Calling Agent B

by Ebenbild

Five times Ethan calls Brandt and one time he doesn't or how Ethan mixes up the numbers of Brandt's phone number and ends up calling someone else. Minor Deaf! Clint.

Disclaimer: Sadly Avengers and Mission Impossible are not mine. If I had done the movies, Clint and Brandt would have been the stars from the start.

Placing: After the first Avengers movie and after MI: Rogue Nation.

Warning: I have no idea about the Avenger comic's, and just know some tit-bits from gossip and wikipedia, so this is mainly based on the first Avenger's movie and the MI movies.

Just an idea I had, nothing more.

Five times Ethan calls Brandt and one time he didn't or how Ethan mixes up the numbers of Brandt's phone number and ends up calling someone else.

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sSsSsSsSs

CALLING AGENT B.

sSs

I.

"Agent Hunt," the voice was familiar even when it was slightly changed through the phone.

"Brandt. Anything important why you called?"

"Just to give you my new phone number," Brandt replied. "Thought you needed it maybe sometime in the future."

Their phone call didn't last long after that. But Ethan took Brandt's warning about a change in his number to heart and learned the new number by heart – he had been too often in a situation where he needed to use the number without having his phone with him, so he had learned long ago that he needed to know at least the most important numbers by heart.

Two and a half weeks later, Ethan was grateful for his foresight when he stood in a phone booth in London, calling Brandt.

"Agent B –"

"Ethan here. Brandt, I need you to find a guy via computer. I lost track of him and I'm currently on a solo mission, so Benji can't help me."

There was a short bout of silence on the other end of the phone, then Brandt spoke again.

"Find a guy via computer?"

Ethan just sighed.

"That's not the time for stupid questions, Brandt. I need to know where he is – yesterday!"

Again a second of silence, then the other sighed and it sounded as if something heavy met the ground.

"Alright. Give me your data."

And Ethan gave the other man everything he knew about his target. Within minutes, Brandt had found the guy again.

"Thanks, man," Ethan said and hung up, before chasing after his target again.

"No prob, weird guy," the other man snorted and hung up as well – Ethan just didn't hear that anymore, because he was already on his hunt.

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II.

"Brandt, I need you to order me and Jane a table at L'Etoile tonight at eight o'clock, immediately," Ethan said, the moment the other agent had picked up the phone. This time Ethan was in Detroit and stalking a terrorist. His phone had been smashed just a few hours ago when it fell on the streets from the third floor, and now he had to resort to calling Brandt – who wasn't involved with the mission because he had to go somewhere with the Secretary – with the house telephone in the hotel he was currently staying. There was silence at the other side for a second, before Brandt's voice could be heard.

"Who's speaking?"

"Brandt! That's not funny! Ethan here, like you well know!"

Again, there was a short silent, then the other man sighed.

"Alright, Ethan – and now, could you please explain to me why I should be the one ordering you and Jane a table tonight at eight?"

Ethan blinked at that. That didn't sound like the usual Brandt. Normally the man would do it… except he objected to something strongly and ordering a table normally wasn't on the list of strong objections.

"C'mon, man! I'm still preparing my mask! I have no time to also order a table!" Ethan finally settled on. "Jane's also preparing and Benji's busy with tracing the bastard we're after. I know, you're busy, but you're still part of the team, so – the table?"

Brandt sighed.

"Alright. Where again?"

"L'Etoile, Brandt!"

"What city, country and under which name?" the other agent said, this time sounding annoyed. Ethan stared at the house telephone incredulously.

"Detroit, US and Peter Williams – where the hell have you left your brain tonight?"

Brandt snorted at that.

"Same question to you, Ethan," he answered sarcastically, but Ethan just rolled his eyes.

"Now, do you have all the data – or do you need a written message to remember it all tonight?" Ethan countered.

"Detroit, L'Etoile, Peter Williams, table for two, I'm not that stupid, Ethan," Brandt replied coolly. "But you're owing me one for that." And with that, Brandt ended the phone call.

