*A/N I do not own Mission Impossible, or any of the characters. I only own my own character. Story contains spoilers for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

Moscow

'How did I let them talk me into this?' Kat wondered.

She and two of her friends were currently outside the Kremlin, and Kat honestly had no idea why. It wasn't that she couldn't appreciate the culture and history behind the building; sure, she had never really liked history but that was mostly because she hated being tested on the material. And she loved culture, one of the reasons she had studied so many languages throughout highschool and college. No, what she couldn't understand was why she had to be standing outside the Kremlin while her friends flirted with a few of the young men from a British tour group.

This was the fourth time that day, and Kat was honestly starting to get tired of 'touring' the old Russian city. When her old college roommate had invited them to her home, Kat had thought she would enjoy a five-day trip to Russia; so far, she was at day two and already regretting taking her friend's offer. The first day had been all about 'touring' the local bars and clubs, the other two girls chatting up any man they could - even though Bella couldn't even speak Russian. In some ways, you had to admire the redhead's skills. And today, they'd gone around the city on what Kat had been hoping would be an actual tour but had turned into finding all the good-looking men they could and flirting with them in front of famous landmarks.

'I really just want to go home.' Kat sighed, brushing back her long brown hair as she stared blankly at the Kremlin walls once more from where she stood a few paces away from where Bella and Anya were chatting with the British men. 'Why did I think this was a good idea again?'

As the thought passed through Kat's mind, she spotted someone coming out of the Kremlin, slipping out a side door not too far from where she was. While that, in itself, might not have been cause for suspicion, she frowned as she watched the man slip his jacket on… backwards. Except, it looked like it was supposed to be on backwards. Except she was pretty sure she'd seen military insignia on the other side of the jacket.

His brown eyes met her green ones as she frowned at him, and she watched as his eyes narrowed just slightly- as though he was gauging her reaction. But a few seconds later, they were all distracted as the entire ground shook beneath their feet, almost knocking Kat off her feet. Bella and Anya also finally paused in their flirtations, joining the rest of the crowd as they all looked around in confusion. Kat turned to look back at the strange man just as he turned and met her gaze once more, this time in horror.

Kat found out why a second later. An entire section of the Kremlin suddenly blew up, the building starting to crumble as the ground gave way. Kat gasped as she watched with wide-eyed fear and then terror as the explosion caused a ripple effect and she screamed as the ground began to collapse all around the Kremlin. She spun, starting to run away as she heard Anya and Bella also scream, but she tripped as the ground shook once more.

She hit the floor, feeling the pain flare up on her knees but she tried to ignore it as she started to get up in panic. She had to run, she knew that, but she also knew she wasn't going to make it. She had already been too close, and the fall had cost her seconds she didn't have. As the despairing thought gripped her, she heard a man yell: "Get down!"

Kat didn't even have time to act on the order before someone grabbed her from behind, dragging her down as he shielded her with his body and the ground exploded behind them. Kat flew through the air, the force of the blast knocking her out before she even hit the ground.

Kat slowly regained consciousness, groaning slightly as she opened her eyes and squinted, trying to focus through her bleary vision. She was lying flat on a bed somewhere, maybe back at Anya's house - although she had no idea where or why or how - and from the sound of it, someone had turned on the TV. She couldn't quite remember how she'd gotten back; it was somewhat of a blur…

But as she fully woke up, she groaned again. Everything hurt- her head, her body, her limbs, particularly her knees. Kat moaned again, slowly lifting her hand with the intent of clutching her throbbing head but stopped as a metal clang sounded and something bit into her wrist, abruptly pulling her hand back down.

Kat frowned, glancing down as she tried to clear her vision. Her eyes slowly focused on the silver circlet wrapped around her right wrist, and she tried to lift her left hand to pull at the new addition to her jewellry. She stopped when there was another soft clang and her left hand was also pulled back. Kat turned her head to see the same metal circlet around her left wrist and her eyes widened as her mind finally registered what the metal circlet was.

"What the hell?" She cried in a panic as she jiggled her arms, trying to free her hands from the handcuffs.

"What?" Someone groaned from beside her and Kat whipped her head around to see a brown-haired man lying on a cot beside her, the same man she'd seen coming out of the Kremlin-

"Oh, my God." Kat gasped as she remembered: the Kremlin had exploded, and so had the ground, and she'd run, Bella and Anya had run, they'd all run, and-

"Sh." The man groaned at her as he shifted, wincing slightly at the movement. He seemed to be looking at the TV right across from them, playing the news and showing them the smoking remains of the one wing of the Kremlin.

