Waiting On Yourr
Short little drabbly one-shot thing
Primary Characters: Brandt & Julia
Special thanks to the Beta Branch for not mocking me over this one. :) We're not an exclusive little club over there, so if you want to join, just hit up Alex Kade's profile.
She didn't realize the stranger was there until he is gone. "He loved you Julia, don't think he didn't." Brandt takes care of his team, always.
Brandt's attention is sporadic, never quite remaining on one person. It wanders the crowd, disregarding faces that aren't hers.
He'd activated the GPS on her phone just last night – an impulse decision, so unlike him. He knows Ethan's distracted, that's why he came here. She's somewhere in this crowd, and he knows she's just feet away.
Frustration is something he's used to, so he disregards the sensation in favor of complete concentration.
He hears her laugh and his head casually turns to study his reflection in the window. She's behind him, just a few feet away. Now that he's found her, she's easy to track.
Running a hand through his hair, as if satisfied with his appearance, he turns and follows her through the crowd.
She looks troubled, he notices as he follows at a safe distance. Her face is pale, as if she's regretting the decisions that lead her to the choice she's making now.
It's none of his concern, he tells himself. If she's happy or not – that's not IMF's job any more. It's not Ethan's job. He knew he could tell himself that all he wanted – it doesn't change the fact that he's here.
It doesn't change the fact that Ethan looks as if he's going to kill the next person who mentions her name.
Brandt picks up his pace as she ducks into the women's restroom. Casually, he pulls out a cigarette he'd snagged from a vendor and lights it. He hates the disgusting things, but it serves as a reason to stand outside the bathrooms.
No one notices him, just the way he likes it.
He doesn't give her any sign that he notices her when she walks from the bathroom. Brandt purposefully straightens and steps forward, crashing into her.
The analyst drops the cigarette on the ground as he snatches her wrist, stopping her fall. "I'm sorry," he lies, giving her a doleful expression. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
Julia looks annoyed as she flings back her dark hair, but she doesn't take her frustration out on him. "It's fine," she says, turning away, the encounter already forgotten.
He lets her get a few steps before he trots to catch up. His fingers brush over her hand, letting a small plastic panda fall into her palm as he whispers the words he came to say, "He loved you Julia, don't think he didn't."
Brandt knows those words will be what frees her. He doesn't turn, doesn't look to see her expression clear like the sky after a storm.
His job done, his team taken care of, a small debt atoned, he lets the crowd swarm around him as he walks away.
Julia wonders what Ethan would think about the engagement. It's been years, but she thinks of him nearly every day.
She has a feeling that he's already done a background check on her fiancé. She tells herself it's just wistful thinking, that he's moved on or forgotten about her by this point. Or he could very well be dead,that snide, ever-worrying voice tells her.
As always, she ignores it.
The former Julia Hunt barely resists the impulse to snap at the smoker outside the bathroom. Probably waiting for a girlfriend, she thinks even as the doctor side of her wants to reprimand him for smoking. It'll ruin your health, don't you know?
But she remains silent and accepts his mumbled apology. Something in her stirs with recognition when she briefly glances at his apologetic face, but she dismisses the feeling with practiced ease.
She's been thinking about too many ghosts as of late.
Jules puts the man out of her mind as she turns to go back to the store her friends are still mingling in. They are probably looking at jewelry by this point, or maybe they'll be waiting in annoyance for Julia to catch up. She ignores the small tinge of guilt for purposefully delaying as she heads back to them.
Something is dropped into her hand, and her fist clenches instantly. She doesn't look at it as her heart quickens in excitement. She turns, but sees no one. As she returns back to her path, fingers turning over the small object – remember what Ethan told you, never give a sign you've received a drop – the same voice she heard earlier reaches her ears.
"He loved you Julia, don't think he didn't."
She whips around, but no one she recognizes is in sight. A small smile spreads on her face as she begins to return to her friends.
Julia wonders if Ethan's aware that she only loved her fiancé because Ethan wasn't there to love her back. Probably, she concedes.
She walks into the store and opens her fist, seeing a tiny plastic panda, so like the one he'd given her, in her hand. She knows what it means and is surprised by the weightless sensation that washes over her.
The woman knows what the cause of the feeling is. Be happy,he'd told her.
She turns the panda over in her palm, remembering the matching flower she still has.
He's gone, she knows. Too afraid to come back and too brave to try.
Be happy,she recalls the words again.
She gives a small smile as she rejoins her friends. She hasn't seen him since that last brief glance, but the pair of words and the emotion within them, are easy to recall.
Her answer is just as simple, just as plain as it was the last time.
I will.
The little panda drops into her purse, nestling against a petite flower ring.
This time her words are not a lie.
Fin.
A/N: And strangely, Julia doesn't think it odd that she's being talked by IMF agents. :P