Will
The trip to Dubai had been painstaking. Cramped in the back of the land rover with Eve, pretending I didn't know her. She kept glancing at me and I tried to ignore her. We hadn't had a chance to be alone, her eyes were full of questions, none of which I could answer without letting Ethan and Jane know that there was more to William Brandt than a simple chief analyst.
Time would tell. I tried to focus on what was ahead of us. But memories flowed up from a room I had locked them away in so long ago.
LONDON – 2.5 years ago
She was walking, quickly whilst still appearing unhurried through the cobblestoned streets, little cafes lined the walkway as she wove in amongst tourists and locals all vying for their lunch time table and meal.
I was still ahead of her, shadowing her; as she rounded a corner, I grabbed her, pulling us into an alleyway and pushing her up against the wall of the building. A sharp intake of breath as she prepared to fight me off before recognition flowed through her. Hazel eyes met mine. With a quirky smile, I looked down at her.
Her surprised smile was reward enough, but to see her, touch her, have her in my arms again was indescribable. She brought her hands up to my face, soft hands caressing my cheeks as she sighed happily.
"Where have you been?" She pulled me into her, resting her forehead against mine, our breaths intermingling.
"To London, to look at the Queen." I avoided her question with a smile. She shook her head, our noses brushing against each other.
"William Brandt... do not tease me." She looked up at him sternly as she pulled just a minuscule distance away. Then her eyes started to soften.
"I missed you." She whispered.
I could feel my brow furrow into concern for her. I had missed her too, more than I wanted to admit. More than I was allowed to admit. We were risking so much as it was, but I couldn't help it, I could not let her go.
Without an answer I lifted her chin with one hand, cupping her face with my other as I delicately kissed her, my tongue softly running along her lips, she tasted of tea and honey. I darted my tongue further in, probing her, deepening the kiss, showing her how much I had missed her in the last three months I had been on assignment. It was getting worse, now the team was reassigned, we could barely meet every few months before being shipped off on another mission. I sighed, content to be in the moment with her, just holding her.
A week later I'd received new orders. I was being sent on protective duty. We bore the news as well as all the other times, but it was getting harder to say goodbye. At the train station, a light summer rain drizzling down on us, we'd held each other close, lingering kisses as we waited for my train.
"I'll see you soon." I whispered to her, I knew she would be ok, she was tough. My heart skipped a beat in fear whenever I could not be there to protect her. But that was harsh reality of our job.
She nodded. "Be safe." I love you, her eyes said. But I never said it, nor did she.
The Burj Khalifa appeared before us, rousting me out of my memories. Eve was no longer looking in my direction, absorbed in diagrams and blueprints on her computer. I allowed my gaze to fall on the hotel before us, and set my mind to the task at hand. We arrived at the hotel and all four disembarked carrying our bags. There was no time to lose.
"34 minutes to door knock." I said, setting the timer before Eve's computer. She raised an eyebrow at me questioningly before looking back to her blueprints. How I wished I had time to take her aside and talk.
"Wow, um, ok..." She started, a look of slight panic coming over her face. "This is a slight wrinkle but nothing to worry about." I raised my eyes at that comment, I've heard that before. "We're just going to have to go into the server room from the outside." She finished, with an apologetic look in Ethan's direction.
We didn't have time for this. I watched Ethan's face turn to one of disbelief. "What?"
Eve explained how the firewalls were military grade, and without our back-up from IMF, it would take too long to hack it. We had to go through the outside, there was no other choice.
"If we can't get to the server, we don't control the elevators, and we don't control the security cams." I stated, my hands balling into fists inside my pockets. I tried to look calm, but a my gut felt like a stone had just settled in it. "This operation is over before it even begins."
Eve looked at me, then back at Ethan, "I'm telling you, we can get to the server from the outside."
"We?" Ethan asked
"Well... I'm on the computer," Eve said. Ethan looked at me.
"I'm just the … the helper." I said, gesturing at Eve who smirked at my play on her comment earlier. Now was not the time to reveal my military skills. Let Ethan do the walk.
Ethan shrugged out of his jacket and started to pace in front of the window, staring warily down the 120 floors to the ground. I could appreciate that in him, straight to the point.
