Walking back into the flat, Q had contemplated what he was doing. He was going to ask Alison to marry him. He was going to ask her to be his wife. He had never imagined doing this. Before he had met Alison he thought that work was the most important thing, but then she had waltzed into his life. The first time he had met her was clear as day in his mind. He could still picture her in the art gallery, looking confused at paintings. And then her life had been turned upside down. She had discovered her father was an agent and Q had been the one who had stuck by her through everything.
"You're back," Alison said, stood in the kitchen.
She was already dressed in her plaid pyjamas and had her hair tied up in a ponytail high on her head. Her hair dangled down to her shoulders while wisps of it flew free. She looked to be stirring some kind of pasta sauce and Q sniffed, smelling the whiff of garlic.
"I am," Q said, moving towards her and standing behind her shoulder. "What are you cooking?"
"Spaghetti Carbonara with a garlic bread in the oven," she informed him. "It should be ready in a few minutes so I hope you are hungry."
"I am," he said, leaning in to kiss her chastely on the cheek. "Should I set the table?"
"Nah, we'll eat on the sofa," she said to him with a shake of her head. "But I would love a drink."
"What would you like?" Q asked her, heading to the fridge. "I bought a bottle of white wine the other day. I had intended to open it last night, but…well…with falling asleep early I forgot to tell you."
"I'll have a glass now then," she informed him and he pulled it out, grabbing two wine glasses from the cupboard. Looking over to her, Q had contemplated taking her out for dinner that evening, but she was already cooking and in her pyjamas. He had intended to take her for a meal before walking along the South Bank back to the tube. He had wanted to propose somewhere romantic. He had wanted to make it special.
But then he watched her cook. He watched her as she stood and cooked and he realised that he didn't want to take her out for a romantic meal. He wanted to propose to her like this. This was Alison at her happiest. She was happy whenever she was at home and relaxed. She always looked perfect, but as Q watched her, he realised that he didn't want to wait. He wanted to ask her.
"Here," Q said, handing her the glass of wine. "I will be back in a moment, I just need to do something."
"I will dish up," Alison said and took a sip of her wine before beginning to drain the pasta.
Standing in her bedroom, Q looked around for a second before heading to the chest of drawers. Alison had cleared two out for him to put his stuff in. Opening the top drawer, he reached underneath his folded jumpers for the small box. Pulling it open, he looked down at the gold band with the light green stone sat on it and let out a shaky breath. It had taken him ages to find a ring that he thought she might like. Some had been grand and ostentatious and Q had wondered about buying one of those. But then he had walked past the vintage jewellery shop and the rings just felt right. They had more character. He looked at them and they were more like what he could imagine for Alison.
Placing the box into his pocket, he walked back into the living room to find Alison finishing up placing the dishes on the coffee table. She sat down, curling her legs underneath her and holding onto the bowl of pasta. Q sat down next to her and leaned forwards, hands clasped together in between his legs.
"You're not eating," Alison observed. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Q said with a shake of her head as he turned to look to her and she slurped up a piece of spaghetti as Q's lips arched upwards. "Everything is perfect…I…I do have something that I want to ask you though and I thought that it could wait, but I am beginning to think that I can't wait until after dinner."
"Okay," Alison said, her voice slightly on edge as she wondered what he was talking about. She remained silent for a few moments before placing her bowl down on the floor in front of her. She looked to Q as he continued to watch her. "What's up?"
"I've been thinking a lot recently," Q said to her, "about when we first met and how long ago that feels. I remember when I brought you to Q Branch after you discovered your father was an agent…and how you…well…fell asleep on my shoulder after eating pizza. I never thought back then that I would end up with you."
"I get that," Alison said. "I mean, I never thought that we would be here either. What's brought all this on?"
"Because I was thinking about the future," Q said. "And I wondered how strange it would be to know what I know now when we first met…but I realise…and I have known for a while that my future is with you. I want you in my future and you…well…you are my future, Alison."
Alison said nothing in response to that, uncertain of what she should say to him. She wondered where he was going with this. Saying nothing, she chewed down on her bottom lip before she felt Q take hold of her hand.
"I love you," he said to her and Alison's eyes widened as she saw him move to the floor, bending one knee as she leaned forwards slightly and shook her head.
"You're…Q…you're going…are you?" She didn't know how to get her words out, but she knew what was going on.
"Well, yes," Q said, moving to push his glasses further onto his nose. "I had intended to…I mean…I had an entire speech in my mind before you spoke."
"Forget I said anything," Alison said with a shake of her head. "But I'm in my pyjamas and I already ate a slice of garlic bread so my breath smells."
"I don't care," Q said, shaking his head as his smile widened. "Alison, I do not care about any of that because us being here together is all that I care about. To me, this is us…and yes, some people might think it is boring and dull, but we are happy and natural and I didn't want this to feel forced…because I want to do this for the rest of our lives, just be with you and be happy."
Alison nodded her head once and her own lips lifted. "I want that too."
"Then hopefully you won't keep me waiting too long when I ask you a very important question," Q said and he reached into his pocket, pulling out the small box. He let go of her hand to open the box, holding it towards her. "Alison Bond-Holmes, will you marry me?"
Nodding avidly, Alison could barely speak as she watched Q pull the ring from the box and slip it onto her finger, his own hands shaking slightly as she admired the stone before throwing her arms around him and hauling him onto the sofa. He chuckled as his own arms wrapped around her and he collapsed on top of her.
"I love you so much," she whispered to him.
"As I love you, Alison," he responded.