Ethan just stared at his phone for another second, before he shook his head and decided to forget Brandt's odd behaviour – after all, who knew what the Secretary had Brandt doing at the moment…

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III.

"Brandt, I forgot my phone in New York," Ethan said as a greeting the next time he phoned Brandt from a phone booth – this time in Germany.

"Yeah, I noticed, Ethan – right?" Brandt grumbled.

"Yes, Ethan," Ethan replied with a sigh. "Now, can you go to my flat and send me some data I have on my phone via e-mail?"

The answer was a snort.

"Seriously, Ethan – now?" the man asked incredulously.

"Yes, now, Brandt. I need it as fast as possible!"

"Sorry, Ethan, now's not quite cricket…"

"Brandt! Do I have to remember you that you are part of our team even when you are on the other side of the world doing who-knows-what?" Ethan replied. Brandt snorted at that.

"Don't remember ever signing up for the team," was the unhappy reply.

Ethan snorted at that.

"Maybe you remember the mission after the ghost-protocols? I remember that you were quite willing back then to stay on the team – and now do your work, if you please!"

"Aye, aye, boss," the other man replied sarcastically. "But give me some time. It will at least half an hour to break out of the medical wing and headquarters. I call you when I'm out for more directions. Don't have an idea about the whereabouts of your flat after all!"

"What do you mean, you have no idea about the whereabouts of my flat?" Ethan asked incredulously. He remembered that Brandt had been at Ethan's flat just two weeks ago for a movie night with the whole team, then another part of Brandt's rant caught up with him.

"Why do you have to break out of the medical wing?" he asked concerned.

The answer was a snort.

"Minor concussion and some broken rips," the other man answered. "I told you that it was the wrong time for your call…"

And before Ethan could say anything to stop Brandt, the man hung up with a mumbled: "Not that's that bad that he called. Isn't as if I had planned to stay here much longer, after all…"

Not even a quarter hour later, Brandt called again on the house phone of the hotel room Ethan had been using.

"A'right. I'm out, now where to?" And Ethan decided to give in and give his address again – after all, even Brandt wasn't inhuman and Ethan definitely didn't want to know what stuff the other agent still had swimming in his blood.

An hour later, he got the data he had needed.

Another hour later, an exhausted man entered his own flat.

"Shouldn't you still be in medical wing?" a stern voice greeted him and the man grinned. "Should, maybe," he said. "But I was forced to break out early." The other speaker just groaned.

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IV.

"Yeah?" the voice sounded muffled when it answered the phone and Ethan looked confused at the phone in his hands. He was calling from a safe house, his phone lost in the last fight.

"Brandt," he said and the man on the other side of the receiver groaned.

"Eth'n, why're 'ou callin'?" the other man slurred.

"Have you been drinking?" Ethan asked stumped and Brandt snorted at that.

"Eth'n, it's three o'clock 'n th' night. I've finally been sleepin' after a week long mission, so if y' please, make't short," was the slurred reply.

Ethan blinked at that and then stared out of his window in Santa Fe into the sunny afternoon.

"Brandt, it's midday," he said incredulously.

"Sure," the other man replied, yawning. "May I go back t' sleep now that y' said what y' wanted t' say?"

"Brandt!" Ethan couldn't believe that his agent was out like that. "I need you to hack the CIA. I need some data about the man I'm following. I don't think that IMF has all the data about that man, and I need you to give it to me. There's something fishy going on, here!"

"Damnit, Eth'n. Can't it wait a few hours? I haven't slept in five days and I was kinda enjoying my sleep," was the complain from the other side of the call.

"Sure, Brandt," Ethan said with a snort. "It's not as if I don't know that you have attended a party yesterday night in Chicago. And now get your lazy ass out of the bed and help a desperate team mate!"

The answer was a grumble, that sounded suspiciously like: "No idea, that man" and "goin' t' kill that idiot next time I see him."

"Stop grumbling and go to work," Ethan said. The answer was a sigh, then Ethan could hear sheets moving and a mumble from a definitely female voice.

Brandt replied something to the mumble and Ethan snorted.

