"Do you, Kensi, take William to be your lawful wedded husband?" I looked around at our beautiful venue in the middle of no where. The mountains surrounding us, the gorgeous greenery, the cascading water down the mountains. It was peaceful, like no other place I would want to be to marry the love of my life.
"I do." I smiled at Will.
"To have, to hold, to love, cherish, honor and protect?" I happily took a breath looking down at my white dress.
"I do." I looked back up to my soon to be husband.
"Shield from terrors know and unknown? To lie, to deceive. To lead a double life. To fail to
prevent his abduction. Erase his identity." I looked away to the minister conducting our wedding.
"What?" I asked, I looked at his face but I couldn't make it out. He looked familiar, I shook the thought away and looked back to Will.
"Force him into hiding. Take away all he has known."
"Stop." I told him angry about the way this wedding was being steered towards. Just because I was a spy. What the fuck was this?
"In a selfish, futile, fleeting attempt..." He continued.
"Stop!" I yelled.
"...to escape your own true self." Not planning on stopping anytime soon I noticed.
"Please, stop." I told him tears streaming down my cheeks.
"And William do you choose to accept..." I shook my head.
"Don't!" I told him begging him with my eyes.
"I do." He said smiling at me gripping my hands tighter.
"No!" I told him. He couldn't ever have a happy life doing this with me.
"You should have killed me, Kensi." I looked back to the minister seeing Soloman Lane in his place. Suddenly, there were explosions behind Will and I hugged him close.
"I love you." I whispered. The squealing of the brakes woke me up. Oh my god, just a dream. It's okay. I looked up I was being sent to Belfast to get Ethan on a plane to Berlin where we would be getting black market plutonium.
"We're here." The cabbie spoke to me.
"Thank you." I paid him and got out into the rainy cobblestone street where Ethan was living. I waited til the cabbie drove off before I knocked on the door. I expected him to recognize me the minute he saw me. Though followed procedures. Ethan opened the door with a smirk on his face.
"Fate whispers to the warrior." I said holding the package in a dumbass mail officers uniform.
"The storm is coming." He said to me in a low voice.
"And the warrior whispers back?" I asked him.
"I am the storm." He told me. Smiling he stepped away from the door and let me inside with the package.
"My god it's good to see you. It's been what?" He asked me.
"A year." I replied unhappily. Still bothered by my dream I had on the way over here. I threw him the package as I stripped out of the coat and hat I had on. He ripped it open, pricking his finger on the pad in front of him.
"IDENTITY CONFIRMED HUNT, ETHAN" a voice read out.
"You know I still expect an invite to the wedding." He smiled at me.
"Of course, you know you're getting one." I told him sitting down in a chair he had at a table. Undoing my hair from the low ponytail I had in, shaking it out to get more comfortable.
"Good evening, Mr. Hunt. The anarchist Solomon Lane. Since you captured him, two years ago, his absence from the world stage has had unintended consequences. His syndicate of rogue covert operatives continues to wreak havoc around the globe. The CIA special activities division has relentlessly hunted Lanes elite network of hostiles. But many remain unknown and at large. The reminiscence of this extremist splinter cell refer to them self as The Apostles. They have synced it up to the policy of terror for hire. Making them an even greater threat. They are responsible for the recent smallpox outbreak in Indian controlled Kashmir. Along the borders of Children and Pakistan. Threatening one third of the worlds population. The Epidemic is being contained but intelligence would indicate that a new client has hired the Apostles for a more ambitious operation. They have been contacted by this man. An unidentified extremist known only by the codename John Lark. Author of this apocalyptic manifesto calling for the destruction of the current world order. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN PEACE WITHOUT FIRST A GREAT SUFFERING. It is believed Lark is responsible for the disappearance of Norwegian nuclear weapons specialist, Nils Debruuk. Dr. Debruuk security clearance was revoked after he expressed fiercely anti-religious views. Meanwhile, the Apostles have been in contact with elements of the eastern European underworld who are in possession of 3 plutonium cores stolen from a missile base in eastern Russia. This would indicate that John Lark and the Apostles are working together to acquire functioning nuclear weapons. NAST estimates that a man with Debruuks knowledge, using the materials in play, could complete 3 nuclear weapons in as little as 72 hours. These devices would be man portable and deployable anywhere on Earth overnight. In the hands of John Lark and the Apostles these weapons represent an unprecedented threat to the countless millions. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to prevent the Apostles from acquiring the plutonium using any means at your disposal. If you, or any members of your IMF team, are caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck, Ethan. This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds." The voice read out displaying the photos and videos we had of the Apostles.
