Author's Note: Thanks to PeggsterLover for the beta! :)

Disclaimer: No copyright, no money, just pure fun!

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Every human being has to learn how to cope with losing – be it beloved people or precious things. Both kinds of loss can't be avoided, unless you prefer a bond-free life and own nothing, which is a way of life that is hard to achieve and thus highly unlikely. So we will just ignore any exceptional cases and go on with the story. Some people have lost things that are easily replaced, like a forgotten pencil or a broken glass. And some other people have lost things that are replaced only with great effort, if at all, like a stolen wallet or a crashed car.

Now, as an IMF agent, you have to learn to leave things behind in a disturbing system of use and reject. One might say that adapting to new things is part of the job description and Agent Benji Dunn certainly has no problem with that, although leaving equipment behind that he himself created hurts from time to time. Still, he's used to it, like he should be as a good agent. He knows that all those technological devices can be replaced. Therefore, the technician can take the loss of laptops, headphones and even beloved shirts, but what he can't take is the loss of something that can't be replaced, something that is bound to memories and to blood, sweat and tears.

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When the door to the safehouse crashed open and hit the wall with a pitiable thud, causing the old, tinted windows to tremble in their frames, Jane and Ethan shared a knowing glance. So the surveillance mission they had sent Will and Benji on didn't go quite as planned. They heard Will laugh uncontrollably while Benji seemed to be in a particularly foul mood, but they couldn't understand what exactly he was shouting about.

Jane sighed, but stood nonetheless to investigate the meaning behind the argument going on in the kitchen downstairs. "Those kids."

Ethan just grinned and shook his head. He didn't even look up from the map he was studying. It wasn't like their team wasn't used to it. The technician and the analyst were as close as best friends could get, inseparable and able to band together in the blink of an eye if one of them was threatened in any way – even if they had been quarrelling over some minor detail of a mission for the past half hour. But that closeness could also lead to particularly vicious shouting matches, because both of them knew exactly how to hurt each other. Granted, the wars of petty insults didn't last long, for they forgave easily and without any grudges held.

Ethan just hoped it wouldn't be different this time.

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Jane had to suppress a laugh when she caught sight of her two team mates in the kitchen. Both agents were soaking wet, water dripping everywhere and dark stains of mud lining their clothes and shoes. Well, Will's shoes, to be exact, for Benji stood in the middle of the kitchen, arms folded across his chest and a furious expression on his face – but with no shoes on. Jane took a moment to stare at his wet socks before shooting him a curious glance.

"Where are your shoes?"

That question set Will off again, who had been watching silently as Jane took in their appearance. He leaned forward and laughed and laughed until he wasn't able to breathe properly any more. Benji just closed his eyes, clearly wishing he could strangle the analyst and then disappear into the ground once his best friend had stopped laughing.

In the end, he decided to do neither. "I lost them."

Will straightened his back, tears of joy glistening in his eyes. "We had to jump off a bridge to lose a tail that caught us watching the warehouse." Another laughing fit interrupted his story for a moment. "And Benji lost his boots in the river, because he was too lazy to properly tie them before we left."

Jane bit her lip to refrain from laughing as well, but it was a battle she could not win. So she laughed. The flash of irritation that crossed Benji's face made her calm down, though. "Come on, that can happen to anyone. No need to be huffy."

Benji levelled her with the same betrayed glare he had shot Will just minutes before. "They were my favourite pair of boots. Do you know how long it took to break them in?" His face was deadly serious. "I'm going to take a shower."

Will shared a nonplussed glance with Jane, the grin suddenly gone. He stepped forward, trying to block Benji's path out of the kitchen. "Hey, buddy, I'm sorry. I didn't know that they were so precious to you."

The technician didn't react, but seamlessly sidestepped the analyst and left the room without another word. His team mates watched him retreat, feeling like they ought to have known better. But who could have known that their technician, who had lost countless pieces of equipment since he had joined them in the field, would get his heart broken over a pair of well-worn boots?

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Thank you very much for reading! And Happy Easter to all of you! ;)