Bond's Flat

James was at a loss of what to do with his three days leave, normally he would go out screw a few women, but he refused to revert back to those ways. Not if he intended to try win M over. He kept checking his phone for any missed calls from the office, but none were forthcoming and didn't seem like there would be in the next three days. M couldn't avoid him forever. Yet he wouldn't put it past her for her to try.

This had to be the worst kind of torture, she had rejected him, and he was bored stiff. Slouching on his couch, he thought about what M would be doing in this moment in time. He knew she would be back at the office. Woman didn't know the meaning of the word holiday. His mind wandered thinking about him and M. On a beach just the two of them, living their lives as a normal couple. If only it were that simple.

He remembered the fairy tales from his childhood that his mother used to read to him when he was sick. How the prince would rescue the princess from peril. He more or less had his fairytale only yesterday, yet It hadn't gone the way his mother used to tell him. But then again, M wasn't a princess and he wasn't a prince. He knew M could handle herself. She had been doing it for years. He just wished he got his happily ever after with the woman he loved. It wouldn't be happening how he had planned, his life wasn't a fairytale, it was far from it. He had never been rejected by a woman, and he had to admit it was a blow to his ego, but this wasn't any woman it was M.

Looking at the phone once again, he waited for the familiar ring, ready to go should she need him. She had rejected him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be keeping a close eye on her to ensure that she stayed out of trouble from agents who were insane and hell bent on trying to harm her. Even if the coffee was meant for him, he still heard Ellis' taunts in his head if he kept dwelling on it, it would drive him mad, if he wasn't that way already as M liked to remind him.

Turning on the television he flicked through the channels looking for something decent to watch, becoming more annoyed at the lack of decent programmes. He was mostly at the office or away on missions, so he never had the need to watch daytime television, and by the results he was witnessing so far, he hadn't been missing much.

/*\*/*\

MI6

M paced impatiently outside Q's lab waiting for the team to finish inspecting the now demolished room. This would be more money forked out to replace the lab, so much for coming under budget each year, with Bond and now Q into the mix they would make MI6 bankrupt. She wasn't blaming Q, she would wait until the team had finished before taking any action, after all it may not have even been his fault.

She didn't have to wait long before the team made their way out of the room cases in hand.

"Well, what did you find?"

"We searched every trace of the lab ma'am we couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Until we found this."

He held up a small plastic device, that was now covered in black ash and melted plastic. She took the item from his hand and began to inspect it closely. She didn't know if it was one of Q's inventions, or it was something more serious. The bloody man never kept her In the loop until it was too late. It was one of the reasons why they had bloody protocol to avoid situations like these.

"Did you find anything else?" She kept what was left of the small explosive device, in the hopes Q would know what it was.

Nothing as of yet ma'am we still need to check the labs CCTV footage, hopefully it will give us an idea as to what actually happened if Q can't."

"Very well, keep me updated as soon as you find out. anything. We keep this under wraps for the time being. Any information you find does not leave this building without my consent."

"We understand ma'am."

M watched them walk away before making her own way back to medical to see Q, he just hoped he had the answers she desperately needed. Upon entering medical, she saw Campbell walk out of what she assumed was Q's room.

"How is he?" M briskly asked walking towards him.

"Concussion, and minor cuts he was lucky."

"Is he awake?"

"Not yet, but he should be coming around relatively soon."

M gave a nod seeming satisfied with the answer, squeezing the burnt device in her hands.

"Do we know what happened ma'am?"

"Nothing as of yet Campbell, probably Q working on a new gadget of his."

"You're probably right there ma'am. He does have a tendency to create dangerous items."

"Quite, but I have a team checking the CCTV in the hopes to give us more insight into what happened."

"I thought Q disabled them saying he couldn't concentrate on his work with people watching him constantly?"

"He did, but I had a team reactivate them without his knowledge, and it was a bloody good thing I did!"

M looked to Campbell, noticing his pale pallor and what she thought was nervousness in his eyes before it quickly disappeared.

"Quite ma'am."

"Campbell are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, just the past twenty-four hours catching up with me."

