Disclaimer: I do not own Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol or any of the affiliated characters
Chapter 8: Early Bird and Night Owl
Six o'clock. Much better.
I rolled out of bed, refreshed and calm now that I was back to waking up at my normal time; it meant that my body had healed. It gave me the confidence to tell Ethan to relax the next time he tried to sit me out of a mission, which he would probably try to do downstairs in the kitchen within the next few hours, given yesterday's adventures.
Like the day I'd scrambled to get ready at ten, the bathroom was open, but this time, the other three doors were closed. No one else was up. I took my time getting washed up, thinking of coffee while I applied my makeup. I also noticed that I didn't need the extra foundation for under my eyes; the dark circles were mostly gone.
Dressed in a black tank top and cargo pants, I quietly walked down the hall of closed doors and down the stairs, eyes on the coffee maker in the kitchen. I barely noticed the foot hanging off the couch in the living room.
But I did.
I backtracked a few steps. Yes, that was a foot, with the cuff of a pair of sweatpants at the ankle. But it was all I could see, and I didn't want to go further into the room in case I woke him up.
As I walked back into the kitchen, I realized I shouldn't have been surprised. There were four rooms upstairs including mine, but there were five of us. It was probably Benji, choosing to sleep in the room next to his computers in case anything came up.
But I knew it couldn't be Benji - he had a tendency to snore. Newly made coffee in hand, I went through the other entrance to the kitchen and into the dining room, where I could see who the couch-sleeper was.
It was Brandt.
He was lying on his back, his left hand behind his head, his right hanging down to the floor, fingers just grazing the hardwood. He was far too tall for that couch; the reason why only one foot was sticking off was because he had the other leg bent. His t-shirt rose and fell with his chest as he inhaled and exhaled, deeply and slowly.
Then, his breathing changed, and I saw movement on his face.
I went back into the kitchen and sat down at the table with my coffee, choosing the chair in the corner. My mother had always done that; she said it was something about feng shui. I did it out of habit of scanning rooms, so I could see all the entrances.
After a minute, I heard quiet footsteps padding towards the kitchen. "Oh," Brandt said when he saw me, only a little surprised. He was rubbing the back of his neck. "Morning." His voice was still thick with sleep.
"Hi," I replied quietly. "There's still some coffee left."
He grabbed a mug from the cabinet and finished the pot. "Thanks, Cass." Cass. Not Hill, Cass. Maybe I should start calling him Will. He took the seat to the left of me, which gave him the next best view of the doorways to the kitchen. Again, I wondered about this analyst with field habits. "You're up early."
"Just earlier than I've been up the last few days," I said.
"I take it you're feeling better?"
I nodded. "And I don't like sleeping late."
He chuckled, trying to keep the sound quiet. "I do." He caught my look up at him and interrupted me before I began. "You didn't wake me, by the way. The couch just isn't that comfortable." That's why he was rubbing his neck.
"Aren't there any more beds upstairs?"
He shook his head. "There's a pull-out in Benji's room, but I can't sleep there."
Still feeling guilty, I laughed. "Trust me, Will, I know about the snoring." He didn't notice that I'd called him by his first name. It seemed normal, natural.
"Exactly." He smiled, and his short brown hair was a little ruffled from sleep, only adding to the boyish charm. I saw that the sun was coming from the window at his back, fully aware that if it landed on his face, I wouldn't be able to look away from his eyes. I looked down at my coffee cup. "What's wrong?" he asked.
I had to glance back up. Now, he looked interested; I worried about what he'd seen on my face. "I just feel guilty for having a queen-sized bed while you get stuck on a couch you're too tall for," I said quickly, coming up with something on the spot that was at least true.
He shrugged. "I'm used to the couch." I arched an eyebrow. "Sort of," he conceded with a grin. "Well, either way," he continued, "I gave up the chance of a bedroom when I put you there."
His mouth parted in a small 'o' - I don't think he meant to say that. "You carried me in?"
He nodded, unsure of where to look before finally allowing his eyes to rest on me. "Why?"
"No reason," I lied, thinking of about five reasons. "It's just that I assumed it would have been Ethan."
"Well, Ethan was a little off that day."
I leaned back in my chair, arms crossed. "He's been a bit off every day since, too. If things were his way, I'd be sitting in a plastic ball, or covered in bubble wrap."
"Can you blame him?" he asked softly. He looked like he was about to say something else, but then changed his mind. His tone became light and teasing. "Things haven't exactly been all that smooth lately."
"I'm bad luck," I joked back, and then realized, what with my team betraying me, finding Cana dead, and having to crawl through the ventilation system, it was true. "Thanks for catching me, by the way," I said. "And for not mentioning it to Ethan. Like I said, he isn't too fond of letting me out of his sight as it-"
I was interrupted by beeping. Will and I left our empty coffee mugs on the table and went to the dining room, the source of the noise. I sat down at the chair in front of Benji's array of equipment. Will put his hand on the back of the chair and leaned down to see. "Looks like Bertov landed in Riyadh," he said. He smelled like coffee.
A series of spikes on a flat-line screen caught my attention. "Cibulka's talking." I turned up the volume, doing my best to translate.
"It's probably one of his men calling," he muttered. Honestly, his breath on my ear was more distracting than his comment.
I tried to ignore it, with minor success. "They're talking about a gala tonight, at the mansion where Bertov is staying," I said. I closed my eyes. "He wants to make the deal in person. He says he needs to go through one of Bertov's men, but he'll handle it. He doesn't want anyone else there." Cibulka hung up after that, so I turned the volume back down.
