moved his other hand to her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear as she sighed and moved to wrap her arms around his waist, inhaling the familiar scent of tea and peppermint on him.

"And I am sure that he will tell you," Q assured her. "No matter how much you probably won't want to know when he has told you."

Rolling her eyes at that one, Alison turned her head to the side as soon as she heard the door open. Q remained upright, his gaze following Alison's to see Bond strolling into the apartment. 007 closed the door behind him, dropping his leather travelling bag to the floor to pull at the cuffs of his shirt underneath his jacket.

"I still have my gun on me, Q," James warned him. Q tried to think of a witty comeback, but Alison was already demanding answers from her father.

"Stop threatening Q," she demanded from her father, moving from Q's hold. "Don't you have something to tell me? Like, why Mexico is covered in rubble as soon as you visit?"

"Glad to see you too, Alison," Bond said and Alison moved closer towards him.

"Do you know that M had me dragged me down to his office?" Alison wondered. "I…I told him that I didn't know anything…"

"When you obviously do," Q scoffed and James narrowed his gaze and looked to the Quartermaster.

James glanced back to Alison, his frown deepening. "You told Q?"

"No," Alison replied, shooting her boyfriend an accusatory glare.

Q shifted awkwardly then from one foot to the other, picking up the wooden spoon to stir the food as he focused more on the beansprouts than the two glares on him. "Alison has a habit of biting down on her lip when she is lying," Q said. "She told me nothing, although I don't know if I feel a little betrayed by her silence."

Alison didn't know if his words were meant to sting, but they truly did. She looked to him, her eyes wide and slowly becoming wet. Q's gaze was not accusatory, but it was not the tender stare she had grown used to. Taking a moment to control her breathing, she looked down to the ground and James looked between the two of them.

"I told her to keep this quiet, Q," James said, struggling to see his daughter hold back the tears which threatened to spill. "I didn't want anyone to know of it in the division. It's…it's important that no one knows."

Q regretted the words he had spoken as he saw Alison lift her head up and run her hand over her eyes. James was by her side now, his hand on the small of her back. It took a moment for Q to move the wok from the cooker, leaving it to cool as he dropped his hands to his hips.

"And what is it?" Q asked.

"A message," James declared. "From M."

Q scoffed then. "M?" he checked. "M is royally pissed with you, Bond. I don't think he authorised you to go to Mexico."

"Not Mallory," James said, his hand still rubbing Alison's back.

It took a moment for Q to register, his eyes widening and his mouth gaping wider with each passing moment. He finally saw.

James noted the understanding passing his face as he looked down to his daughter, unsure of how to tell her the news he had discovered. He would prefer to keep it quiet, but she had a right to know. She had to know that it was only just beginning again.

"The plot only gets thicker," Q whispered.

James did nothing but nod with reluctance.

…

A/N: So I am back along with Spectre! I'm not sure what route to go down with this one, but I couldn't help but return and continue this fic. I hope people might still be interested and if you've seen Spectre just let me know how you want it to play!