"Vent ducts?" Ethan asked suddenly, turning to Eve.
"Pressure sensitive." She replied quickly.
"Not enough time." I put in.
"Elevator shaft?" Ethan asked.
"Infrared sensors." Eve said.
"Not enough time." I echoed, starting to pace myself.
Eve was busy rifling through her bag.
"How am I supposed to do this?" Ethan asked, more to himself than anyone in the room. His answer, a black glove tossed in his direction. It hit the window, blue lights shining from the back of it as it clung to the glass. Ethan turned to give Eve a look of skepticism, wondering mildly if she had finally gone mad. I cringed, glad it was him and not me.
Eve was going over the gloves with Ethan, I listened to her voice letting it wash over me while I tried to look busy.
"Just remember blue is glue." She finished. Ethan looked at her, his face just centimetres from her. She returned his gaze unflinching.
"And what is red?" He questioned.
"Dead." She said simply, patting him on the shoulder with a grim look and moving away.
We all stood around looking pensive. We were over 120 storeys up, red, dead, indeed. The look of worry had returned to Eve's face after her brief foray into amusement, trying to lift the heaviness from the life or death situation before us. I could see her trying to figure out another way in her head, she was always planning, always thinking through the possibilities. There's not enough time.
She looked at Ethan, he met her eyes, she was worried about him. I watched as she grasped his arm in her hand and words passed unspoken between them. I felt a stab of jealously rise, but fought it down. They were old friends, nothing more. He'd saved her life. And it wasn't as if I had a right to judge anyway. I looked away to the window that was now missing from the side of the building, fighting to get my emotions under control.
Ethan took a few steps to the edge, and then with one decisive movement, plastered his hand against the glass.
Eve
Ethan started to climb up the glass, my heart was in my chest and I couldn't breathe. But as I saw him confidently moving up I shook my head and got myself back into the game. Get it together Dunne, I told myself, there's work to be done. I was also suddenly very conscious that I was alone in the room with Brandt. I'd caught a look of something... though what eluded me... as I'd looked at Ethan earlier. I shook my head and rounded the computer to the mask machine, setting the program to task in creating Wistrom and Moreau's likenesses.
"What is that?" Ethan's voice sounded over the com. I glanced up, wondering what he was talking about, and my mouth hung open at the storm we suddenly saw approaching from the horizon. In a moment I was standing with Brandt at the window, having completely forgotten I was avoiding him.
"What the hell is that?" Brandt asked beside me.
"It's a sandstorm." I replied. "It's a long way off Ethan. Shouldn't be a problem." I tried to reassure him. I met Will's eyes, neither of us were convinced.
Jane entered the room, looked around, and asked simply "Where's Ethan?" I drew a breath, it was explanation time.
23 minutes to door knock. It was going to be close. Ethan's voice came over the coms, confirming he had reached server level. We could hear him struggling to break the window, the tempered glass was strong, and then he slipped, a grunt coming over our earpieces.
"I'm in." He informed us.
"That's great Ethan, you're half way home." I replied.
The server was ours, we had control of the security cameras. Jane and I hurried out the door to start the redecorating, we were cutting it short. Jane headed back to the suite to get her disguise ready, I had just a few more doors to complete.
"Your line's not long enough!" I heard Brandt's voice come over the com. Suddenly there was a bunch of grunting from everyone involved, and I hurried back to the suite just in time to see Brandt go flying out the window, Jane hot on his heels, grabbing his ankle. I dropped the tools on the floor, my heart in my mouth as I lunged forward to assist Jane.
Brandt had Ethan by the foot, both of them dangling precariously out the window. Jane was holding on to Brandt by nothing more than his ankle. I grabbed his other leg, and together Jane and I hauled them both back into the room. Everyone lay for a moment, contemplating their mortality, not voicing the horror of what had just been narrowly averted. Brandt met my eyes, they were relieved and thankful, filled gratitude that they hadn't all just plummeted to their deaths. I gave him a small smile and then stood up. Time to work.