"Seems that you had some other action as well last night," he said, half amused, half exasperated. The answer was a tired snort from Brandt.

"There's just one bed here, Ethan, so keep your mind out of the gutter," the analyst replied yawning, and Ethan could hear some shuffled steps and then a door opening and closing.

"Alright, Ethan, give me the name of the man and let me see what I can do. Hopefully this won't take too long and I'll be able to go to bed – where every decent person belongs after a five days work and at three o'clock in the night!"

Ethan just snorted at that before giving the other man the data he had. One and a half hours later he finally had the data of the CIA.

"And now, Ethan, do me a favour and get back your phone. I can bear you once every two month but slowly it gets annoying," Brandt said, still yawning. "And now, with your Graces allowance, I will return to my bed – a bed I shouldn't have had to leave at three o'clock in the night after five days without proper sleep."

Ethan snorted at that.

"Sure thing," he said incredulously. "Don't forget a condom."

There was silence on the other side of the call for a moment, then Brandt snorted.

"Fuck you, Ethan," he said and hung up.

And while Ethan returned to his chase, the other man returned to his bed.

"What did you have to do at three in the morning that couldn't wait?" the female in the bed asked, when he returned under the covers.

"Got called from the weird guy again," the man replied and the woman laughed.

"And yet, you're still following his wishes when he calls…" the other man just flashed a tired smile at her.

"I always have some very interesting conversations and orders from him," he said. "And you know me, the thrill of the chase is always the best part…"

"You're not chasing him."

"No, but I get the thrill of him chasing someone. I'm an adrenalin junky – no decent junky would stand at the by-lines if he has a way to be a part of it. And now let me finally have some sleep, please! It's not even five o'clock in the morning yet!"

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V.

"Brandt!"

"Oh… not now, Ethan!" Ethan blinked at the phone in his hands in surprise.

"What do you mean with 'not now, Ethan'?" he asked annoyed.

The answer was a crashing sound and then running feet.

"That's the absolutely worst time to call, Ethan," the other man answered. He sounded a little out of breath.

Then Ethan could hear another voice through the speakers.

"You there yet, Legolas?" it asked.

"I still need a minute," was Brandt's reply.

"Hurry up, man! We're getting fried out there!"

"Then you should have dropped me on the roof like I asked you to do instead of making me run up all those floors!" Brandt countered annoyed before again speaking to Ethan. "Sorry, I'm a little bit preoccupied right now."

"I hear that," Ethan said dryly. "And I thought you were consulting the Secretary in some boring government agency…"

The other man snorted.

"You must have me mixed up with someone, Ethan," was the amused reply. "I don't do consulting right now."

"Believe me, I got that," Ethan answered with a snort. "You need any help?"

"Na… nothing I haven't handled before," Brandt replied, then there was again the other voice talking in the back-round.

"That would be a really great moment to shoot, Legolas! As in: right now!"

"Yeah, yeah," Brandt just murmured before speaking to Ethan again. "Sorry, have to drop you for a moment!" And then Ethan could hear the phone literally hitting the rooftop, before he could hear some swishing. It didn't sound like a bullet, but it definitely had to be a weapon of some kind.

Then an explosion could be heard.

"Damn it, Legolas! Did you want to fry me, too!" the other voice complained again.

"Shut up, Tin Man!" that was the voice of a woman. "Maybe we should ask him to shoot you, too. At least then we would have some freedom from your obvious insanity!"

"Ouch! I'm hurt that you think about me like that, my dear spider!"

That was the moment, Brandt picked up the phone again.

"Sorry for that," he said. "You mind if you get your data or whatever from someone else? I'm currently not in the best position to provide you with anything."

Ethan guessed, that the other man was right with that one.

He sighed.

"I'll try Benji again," he finally settled on. "Maybe he picks up this time around…"

And with that, he ended the call.

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+ One

"Agent B –"

"Ethan here. We need extraction, Brandt, now!"

There was silence at the other end of the line and for a moment, Ethan wondered if he had remembered Brandt's phone number wrongly and instead was talking to a stranger. Then Brandt's voice could be heard, his tone clipped and business-like: "Where?"