Kat swallowed, examining him quickly as he stared at the TV. He was quite handsome with chocolate brown hair, currently looking a little singed from their encounter with the Kremlin explosion, and piercing brown eyes. He was shirtless and his feet were bare, and Kat's breath caught when she saw the man's extremely well-toned chest and stomach. He had to workout at least a few hours every day to get abs like that, but Kat was more worried about the dark blue and purple bruises forming along his sides. If he looked that bad…

She shifted, now taking in her situation and surroundings. She was dressed in a hospital gown, also barefoot, and cuffed to a bed in a Russian hospital while nurses and doctors ran around, shouting orders as more and more injured people were rolled in through the doors. Her whole body ached in a way that told her she probably had wicked bruising as well, and she could feel some cuts on her face although it didn't appear to be too bad. It almost felt like a paper cut- just on her face.

Her knees also burnt., and glancing down, she saw that they were indeed cut and also slightly bruised, although it didn't look as bad as she feared either. At most, she figured she'd need ice and maybe a stitch or two although it looked like she'd gotten lucky on her fall.

'Yeah. Really lucky.' Kat thought anxiously as she glanced over to the TV, reading the headlines and listening to the newscaster as best as she could. The images were horrifying, showing the people being hauled out and medics shouting as they tried to get everyone onto stretchers and to help. Kat frowned however, when she heard what the newscaster was saying. Her Russian wasn't quite that good, but she did catch parts of it that sounded like the explosion had been an accident.

'Accident? Unlikely.' She thought, when she was distracted as a scratchy male voice commented: "Our media," she glanced over to see a Russian man, about late forties at a guess, as he circled her and her companion's beds, "is no more truthful than yours… American."

He said the last word like it was dirt in his mouth, his already heavy accent spitting out the word as his lips curled back in distaste. Kat swallowed, wondering who this man was and what he wanted. Was he the reason she was handcuffed to the bed?

"But we three know," the man continued as he circled Kat before stopping beside the American man once more, "that there'll cause of the explosion was you."

He looked right at the pair, his dark, angry eyes moving between Kat and the strange man beside her as he held up the jacket Kat had seen the stranger wearing when he'd come out of the Kremlin. And she swallowed when the Russian flipped the jacket to show part of the inside… which had Russian military insignia. Just as Kat had suspected she'd seen.

'Oh, God.' She groaned. 'I'm lying next to a terrorist.'

The Russian man had pulled a recorder from his pocket and he played a message back to Kat and the stranger beside her: 'Awaiting your go sign, Team leader. Standing by to detonate.'

Kat blanched while the stranger sighed. He looked like he was about to argue, but the Russian man interrupted before he could even open his mouth, saying darkly: "The worst part for you, 'team leader'...is I'm the man assigned to make you and your partner suffer for it," Kat frowned, "for what you did to my country."

He leant back but Kat interrupted, her heart starting to pound as dread trickled like ice down her spine: "Wait," the Russian glanced at her, "what partner?"

He raised a brow as he looked at her and she panicked.

"Look, you've got it wrong." Kat pleaded. "I don't know this guy, I was just visiting!"

"She really does have nothing to do with this." The stranger told the man as Kat struggled to try and get through to the man.

"Nice try." The Russian sneered. "But you found with him," he looked back at Kat, "and we found your DNA on this." He held up the jacket. "And this in your bag."

The man held up a piece of broken equipment and Kat frowned at it, not understanding.

"The remains of a highly specialized hacking technology." He finished, and Kat's eyes widened as she looked at the man in panic.

"That's not mine." Kat stammered, glancing at the American lying beside her as he grimaced. Clearly, he knew what the tech was. "Look, I'm just a normal tourist, I can prove it with my passport or-"

The man had raised both brows, watching her as though entertained as he leant back, reaching for a lighter as he stuck a cigarette casually in his mouth. But before he could light it, it was snatched out of his mouth by the nurse as she snapped at him in Russian: "This is clinic, not a bar."

The Russian man glared at the nurse but she glared right back as she scolded: "Don't give me that look. Misha!" She called sharply to one of the men helping with all the injured people. "Help me with him. Quick!"

