This is completed, with six chapters. The first five are in Brandt's POV while the last is in the other three's. These are scenes set during and around the scenes from the movie, recapping from their POVs as well as adding onto it. I will update regularly, probably once every five days- that sounds like a good time frame, right?
By the way, I had a bit of a problem using William's name. I kept wanting to use Brandt! The team only calls him Brandt so we know him as Brandt. It was weird using William, but then I got used to it.
My summary: I really couldn't think of anything else. Everyone was easy to describe, except Jane. Does passionate heroine fit her?
William stood still until the other two agents realized he wasn't a threat and put their guns down. His eyes slid to the only female of the group, Carter, when she showed skepticism about him. He wasn't anywhere near the mood to argue in his defense so he just shuffled past the other agent towards the seats. Luckily Dunn didn't seem as stand-offish as Carter and was even polite enough to toss him a towel.
He sat heavily in the chair and buried his face in the towel for a moment. He couldn't believe it… And it all started with the damn Kremlin, which he had absolutely nothing to do with. Part of him wanted to blame Ethan and his team, but he knew that was unfair. No, the person to blame was Hendricks.
If the man hadn't of had this psychotic scheme then the Secretary wouldn't have been in that car with the Russian government opening fire on them. He would still be alive with William right there next to him in the stuffy party playing nice with a new ally. William knew he couldn't blame himself for the Secretary's death, but he still felt it was his responsibility to protect him at least.
Fuck was the only thing he could think of to describe the moment. Really, the whole day has been an 'oh fuck' moment. And they weren't even done yet.
William looked up when someone approached him and only then did he realize that he had been sitting there with his face buried in the towel.
"Here, I think they're your size. You can change into these," Dunn said as he held out a pile of clothes.
William took them with a slow blink. He threw a glance around and didn't see a second door leading to another room.
"Uh, where?" he asked.
Dunn gave him a look. "Here," he replied with a shrug as he gestured around the car.
William gave him a sarcastic nod and eyed the others. He saw Ethan still immersed in the briefing with Carter was standing near him but had obviously heard the conversation because she was smirking at the wall.
Thankfully, Dunn gave him privacy by stepping next to Jane and the two kept their backs towards him. William hesitated a second before admitting there was no other way and quickly stripped to his boxers, drying off as best he could. He pulled the shirt and jeans on that Dunn had given him and was pleasantly surprised that they were a good fit- not perfect, but would do. He was just grateful to be dry and warm.
He stepped over to the others when Ethan removed the headphones. "Benji, help me set this up," Ethan said to Dunn as he moved the screen back to the wall and Dunn took the USB, inserting it into a port on the computer.
"Alright, all of you start the video while I change," Ethan said shortly before grabbing some clothes and stepping past them to the other side.
When the screens flickered on, William shuffled closer with hesitant steps as the other two stood at attention for the briefing. He had done this before, of course, but it had been years. Not that he was going to explain that to these guys. Actually, part of him was hoping he'd get orders to return to D.C. Not that it would happen- the entire I.M.F. no longer existed. He shook his head and stepped closer as the video started.
Soon Ethan was stepping past William, but instead of joining the others to watch the video he headed straight to the phone. The other two made their way to the seats now that the area was clear but William stayed and stood to the side. He tried not to split his attention between Ethan's conversation and the video, reminding himself it wasn't his business.
Dunn and Carter eyed Ethan a bit but quickly returned their focus on the screens. William paced that end of the car before slowly making his way to the other side where he wouldn't feel like he was eavesdropping on Ethan's seemingly important call. He glanced at Carter and felt her scrutiny when he passed her.
Trying to not let it get to him, he leaned against the wall only to hit a button that opened the door to the weapons supply. Before he could stop himself, he jumped. He eyed the now visible weapons and was reminded just how long he had been out of the field; he was way too jumpy.
He casually nodded to the other two when they eyed him and was a little annoyed when Dunn sighed in exasperation. He slid down and perched on the small step, listening to Hendricks' speech about nuclear war. He had heard about this speech before, but never listened to it in its entirety; Hendricks really was psychotic.
When the video ended, Ethan continued the briefing and informed the other two that their new target was a nuclear extremist. Of course, none of this was news to William- he wasn't an analyst for nothing. He sat silent and listened to Ethan brief them about the situation but only reacted when the team leader told the other two about the death of the Secretary. He saw their reactions out of the corner of his eye and could relate to their disbelief.
