Records would later show that Agent Ellie Mctargen had gone missing on her wedding day, and had been disavowed by the Secretary three days later after a piece of intel seemed to prove that she had been murdered. Very few people ever found out what that intel was, but it had been enough to wipe Ellie Mctargen from the IMF's history. Agent William Brandt was the last one to see her alive, however he had been knocked out by an unknown assailant, and was barely conscious when found. In his report, he would say that he interrupted Ellie being tortured by the head of the Redalla ring (known for their immoral practices with women and children, and their links with big criminal empires across the world), Mr Vortigern 'Voditi' Crestrorev, and a minute and a half after shooting him in the kneecaps and shoulder (in self-defense) an unknown, presumed associate of Mr Crestrorev, entered the room and knocked him out. Will's report left out most of the truth, but that didn't matter. The truth was a matter of circumstance. It wasn't all things to all people, all of the time. The truth was a part of a narrative, and Will didn't want to darken the narrative of a brilliant woman.
Only three people knew what really happened, one of them was dead, one was missing (presumed dead), and the other would never mention what really happened on that day to anyone else because no one else needed to know. They would presume things about Ellie which would be inherently false. They would presume that she was a traitor who ran when times got tough, and Will didn't want that. She wasn't a traitor, but Will didn't quite know what to believe when it came to the reason why she ran. For all he knew, she may have really been a traitor who duped everyone into believing her. Maybe Will was just an idiot for thinking Ellie Mctargen was anything above a liar and a cheat. But in his heart of hearts, Will knew she was better than his hateful, cynical side perceived. Will was sure Ellie wasn't a traitor, or a bad person. She just did what she thought she needed to do. Will had to believe that. He just had to believe that. Will hoped she was ok, and that her running had a reason, because if he found out she had actually died, Will would have been heartbroken (just like Ethan was). Ellie Mctargen was a good person and had her reasons for leaving.
The team stood over the recently dug grave. The gray headstone read Ellie's name, her supposed birthdate, and the date of her disappearance. Nobody quite wanted to believe that she was dead, but there was no evidence to show she was still alive. Today had been her funeral, and Will was sure that they hadn't buried a real body. Even if they had buried a real cadaver, they hadn't buried her body. Quietly they stood together over the grave, reflecting on what had happened. Ethan naturally blamed himself for what had happened, even though he knew he couldn't have done anything to change what had happened. Will was certain that Ethan was drinking heavily and wasn't sleeping. He smelt of booze whenever Will had tried to see him, after they had found out she had 'died'. But to be fair, Ethan had just lost his fiancée but at least he didn't have the knowledge Will had. Maybe that added to Will's guilt. Looking at Ethan (dishevelled, with dark circles as large as the moon under his eyes), made Will feel even worse. Ellie's 'death' was slowly killing Ethan, but if he knew what had really happened before she left, it would have hurt Ethan much more than her death did now.
Benji wasn't right either. He probably blamed himself too, but there was nothing he could have done differently without causing much more pain to the small trio standing around the small piece of granite in the ground. Will wasn't sleeping right, and he was definitely drinking more than average, but he was coping, and he was looking. His guilt and worry was slowly eating himself up. Will was looking for her, because he couldn't let her go like that. Ellie might have walked out of her life without almost anyone knowing, but she wasn't leaving Will's mind anytime soon. The team stood very still for a couple of minutes before Will decided to leave. He needed to go because this wasn't fair. Sharing in the others misery wasn't fair when he knew so much more. They needed to mourn but he didn't. Will just needed to find her before she actually ended up dead. Will walked out slowly and got into his car, he could still see both men at her grave, unshed tears in their eyes. He would do this for them and for what she represented, not for her, not for him. This was for them. They needed the lie that was the death of Ellie Mctargen. But Will believed that they deserved better than that. They all deserved better than that.
Author's note: I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has read this story. I hope you've all enjoyed it. I'd also like to thank my betas Destiny's Horse and Phoenix the Ring of Fire for betaring this story. I might make this part of a series, but it depends if you (the readers) want more. Please like and comment. Thank you for reading The Wedding Day. :)