BERLIN
"He's late." Benji said pointing out the obvious. I laughed I was hiding with the sniper rifle at the ready. My scope was thermal and I was ready to go dressed in all black, ready for the action.
"He's never late." He said again.
"He'll be here." Ethan consoled Benji.
"I don't like it." He said again.
"Awh guys he's nervous." I chided Benji to be quiet.
"There's something about this guy. He just... Really gives me the creeps." Benji said again.
"It's OK. Relax." Ethan told him not phased by the lateness of our guy we were meeting for the plutonium.
"I'm relaxed." He told us.
"Mhmm." I hummed out, not convinced.
"You don't sound relaxed. Luther, does he sound relaxed to you?" Ethan asked Luther who was in our van.
"He sounds terrified." He replied out to Ethan.
"I'm not terrified. I just have a bad feeling. That's all." Benji said.
"I thought you said you were relaxed?" I breathed out.
"It's entirely possible to be relaxed and extremely uneasy at the same time." Benji told me annoyed everyone was ganging up on him.
"No, it's not." Ethan said.
"You do it all the time." Benji told him.
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do"
"No, he doesn't." Luther replied. I rolled my eyes at the antics I was seeing.
"I'm supposed to believe you're perfectly relaxed? Right here and now? In a dark alleyway? Waiting to buy dark market plutonium from a psychopath?" Benji asked him getting more and more uneasy.
"Benji, I wont let anything happen to you." I chimed in trying to ease the tension.
"See, Benji, you're perfectly safe. You have the sniper on your side and Ethan." Luther told us.
"That's easy for your to say. You're in the van." Benji breathed out.
"Well, you wanted to be in the field, tough guy." Luther told him matter of factly.
"And tonight, Luther, I'd like to be in the van!" Benji bantered back.
"He's here." I told them snapping them out of the banter that was currently getting out of hand.
"Oh, God." Benji breathed before he cleared his throat readying himself. They walked forwards to meet our dealer. The car pulled up slowly headlights making me close my eyes to preserve my night vision until they shut off. A guy got out of the car pointing a rifle at Ethan and Benji. I focused on him for a bit. The men got out and the car doors shut.
"Have that money ready, Luther." Ethan told him. This was my time to stay quiet from my concealed place.
"Copy." Luther said.
"Ethan? Kensi? Do you copy?!" He asked. I couldn't reply but I looked towards the van not seeing anything abnormal until Luther opened the door and got a gun to his face. Fuck. I needed to get him out of there but I couldn't shoot that would reveal my position and blow this mission. I slowly moved around out of the rubble concealing me, I threw my rifle over my back and hugged the wall as I made my way from my hiding place to the van. I stayed concealed until the moment arose for me to throat punch this guy. He had a gun to Luther and could use that against me.
"Are we finally gonna do this, or not?" I heard Ethan ask.
"I've survived in this business with a help of a voice in my head. This voice is never wrong. Whenever I meet you... It tells me the same thing." I heard the dealer say.
"What's that?" Ethan asked.
"Nothing." He replied. I looked around seeing what I could do was nothing so slinked my way underneath the van and readied myself there. Setting back up with the gun in front of me.
"I'm here to do business. Tell the voice to flip the coin." Ethan said.
"What's that?" I heard them ask.
"This is a beryllium rod. It's just causing a reaction with the plutonium inside the core. That's that." Benji said stepping away from the plutonium in the case.
"The money?" The dealer asked.
"The money. Bring the money. Luther, bring the money. We're gonna need that money, Luther." Ethan said. I was very far away and heard a scuffle in the van.
"Kill them!" The dealer said.
"I've got it!" Benji said.
"Luther, do you copy? Luther?! Luther, come in." Ethan begged. I saw the gunshots going off and decided to join in from underneath the van. Killing a couple of the dealers goonies on my way back from underneath the van I hugged the wall again slowly as I followed Luther and the guy from behind.
"Luther is not here right now. What can the Apostles do for you Hunt?" I heard him say through the earpiece.
"What do you want?" Ethan asked.
"You're boxed in, Hunt. Give us the plutonium. And walk away." He told us.
"Benji, get the car!" Ethan told him.
"I don't think I can do that." Benji scuffled.
"Benji, get the car." Benji finally realized what he was talking about and drove the car like a maniac towards where they were using his phone. He threw the plutonium towards the open door.
"We'll make you a deal, Hunt. Give us the plutonium and we won't kill your friend." I saw he had Luther with a gun to his head.
"Don't you do it, Ethan! Not for me!" He pleaded with Ethan to get the mission done with.
