Casual; adj – 1) happening by chance. 2) without definite or serious intention; careless or offhand; passing. 3) seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic; unconcerned.
If there was one thing that William discovered about his new team is that you rapidly learn to leave false modesty at the door. In the middle of a mission, when time was short and every second counted, it was commonplace for at least one person to be in the middle of changing at any given period.
Of course the first time that Ethan came dashing into the room, shirt already off, hands fumbling at the fly on his jeans it had spun Will out into a state of stunned surprise. His head looked like he'd shoved it up a chimney, black sooty ash clinging to his eyelashes.
"Brandt, the suit. Get me the suit."
By the time Ethan had finished shouting the words he was already in the hotel room's tiny bathroom, struggling to get his jeans off his feet. Will stood frozen for a moment until the sound of running water brought him back down to earth.
The suit, an impressively well cut navy two piece, was hanging in the impractically small closet. By the time Will had managed to find the accompanying tie that had fallen to the floor, Ethan had finished in the shower and had re-entered the main hotel room. The towel around his waist wasn't that large to begin with but was of no consequence to Ethan, who took the suit from Will's hands with a smile, let the towel drop to the floor and began to dress with seemingly no regard for the fact that Will could see everything.
"Um, your hair is still wet."
Will said as he pointed at the glistening locks on Ethan's head. Ethan grinned as he slipped the crisp, fresh white shirt over his shoulders.
"Yes. It is."
That seemed to be all he had to say on the matter, so Will just nodded.
"Okay. Right."
It felt like he had barely blinked before Ethan was tying up a shiny new pair of patent leather shoes while Will fiddled with the comms.
"Gemini, how am I coming through?" Ethan murmured as he straightened his tie.
"Loud and clear Leo." Jane's response crackled over the piece in Will's ear.
"Okay Brandt, give it half an hour and then join the party. Jane will approach you when everything is ready." Ethan explained for the thousandth time, a hand firmly clamped on Will's shoulder.
"Yeah, I got that the first dozen times we went through the plan."
Again, Ethan just flashed him a wide smile and then suddenly, he was gone.
"Well, I think that went well." Will muttered, staring at the closed door.
"Yeah."
Will whirled around with a start. Benji was seated at the rickety round table by the window, laptop perched precariously on the edge with his eyes glued to the screen. He only looked up when he realised Will was staring at him.
"What? Something on my face." Will shook his head.
"No. Just…does that happen a lot?" A slight frown formed on Benji's face.
"What? Ethan giving instructions a million times? Yeah. All the time." Will must have had the expression that Jane had taken to referring to as 'the look' cross his face, because Benji hastened to give a proper answer.
"Give it enough time, you'll see everyone without clothes on and we'll all see you without yours. It's just a part of the job. No big deal."
As if to emphasise his point, Benji turned his attention back to his laptop, effectively ending all communication. No big deal, Will thought, okay then. I'll just have to get used to this.
Jane had never been shy about taking it all off in front of the boys to facilitate a quick change. It was as normal part of a mission as a communications check, or Ethan nearly killing them all while driving the car.
So it wasn't unusual that none of them batted an eyelid when she walked into the safe house and immediately sank into the sofa while removing the ridiculously tight black shirt she'd been wearing.
"I am so glad to be able to get that off." She sighed in relief.
It was pleasant feeling able to breathe properly again.
"Since you're so relaxed, I take it everything went to plan?" Ethan asked as he glanced up from the game of cards they were playing. Jane nodded.
"Couldn't have gone smoother if I'd tried. I've set up another meeting for midday tomorrow for lunch at Blue Train."
She closed her eyes and let the soft leather of the sofa hug her skin.
"Oh, Blue Train. Fancy!" Benji commented, grinning. "That's the place that sells the martinis with actual gold in them, right?"
She tried to nod but ended up bursting into laughter. "Yeah, I can't believe I'm going. They have entrees that cost 500 dollars, and wines that are 1000 a bottle!"
She could almost feel the joy radiating from her eyes, and she couldn't stop the wide grin that had settled itself on her face. From his corner, half hidden behind his hand of cards, Will made a low grumbling sound.
"I distinctly remember saying that I'd get to seduce the rich guy the next time. But no, I got to spend my day crawling through heating ducts so narrow that I got stuck 4 times."