I was going over the tracking devices with Ethan, the paper, the range, and all the while my mind was on my task ahead, and on the man who was fiddling with the retinal contact scanner – I recalled how he didn't like having his view obscured at any time. He wasn't hurt, my heart gladdened at that, I was surprised to feel old familiar feelings coming back to me, feelings I thought I'd discarded long ago. Will was safe, he was safe. My mind returned to my rescue from Korea, Ethan, there for me when Will had not been. Ethan reassuring me I was safe. Ethan, disappearing, only to turn up in a Russian prison of all places. I had been alone all this time, my heart had healed, or so I had thought. I frowned as all these feelings and more flowed through my mind as the others talked strategy.
WASHINGTON D.C – Just over two years ago.
He was back, already. But this was not the same William Brandt who had left me. He stalked the rooms of my apartment - the one we secretly shared when not on missions - haunted, angry, seething with self-hatred underneath a sadness he could not voice.
He turned to me, pain in his eyes.
"I don't want you to take the mission." He whispered. His eyes sought out mine, they were dark and broody, his forehead creased in worry.
"Will, this is what we do." He shook his head and resumed his pacing. His muscles bunched under his light t-shirt and he fought to keep some control in his voice.
"Maybe it shouldn't be..."
"What are you saying?" I asked, incredulous at this turn of events.
"I'm saying... maybe we need to get out. Before one of us gets hurt." He said finally.
"Before I get hurt, you mean. You want me to resign from IMF! Where is this coming from? What the hell happened to you in Croatia?"
He flinched. He was trying to reach me. I was being stubborn. I didn't like this new chauvinistic attitude. Since when had he seen me as not capable of fulfilling my missions? I frowned and looked at him.
"Eve, don't you see... I can't... I can't protect you anymore! We aren't on the same team..."
"I don't need your protection Will! I can take care of myself!" I'd countered with a little harder.
"I'm going to Korea... and that is final!" I'd walked out on him, slamming the door.
When I'd gotten back, all those torturous months later... he had been gone. As if he'd never existed. I had been alone.
My attention came back to the moment, eyes fell to the computer screen. "Is that Wistrom?" I asked.
"Who's that with him?" Ethan asked. I shook my head, and muttered about not having an uplink. Ethan grabbed the computer, showing it to Will. "Who's that with him?"
"That's Leonid Lisenker," Will answered. "A Polish born cryptographer, he designed Russian security after the cold war."
"He's here to authenticate the launch codes." Jane stated.
"We are blown." Will said looking at Ethan.
"No, not blown." Ethan was shaking his head.
"Well we will be as soon as he sees the counterfeit launch codes." Will pointed out.
"Delay the elevator," Ethan said to me. "How long would it take you to reprogram the case?"
"To do what?" I asked, knowing in my gut what he was going to say.
"To make an exact copy of the launch codes." Ethan answered.
"What?!" Jane exclaimed, a look of incredulously on her face.
"You can't do that." Will said, his voice a little louder than he probably would have liked, betraying his panic. I smiled sadly at Will, he could and he would.
Will stood up, "Ethan hang on now, hang on just a second. You're talking about handing over active nuclear launch codes to Wistrom?"
"Reprogram the case." Ethan ordered me. I reached for the case but Will grabbed my arm. I stepped back, not sure what to do – but he still had my arm. I was torn between my duty, and my conscience.
"Now listen to me and stop!" He cried out. "Just listen to what you're saying, you're fixating. You're not thinking clearly." Ethan moved for the case and Will released my arm, grabbing the case and moving back to dangle it from the open window. "It's not going to happen, I won't let it." He declared.
I looked at the screen, and the elevator count. "33 and climbing" I called out, we were running out of time.
"Brandt, use your head, the mission is not the codes, the mission is Hendricks." Ethan tried to reason, and arm extended out to calm Will down who was starting to breathe a little faster with adrenaline.
"Then just let it play out, give him the bad codes and neutralise him."
"You know that won't do it," Ethan argued, "failure to a terrorist is just a, a rehearsal for success."
"41!" I called. Ethan had to get through to him. My eyes sought out Will's. He glanced at Ethan, then back at me, as if he was seeking guidance. I allowed him to see my trust in Ethan, he was looking at me, listening to Ethan as our leader tried to reason with him.