Ethan blinked at that, but then guessed that Brandt had had no time to always be update with their position if he wasn't in on the mission, so he simply rattled down the coordinates he knew.

"Secured facility," he added. "A lot of hostiles."

For a moment, Ethan could hear Brandt saying something to someone else. Then Brandt spoke up again.

"I'm there in one hour max." And Ethan wondered how Brandt wanted to come from New York to Bucharest within an hour. But before he could ask, one of his capturers found out about his communication and ripped away the mobile phone that Ethan had stolen from one of his capturer's goons and that he had been using now.

"If there's one helicopter or suit even nearing our entrance, we will kill your agents immediately!" The capturer growled into the phone before snapping it shut and then destroying it with his foot.

"You don't believe that there is someone who will come for you, do you?" he mocked them. Ethan just kept his mouth shut. He knew that there was no way that the Secretary would lead and extraction for them. The moment they had been captured, they had been disavowed by their own agency. But William Brandt wasn't like that. Unlike the rest of the agency, Brandt would extract them if he could.

"Even if they don't, at least they know now to not wait for us anymore," Ethan answered, staring at their capturer icily. Benji and Jane exchanged a look at that, before looking at Ethan who didn't dare to even move his head to answer their unasked question of Brandt's coming.

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Meanwhile, not too far away from Bucharest, a man put down his phone and turned to his partner. They both were wearing black combat clothing and were armed to the teeth.

"You done here?" he asked his partner. The other, a woman, looked around for another second.

"Seems as if they're all dead," she said. "So yes, I think I'm done."

The man just nodded and then threw her his phone.

"Want to go on a short vacation?"

"Vacation? Where to?"

"Bucharest," the man answered grinning, and she raised an eyebrow at that before taking a look at the marked part of the map on the phone the man had thrown at her. It was an abandoned army facility.

"Truly?" she asked incredulous. "You couldn't find a better place for a holiday?"

The man just shrugged.

"Thought you wanted to have a whole facility to play with."

She rolled her eyes.

"You just want to level something to the ground," she commented, and her partner's grin broadened.

"Hey! We were invited to pay a visit!" He defended himself. "We just have to say 'yes'!"

Her answering feral grin was answer enough.

They stepped away from the massacre around them, to two of their opponent's bikes. The woman had fished out one of the keys from one of the dead men's biker jacket and the man had done the same to another. They grabbed the abandoned helmets and after the man had packed away his sun glasses, put them on. They slipped onto the bikes' seats and started the motors.

Just before closing his helmet, the man tapped his ear comm.

"Guys, we're going on a short vacation in Bucharest," he said. "You come to get us in two hours?"

There was a cracking sound in the comm.s but then voices could be heard.

"There's no ti –"

"Oh, cut it out, Capsicle. They've earned it!"

"Don't worry, guys, we're coming to get you in two hours –" there was a short silence, then the same voice spoke again. "You don't have an extra shirt with you, do you, Tony, or you, Captain, Hawk –?"

The man just snorted, then shut of the comm. link and turned to the woman.

"Alright! Let's go!"

And off they were.

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Ethan, Benji and Jane were no happy campers for the last hour. Their capturers had tried to extract information about their mission, their agency, themselves and their goals. Neither of them had answered – something Ethan was enormously proud of, considering that Benji was more a computer nerd than a field agent, even if the man had made it into the field after some tries.

"Well, it seems as if we have to step up your interoga –" Their capturer stopped midsentence when the door opened and a red haired woman in black combat clothes entered. The woman was walking like a predator and she wasn't even concerned when the weapons of the other goons in the room were raised towards her.

"Who are you?" one of the goons said and the woman raised a finely manicured eyebrow at that.

"You don't truly think that I will answer that question," she said, her face unmoving and icy.

"How did you get in here?" another goon asked, his weapon trained on the woman's chest.

"Well, that is something that I can answer," the woman said and then pushed the door open further, her face still unreadable and void of all emotions.