Ethan then laid it all out bluntly and gave them the opportunity to back out. Dunn and Carter stayed silent, not that he doubted they would turn away. When he took a breath to say something- what he was even going to say, he wasn't sure- William closed his mouth when he met the intense gaze of Ethan. William knew he couldn't back out; he was involved now, he couldn't just walk away from this. The trained agent in him yelled to see this mission through.
He could see the question in Ethan's eye, asking if he wanted out. He stared a moment to be sure that the other man saw his answer before averting his eyes. He noticed Ethan nod in approval before continuing.
Unfortunately, the circumstances had too many variables that they couldn't control without I.M.F. help and William felt he needed to point those out. Carter was annoyed with his pessimism but Ethan simply ignored them and Dunn was trying to make the two happy. When the subject of Moreau came up, William easily saw that Carter had a personal debt to settle with the assassin and realized why when Ethan mentioned Hanaway.
"Benji, how far out are we from a hotel, or inn, or anything?" Ethan asked.
Dunn pulled over a laptop and, after a moment, said, "Six miles to the next town."
"Great. That gives us enough time to pack." Ethan looked through the many compartments before pulling out multiple duffle bags, tossing them at William's feet. "You pack whatever we hand you." Ethan turned to him and nodded before instructing the other two on what they were to grab.
The four were silent as they did their respective jobs until Ethan passed by Dunn. "Only pack what we need," he said sternly.
"…You never know," Dunn replied. William watched him as he grabbed up some kind of gloves and blow up arms. Before William could question his selection, Carter beat him to it.
"Benji…" she sighed. "What are you going to need those for?"
Dunn shrugged at her and repeated, "You never know…"
Carter rolled her eyes as she returned to her own scavenging. William noticed the slightly hurt look in Dunn's eyes and took pity.
"I have enough room in this bag." He held out his hands for the items and Dunn grinned at him as he handed them over.
William glanced at Carter and saw her eyeing him again. He figured that she would be the toughest to earn the trust of, out of these three. Ethan already accepted him as part of the team from the beginning, really, and Dunn's personality didn't seem to be the type to withhold trust or acceptance. With Carter, however, he read the suspicion and skepticism rolling off of her very clearly.
They finished packing their gear and supplies with enough time to sit and take a breather. William decided to sit apart from the other three and see how they interacted. He had thought wrongly that these three were an actual team. Observing them interact, he could tell that, while they shared trust, they weren't entirely familiar with each other.
Ethan was definitely a leader- that much was obvious. He seemed to regard Dunn as a friend, but a distant friend, which told William that they may have worked one or two missions together. The same for Dunn and Carter, while he suspected that this was the first time Ethan and Carter worked together.
William almost smiled when he realized that he was analyzing the group he was thrown in with. He supposed it was to be expected.
Ethan soon looked over at him. "How you doing over there, Brandt?"
William raised an eye brow. "Fine…"
Ethan eyed him before nodding.
"What exactly happened, anyways?" Dunn asked. "You two sure showed up looking like a couple of drowned rats." William frowned at his choice of words.
Ethan explained, "The Secretary and Brandt picked me up and, while we were driving, the Russians decided to open fire. One of their bullets hit the Secretary and the driver, causing the car to run off the bridge and take a dive into the lake."
Carter and Dunn gazed between the two with wide eyes. "And you two are ok?" Carter asked which Ethan and William nodded in response to.
"I can't believe this is happening…" Dunn said. "I feel sort of responsible, you know?"
Ethan looked at him in understanding. "I know how you feel, Benji, but we had no way of knowing Hendricks was there or that it was a set up."
Carter nodded slowly, agreeing with Ethan but obviously sharing in Dunn's feelings. Silence descended for a long moment until they felt the train slowing down.
"Alright, Benji, book us some rooms at the nearest place for the night. In the morning, we'll take the first available flight out to Dubai.
Dunn nodded, pulling the laptop over again and got to work. The other three let him work in silence and before they departed from the car, each had flight tickets and passports in hand.
"Wow, you're fast," William complimented him as he looked over his passport.
Dunn grinned and Carter leaned towards William to stage whisper, "He's a tech geek." She laughed, not cruelly, at Dunn's dramatic whine before catching up to Ethan.
"Ignore her; she's just jealous of my skills," Dunn claimed.
William chuckled and put the ticket and passport away in a safe place. "Well, they do look good, Dunn."
"Thanks, and you can call me Benji, by the way."
William offered him a small smile and nodded as they approached the other two at the desk.
"One room for Ferrier, huh?" Ethan turned and gave Benji a slight glare.
Benji held his hands up in defense. "Hey, it was short notice, alright! That's all they had available."