"Kensi, you have a shot?" Ethan asked me.
"Bit of conflict arose I'm not in position but I can try." I whispered to him revealing my position.
"I'm gonna count to 3.
One...
Two..."
"Luther, I'm sorry." Ethan's voice rang out and I pulled the trigger sending a .223 caliber round out of the gun and to the head of Luthers captor. He fell on the spot. I heard more fire going off down the hall of where we were. Benji grabbed an automatic and shot behind me while I shot behind him protecting Ethan and Luther on the ground.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do." Ethan said as he ran up to Luther as I looked for the other people shooting.
"We're good. Nice shooting Kensi." Luther told Ethan and I. Ethan helped him up. He shook his ear out.
"Sorry about that buddy. I know the eardrum must be rattled." I told him he just nodded.
"You're OK?" Ethan asked Luther.
"I should be dead." He told him.
"We should all be dead! Why aren't we?" Benji asked no one in particular.
"Where's the plutonium?" Luther asked snapping our attention back to the mission at hand. Ethan started running back for it near the car that Benji had pulled up.
"It's gone." He said. I dropped my head to my chest and looked up at the ceiling sighing heavily as I did.
"All of that for nothing, DAMN IT!" I yelled out. We all silently got into the car except Benji who drove the van in order to get Delbrook we had to hit him and bring him in ourselves. We drove our way back to headquarters in Berlin where we were met Benji who was dressing up into his newscaster outfit. We put the passed out Dr. Delbruuk on a bed and quickly set up a makeshift hospital wing in order to get him to believe that's where he was. As we walked in I heard the news on the channel we were playing for the Dr.
"If you're just joining us, three massive explosions have gone off simultaneously in what appears to be a coordinated attack. This image is live in Rome. Looking towards the Vatican. It's as close as our cameras can get. It's believed that the Pope was in residence at the time of the blast. Also live, we're looking at the Jerusalem from just outside of the city. Also live, the holly city of Mecca. From the USS Ronald Reagan in the Red Sea, off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Radiation has been detected. Indicating that nuclear weapons were used in these unspeakable attacks." I heard Benji rattle off the report as I stood behind the camera and tried to get a hold of Brandt texting him. I hadn't had a reply in a couple days I was curious where he was this time. But knew this was the job we worked.
"No word on casualties yet... But we can assume the death toll is catastrophic. Early reports suggest the weapons used would require a highly specialized knowledge that very few people possess. The question now is who would attack all three of this holly sites and why. The attacks occurred at precisely same moment. Just over an hour ago. At 4:00 AM EST. Within minutes of the attack Congress ordered an emergency recess and the Capitol building was evacuated. The President authorized... The White House has declared state of emergency. Placing the military at highest alert." Benji read more from his fake news cast. Actually, he was pretty good at this, he could definitely do this after he decided to retire here. Suddenly, I was getting a call on my phone it was Ethan.
"Sir..." He said.
"It's ma'am but yes go ahead." I told him. Giving him something to reply to.
"No, he won't cooperate." He told me.
"Okay… Have you tried electrocution?" I asked seriously. Looking to see a slight smile on his face in the monitor I was seeing him on he gave me the finger silently in the corner where no one else would see but me.
"Yes, sir." He said and turned back to the doctor.
"If we read the manifesto. On the air." He told me the information I already knew.
"Well that's just not good enough, find another way." I told him.
"I'm sorry, sir." He said to me and hung up.
"Trading and global markets plummeting. Stand by, I'm told we're about to get some additional information." I got up from my place behind some computers and handed Benji the document.
"I've just been handed a document from Nils Delbruuk, a nuclear weapons specialist, who claims to have built the weapons used in these attacks. I've been asked to read this manifesto in its entirety. There has never been peace without first a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace. As mankind is drawn to a self-destruction like a moth to the candle the so-called defenders of peace: the Church, the Government, the Law work tirelessly to save humanity from itself. Well, it's not going to help you now. But by averting disaster they serve to delay peace. That can only come trough the inevitable baptism of fire. The suffering and bringing mutual understanding. It's the first step for the ultimate project of…" He told the camera.
"Go." I heard Ethan say. I pushed the button to release the doors on the cell and they fell around us. Benji and I walked up to Luther and Ethan.
"Did we get it?" Benji asked.
"Of course we got it." Ethan replied Benji took off his mask and voice changer revealing his true face.
"I told you we'd get it." He said.
"I don't understand?" The doctor asked.
"The attacks didn't happen?" He asked us again.
"The car accident you were in - that was an hour ago." Luther told him
"I was driving the other car." