While Q gets cleaned up, Bond goes to get dressed and then heads downstairs to do as he was bid, getting breakfast things together and making tea for Q. It's all very domestic, and he understands more fully what Q meant when he said that Bond needed something to come home to. He knows that at the end of every mission he would be looking forward to coming back to this house, to doing mundane things like bickering with Q over the remote, or over who was going to cook that night. Things that he never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would even remotely be interested in.

Those are the thoughts Bond is lost in as he tends to the bacon and eggs, not noticing the other man coming down the stairs until he wanders over to get his tea. "Something on your mind, James?" Q asks as he adjusts his glasses and cups both hands around his mug, taking a fortifying drink and letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Merely the changes these past few weeks have wrought." James says as he quickly serves up two plates, putting toast on the side before he brings it over to the little breakfast nook which is surprisingly sunny and warm right now. "So, what are you going to do today? I think after everything you deserve a day off."

Q shakes his head a little as he walks over, picking up what is probably Bond's coffee on the way and sitting down across from him, pulling his legs up on his chair with him. "I will not be taking a day off. I've been away from Q-branch far too long as it is, I probably have a pile of paperwork to finish." He says with a small shake of his head, starting to eat slowly while looking out the windows for a few moments. Seeing the way he is being watched by the older man, Q sighs a little. "I am quite alright, Bond. Besides, I am sure both of us will require physicals and psychological evaluations. Likely best to get them out of the way. Those agents from both departments can be rather ruthless if you don't report promptly. Or so I've heard." He says as he gives a pointed look to Bond, remembering several times the agent had to practically be dragged in for a medical examination.

"Q... You need to take a day off. You just saw your brother betray you, and basically threaten you." James points out as he watches the younger man, waiting for any sort of clue to the trauma he is fairly sure is there. "That would affect even you, Q. And you don't know what the psychiatrists might read in to everything." He tries to point out as he finishes his food, shaking his head for a few moments before he sits back, feeling a bit like Q is a ticking time bomb.

Slowly and very deliberately, Q puts down his silverware and then looks up at James for a few moments. "I am aware of what transpired, Bond. Your reiteration of it is not the way to help me heal, which I imagine is what you are trying to do. I need to work, James. That is my place of comfort, that is the balm to my wounds. Period." He says before he gets up, finishing his tea before he picks up the dishes and puts them in the sink, once again walking away from the conversation and to the stairs, intending to get changed for work, leaving the dishes to be done later, or for Bond to do them.

By the time Q comes back down, the dishes are clean and Bond is waiting for the other man by the door, holding his jacket out for him. "I'll drive." Is all he says, waiting until Q is ready before he leads the way out to the car.

The ride is relatively silent, and not long after they get to MI6, a lackey of some sort is sent to find them and ask them to report to medical, even though that was where they were going anyway. It isn't until nearly after lunch that Q gets to his office. And as he predicted, there is a stack of paperwork waiting for him, so he pretty much locks himself in his office as he starts to make his way through it, occasionally calling in R for clarification on a few items. But it seems that overall, the department has held it together in his absence. On the one hand, he's quite proud of that, since it means that he trained his people well, on the other hand it doesn't make him feel as needed as it would if the department fell apart without his constant supervision.

When he steps out for a few minutes in the early evening to get himself tea and stretch his legs a little, he finds a certain serious-looking agent sitting on his couch. "Bond." He greets, taking a drink out of his mug as he makes his way toward his desk.

"Q." Bond says as he crosses his legs and watches the younger man for a few moments. "I'm not here for a social call. I have a message from M." he explains slowly, seeming hesitant to deliver whatever news he's obviously got to tell.

Sighing a little and sitting down in his chair, Q nods a little. "Of course. You don't need to beat around the bush, Bond. I am not going to shatter into a million pieces." He says with a little bit of frustration as he sips his tea again and tries to relax.

A small nod is given, and James stands up, walking over to sit on the edge of Q's desk, "They're finished interrogating your brother. He's going to be transferred to a secure facility tonight." he says as he watches his Quartermaster.

For a few moments, Q lets that settled in and then he nods quietly. "I want to see him before the transfer. I assume that won't be a problem." He says as he glances up at the agent, his stoic emotionless demeanor back in full force apparently.

"I figured you might. Already talked to M." James says as he glances at his watch. "Alec will be transferred in an hour, you have until then to.. settle things." He says simply as he watches Q for a few moments. "Do you want me to go with you?" he asks, still a little wary about how well Q is handling this.

Truth is, that while it felt like someone ripped him in half when he found out what was really going on - something he was completely blind to for years apparently - Q has been through a lot worse. And he is not the sort to lock himself away, he is always trying to move forward to the next best thing. And he's learned how to move forward and out of some pretty dark places. So he knows what he has to do, the one thing - the only thing - that will bring him any closure, is to confront the problem. In this case, confronting his brother.

