"Right, now I know this is not going to be something you're keen on right away, but I'd like to run some tests so I can get a good look at those nano bots and make some headway of deprogramming them."

"Deprogram them?" Mark asked. He was not eager at all to do more tests.

"Yes, I'm going to decommission them so that no one can take over like that again." Q said calmly. Mark's instincts told him to run but his brain told him to stay put. He looked at James again. James didn't seem to object which is what Mark needed to see. He trusted James, but he didn't trust himself.

"Okay." Mark mumbled and sat on a free chair. Q got to work, setting up programs and fixing up little devices so that he could get a reading on the nano bots. Mark could feel anxiety growing in his stomach but he did his best not to show it.

Q placed one device on his arm and another on his head. He could feel his heart pumping faster. Mark twitched his leg to rid himself of some of the anxiety.

"Q, maybe we should give him some time to relax before jumping into these tests of yours." James commented from the edge of his bed. Q looked at James.

"But we need to make sure that they are decommissioned as soon as possible or they might be able to find us using them." Q protested.

"I'm alright, really." Mark said. Even he wasn't convinced with what he heard. "I don't want to put you guys at any more risk with the nanos telling them where we are. Or whatever." That sounded a bit more confident.

"If you need to stop just let us know." Q looked Mark in the eye. Mark nodded and looked away. A needle pricked his arm and he did his best not to flinch. He was in front of two MI6 agents after all; he couldn't look like a sissy in front of them. Q did multiple tests on the computer, simulation after simulation and no luck trying to hack into their system.

"They are so thick! Bloody thing makes no sense!"

"Have we found something the great Q cannot hack?" James said in mock horror. Mark bit his lip.

"This is even more complicated than Sliva's stupid little hack that he hid on his computer. This one is constantly changing without marker that makes any sense!" Q was really getting frustrated and was almost banging his keyboard. A while later, Q nearly jumped out of his seat.

"I got it! Yes!" He typed in some keys and looked at Mark. Mark felt something happen, but it wasn't good. Q's face suddenly turned from glad to gloom in a matter of seconds.

"Oh no…" he whispered. James immediately jumped up and came over to where Q was.

"What?" he demanded. Q looked over at James with a frightened look on his face.

"The code I put in activated a virus. A virus that is going to kill Mark within 12 hours."

"How do you know that?" James asked helplessly. Q showed them a computer screen with a countdown on it. Mark stared at it and a chill ran through his whole body. He was panicking but didn't know what to do.

"Can you stop it?" Mark managed to ask.

"I'll try my best but it is not going to be easy."

"Well then get to it!" James demanded. Q became a bit flustered but began typing away at two different keyboards.

"Are you alright?" James asked.
"What do you think? I was just told that after being held captive for over a month I'm going to die in 12 hours!" Mark stood up and faced James, monitor wires falling to the floor.

"How would you feel if you were given a chance to go home and suddenly having it snatched from you?" James took a step forward.

"I have." James answered darkly, "Many times." He stared Mark in the eye for a long minute and walked away to the little kitchenette. Mark tried to calm himself down and sat down again.