The door creaked open slowly behind her, revealing a narrow corridor with grey walls, floors and ceilings. Cool neon-lights lit the corridor, sometimes flickering and buzzing but in the end still mercilessly revealing the red that drenched the floor and walls and the figures that were lying slumped down in the bottom half of the corridor.

"If you want to know more, you can follow my trail to my entrance point," she commented casually.

The goons eyes widened and their fingers instantly travelled to the triggers of their weapons.

They were still too late.

Before they could even think about pulling the triggers, one after another fell to the floor with a hole in their forehead.

The only one surviving was their capturer. He had stepped behind Benji and had grabbed the man's head, a knife at his throat.

"I said no helicopters and no suits!" he hissed. The woman stared at him as if he was an idiot.

"Do I look as if I'm wearing a suit or flying a helicopter?" she asked incredulously. The capturer's eyes widened at that, then his grip on Benji tightened.

"If you shoot me, he'll die," he said, fear in his voice.

The woman just raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't even raise a weapon," she said, her face still emotionless. "If you don't believe that fairy tale that I can shoot bullets from my breasts, there's no way that I shot any of your men in this room."

The capturer's eyes widened even further at that and he started to look around frantically. Then he froze and Ethan followed the gaze of the man.

There was another man in the vents, in his hands a gun.

"You –"

The capturer had no time to even start his sentence. A single shot, nearly unheard was loosened from the weapon the man in the vents was holding. Their capturer staggered and then fell, his forehead adorned with the same little red hole like those of his goons.

Then the man in the vents, spun down, landing in a crouch just before Ethan and his team.

"Hi there!" the stranger in black combat clothing greeted. "You asked for an extraction?"

Ethan blinked and then exchanged a glance with Benji and Jane.

"Where's Brandt?" he finally settled on and the man and the woman exchanged a glance.

"Later," the man finally replied, before starting to remove their shackles. "C'mon now, no time to chat right now."

Again, Ethan and the other of his team exchanged a glance, then Ethan gave in and stood up. He didn't know those two and they definitely didn't look like IMF agents, but they were their best bet to get out alive, so he would follow them – at least for now.

"They will have noticed by now, Hawk," the woman said in that moment. The man – a man who looked oddly familiar even with the sun glasses obscuring Ethan's view – just shrugged and then pointed up to the vents.

"Escape route?" he asked her with a grin and the woman just raised an eyebrow again.

"Very effective, Hawk. After all, we all love to crawl around up there!" she said sarcastically, but then she gestured to Jane for her to step into the woman's hands and giving her a lift up. Jane turned to Ethan just for a second, and when he nodded, she climbed into the vents with the help of the woman. Benji and Ethan followed, both helped by the man, before the man used the woman's hands to reach the vents, pulling himself up and then reaching down to pull her up as well.

It looked as if those two had done that at least a thousand times.

"Alright, let's get out of here!" the man whispered, before sliding in the front and then taking the lead through the narrow vents.

Ethan didn't know how long they were crawling through the vents, he just knew that his body hurt like hell from the interrogation he had been through and that he feared that either Benji or Jane would pass out any moment. That was, until the man up front opened another entrance into the vents, checked the area and then slipped down into the corridor.

"Alright, all clear," he said a moment later, and Ethan and the others followed, the unknown woman coming down last.

"From now on, it's straight out of the front door," the oddly familiar looking man said grinning. "I'll set up a little distraction. Widow, it's your turn to lead them!" And with that, the man was gone. Even Ethan, a trained IMF agent, had been unable to follow the man's steps the moment the man had stepped into the shadows.

"Follow me," the woman hissed, and Ethan wished nothing more but to question her where they came from and how Brandt had been able to convince them to rescue Ethan and his team – if it had been Brandt, that is. But he knew that there were times to talk and times to act – and right now trying to extract information would be stupid.

So in the end, he followed without another word.

Just a view minutes into running down the corridors, the earth shook beneath their feet.

"Damn Hawks and their idea of distraction," the woman muttered, but she still kept running as if nothing had happened.

