Chapter 9- powerplay

It was silent in the room, with Ethan , Jane and Benji each lost in their own world. Jane could not take her eyes off the gun Ethan still held in his hand. The weapon has just killed Brandt. "Goodbye Jane", his words still haunted her. It had sounded like he knew he was going to his death. Why had he crossed the line from friend to foe, she wished he was here so she could shake an explaination from him. But he wasn't going to come back this time, it was final . This time she had never had the chance to say goodbye to him as Muluns guards had dragged his body away. That made it seem like less of a reality.

Dammit she wished she could stop thinking about him. But her mind could not stop thinking about his final words, "why are you still alive Jane". He has said it like a challenge that needed an answer. It would have been easy enough for him to take her out, he had her pinned. Nobody would have known until they found her body. Gosh stop that Jane, she mentally slapped herself. But she still could not help seeing the look in his eyes as he left the room, a deep sorrow, like he regretted what he had to do.

They had never given him a chance to give up. She looked over at Ethan , "couldn't you have gone for a non lethal shot", she found it slipping out like an accusation.

Ethan lifted his head looked at her and held her gaze with his own. He needed her to know several things no matter how painful. "I gave him an opportunity to drop the gun Jane, but he started to fire. There were bullets flying everywhere making it easy to get hit. I did not intend it to be a kill shot , it just happened". He looked genuinely upset and Jane began to feel bad. She knew she could never have pulled the trigger on Brandt and doubted Benji could either.

"Why are we all so cut up about this", Benji lifted his head to demand. "He had crossed the line and that is what happens when you do that", he sounded angry.

"Yet he didn' t take out either of us", Jane whispered, "and he had the opportunity".

"Then he was caught up in stupid sentiment", Benji growled. "The protégé should not be sentimental", Ethan stated firmly. "Yeah well he made a mistake and lucky for us he did or else it might be you lying there instead of him", Benji pointed out to Ethan. He looked over at Jane, "would you prefer that Jane", he asked. It was a rough question but he wanted them all to snap back to normal and move on. Hmmph move on, he remembered that they did not have jobs anymore. There was no more team and that was Brandts fault as well. He could not help the anger but was not sure if it was directed at Brandt, Ethan, IMF , Mulun or the whole sorry world.

Jane's eyes flashed ,she could not stand that anger any longer. Getting up she moved over and grabbed the stunned Benji and shook him hard. "Don't be bloody stupid", she fumed," of course I didn't want it to be Ethan. He's friend, but I loved Brandt, Benji even though I have tried hard to deny it. Now he's dead just like Hanaway and I feel like I'm cursed".

She began to sob and Benji enfolded her in his arms . "We need to pull ourselves together", he said over Jane's shoulder. "Look at us, we are supposed to be the top team and we are falling apart over taking out the enemy. It makes no sense to me. Why are we doing this to ourselves".

Benji knew that pep talks were usually made by the team leader. But Ethan did not seem to be interested in trying to get things back to normal. So he had taken on that role himself. However it did not seem to be working. Jane was still sobbing and Ethan was holding that bloody gun like it was a newborn baby. Okay time for something dramatic. He stalked over and took the gun, "you had to do it Ethan", he said forcefully. "I know none of us want to hear it but Brandt had gone bad. We all knew what we would have to do if we found that out. So it's done and we can't punish ourselves for actually liking him when he was pretending to be our friend." We have to move on". He went to grab the gun from Ethan's hand only to have him hold on tight and turn to him with a snarl.

"Brandt made me do it Benji. He got caught in an obvious trap. When I gave him a chance to surrender he said no, "you have to shoot me Ethan" then he fired right at me. In that moment he could have killed me but he aimed slightly off", Ethan told him

Jane looked over at him, "he said he could have killed me as well Ethan. He also asked why Mulun had never once referred to him by name. I don't know why he asked that. All he came here for was his bloody lap….shit", Jane swore. She turned to Ethan and Benji who noticed her eyes now held a question. "IMF broke into our room just after we found that listening device. So we did not have time to destroy it. They told us they were confiscating both lap tops. Brandt should have know that. So why did he come and tell me he was looking for his laptop"'

"No mystery there Jane, he cared for you, wanted to see you", Benji told her. "But he didn't say that Benji, Jane stated, "he could have been direct ".

"Yeah well now you aare both seeing conspiracies just like Brandt claimed were occuring in the beginning. But I had to watch him shoot another agent without provocation and he only let me live because he owed….."Benji stopped talking and his eyes widened." When he immobilized me he called me a geek but he also said 'remember the pleasant time we had in Canada".

"I didn't know you went to Canada with Brandt", Jane remarked. "I didn't Jane ,that is why I thought it a weird comment but now I remember what Brandt was referring to".