…
Alison had been unable to stop staring at the ring during the journey into central London. Her and Q were due to meet Bond and Madeleine for lunch at a fancy restaurant Bond had insisted on taking them to. Holding onto Alison's hand, Q walked side by side with her down the street once they were off the tube. They were talking about wedding plans as they entered the restaurant. Alison looked around as the waiter looked to Q.
"Good afternoon," he greeted them. "Do you have a table reserved with us today?"
"We are meeting someone. The name is Bond," Q said to him and he nodded.
"Right this way," he said.
Alison and Q followed him into the restaurant, moving among the couples and families who were eating lunch. Alison finally saw the back of her father's head as Madeleine nudged him in the arm once she had seen Alison. Madeleine smiled as Bond turned around and moved from his seat. Standing up as his daughter rushed towards him, he felt his lips arch. Long gone was that teenager who had been caught up in his mess. Alison was definitely a young woman, but that hurt Bond to admit.
"Alison," Bond said as he pulled back to look down at her, his hands going to hold her cheeks as Madeleine also moved to her feet and greeted Q with a brief peck on the cheek. "You look so well."
"Yeah, having a quiet life does that to you," she joked with him as she kissed him on the cheek and he chuckled. "I missed you, dad."
"I missed you too," he responded before letting her go and Alison looked over to Madeleine.
"Madeleine," she greeted the woman. She had grown fond of Madeleine. A part of her was just happy her father seemed to have settled down and found a woman who didn't swoon over him but challenged him. "You look amazing."
Madeleine smiled and moved forwards, embracing the young woman as Bond looked to Q as the quartermaster who was stood behind a chair, waiting to pull it out for Alison. Q nodded once at Bond who managed a smirk, knowing what laid behind Q's nod. He had asked Alison. He had taken the plunge and asked her.
"Ah, you look as lovely as ever," Madeleine said. "And your hair…have you cut it?"
"I have," Alison said, pulling back as she went to sit down, Q pulling her chair out for her. "I fancied a change."
"It looks stunning," Madeleine said.
They all sat back down at the table as the waiter took their drinks order. It was after he left when Alison looked to Q and he nodded once at her, urging for her to tell her father, despite the fact that he knew.
"Dad," Alison said to him. "I have something to tell you."
"Hmm?" Bond enquired as Alison tucked her hair behind her ear. "What is it, Alison?"
"Well, last night…Q…he asked me to marry him," Alison said and Bond's lips quirked as Madeleine began to smile widely, throwing a glance to Bond. "And I said yes."
"Oh!" Madeleine exclaimed.
Madeleine began fussing then, leaning across the table to pick up Alison's hand and look at the ring that sat on her finger. Bond observed it from where he sat, leaned back in his seat and he couldn't help but think of how nice it looked. It wasn't over the top, but it was elegant and classic. Q had good taste.
"You're not going to kill Q for asking me, are you?" Alison teased as Madeleine continued to look at the ring and Alison watched her father before she nodded her head. "Q asked your permission, didn't he?"
"Did you think he dare do anything else?" Bond asked his daughter and Alison rolled her eyes at that before Bond let his gaze flicker over to Q for a brief moment.
"Good point," Alison said to her father and Madeleine let go of her hand and dropped her hands in her lap, wondering if Bond would ask her to marry him anytime soon. Did he have any intention of wanting to her marry her? "So you're okay with this?" Alison checked.
"Alison, you are a grown woman and don't I know that you are able to make your own decisions in life," Bond scoffed and shook his head slowly. "But Q makes you happy and that is enough for me."
"Thank you," Alison said and she moved to her feet again and hugged her father for a quick moment as Bond wrapped his own arms around her. Pulling back, she pecked him on the cheek before returning to her seat.
"Well, I think we should order champagne," Madeleine said with a clap of her hands and the table fell into an afternoon of easy conversation.
…
Alison kept hold of Q's hand as they walked back towards the apartment after getting off the tube. Looking down to his girlfriend, no, fiancée, Q watched her for a moment as she bit down on her lip and he sensed something was on her mind. Squeezing her fingers, that was enough to bring her gaze up to his and she smiled at him then.
"Penny for them?" he said and Alison chuckled.
"They're worth more than a penny, thank you very much," she said to him. "And I'm fine, I was just thinking that I'm going to miss him again. I'm happy that he is out of the field, but he is hardly ever here anymore and I do miss him."
"I know," Q assured her. "But at least we know that he is safe."
"That is something," she said to him and then nodded her head before turning on her heel, walking backwards so that she could keep staring at Q as she held his hand. "That was where you went last night, wasn't it? You went to see my dad."
"Correct," Q said to her. "But you did not suspect a thing. Perhaps I could be cut out for a career in espionage."
"Oh no," Alison responded, falling back into step with Q. "You are staying at Q-Branch where I know it is safe…well…safe enough."
"Hmm, I suppose that I do like working as quartermaster."
"And that is another point," Alison said to him. "You know if we get married then I can take your surname…Davidson…that could be a mouthful, couldn't it? Alison Holmes-Bond Davidson."
"You intend to keep your surname?"
"Is that a problem?"
"Not at all," Q said to her. "Alison, I do not mind if you would rather just keep your own name and not bother with mine. That would not bother me in the slightest."
"Yeah, but I think it would bother me," Alison said to him, moving to wrap her arm around his waist as he took hold of her shoulders. "I quite like the idea of having your surname…being your wife…isn't it weird?"
"Very weird, but nice," Q said.
"Really nice," Alison responded and looked up to him, moving to her toes to kiss him on the cheek as they continued back home.
…
A/N: So with the delay of the latest film I am filling in the blanks for the five years between Spectre and No Time To Day. Thanks to everyone reading and I hope you're all doing well during this time!
