Q glared at M, the type of of look that had his minions scrambling for cover when it was directed at them. Mallory was not easily swayed and continued to stare at his Quartermaster, waiting for him to elaborate.

"I can't do it, M. That is all there is to say. I cannot drop everything to escort 007 through a mission on what is supposed to be my day off. The first one I have requested in months, I might add. Did it ever occur to you that I may have plans?" The frustration was rolling off him in waves and no one in the room understood the problem. They all worked strange hours, canceling plans often in order to do what was needed and Q had never expressed an issue with it before. "M, please, it just isn't something I can do. R can handle it or one of the other technicians." At those words, every member of Q-Branch paled. They all helped agents but only Q worked with 007. He was bloody terrifying.

Hands on his hips, M didn't back down. "I will see you here at oh-six-hundred, Q, is that understood?" Q, as well as everyone else, heard the unspoken threat that hung in the air.

"Yes sir," Q sighed, resigned. "But don't say I didn't warn you." With that cryptic retort, Q turned his attention back to his monitors, effectively giving his boss a dismissal. M walked away, torn between irritation at Q's insolence and a sense of pride at how the younger man had grown and matured in the six years they had worked together. He had come a long way from when he stammered excuses and had to have the Chief of Staff cover for him, now speaking to M as an equal.

The next morning when Q hadn't arrived at six fifteen, the few minions who were in the department that early began to worry that he wouldn't show at all. Technically, he did have the day off, regardless of what M had said but they wondered what would happen if he didn't come in at all. They all adored their boss with his soft spoken nature but a mind that none of them could even hope to comprehend. The things he did with technology were awe inspiring to most of the people who worked with him, counting themselves lucky to be learning from the best. If he got himself sacked over this, they would be heartbroken and MI6 would be lost for quite some time as R tried to learn to do even half of what Q did without much thought.

Their concerns turned to relief followed by confusion when their boss walked in, hair sticking up in ways that seemed to defy gravity and a large bundle in his arms. No, not a bundle. A baby. Q was carrying a baby, who slept contentedly, resting her blonde head on his shoulder. "Sorry, sorry. Ever try to put pigtails on a child who won't wake up long enough to sit up," he babbled, holding the little girl with one hand while trying to log on to his computer with the other. Ignoring their pointed stares, he slipped his earpiece in and got to work, pulling up the map of Barcelona to find the target as well as 007.

Once everything was set, he looked up to find the minions all wide-eyed, their gaze still on him instead of their screens like they should have been. "What are you looking at? We have a mission if you hadn't noticed."

"But," one of them started quietly. "Sir, whose baby is that?" Several nodded, exchanging glances. The child had obviously been born since they had all been working at MI6 and none of them had ever heard the Quartermaster talk about having a family before.

"Whose baby do you think it is? This is my daughter, Abigail. I told M I couldn't come in today. Too little notice to find a sitter. The twins are having a sleepover with some friends from nursery school otherwise you would have had to deal with them as well." He said it so casually that they began to question whether every single one of them had simply forgotten the fact that he had a family. "Now, get to work before M gets here. I'm going to have to deal with enough questions as it is without adding in why my entire department as gone deaf and dumb over night."

The minions hurried to their stations, pointedly ignoring the little girl with blonde pigtails who continued to sleep on their boss's shoulder. Less then an hour later, M and Eve walked in to the branch and stopped short as they surveyed the scene. Everything looked normal until they found the head of the department. "Q," Eve hissed. "What did you do?"

"What do you mean what did I do? I had to come in today and couldn't find a sitter. So now you get two of us instead of just one."

"That is not what I meant and you know it. Where did you get the baby? Since when do you have a baby?" The techs forgot their work, turning to view the scene with interest. As far as everyone knew, Q's best friend was Miss Moneypenny. If even she didn't know about the child, then where had she come from?

"I have three and it's not like I hid it. No one asked so I didn't feel the need to share. Abby is the youngest, obviously. She's fourteen months and we couldn't love her more. Now, if you excuse me, I think 007 is coming online. And if someone could get a rollaway bed so she can lay down while I work, I would appreciate it." Q gave his daughter a soft kiss to her head and turned back to his screens, ignoring the one minion who "aww"'d and the rather unpleasant looks he was getting from his boss and his best friend. He would be hearing about this, that much was obvious, but the mission came first.