When the receptionist nodded in confirmation Ethan sighed and handed over some bills from the supply cache. As they were riding the elevator up to their room, Jane firmly stated that she claimed the bed.
"Wait a minute!" Benji immediately argued. "That didn't give us," he pointed between himself, Ethan, and William, "a fair chance to claim it."
"I don't care," Ethan said, "Jane can have it."
Benji frowned at him before looking at William.
William shrugged; he wasn't about to deny a lady the bed. Benji sighed in dismay and crossed his arms with a pout. Jane chuckled at him before clapping a hand on his shoulder.
"Next time we have to share a room, you can have the bed, alright?" Benji gave her a small grin as he shook his head. "And I say that Ethan and Brandt get first go at the shower. After your swim in the lake, I'm sure you would appreciate it."
Ethan and William quickly nodded at her observation as the elevator arrived at their floor. They entered their room and set the bags to the side as Ethan said, "Since Benji got us a late morning flight we can take the time to get new clothes, which means we need to have an early start in the morning. Brandt take the bathroom first, I need to do something."
William nodded and did just that. He made sure to be quiet in the bathroom when he noticed the glances between the others. He figured they were going to discuss him and wanted to know what they would say. Unfortunately, they were being quiet as well and he only caught bits and pieces.
"…second time bringing in the lost puppies, Ethan," Carter said.
"What do we do with him during the mission?" Benji asked.
"…kept his cool when we were being shot at so…" Ethan defended his case.
Then they went really quiet and William realized that he had been too quiet in here so he quickly turned the shower on. Knowing he wouldn't get anymore, William went ahead with his shower, savoring the warm, clean, water and used a liberal amount of shampoo and soap. When he exited, the others had called up room service and had the food lined up in the small dining area.
When the aroma hit William he only then just realized how hungry he was. Because of the events of the day, his last meal was breakfast, which wasn't very much to begin with. He grabbed a plate for himself as Ethan took his turn in the bathroom. Taking a seat next to Benji- who was munching on his portion and flipping through channels- on the couch he couldn't help but comment, "Ah, a good old lumpy couch…"
Benji paused and slowly turned to him with a glare. William heard Carter stifling a laugh. William grinned and took a bite of his food. "This is really good, what is it?"
"Cow tongue," Benji replied flatly.
William froze mid chew.
"That's disgusting, Benji," Carter said.
William looked at Benji, who shrugged, before looking at Carter. He swallowed thickly before asking, "He's joking, right?" Please let him be joking…
"Yes, he is. Its roast duck," she replied.
"Oh, thank god…" William said and turned back to Benji with a glare.
Benji turned with an innocent smile. "It's a delicacy to some," he said before turning back to the TV.
William cracked a small grin and looked at Jane to see her shake her head with a smile. William shook his own head as he continued to eat the thankfully-not-cow-tongue food and watched whatever channels Benji paused at.
About an hour later when Ethan suggested they all try to sleep, Carter said, "Good night, boys," with a smirk before closing herself into the only bedroom.
Benji grumbled something that William didn't catch. Looking around, he wondered exactly where the three would crash. One of them would be lucky enough to get the couch and another less-but-still lucky other would get the recliner. Then whoever was left was stuck with the floor. The three eyed each other before Benji suddenly threw himself down flat on the couch, nearly knocking William off with his feet.
"Hey!" William exclaimed as he jumped up to avoid being kicked.
"Oh, look at that- I get the couch!" Benji grinned at the two.
William glared at him and Ethan shook his head. "Go ahead and take the recliner," the leader said.
William sighed. As much as we wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the floor, he knew that Ethan would be the more likely to need a better night's sleep. "No, it's ok." When Ethan gave him a stern look as if to say 'don't argue' William insisted and voiced his reasoning.
"But I'm used to sleeping under harsh conditions; you're not," Ethan pointed out.
Well, he thought he pointed out. Ignoring Ethan, William went to a cabinet to look for blankets and pillows. Feeling the need for some revenge, he threw his findings on top of Benji and smirked at the insulted noises coming from beneath the pile.
Before Ethan could act, William grabbed two pillows and a blanket and lowered himself to the floor. With a momentary smug glance at Ethan, William bid them good night and stretched out in his spot between the bedroom and couch and threw the blanket over his head to ward off any further arguments.
Benji was stifling a laugh, but William didn't have to be looking to know that Ethan was glaring at him. And then Benji observed, "He's just as stubborn as you are, Ethan."
Under the blanket, Williams smirked at the remark but didn't comment. As everyone went quiet, he thought about his current situation. However, knowing he didn't have time to dwell on it he chose sleep over wallowing.