In his mind he was suddenly back in a bar surrounded by 3 large angry men who had just caught him snooping on them via a camera . Jane , Ethan and Brandt were off chaisng after 3 other targets so could not aid him. He had barely one second to grab for his gun and it had not been quick enough. He was hit hard by one of the man in the face. Falling to the ground Benji was given a hard kick to the ribs by another of the men. "Let him up for a minute", one taunted obviously thinking him to be an easy target. So he had struggled upward while making his inner anger burn hard. Then he had hit out in a style that was part Brandt and part Ethan and uniquely his own. Seconds later one stunned bruiser was lying at his feet and the other two looked less confident. That was until one reached into his pocket and came out with a gun ,"so what do you plan to do now, jerk", the man had stated blandly. The third guy grabbed him roughly and pulled him to a corner, "lets work him over a bit before we shoot him, the man grinned. "We will start off with just a few shots, one in the arm, one in the leg. I wonder how long you will last", the man pointed his gun. Benji had almost passed out with fear, feeling that this was the end for him. "He will last longer than you", Brandt muttered as he moved quickly and confidently across the room and relieved the man of his gun in the movement Benji had first seen him use on Ethan. The other guy recieved vicious blows to his middle and head which downed him in seconds. "There Benji now we are even', Brandt had told him.

"The Canada bar was where Brandt saved my life. So he owned me exactly nothing. So why say that to me", now Benji was puzzled.

"He'd said something to all of us Benji but I think the second question to Jane may be easiest to answer. When do we use code names instead of our own names", Ethan quieried.

"When we are on a mission", Benji replied. "But Brandt was supposedly no longer working for Mulun", Ethan stated. "So why even after he is dead does he still call him the protégé".

"Well obviously he must know his real name, maybe it is just habit", Benji remarked. Jane had picked up on something else Ethan had said. "You said supposedly no longer working for Mulun", she pointed out. "Well we only have his word that Brandt was now hiring out to whoever paid the most", Ethan remarked.

"You think of all this now, after you have already shot him", Jane shouted, "that is unbelievable". "As I said Jane he said something to all of us", Ethan replied. Benji found his eyes widening,"what did he say to you", he challenged.

"Nothing is as it seems Ethan, only my death will uncover the lies", Ethan told them. "As I said he wanted me to shoot him. ' I wanted to save him Jane but he wouldn't let me".

Jane was silently mulling that one over and a horrible possibly was occurring to her. "Ethan what if he was right", she stated. "What if Mulun really was planning something. If Brandt really was a double agent but somehow his cover had been blown then Mulun would want to get rid of him. So he builds up some lies about him. IMF values the peace process too highly to care about one agent. "

It was indeed a frightening scenario because now Mulun almost had free reign to do anything he wanted. "We will stand in his way. By acting as he did Brandt ensured all of us were no longer bound to IMF and could act independently", Ethan stated.

"So he died to let us know Mulun is a threat", Benji mused. "Yes but his death also makes it harder to find out what Mulun is planning" Ethan stated.

"Yeah now he has met all of us we can't get away with pretending to be Hotel staff", Jane mused.

"Disguises don't have to be elaborate Jane, we should be able to do some simple things. We still have some illegal supplies and can get eyes and ears back on that room. The same rules apply as before, be careful of IMF and Mulun." Our plan will be to check out of the hotel ,go make a few basic appearance changes then check back in", Ethan told them.

They were all about to move when Jane caught his arm, "promise me Mulun will pay for what he did to Brandt", she said. "It was me who shot him Jane and that is something I will have to live with. Now I understand how Brandt felt about not protecting Julia. Carrying a heavy burden weighs on ones mind." His eyes were far away and had a tortured look that spoke of many nights awake thinking of being conned into taking out a friend.

"I will need help from both of you to keep me focused." We will expose him , I promise both of you that", he told them.

They packed their things and went to see Denver. "We are checking out now Mr Secretary and will be returning to civilian life", Ethan told him. Denver looked over each of them slowly but said nothing to change their minds. 'Very well, but mentioning even one word about IMF will get you into trouble", he stated. "We are loyal to our country above everything ,sir", Ethan told him.

"I will hold you to that, you are dismissed", Denver told them.

He had them all escorted out and to a taxi. Instead of taking them to the airport like instructed the dirver took them around the block then dropped them at an adjacent hotel. Once there Jane got busy with her make up applying age lines and wrinkles to Benji and Ethan.

The addition of fake hair and padding make all of them look unrecognizable. "We still have some fibre optics left so lets get busy re setting up the surveillence lines", Ethan ordered.

They worked the rest of the afternoon finally finishing in the early evening. Now they were back to where they started with a computer showing an image of Mulun's room.

Unfortuntely all they saw was Mulun getting ready for bed. "We will leave surveillance running over night and a beeper will sound if Mulun moves", Benji told them.

That meant they could at least get some sleep. So they retired to their rooms.

It was 1am when Jane slid from her bed to pad quietly into the main room. She looked at the laptop and saw Mulun was still sleeping. Knowing she should not do this she crept sliently out of their room and made her way toward Mulun's. There was a guard on the door but he had his head to one side sleeping. Using her lock pick Jane gained access to the room. On silent feet she checked the rooms in the suite hoping to locate Brandt's body.

All she wanted was one last glimpse of him. She opened a door and entered. Closing the door behind her she turned on the light. In the centre of the room rested a table where a white drape shrouded what she assumed was Brandt's body.

She moved closer. This was so much like the first time she had gone through this routine.

Just like that time she did not want to lift the sheet. But she forced her fingers around it only to stop when she felt the coldness of a gun muzzle pressed against the back of her head.

"I hope you have a good explaination for this", came Mulun's voice.

The anger she had been forcing down suddenly found itself bubbling to the surface and exploding out of her. Not caring what the result would be she swung around in a fluid motion and hit out at the man who had caused Brandt to be taken from her.