"Good morning, 007," Q smirked as one of the minions rolled a bed out next to Q's desk. Laying the little girl down, Q pulled a small stuffed wolf from his bag, putting it in her arms as she continued to sleep and then turning back to the screen.

The surprise in Bond's voice was obvious. "Q? I thought today was your day off. I expected to hear the dulcet tones of R this morning."

"Yes, well, it appears that you have effectively terrorized the rest of my department to the point that I am the only one willing to talk to you so you only have yourself to blame for having to put up with me."

"But what about..."

"Taken care of," Q said shortly. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to get this over with so I can get on with my day off."

Bond grunted his approval and Q nodded, watching as the red dot that represented the agent started to move. Bending to pull one more thing from his bag, a set of ear covers that looked comically large on the girl's head where he placed them. "Q?" Eve asked, looking at Abby.

"She doesn't need to hear this," he explained, going back to the comms. "007, everything is in place. The target is on the third floor of the hotel, room three twelve. Neutralize the target and we will see you back in London within the day.

"Understood," came the response, and everyone fell into their usual routine, minions following the progress on CCTV, controlling all the systems of the hotel as well as monitoring all calls in and out of the room in question.

Gunshots rang out over the speakers as everyone held their breath and let it out the moment Bond's voice sounded, "Target neutralized."

At that very moment, the little girl sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking up at Q with a sleepy smile. "Papa?" she asked in a small voice that reminded everyone of the man who led the branch. However, her appearance was nothing like him and they wondered what her mother must look like, a mother no one knew existed until right now. "Papa?"

"You are at Papa's work," Q smiled, kneeling down in front of her to slip the ear covers from her so she could hear him now that the worst part of the mission was past. "We are almost done and then we can go get your brothers and go to the zoo, just like I promised." Eve bit her lip, smiling at how cute Q was with his daughter and several of the other minions had similar expressions. However, not one of them was prepared for the next thing they heard.

"Is that my princess?" 007's voice sounded, causing the little girl to positively beam and look around.

"DADDY!" You could have heard a pin drop in the room, everyone in absolute shock as they stared at the scene unfolding in front of them.
The smile was evident in Bond's voice, something not one person in the room had ever heard before, save for Abby and Q. "Is that my Princess Abigail? You being good for Papa?"

"Yes Daddy," she laughed, looking around for where the voice was coming from.

"Daddy is in Spain, darling. He'll be home tonight. You are talking to him on the phone," Q explained to the little girl who simply nodded her head as if this was completely normal while everyone else in the room felt their world tip sideways.

"I'll see you tonight. I promised pizza, right?" Bond continued, acting for all accounts as if it were only the three of them talking and not half of MI6 listening in as well.

"Pizza!" Abby cried out, nodding happily.

"Abby, have a good time at the zoo with Papa and your brothers. Love, give her a hug and a kiss for me and the boys when you pick them up."

Q smiled briefly before his eyes landed on M and the expression quickly fell from his face. "I will, James," he said quietly. "I'm sending your flight information to your phone. We will see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay, Cr...Q. I love you."

"I love you too," Q smiled, closing his eyes for a moment, focusing on his lover's voice instead of the looks he was getting from those around them. Opening his eyes once more, he directed them towards M, "And 007?"

"Yes."

"I expect that we will have a meeting first thing Monday morning with M. Just so you are aware."

"Understood." Bond disconnected, leaving Q to deal with the consequences of their revelation.

Taking a deep breath, he scooped Abby into his arms, and turned to face those who gaped wordlessly at him.

"Bond and I have been married for five years. We have four year old twin boys, Charley and Harry and this is our princess, Abigail. By the looks on your faces, I see we have succeeded in maintaining a strictly professional relationship while here." Turning towards M and Eve, he nodded, "We will see you in your office on Monday morning. Eve, if you want to come to the zoo with us, you are more than welcome. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier but we were trying to protect our children.

"The rest of you, get back to work and get my husband home safely. Feel free to gossip all you want about us after we've left but I would rather my daughter not hear."

He nodded and logged out of his computer before striding quickly from the room, not waiting for anyone to respond. The last thing any of them saw was the little girl, waving goodbye over his shoulder, what they now recognized as James' eyes twinkling as she hugged her father tight, on her way to the zoo with her family.