AN: Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my dears, it means a lot.
A little treat as a thank you ;) Hope you enjoy :)
Q looked at the small bottles in front of him. Truth was he had no idea how much to use, too little would have no effect, too much would cause cardiac arrest. Taking a deep breath, he picked up an unused syringe and the bottle of modafinil. Filling up the syringe to 25ml, he placed the bottle back on the desk and repeated the action with the same syringe adding 25ml of the ephedrine sulphate.
He looked at the clear liquid of both drugs in the syringe. This would either work or end in disaster he didn't see an in-between. Making his way over to the door, he caught a glimpse of Bond staring at M's clone on the bed, he didn't know how he would react if the clone did die from the dosage. Bond was too attached, they all were, especially himself who had the life of both M's in his hands. It would all fall on him if this went wrong. He had to stay positive that it would work, because quite frankly if he was truthful he was clutching at straws. Just because two of the drugs showed some effect on improving her condition, didn't mean that mixing the two would work either, but it was the best idea he had at the moment. He just prayed that it was enough.
/*\*/*\
Ellis looked up when the door to his room opened to see a young nurse in about her mid twenties enter with a metal tray.
"Have you come to check up on me to make sure I haven't escaped?"
Each word caused pain to course through his jaw at the movement. The nurse didn't answer him. He watched as she set the tray on the bedside cabinet near his bed, noticing a syringe filled with what he assumed was a sedative. He knew he had to act quickly if he planned to escape from here.
"We've been given orders to keep you under sedation until it is decided what is to happen to you."
"More like to make sure I don't escape." He told her resentfully watching as she reached for the needle.
"Before you have to carry out your so called orders, can I at least use the bathroom first, or is that against the rules."
She kept her face impassive, "I'll have to get one of the agents to escort you."
He gave her a charming smile and nod, waiting for the right moment to make his move. Waiting until her back was turned, he quickly got out the bed, he wrapped one of his arms around her neck, while bringing up his other hand clamping it over her mouth so she couldn't make a noise. He smirked when she tried to break free from his hold, causing him to press on her neck tighter with each move.
"Don't take this personally, but you're in my way." He whispered in her ear.
With a quick twist, he heard the crack of her neck snapping and loosened his hold on her watching as she crumbled to the ground unmoving.
"Such a waste."
Grabbing the syringe from the tray, he stepped over her body and made his way to the door, syringe in hand. 'One down, two to go.'
/*\*/*\
Bond looked up when he heard Q approaching, holding the syringe that no doubt contained the drugs the he mentioned earlier. He took in Q's appearance noticing the older man looked exhausted and he seemed tense.
"You ready for this 007? I would rather get this out the way as quickly as possible."
Bond had known the quartermaster since he joined the service there was something he wasn't telling him.
"Out with it Q, what aren't you telling me?"
Q looked at the syringe in his hand and then looked towards Bond who was looking back at him accusingly.
"There's a chance that this combination of drugs may cause our clone here to go into cardiac arrest."
"Please tell me you're not serious?"
"When am I not serious 007? This drug combination hasn't been tested, not to my knowledge anyway."
Bond tried not to think about if the clone M went into cardiac arrest. He knew it wasn't his M, but the fact that he may witness her heart stopping would hit too close to home.
Q noticed the conflicting emotions passing over him.
"Remember this isn't M."
"Easier said than done Q."
He ran his fingers through the short strands of his hair, letting out a sigh.
"If you're going to administer the drug you had best do it now, otherwise we will be here forever."
Placing the syringe once again in the IV, he took one last look at Bond before pushing down on the plunger. Q had no idea when his hands started to shake. This was a gamble and one they couldn't afford to lose.
Nothing happened for several moments, much to Bond and Q's relief. Q kept his eye on the heart monitor watching as there was still the steady rhythm of heartbeats.
"How long do you think it will take to be effective?"
Bond was now standing, too anxious to stay in his seat.
"I'm not sure 007. Perhaps…"
Q noticed the numbers on her pulse rate falling, the beeps becoming irregular causing him to look at Bond with a grave look on his face.
Bond was on the verge of moving round to look at the monitor when the sound of that dreaded one long steady beep filled his ears. He could feel his own heart beating erratically in his chest. He watched as Q moved to get the defibrillator, quickly making his choice he started to press on her chest willing her heart to restart as the sound from the heart monitor continued to taunt him.
"Move out the way 007."
Q noticed he was budging and finally lost his patience.
"For godsake if you don't move we won't be able to save her, is that what you want!?"
