A/N: So… after my latest sad one shots I decided to write something more light hearted before coming back to the long story I am now working on.
Written for PeggsterLover's prompt: "Ethan and Benji are out for a drink when a group of thugs jump them. The thugs have no idea what they've got themselves into".
Disclaimer: I don't own Mission: Impossible.
The Wrong People
Ethan Hunt felt a bit uneasy on his legs. He didn't remember when he had last laughed so much. Or had drunk so much. Not that he was drunk, it was just that he hadn't been as relaxed in quite a while. It had been one hell of a mission, which involved much more agents than the usual teams. And it had been one hell of a celebration after it. There was one major disadvantage of his present condition though: it was some kind of a persistent ringing in his ears. The more he focused on his surroundings, the more the ringing resembled a human voice. Great, now I'm hearing imaginary voices, he growled silently. A bit more focus and the voice proved to be very real.
"Are you even listening to me?" after locating the source of the voice the process of identification of its owner didn't take long. Benji seemed to be holding himself slightly steadier, Ethan noticed with a hint of jealousy, probably because at some points he had preferred to pass a round. What was it that he liked? Oh, right, cranberry juice. Ethan snickered at the thought. He had heard some great jokes about that drink. Brandt might have found them amusing. Benji – probably not so much though. If only he had remembered earlier…
"Yeah, of course I'm listening," replying to the Englishman's question probably took him longer than it should but better late than never.
"Yeah, right," Benji sounded skeptical but only for a second. "So have you heard that they discovered a particle that can be identified as the Higgs boson? If they prove it, it's gonna be the…" even in the dark he could notice the older agent's glare which made him fall silent. It was the moment when Ethan remembered why he had stopped listening in the first place.
The former technician let out an exasperated sigh.
"Sorry," he muttered timidly. "You know, sometimes I really regret leaving the lab. I miss the guys. Not that I want to go back. It's just that… we could talk about stuff like this and understood each other, you know…"
He trailed off, seeing how his team leader stopped and tensed, looking around the darkened archway they were now in.
"We're not alone, are we," it wasn't even a question. Benji just stated the fact that didn't need a confirmation.
Said confirmation, however, did arrive as both of the ways out of the passage got blocked by three people each.
"You guys," one more thug spoke, emerging from the darkness, "are on our territory. And we don't like it when someone wanders around here without our permission".
Benji rolled his eyes, letting out a quiet and yet audibly annoyed groan.
"Where did you get all those clichés?" he asked, seemingly not amused at all. "You must be watching too many movies".
For a few seconds there was silence as nobody knew what to do. The thugs were just stunned at how this British guy talked to them. Nobody had ever done that before. He must be mad, stupid or suicidal. Or too drunk to function. Ethan and Benji just waited for the attackers to act, as the ways out were still blocked, not letting them leave.
The silence was broken when one of the goons felt his anger at this talkative stranger grow too high and ran forward at him, yelling something consisting mainly of various profanities. Some of them, Benji had to admit, were pretty creative. In a split second before the seemingly inevitable collision the Brit moved slightly to the side and grabbed the goon's arm, changing his course a slightest bit and making him crash into the wall and fall down, out cold. The event had a remarkable effect on his fellows who suddenly unfroze and decided to attack.
Soon both agents found another disadvantage to their state. As they were dodging attacks, it was slightly more difficult to react in time. Benji caught a punch to the jaw but avoided the second one aimed at his temple right before delivering one himself. He made sure the goon bumped into his mate on his way down. While the second one was still disoriented after the unexpected movement, he wasted no time before delivering a kick to his face. Making sure both of them were out and feeling slightly nauseous after so many sharp movements, he stood up to take a breath. In his peripheral view he saw Ethan finishing off two of the three thugs in his pack, flipping the second one through the air in an impressive somersault. However, the third goon who looked like a giant caveman already had his hands wrapped around the older agent's throat. Without thinking much, Benji picked up a small piece of a brick and threw it at the thug's back, feeling some relief at seeing him actually react and seemingly loosening his grip on Ethan.
"Over here, you colossal fossil!" Benji yelled, wondering where the hell that line had come from. However, it did have its effect as the goon let go of Ethan, who immediately started to cough, and began to move towards the former technician. Benji let out a high-pitched yelp, realizing that he hadn't quite thought this through. There was like a second of absolute silence during which the Englishman was getting prepared to say goodbye to this cruel world before he heard a sound of a well placed punch. He watched the goon fall down, Ethan standing behind him with a rather large piece of brick in his hand. He was still breathing heavily but otherwise looked fine.
Looking around, the Brit counted the thugs lying on the ground, folding his fingers for assistance. There were six of them. He could swear there had been seven at the start.
"Hey!" he yelled at the gang's 'spokesman' who was gaining speed after merely watching the fight from aside. Just a few seconds later two hands grabbed his shoulders, making him stop abruptly. He was turned back and slammed into a wall, his back hitting it with a thud, and made to look at two people in front of him.
"Leaving your friends behind?" one of them snarled, still trying to catch his breath. "You are missing the fun".
"What are you, some fucking ninja turtles?" the thug squeaked, looking at the men with pure horror.
"Hmmm…" the blond man paused, as if seriously considering that possibility. "I don't think so. You should have seen some of the lizards I used to perform experiments on in my lab! Most fascinating".
The other guy rolled his eyes and after a moment of sharp pain the thug was finally consumed by darkness.
"Awww," Benji whined theatrically. "You didn't let me finish! What if he had gotten interested in science?"
"I really doubt it," Ethan replied with a smirk.
"Yeah, guess you're right," the Brit let out a tired chuckle. He looked at the defeated enemies, some of which began to regain consciousness. His features became more serious as the adrenaline of the fight was wearing off. "Remember what I said about missing my old job being a technician?"
"Yeah?"
"Scrap that. This is so much more fun!"
"You're bleeding," the team leader deadpanned and watched the younger agent touch his split lip.
"You nearly got strangled," Benji retorted childishly.
Ethan couldn't help but laugh. They both turned to make their way out, leaving the panicked thugs to run, go or crawl away.
As they approached the crossroad after which they would go their separate ways, Ethan recalled how Benji had intervened into his fight with the large goon.
"Benji… that big guy you distracted from me…" he said, outstretching his hand. "Thank you".
"It's alright," the Brit answered, shaking the hand. "They just messed with the wrong people…" his face suddenly changed into a wince. "Damn it!"
"What's wrong?" Ethan asked with concern.
"I didn't get to say that line to them! When will I have another opportunity like that?"
Ethan laughed again as Benji turned away, still looking slightly annoyed. He stood there for a few more seconds before turning in the opposite direction and making his way home.