"It's now or never." Ethan was saying. I nodded at Will, letting him see I agreed.
"Nothing can be left to chance, you said that!" Will argued, still not sure, his eyes coming back to Ethan's. Ethan kept talking. Will stayed where he was, the case still dangling precariously over the gaping hole.
Suddenly a crunching noise sounded behind me. I jumped, turning to see what had happened. It was the masks, the computer had ground to a halt, failing to finish, an error screeching at us through the speakers. Jane shook her head, we couldn't use them.
"We go without them!" Ethan decided.
I was looking at Will again, he was thinking, weighing the risks behind those eyes. I could see all the scenarios unfolding for him, the way they always did whenever we'd been in the field together. Jane and Ethan argued about whether this was a good idea or not.
"It doesn't matter!" Will said finally. "We have no choice." He handed the case to Ethan, a dejected look falling across his strong jawline.
Like that, they were gone and I was changing into the uniform of a room service attendant, grimacing at the yellow. Will this work?
"Come in." I heard Jane's voice over the coms. Wistrom had arrived. Ethan would be knocking on Moreau's door at this sign. It had begun. Would they be recognised? Had they met before? The next 60 seconds would show whether or not we'd just walked into a hornet's nest.
The silence stretched on for what seemed an eternity, waiting on a sign. Finally Moreau spoke, "Which one of you is Wistrom?" I released a breath I wasn't even aware I had been holding and I heard Jane mirror Moreau's question across the coms. I had to move.
At the agreed time I knocked on the door to Jane's room. Pushing the room service trolley ahead of me, I entered.
"Mademoiselle," I ventured... sending a smile to Wistrom who was standing. I inclined my head, "Monsieur." Wistrom reseated himself.
Ethan, Will and Moreau were bantering. My heart skipped a beat as she ordered one of her guards to kill Will, but Ethan replied without missing a beat that we were not alone.
"I've killed the best." I heard Moreau saying, my eyes met Jane's, worried.
"Do you care for some sugar?" I asked of Wistrom. He held up his hand to indicate no.
Ethan was making threats, trying to get Moreau to cooperate. An uncomfortable silence hung in our room as we waited.
"Get the papers," Moreau ordered of her men. That was our sign. Jane put the briefcase on the coffee table, Wistrom in turned placed a black velvet bag on top of it. Snatching it up, Jane looked at the diamonds, buying time, while Wistrom fiddled with the case.
"It's locked," Wistrom said.
Jane feigned ignorance, then went in search of a key. I took the opportunity to grab the diamonds off the table, putting them in the sugar bowl while I finished up my duties as room service attendant, slipping the now empty velvet pouch back on to the coffee table where it had been resting.
Excusing myself, I exited the room as quickly as possible, without drawing attention to myself. I could imagine Will upstairs 'authenticating' the launch codes. Jane would buy them some time, but it would be close.
I had been called to the room with Ethan and Will. My eyes sought his out and he glanced in my direction as I handed the diamonds to one of Moreau's men. He was worried. I retreated and headed back to the suite, starting to remove the outer yellow garment as I went.
"Wistrom has the launch codes and is on the move." Jane's voice came over the coms.
Suddenly Ethan's voice came over the coms. "Moreau is on the move!"
"Got her!" Jane said.
"She's an asset Jane! I ...need...her...alive!" Ethan was fighting with Moreau's men.
I had made it back to the suite and my computer.
"Uh, Ethan, Wistrom is in the elevator." I muttered to myself, it was all going to hell.
"Eve, slow it down, get me an elevator."
Ethan was at the elevators, but something was wrong with our coms. I couldn't hear him, and he couldn't hear me.
"Ethan can you hear me? Over."
The door flung open and I jumped to attention, reaching for a gun that I didn't have. Moreau stood, fuming in the entry, only to be pushed forward by Jane at gun point.
"Watch her." Jane instructed.
"Why?"
"Because if I do, I'll kill her!" She stormed off leaving me with her gun pointing at the blonde. If looks could kill, I'd be a dead woman.
"Eve?" Will's voice came over the coms. I was relieved to hear it.
"Yes?" I answered.
"I've got Leonid by an elevator. He's been shot."