He let out a relief when he moved away, as he quickly placed the pads on her chest, charging the machine at three hundred, grabbing the paddles he pressed down watching as M's body slightly shook at the shock. Bond pinched the bridge of his nose as the sound continued.
Q could feel his own palms sweat, charging at 350 he tried again, but there continued to be no change.
"Come on, come on." Q murmured under his breath as he tried a third time.
The gentle beeping filled the room, her heartbeat gradually getting steadier by each second. Q gave a sigh in relief and placed the paddles back on the machine.
Bond looked down to M on the bed waiting for any sign of her eyes opening. He looked over to Q with a defeated look, when he noticed a slight movement out of the corner of his eye.
Looking down, he watched as M's arm slightly moved.
"M, open your eyes." Bond spoke softly.
Q watched as the heart monitor showed signs of her awakening.
"Try gently moving her 007."
Bond reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders gently shaking her.
"You have to wake up M." He told her keeping his voice soft.
Q started to feel relieved that his voice seemed to be getting through to her. Seeing her eyes start to flutter, caused him to give a slight smile.
Bond kept his eyes on her face, seeing her eyes blink a few times, before they opened her deep blue eyes staring back into his. He gave her a relieved smile.
"Welcome back. "
He looked over to Q who had a smile mirroring his own.
"It seems we have our waking drug."
"Apparently 007, we just have to go through the same process with the real M."
His smile lessened as he thought about having to witness his M going into cardiac arrest, it was bad enough he had to witness it with her clone.
Clone M looked back and forth between the two. She had no idea what was going to happen but she could see the sadness reflected in the eyes of the one who had been kind to her and made her feel protected. She reached out her hand taking his own and giving it a squeeze like he had done to her earlier. It brought her some comfort, perhaps it would bring the same to him. Those blue eyes found hers, and gave her a smile, causing a strange sensation to go through her.
Q had to refrain from rolling his eyes when her heartbeats got slightly faster. It seemed even clones weren't immune to his charms.
"I'll make up another syringe, and then we can administer it to M. I think we should have Doctor Phillips present should luck decide to leave us."
Bond turned from M to Q, his smile disappearing.
"Let's hope that isn't the case Q."
Bond looked back to the now awake clone M, who was gazing back at him with trust.
"It will work." He tried to make it sound convincing, but it sounded weak even to his own ears. "It has to."
"It will, I'll contact Doctor Phillips and inform him to meet us in M's medical room."
/*\*/*\
Tanner kept his eyes on M. He hoped that if he kept staring long enough she would wake up and tell him to stop gawking at her in that annoyed tone he became used to.
He still couldn't quite process that one of their own would happily kill another agent and their own boss if they could. They had their fair share of double agents, but the majority were after government secrets, not to spike coffee out of pettiness. It felt like working in a school rather than a government building with the way some of the staff acted, but Ellis was an entirely different ball game.
If he didn't know any better he would say Ellis was a tad insane and wouldn't question on having him placed in a psychiatric ward and throwing away the key. M will probably want to see him, which he wasn't too keen on, and knew Bond would protest against it and for once, he would be agreeing with him.
There was a knock at the door causing Tanner to turn to see Doctor Phillips come in with a hopeful smile on his face, closing the door behind him and made his way over to them.
"I've just gotten off the phone with Q, he's managed to create a wake up drug, he should be here soon to administer it."
Tanner looked back to M relied coursing through his veins that she soon would be awake. It was the best news he had heard all day, no doubt Bond would be feeling the same once he knows.
"Does Bond know?"
"Funnily enough he does he was in Q branch while Q was testing out the drug."
Tanner could just imagine Bond's face seeing the clone of M. He would be hearing from the other man later about why he didn't tell him.
"Looks like we'll have our boss back by tomorrow if all goes to plan."
Phillips was glad this whole debacle would be over, he had seen some weird cases in his short time working here as a doctor, but this one topped them all. He hoped he would never have to cope with something like this again anytime soon.
The sudden onslaught of gunfire outside M's door caused both Phillips and Tanner to look to each other. Tanner nodded to Phillips silently informing him to stay where he was. Quickly rising to his feet, he pulled his gun from the waistband of his trousers. Pulling back the safety, he cautiously made his way over to the door, hearing the unmistakable sound of a body dropping to the ground. Tanner aimed his gun at the door; he knew exactly who it was on the other side, and he'll be damned if he lets him get to M.
Everything remained silent except for the gentle beeps from M's heart monitor. Tanner held his breath, his finger on the trigger as the door began to open.