They reached the entrance hall, before they were found by the enemies. It was then, that the woman who had come to rescue them, displayed all her deadliness. She handed of her guns to Ethan and Jane before climbing up into the ceiling, running along the pipes and then jumping down onto their enemies.

The opponents had no chance. Like a tigress in the middle of a flock of sheep, she killed one man after another, using nothing but her hands and knives.

Ethan and Jane meanwhile had also started to contribute in the fight by shooting anyone who tried to shoot the woman from behind. No one of Ethan's team was up for a close up fight, but when even more enemies came from one of the other corridors to aid their struggling comrades, Ethan resigned himself that the magazine of his gun wouldn't be enough and that there was no way to avoid a direct confrontation.

At least that were Ethan's thoughts when suddenly another projectile shot from behind Ethan into the hall where the Widow was fighting. It was too fast for Ethan to see more of it but to recognize that it definitely wasn't a bullet, before it had passed him and imbedded itself into the wall above the other entrance.

The Widow instead, seemed to know exactly what it was, because she ducked and, using one of her attackers as a step, she vanished back into the pipes on the ceiling and came running towards them. She was about half way there, when she let herself fall onto the pipes, grabbing them in a death grip. A second later, the projectile detonated, killing of a lot of their attackers in one go.

"You could at least have warned me!" the woman hissed while her hands moved in furious gestures, just after sliding down the pipes just in front of Ethan and the others.

"Sorry, I killed my comm. EMP, you know," the man replied, not sounding too concerned. He held a bow in one of his hands, and now, that Ethan could see him fully in the neon-light, the quiver on his back was obvious. The woman just rolled her eyes.

"You're doing that deliberately, don't you?" she said. "How the hell did you find an EMP here?"

The answer was a grin.

"Made it," he said. "Best way to make sure that no electronic evidence is left – and a good way to shorten out their comm.s and computers."

"Sure thing," the woman replied while gesturing them to follow. "Says the idiot who needs electronics to fully function."

And with that, they were off again, reaching the exit doors with minimal disturbances. Ethan and Benji were the ones who pulled the doors open while the Hawk and the Widow defended them from their attackers.

In the end, they escaped the facility – just to be faced by a flat field of nothingness.

"Will be hard out here without cover," Benji commented, but their rescuers just started to run, so Ethan and his team followed.

In that moment, a quintjet flickered into view just a short way in front of them. The rear flap opened and a curly haired man stepped out.

The Hawk and the Widow exchanged a glance, then the Widow grabbed Jane and pulled her onto the rear flap while the curly haired man helped to pull up Benji. Ethan just jumped up by himself, followed by the Hawk. The moment, the Hawk stood on the rear flap, he turned, pulled out an arrow of his quiver and shot it at the facility.

The next moment the facility went up in flames before crumbling to the ground. Explosions could be heard all over the grounds.

The Hawk smirked and then stepped back to allow the rear flap to close.

And then they were off.

"You managed to blow it all up with a single arrow?" the curly haired man said surprised. The Hawk just grinned while the Widow rolled her eyes.

"He wired up the whole thing within what – ten minutes? – before re-joining us in our flight. And that's not even mentioning the EMP he decided to build and let it go off before then." Her hands still gesturing angrily.

The Hawk just grinned.

"Oh c'mon, Widow! It was a good vacation, wasn't it?" he complained and the Widow rolled her eyes and handed the man something.

"Your comm.," she said. "No EMPs for at least two weeks. I don't have any spares anymore."

"You're getting old, Widow. That nearly sounded like Fury's no-fun speak," the Hawk commented, but pulled out something – Ethan guessed that it was his comm. – from his ears, before setting in a new pair. Ethan wondered why the man needed two of them, but then, the man seemed prone to lose or destroy them, so maybe one of them was a back-up.

It was then, that Benji decided to ask the most important question.

"Where's Brandt?" he asked.

The Hawk stopped at that, then he grinned.

"Oh, yeah, forgot about him," he said, pulling off his sun glasses and handing them to the Widow.

"My phone, please," he said while Ethan, Benji and Jane stared at him.