"Shot?" I dropped my guard for just a moment. She was fast. Next thing I knew I was on the floor, a blinding pain in my head, and Moreau was grabbing the gun from my hand. I swore, I can't believe I let myself get distracted! Jane had heard it, and was hurtling at the blonde, a look of rage on her face. I struggled to sit up, she'd hit me hard. Jane and Moreau were throwing each other around the room, each landing a few punches here and there.
They were both struggling for the gun, I could hear Will over the com "No, no, no no no no no no." And then a gun shot from behind me. I sighted my gun on the other side of the room and started crawling toward it, but I was dizzy, and struggled to move. More shots fired, and then the door flung open and I looked back to see Will, gun in hand trained toward the women.
"Jane! No!" Will yelled.
It was too late. Moreau was in front of the open window. With a kick she lashed out at Moreau and with a sinking shock, I watched as she fell out the window, plummeting 119 floors to her death with a fading scream.
Will
She had passed out. I tried to hide my concern from Jane, who was busy getting our bags but watching me mindfully as I leaned down to check her vitals. My breath was caught in my throat. When I'd seen her on the floor, unconscious, I'd thought the worst. The irony that only after being reunited after these years, I'd still failed to protect her. Her words echoed in my mind from over two years ago... "I don't need your protection Will. I can take care of myself!" I smiled sadly, then hid it behind a stoney mask, don't betray your emotions, now is not the time.
Scooping her up into my arms, her head lolling against my shoulder. I smelled the sweet smell of vanilla from her hair and fought to contain the memories.
CHICAGO – 1.5 years ago.
I trailed her down the narrow streets, skyscrapers all around us casting shadows on the people scurrying about. I hated Chicago. But she had been reassigned here, a new life, time to recover.
A shadow of anger passed over my face, but I pulled it inside, internalising it, stuffing it deep where the rest of the self-hatred lived. It fuelled me, pushed me to move forward with life. To let go of all attachment. To her.
When I'd heard of what happened in Korea, it hit me like a tonne of bricks. Eve Dunne. Captured. Tortured. Left for dead because there was no way IMF could safely get in to retrieve her without causing an international incident. It happened. Agents left to the whims of their captors. Most of them never heard from again.
It wasn't until after Ethan Hunt had launched a rescue mission that I had even known what had occurred. Why it was that she never returned from her mission to Korea. She'd been captured, and no one had been informed because no one was supposed to know she was even there.
Once she was returned, the shame of not being there for her had eaten away at me. How could I go to her now? More importantly, it just reinforced what I already knew. I could not protect her. She was safer in her new life, communications, a safe job behind the scenes. No longer a field agent. Just like me.
Her pace quickened and I hurried to keep up, her dark hair bobbing in the wind, she'd cut it off, now it was short in the back and tapered around to frame her face in a kind of reverse bob. I missed the length that she'd had before, but this suited her, gave her a fresh start. And her eyes would never change. The doors to a building swung open and she entered. This was as far as I could chance going. I could not risk her seeing me. My location and current assignment to the Secretary was now classified. I didn't know why it was that the Secretary had taken a liking to me, but was happy for the position where I could still use some of my talents.
I watched as she was swallowed by the crowds of people coming and going from the building. It was just a moment, a glimpse, but I had convinced myself that she was all right. With this in mind, I knew I could move on, however much that hurt. With a heavy heart, I turned and walked down the streets back to my rental car. She was safe.
We had to disappear from the Russians who had intercepted Ethan. Where had they come from? A safe house, of sorts, we found. An abandoned old building, brown and dusty, but empty – that is what mattered.
I put Eve on the narrow bench against the side of the wall and pulled a shirt from my duffel bag, wetting it in the sink and placing it on her forehead. She moaned and her hand grabbed my wrist, but she did not pull it away.
One eye parted just a little to see it was me. I detected a slight tug at the corner of her mouth and she expelled a breath, at the same time one word, a bare whisper, but I caught it. "Will..." And she rolled her head to the side to sleep. She hadn't called me that the whole time since the train car, preferring to use Brandt. The hardness of my name being the only thing from her mouth. My heart grasped at a faint hope hearing her say it, perhaps there was a chance.