"Bertov must be the next target," he said, still leaning close to me. I only nodded, not curious enough to hear what my voice sounded like. "We need to be there." I nodded again.
"You two having fun playing with my computers?" Both of our heads snapped straight up. Benji was looking at us with raised eyebrows - and the ghost of that stupid smile.
Will stood straight up. "Are Jane and Ethan up yet?" He made his voice urgent, and that managed to change Benji's expression.
"Yeah. Why?"
I pointed to the computers. "We're going to a gala."
Now I understood why Jane had packed so much makeup.
"You can pretty much always count on there being a ball or a gala or something like that," she said while pulling from the closet three incredible evening gowns. She told me to take my pick from the dresses before me.
Immediately my eyes fell on the red. It was made of satin and had a ruby, shiny tone; not a bold cherry red, but it was still a commanding color. "You have to wear that," I said, pointing. In my mind, I saw how well it would go with her skin. She took it fully out of the dry-cleaning bag and went into the bathroom.
I looked at the purple, entranced by the deep, rich color; the ruches on the bottom, however, I could live without. I wasn't fond of the taffeta material, either. It was stiff and would be difficult to work with if I had to move quickly.
That left the navy blue. I loved the flowing chiffon, in which it would be easier to do pretty much anything than in the taffeta. I held it up to my body. A line of beading started on the upper part of my right rib cage and curved up right at the dip in the sweetheart neckline, rising from there and acting as a strap over the left shoulder. It met with two pieces of fabric from either side of the dress, but those were very thin pieces; there was little coverage on the back. I also noticed the higher fabric and where it could part for my right leg.
"I would have picked that one for you," Jane said, coming back into the bedroom. "It'll go well with your eyes."
In the bathroom, seeing the combination of the navy dress and dark brown eyeshadow, I couldn't deny that. I put on the diamond bangle bracelet and inserted the dangling diamond earrings, then watched as my hair obscured them. I started twisting, pulling, and staying my hair into an up-do with an army of bobby pins, the shorter hairs in the front acting as bangs as they hung down and framed my face.
I smiled at my reflection. Given the choice, I would opt for jeans or sweats on pretty much any day of the week. But honestly, there was nothing like getting all dressed up every once in a while. That, and three days ago, I looked like crap. I liked this much better.
"Too risque?" I asked jokingly as I returned to the room, sticking my leg out of the slit.
Jane picked up her clutch and handed me mine. "Not for seducing a rich guy," she replied with a wicked grin. She led the way out of the room and down the stairs. I'd never realized how tiny they were until I had to go down them in four inch heels. The descent was manageable with my hand on the railing, but it required a little attention. I saw that Jane had her head down too, concentrating on her steps. I let out a little sigh when I reached the bottom.
We entered the living room, where the three men stood in front of the mirror. Ethan and Will were attempting to instruct Benji with his bow tie, which was crooked. "Do I even need it?" Benji moaned, undoing the tie. "I'm not even going to be at the event."
"You need to enter," Ethan said. "So you need a bow tie."
Benji held his head straight while letting Ethan tie it this time. "Why can't you wear a tie to a black tie event?" he complained. Will shrugged, looking into the mirror to handle his own. Not very long after, his bow was nicely tied. "How did you do that?"
I saw Will's reflection grin at Benji, who was scowling. Then his reflection focused on me. The smile fell off his face as he stood up straight and turned.
Benji observed the change on Will's face and tried to see the cause. "Hold still," Ethan commanded, exasperated. "There."
Now that Benji was presentable to the public, he could focus all his a attention on Will's expression. I laughed, trying to lessen the discomfort of the situation as Benji's eyebrows shot up. Will's eyes landed on me, but he said nothing, and it bothered me that I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "I don't know why, but I would have thought Benji could have tied one of those." I was wary of Benji as I walked further into the room, but I couldn't help the goosebumps that went up my arms as I passed Will.
Benji blinked at me a few times, that smile on his face, before saying,"As soon as I get in the electrical room, I'm taking this stupid thing off."
Ethan shook his head. "You need to get out without attracting any attention either."
"How is no bow tie going to attract attention?" Benji cried, throwing his hands up.
"I promise, Benji," Will said, back to being himself. We stood in a circle, and he took a spot between me and Jane. I still had goosebumps. "You can burn it when we get back."
"And only after we get back, so here's the plan," Ethan started. "We go in separately. Benji goes first, and sets up in the electrical room. Once he has eyes and ears, Brandt and Cass enter, followed by me and Jane. Jane, you handle Bertov's second and sneak this into his drink." He pointed to the picture of the man that Benji had printed, then held up a little packet of powder, which Jane took and slipped into her clutch. Then he took from the coffee table a hair pin and gave it to me. For lack of a better place to put it, I added it to the collection of bobby pins in my hair. "Cass, you take Bertov with that. Brandt and I will approach Cibulka as his representatives, because Bertov doesn't know it's going to happen. Then we get out of there as fast as we can. Understand?"
My nod was accompanied by four others, though I did have one thought: "Cars?"
Benji chuckled. "No worries, Love. I've got that covered."
Hehe. Meddling Benji and his bow ties and his cars. I honestly don't know if he can tie a bow tie, and I would figure he could, but I kinda liked the idea. By the way, Cass's dress actually exists, and I have the link in my profile for anyone that wants to see.