Kat's heart dropped as the nurse and the man called Misha began to roll the American stranger off.

"No, wait!" She cried. He was the one behind this entire thing, and the reason she was also being partly blamed for the crime she didn't commit. Hell, she didn't even know what a bomb actually looked like, let alone set one off on a world famous landmark! And Kat had the sinking feeling that if she got separated from the man, she would be doomed.

"Hey!" Kat cried, while the Russian man watched her with amusement as she squirmed.

"You sure are putting on a convincing act." The man observed and she glared at him.

But before Kat could argue, or even open her mouth, another nurse had come to roll her away while the Russian man's assistant hurried over and began to speak with him in a hushed undertone. Kat just caught the words: 'question them' before she was rolled into a ward, away from everyone. She began to panic, not knowing what to do as she tried to twist her hands free to no avail.

Kat jumped when someone suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth, silencing her scream as she turned her startled eyes to the side. Her eyes widened as she saw it was the stranger from before, somehow free from his own manacles.

"Don't scream, and I'll get you out of here." The man promised and Kat swallowed. He stared at her, clearly waiting for a response and Kat slowly, reluctantly, nodded. The man removed his hand, starting to work what Kat saw was a bent paperclip into her handcuffs.

"Why are you helping me?" Kat demanded quietly, and he glanced up at her just as he unlocked the first handcuff.

"Because I'm the one who dragged you into this mess." He admitted. "They found your DNA on my jacket, and that's why you've become a suspect."

Kat's body seemed to be freezing over, her fear making her blood go cold as her heart sank to her stomach.

"But I sweat I'll get you out of this, and get you home." He promised as he stared right into her eyes. Kat blinked taken-aback by the sincerity in the man's brown eyes.

"...Are you trying to gain my trust, kidnap me, and somehow place the blame on me?" Kat deadpanned as the man removed the last handcuff.

"Will you even believe me if I say no?" The man sighed as he moved around her bed, going towards the ward window.

"No." Kat admitted. "Why can't we just call the police?"

"Because that was the police." He told her, nodding out the doorway. Kat glanced over to see the Russian man from earlier, still absorbed in his conversation with his assistant, or rather, she realized, his partner.

"So why can't we go to them and tell them the truth?" Kat demanded, and the man sighed.

"Because they're convinced we're the ones who set off that bomb, and with my coat, they have 'proof' against us." His tone clearly made air-quotes on the word as he spoke and Kat glared at him as he opened the window. "And in case you didn't know, Russia isn't exactly our best friend, so our so-called attack gives them all the excuse they need to kill us. If we're lucky."

Kat paled, but she tried to keep her voice strong as she demanded: "What makes you not the bomber?"

"It wasn't me." He told her firmly, and she challenged: "How can I believe that, if you're so anxious to avoid the police?"

"Look," the man sighed, "you can stay if you want, and I'll just go on my way. But those guys are probably going to take you in and torture you, thinking you're a terrorist, or worse."

Kat swallowed, once again fighting panic as she asked slowly: "What do you mean by 'worse'?"

He just looked at her before he hopped onto the windowsill.

"So, the way I see it," he continued as he moved out the window and onto the ledge right outside while Kat ogled, "you have three choices. One, you stay here and get caught and tortured or killed for information you obviously don't have."

She lost all colour she'd had, but he went on as though he hadn't seen: "Two, you try to get away on your own and see how far you can get."

She swallowed, but again he went on: "Or three," he looked right at her, "you follow me, do as I say, and I promise I'll get you home safe."

She stared at him, deliberating, and his eyes flickered behind her, towards the open doorway.

"Any time now would be good." He said pointedly and Kat finally found her tongue.

"Are you a spy or something?" She asked, and he glanced at her before looking back at the door.

"Something like that." He answered and Kat swallowed, hard. She moved over to where he was sitting on the window ledge and Kat's heart clenched when she saw the five floor drop below.

"Will I get home alive?" Kat whispered and the man's eyes softened to warm brown.

"I promise I'll try." He replied seriously, and Kat took a deep breath.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she climbed up and out the window, the man helping her settle on the window ledge. She could hear an ambulance siren wailing somewhere in the distance, but Kat tried not to focus on that or to look down as the man began to move, edging along the narrow ledge and towards the building corner as he kept himself pressed against the hospital wall.