The man in front of them was Brandt.

Good-natured, sarcastic, ever-correct Brandt was wearing black combat clothes instead of suits.

"What the hell, Brandt?" Ethan asked confused and the man stopped mid-dial to look at Ethan in amusement.

"I'm not Brandt, Ethan," the Hawk then said in amusement. "You interchanged some numbers when you tried to call him."

"But –"

"You called me instead," the Hawk said, still grinning. "Not the first time, I might add. But I guessed that, since I was already close-by, there was no reason to leave you where you were."

"But… you look like Brandt," Benji said, utterly confused. The Hawk just shrugged and finished dialling the number before putting the call on speakers.

"Brandt here," a voice could be heard, the voice sounding similar to the Hawk's voice.

"Hey, Mr. Analyst," the Hawk greeted the other man on the phone and Brandt groaned audibly.

"What did you do this time around?" he asked with a suffering sigh. "Where do I have to spring you from?"

The Hawk just snorted.

"I'm fine, Will," he said. "And I didn't do anything… well, at least I didn't do anything you wouldn't be grateful for."

"And you truly think that that puts my mind at ease?"

"Hey! I wasn't the one who asked me to go on vacation in Bucharest! That was all your sometimes-team-leader!"

"Ethan?!"

Ethan thought that this might be the right time to speak up.

"I guess he's right. I interchanged some numbers while trying to call you, Brandt. It seems I ended up calling him instead…"

For a moment, there was silence on the other end of the phone, then William Brandt sighed.

"Sure," he said drily to himself. "We're the IMF after all. No wonder that if Ethan manages to screw up calling the right number, he manages to interchange the numbers just in the right way to call my twin. After all, there aren't enough numbers to interchange to call an absolute stranger. No, he has to call my brother. Well done, Ethan. That really shows you're right in the IMF."

The Hawk just laughed at that while everyone else gawked at him and the phone.

"Hey, at least I was near him to pull him and the others out – don't you think that should award a reward for being able to call the one brother who's actually near him and trained to get him out? I mean, doing something like that, definitely falls under doing the impossible, don't you think so, too?"

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Brandt replied.

"Hey, don't fret, Will," the Hawk said amused. "It wasn't the first time."

There was a silence on the other side of the phone for a moment, before Ethan and Brandt spoke simultaneously.

"What do you mean, that wasn't the first time?" they asked and the Hawk grinned.

"Well, I remember at least five instances where he called me and not you. That happens if you have the same phone number with just two numbers interchanged and the same voice on top of it!"

"And you never saw it fit to tell me?" Brandt asked incredulously. The Hawk just shrugged.

"Hey, I tried to correct Ethan – but he never listens when he's fixated on something. Adding to that, that his orders are always quite amusing I saw no reason to say anything. It's not as if I don't know how to keep a secret…"

For a moment, there was silence on the other side of the receiver, then Brandt snorted.

"Alright, twin of mine, whatever you think," he said amused. "Just bring them home to New York in one piece. I'll handle them from there."

"As if I haven't done a great job until now!"

"No comment on that one, Twin of mine," Brandt said. "And now, Ethan, Benji, Jane, I leave you in the competent hands of Brandt, the second, according to Ethan!"

The Hawk snorted at that.

The last thing Ethan thought that Brandt muttered was: "I guess the team is owing Clint at least a new pair of hearing aids."

But Ethan must have misheard that one.

Just a month later, Ethan again lost his phone and called Brandt from memory.

"Brandt, Ethan here," he said. On the other end of the line was a groan.

"Ethan," Brandt said. "Not now! I'm in the middle of a stake out, so please! Please! Can you call my brother – the one you actually want to talk to?!"

Clint would never get rid of Ethan's calls because somehow, Ethan could never remember the right order of the two numbers that distinguished the twins' phone numbers. Not that Clint minded – much.

xXxXxXxXxXxClintxXxXxXxEthanxXxXxXxXxEthanxXxXxXxXxClintxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Well, just something that I couldn't get rid of.

I hope you liked it.

Ebenbild