M couldn't fault him for that, it looked like he would collapse at any given moment.

"Take the day off Campbell. Someone else can cover for you."

"Are you sure ma'am?"

"It's an order. You will be no use to this organisation if you kill your patients. Now go on."

"Thank you ma'am."He gave her a relieved smile.

M watched him go and shook her head and entered into Q's room seeing the man lying unconscious on the hospital bed, his head wound now dressed and soot cleaned from his face. He was long past his retirement, but she wouldn't force it on him, he was excellent at his job, even if he did create gadgets without her knowledge. He was also one of the first to accept her when she had taken over from her predecessor, she had known him for years, and she considered him a dear friend. That doesn't mean he would be getting off lightly.

The soft moan from the bed caused M to move closer towards him, taking his hand in hers when she was near.

"Q, come on wake up."

"M?"

His eyes opened blearily and found hers. M giving a small smile.

"How are you feeling?"

"Have been better. What happened?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me."

"I was doing my usual routine tests on a few gadgets, when I heard this strange ticking noise. I considered one of the lab technicians had done something to one of the gadgets so I went to check. Next thing I know I'm blasted off my feet."

M lets out a hum. "Do you recognise this?"

She held out the remains of the explosive with her free hand so he could see it.

"It was found at the blast site. Is it one of yours?"

Q closely inspected it. "It's not one of mine I have never seen it before. I take it. This is what caused the explosion?"

"It would appear so, and it also means that we have a bomb maker amongst us."

"You don't think this could be related to Ellis M do you?"

"It could be, but let's not jump to conclusions until the CCTV footage comes back. It may provide us with a clue. But since you are here, I think it's time we had that discussion on creating gadgets without my knowledge."

"I was hoping we could avoid this chat for the time being M, but since it seems inevitable let's get it over with."

M was trying to hold back a smile, "Very well. Why did you not feel it prudent to inform me of the sleeping beauty pills or your cloning machine? Do you have any idea what would happen if they managed to fall into the wrong hands?"

"I didn't inform you because I was still perfecting them. If I couldn't get the results I wanted from them, then there would be no point in using them. It would be too much paperwork to fill out, and that's something we both could do less without."

"Be that as it may, we have protocols for a reason Q. I already have agents going off the radar without the Quartermaster doing the same bloody thing! I expected you of all people to know better! Since it was only two gadgets in this case, I will let it slide. However, from this moment, I want you to inform me of everything no matter how insignificant, you tell me about what projects you are working on. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes M." He told her resigned, knowing she was right. He was older than her by a few years and she could make him feel like a naughty school kid.

"There is something else M."

'Oh, and what is that?" She asked curiously.

"Why did you not give 007 a chance M? The man clearly cares for you."

She had to restrain herself from shouting, knowing it wouldn't do anyone any good.

"You've known me how long Q, I think you know fully well why. And it's not something I'm willing to discuss at the moment, or any time in the future."

"I believe i know part of the reason why and I can understand that. Nonetheless, I also think you're scared. Scared because you know very well that you have feelings similar to that of 007. You don't want to get hurt in the process, knowing his reputation, but that's part of the job, part of 007 not part of James. The real James was the one you saw in your hospital room. The devastation on his face when Campbell was going to call it, it broke him in that moment. "

"Q…"

He saw the warning in her eyes asking him to stop, but he ignored the plea and continued knowing she had to hear this.

"He had just lost your clone, she had died in his arms powerless to save her, then the same happened with you. He nearly lost two of you in the same day. The guilt would have eaten him alive and he would have become a shell of the man he once was. He opened up to you M, the years I've known 007 he is a closed book, he doesn't trust easily. But he trusts you, he told you everything he felt, trusting you with is heart, then you rejected him."

Each word was like a blow. Q was right, but she was too stubborn to admit it. She felt Q's hand leave hers and moved to get out of the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"You need to see something."