"Come on." He urged her when he glanced back and saw she hadn't moved.

"Yeah… coming." Kat breathed and he glanced back at her sharply.

Kat didn't see his concerned look, too busy taking a deep breath before getting to her feet shakily. She placed her bare feet gingerly on the cold stone ledge, leaning her entire body flat against the hospital wall as she carefully edged her way after the 'spy'.

"One step at a time." Kat muttered to herself, keeping her eyes trained on her feet and the foot or so ahead of her path along the wall. She was so focused on watching her feet and trying not to slip on the slanted stone, she missed the surprise that crossed her companion's face before he turned and quickly made it to the edge of the ledge.

He peered around the corner, looking for a way down, just as Kat reached his side. Kat kept herself focused on her breathing, glancing back at the windowsill they'd climbed out of as she tried to keep her eyes distracted from the long drop down. But her breath caught at what she saw, and she reached her right hand over to tap her companion's shoulder.

"Uh…" She began and he glanced back at her.

Catching the direction of her gaze, he glanced at the window and made a slight face. There, leaning partially out of the window, was the Russian policeman, his brow raised as he watched them.

"What do we do?" Kat whispered as the Russian glanced down. Her companion did the same, his expression contemplative and Kat looked down at what he was staring at. She blanched.

"You aren't." She said shakily as she stared at the open dumpster below. The policeman seemed to be entertained by their predicament as he leaned casually against the windowsill, pulling out his cigarette. Kat glanced back at the Russian, as did her companion, and the policeman simply gestured down at the bin casually, challenging them to jump.

"Oh, God." Kat moaned as her companion breathed heavily, shifting as though preparing himself to jump. The Russian had taken out his lighter, lighting his cigarette as he settled to watch their decision and Kat honestly wanted to smack the man, kill her companion, or kill herself. Maybe all of the above.

She sighed, partly in relief and partly in fear, as her companion deliberated for another moment before he sagged slightly in defeat and he glanced at Kat and then the Russian man sheepishly.

The Russian caught the look and he called humorously: "Not a good idea."

"Seemed like one." Kat's companion replied lightly. "A minute ago."

The Russian nodded, as though in understanding, before he gestured for them to come back. Kat glanced at her companion, and then her face fell in dismay as he reached over to hold her steady before nudging her to go back towards the police officer. Kat bit her lip, fighting the despair that was starting to set in her stomach as she slowly did as he silently urged. The Russian officer was smiling smugly as the pair inched their way back, Kat's face clearly resigned.

Suddenly though, her partner nudged her again to stop. Kat paused uncertainly, glancing back as she balanced precariously on the slippery ledge. Her companion's gaze was shifting around, pausing momentarily down below before he suddenly reached for his belt.

"Trust me?" He whispered to her so that the Russian couldn't hear them above the ambulance siren. She stared at him as he pulled his belt, grasping it in a loop in his hand.

"What?" She whispered, and he murmured: "Hold onto me. Tight."

Kat did as he said quickly, wrapping her arms and legs around his side and making the Russian man frown as he watched them, puzzled.

"Don't let go." Kat's companion murmured and before she could answer he leapt off the ledge.

Kat screamed bloody murder as her companion threw his belt over a cable line that ran from the hospital roof to the roof of the next building across the street, about four stories below. A part of her noted she should probably keep quiet but her body betrayed her as fear took over. They sailed down the line, Kat clinging to her companion for all she was worth as he took them down.

"Hang on!" He ordered and Kat almost retorted before she screamed again as he let go of his belt. They crashed onto the roof of a van as it drove right below them, and Kat's screams cut off as they skid right off the roof and onto the pavement below.

Her companion wrapped his arms around her as they tumbled, shielding her as best as he could as they landed with pained grunts, rolling along the street as the van came to a screeching halt beside them. Kat vaguely heard the driver yelling at them in Russian, but she was too dazed to focus on the words and so had no idea what he was saying.

"Run!" Her companion suddenly ordered, pulling her to her feet and dragging her with him around the nearest corner, before the Russian policeman could fire at them.

"What?" Kat asked, still in shock, and he ordered: "Run!"

He grabbed her hand, pulling her with him as he sprinted away down the street and away from the murderous Russian police. As they ran, their feet pounding on the cobbled stone pavement, all Kat could think was: 'What did I ever do to deserve this kind of bad luck?'