He looked set to continue, so Jane threw a pillow at him, catching him in the side of face and promptly shutting him up.
"Please tell me one of you thought to do some laundry today. We're great friends and I love you guys, but I'm really not in the mood for spending the evening walking around without clean pants." She said as she stood up, realised she still had her stilettos on, winced, sat down, and gently eased them off.
"As a matter of fact, I did. It's all neatly put away in your closet." Ethan raised his hand, looking pleased with himself.
Jane beamed at him as she massaged her feet.
"Thanks! I don't suppose anyone feels like cooking tonight, so while I'm changing into something more comfortable, can someone order takeout?"
Benji moved so fast that for a moment Jane wasn't quite sure that he had actually moved, but the appearance of a phone in his hand told her otherwise.
"It's okay guys. I've got this. Do you want pizza, or pizza?"
Benji wasn't expecting Will back so early.
"I wasn't expecting you back so early." He exclaimed in surprise.
That's when he noticed the blood stains that spread over almost all of the denim covering Brandt's right knee and shin.
"You're hurt!" Benji blurted out before he could stop himself.
"Nearly got thrown off a balcony. This is nothing."
Will tried to handwave any concerns away, but the slight but perceptible limp in his step showed Benji all he needed to know.
"How would you know? Have you even looked?"
Will shook his head. "Didn't have time. Took me 5 blocks to shake my tail, went another 5 blocks to be certain, and then I had to double back here."
Benji watched as Will walked determinedly over to the threadbare armchair next to television that didn't actually work. This was the worst hotel that Benji had ever had the displeasure of having to stay in.
Will leaned forward and tried to roll his jeans up but his face was starting to lose all of its colour.
"Wait, lean back, I'll do it." Benji half shouted as he ran across the room.
Brandt looked like he was about to argue then decided not to, sinking back into the chair but not allowing himself to relax.
Gingerly Benji grabbed the hem of Will's jeans and slid them upwards, trying not to be overwhelmed by the rivulets of blood that ran down Will's ankles and stained his socks. He'd barely lifted the jeans leg three inches before there was a harsh hissing sound from above him.
"You all right?" Benji asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just stinging like hell." Then, when Benji didn't move, he added "Keep going."
But after three more painful winces from Brandt, Benji refused.
"I think we'll have to go the other way." He said matter-of-factly. "It's either that or I get a pair of scissors."
Whether it was that Brandt didn't want to ruin his jeans any more than they already were, or he just didn't trust Benji with a sharp object near his skin, Brandt chose to take off his jeans in the usual fashion. Benji let out a soft gasp when the shredded, bloodied mess of Will's lower right leg was revealed.
"How the bloody hell are your jeans not torn to shreds?" He mused out loud.
Will was gazing down at his leg in a state of numb shock.
"That looks so much worse than I thought it would. Oh god, it's going to scar."
Benji shrugged. "Yeah, probably."
Jane had a small puckered scar on her abdomen from where she'd been shot, and Ethan had more scars than Benji cared to think about, some of them from that ridiculous vertical nose dive, and Benji's fingertips were calloused and rough from the rewiring he'd had to do on the ghost protocol mission. Some superficial scaring on a leg didn't seem like that big of a deal to him.
"Thanks for your support." Will muttered as he stared intently at his leg. "This is going to hurt like hell to clean."
Benji nodded absently before he abruptly stood up and walked over to the door.
"Hey, where are you going?" Will called out behind him.
"To get Ethan or Jane. They're better with this sort of thing than I am."
It didn't take long as they were sharing the room next door. Jane wore a look of heavy concern when she entered the room, but quickly broke into a smile when she caught sight of Will's underwear.
"Superman, Brandt? Really?" Behind her, Ethan let out a little chuckle.
"Didn't you know Jane? Agent Brandt is the IMF's Man of Steel."
Will tried to look angry but it was more of an upset pout.
"I'm bleeding here, can we focus on that please?"
Jane immediately gave him an apologetic look.
"Okay, I'm going to need towels, a bowl of warm water, and a soft cloth. Benji, can you get that for me? Ethan, I'll also need the medical kit."