She put her hands on his arms to steady him and had no choice, but to follow him from the room.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

M followed him through medical until they reached an elevator. The doors opened and the two stepped inside. Q pressing the button for the basement. She realised they were going down to the morgue. When the lift came to a stop and the doors opened, M felt a chill go through her at the change in temperature. Moving along the corridor, Q stopped one of the personnel asking if they could see the clones body.

M felt her stomach tie in knots. She had hoped this was something she would never have to see. The man leads them into a side room that was filled with metal drawers. Going over to the third level and second drawer to the right he pulled it out, and unzipped the body bag.

M took tentative steps towards it. Eyes widening at seeing the cold and very much dead body of herself in front of her. Looking further down she noticed the gunshot wound, the shot that had killed her. Except it wasn't her. She felt conflicted, wondering if this was how Bond had felt at seeing her clone. She considered what it would have been like if it was her there in her clones place. From what they had told her she wasn't alive long, before Ellis took her life. Her life was cut short without her experiencing anything. It made M realise just how precious life was. She didn't know how many years she had left, but perhaps it would be best to put herself first for a change. She had given the majority of her years to this job, but now it was time to stop making it the foremost priority in her life.

"What will happen to her?" She looked over to the attendant.

"We haven't decided yet ma'am we thought we would leave that to you or 007."

M thought about it and decided it was better to ask Bond what he wanted to do, after all it was him who knew her best in the short time she was on this earth, and her clone self appeared to have formed a bond with him.

"I'll contact Bond and ask him what he would like to do. The other families have been notified and wish their bodies to be released."

"I'll process the paperwork today."

"Thank you."

She looked down at the clone once more and reached out a hand hesitant to touch the body in front of her. When her fingers touched her cheek, it was ice cold, clone or not she didn't deserve to be brought into this mess.

"I'm sorry." She softly told the clone, knowing she wouldn't hear it.

Retracting her hand, she stepped away and walked back over to Q. "Let's go."

"Will you be alright M?"

"Fine, but I think I need to speak to Bond."

"Yes, I think perhaps you do. " Q knowingly told her, glad that he seemed to have finally got through to her.

They made it back to medical, with M making sure Q was settled back in his bed before leaving him and made her way back to her office. She needed to speak with Bond and try to fix this hoping they could resolve the mess she had made. She had just set foot inside her office when her phone started to ring. Picking up her pace, she quickly answered it.

"M."

"Ma'am, we've managed to find some evidence on the CCTV footage from the lab."

"And? What did you find?" She asked impatiently.

"It appears that someone, broke into the lab in the early hours of this morning and planted the device."

"Can you make out who it is?"

"There is a clear shot of the perpetrator, and we're running it through our system. I've sent you the file."

M moved around her desk and clicked on the image that was sent. Looking closely at the image, she saw their suspect in a normal suit which he would easily blend in. Looking closely, her eyes narrowed at having seen that suit not too long ago. Her eyes widened, as she lets out a curse.

"Ma'am are you still there?"

"Yes, and you can stop that search. I know exactly who that is and I've just gave him enough time to go off the radar."

"What do you mean ma'am?"

"He is one of us. What I want to know is if he was working with Ellis. Keep this information to yourself, last thing we need is to alert people in this building, there could be more than our perpetrator in on it."

"We understand ma'am."

M hung up the phone and continued to look at the screen, nostrils flaring in anger.

Quickly dialing the number she knew off by heart, she waited patiently for the person on the other side to pick up. His voice alone caused M's guilt to increase at remembering the way she had treated him. But she had to put that to the side at the moment. This was more important.

"Bond? You need to cut that leave short we have a situation."

"What's happened M? Are you alright?"

She could hear the worry in his voice, as she imagined him running around to get dressed.

"I'm fine, but Q is in medical. There was an explosion in Q's lab just a few hours ago. He's fine, a concussion and cut to the temple but he'll live. "

"Thank god. What information have you got?"

"We've recovered a piece of the explosive and CCTV footage. Our man clearly never realised the CCTV was active."

"M what aren't you telling me?"

"He works here, and I've given him a head start in disappearing."

"Just tell me who it is M?"

She looked back at the screen in disgust. "Dr Campbell."