"No. I need to do this myself." Q says as he slowly gets up. "Thank you, Bond." he says before he turns away from the agent, and makes his way through the bowels of MI6 to the holding cells. Apparently someone warned them that he was coming because no one questions why the Quartermaster is down in the 'scary' parts of MI6, with the holding cells and interrogation rooms. Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that his doppelganger is down there. Either way, Q doesn't glance at anyone after he figures out what cell he's in, making sure at least one person knows the right questions to ask him on the way out. Things that only Q would know, or could do. Afterall, while his brother is a genius in some ways, but when it comes to computers, Q makes Alec look like a preschooler.

When he arrives at his brother's cell, Q takes a deep breath before he's allowed inside. He knows that Alec isn't even surprised to see him, it's all over his face, and to be honest seeing his brother in a beige prison jumpsuit is not something that he ever thought would happen.

"My brother has come down from his high mountain to visit? Should I say that? From what I hear, you're dead." Alec says with a slight sneer to his tone, looking at his twin with condescension and hatred.

"We may share genetics, we may even share a face, Alec, but we are not brothers. Not anymore. I used to feel bad about having to fake my death to the outside world. I even used to regret not spending more time with my brother. What I didn't realize is that my brother died a long, long time ago." Q says coldly, adjusting his glasses as he looks at the man in front of him. "Damien and his family are dead. I have no relatives. I have no past. What I have is my work and my future. Thank you for cementing that." He says casually as he looks at his brother, separating his childhood memories that are fond and happy, from the man before him, and packing away anything recent, convincing himself that this man could not possibly be his brother

"So that's how it is, huh? You can just forget me? Well, it won't be so easy, you'll see my face - your face - all over the place, soon as I get shuffled into the system and start telling my story." Alec says smugly with a little smirk, taking few steps closer to Q. "You won't get rid of me that easily." He says with amusement, hands bound so he can't do much as far as his stance but he's pretty puffed up.

A slow, cold smile spreads over Q's lips, and he suddenly feels a little happier. "You seem to be under the impression that you will get a public trial, or any contact with the public. This is not Scotland Yard, Alec. This is MI bloody 6. You aren't going to jail. You are guilty of treason. You are going to be put away in a dark hole somewhere. No one will know you're there. People will think you and Rebecca died in a car accident, because that is what the records will show, that is what the papers will say." He says as he continues to watch the man in front of him. "You will live out your life in an eight by five cell, if you're lucky. But there will be no cameras, no reporters, no chance of glory, or telling your story." Even though he's tempted to hit the man in front of him, he instead just turns and walks toward the door. "Goodbye, Alec." He says over his shoulder but he doesn't look back at his twin, instead he merely steps out of the door when it's opened for him, sighing a little as he hears the click of the door behind him. And for a moment he savors the look of surprise and almost devastation, the color draining completely out of his face, as he realized exactly what was happening to him.

On his way back to the elevator which will lead him back to his lab, Q zones out a little as he reorganizes the things in his mind and makes sure that he only remembers the good things from when he and his brother were still innocent of how the world works. For a moment he allows himself to slump against the side of the elevator, resting his head against the cool metal. By the time the elevator stops, he straightens up and smoothes out his cardigan. When he gets back to his office, he finds that Bond is still there and he sighs for a moment. "Are you going to haunt my office now, 007?" he asks, shutting his door completely, wanting the privacy right now.

Getting up from where he was reading over a folder, James walks over to Q. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok. And I have my next assignment, so I thought I would wait to get my tech." he says with an easy smile, though his eyes speak more of his worry for the younger man.

"Good, a mission will get you out of my hair." Q says as he takes the folder from the man. "I am fine, Bond. I merely have to get used to the fact that I do not have any family. I have not have any family for years, apparently, and now it won't be any different." He says as he looks over the folder.

Before the younger man quite knows what's happening, James steps into his space, putting an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into a hug, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. "Family is what you make of it, Q. Take it from an orphan. You may not have any blood relatives, but you have people here who care about you. Who would do anything to help you." He says quietly as he holds the younger man for a moment.

Surprised, but deciding to take the comfort, Q relaxes and leans against Bond for a moment, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes before he nods a little. Shaking off the touch after a moment and ducking away from the blond agent, "Yes, well. Thank you for those inspirational words of wisdom." He says, though he did enjoy the contact. "Let's save the world again, shall we?" He asks before he moves back to his desk, in his element, sitting down and starting to figure out what his agent will need.

Watching Q with more fondness than he should perhaps feel, Bond turns to face the desk, putting his hands into the pockets of his suit and nodding a little. "Let's get to work." He says with a small smile.

Aaannnddd.. that's it! I was thinking about this as I was writing it, and I think this was the good way to end it. I hope you guys like the ending. I know it's sort of simple and doesn't have a lot of fireworks or flair, but given the arc of the story I really like it. :)

Thank you to everyone who has followed this story, and commented. And thank you for putting up with me these past few months when my posting has become irregular. I think I am going to be taking a break from the 00Q genre for a little while, but I hope you guys will keep an eye out for the other things that i'll be writing. Thank you so much again for reading!

EDIT: I know some of you might have expected Bond and Q to get together in this fic in a more obvious manner, and honestly, I started out thinking that way too. But with how I did the breakup between Robert and Q, and all of the plot that developed, it just didn't feel right. They are definitely in the beginning stages of a relationship, though, and in my head canon, they are going to be dating shortly. :)

Comments/Reviews welcome!