Although Ethan was equally capable of cleaning and dressing this kind of wound there was no point in arguing with Jane. Once she made up her mind that she was doing something, she was going to do it. You'd have better luck stopping a runaway truck with a roll of duct tape.
The only towels in the hotel were white and Benji had a feeling that there would be a fee for replacement towels on their bill at the end.
He watched with fascination as Jane carefully rinsed the sticky blood from Brandt's leg revealing a series of vertical scratches and cuts along the length of his shin. The base of his knee had a huge chunk of flesh taken out of it and the area surrounding it had already started to bruise. All in all it looked painful but mostly superficial.
"Fuck." Brandt swore sharply when Jane began to dab antiseptic onto the wounds.
"I know, it stings. I don't have a choice though. It's this or probable infection."
Brandt tried to open his mouth to respond but a string of obscenities slipped out instead as he gasped in pain. Part of Benji wanted to laugh at Brandt and tell him he was being childish, but then he remembered how he had been when Ethan had been dressing his fingertips and he held his tongue.
"It's like my leg is on fucking fire." Brandt spat out bitterly.
By the time Jane finished, Brandt had a bandage around his knee and a large rectangle of thin gauze covering the lacerations on his shin.
"It hurts so much more now." He groaned as he tried to stand up.
"Adrenaline is wearing off." Ethan informed him.
The look Brandt shot at him was withering. "I'm aware of that."
Benji glanced from one man to the other, the tension in the room was palable.
"Hahahaha, okay guys, how about we focus on the bigger issues at hand. Brandt was supposed to be breaking into the vault tomorrow. I don't think he's going to be climbing down elevator shafts very easily. We need to figure out a plan B."
He could hear that he was speaking too fast, but he was just saying what had to be said.
"I'll do it." Ethan said definitively.
Benji, Jane, and Brandt all nodded. Of course he would.
Ethan woke up for the third time in an hour. He hadn't expected to sleep well since he was sharing a King size bed with three other people, but he had still hoped that he might get a few hours of relatively decent shut-eye.
"Damn it Benji, would you stop moving?"
He growled at the man whose seemingly constant tossing and turning was the main cause of his sleep disruption.
"I'm just trying to get comfortable." Benji whispered back as he rolled over again.
"Benji, shut up and sleep." Jane's sleepy murmur drifted across from the other side of the bed.
"Remind me again why I am the only one of us who is naked in the bed."
Ethan kept his eyes firmly shut but he still rolled them under their lids.
"Because you fell in the river and your clothes are still drying in front of the fireplace."
As it was Ethan was only wearing his underwear and t-shirt. His cargo pants had too many buckles and buttons to be comfortable to sleep in, no matter how cold it was. Not that it was cold with four in the bed.
They weren't even supposed to be in this little cottage but when they'd stumbled upon it in the freezing winds it had been impossible for them to turn down in favour of yet another night in the tents.
"I told you we should have bought spare clothing." Benji complained as he shifted yet again.
"And I told you that we had to pack the bare minimum. Two nights Benji, it was only going to be two nights. Anyway, if you'd listened to me when I told you that wasn't a good spot to try and cross the river you wouldn't have fallen in."
Benji could barely start a reply before Jane cut him off.
"Benji Dunn and Ethan Hunt, if you two don't shut up and go back to sleep I'm going to smother you with your pillows."
Both men had been on the receiving end of Jane's wrath before and Ethan certainly didn't want to face it again on so little sleep. Silence descended over the bed again and Benji had finally stopped moving. Gratefully Ethan felt himself beginning to drift off to sleep when a ludicrously loud snore erupted from the middle of the bed.
"Oh god, wake him up." Ethan moaned as Brandt let out another rumbling snore.
"You do it." Jane shot back as she pulled the blankets over her head.
Which was all well and good to say but unlike Jane, Ethan had Benji separating him from Brandt. Then there was the fact that Will could sleep through an earthquake.
"Benji -" Ethan started, but Benji didn't need to wait for him to finish his sentence. "On it."
Ten seconds later and Brandt woke up with a jolt, the entire bed shaking from the sudden movement.
"Fuck you. You are the worst kind of person." He said as he glared down at Benji, who was struggling not to laugh.
"What did you do?" Ethan asked.
"I stuck a wet finger in his ear."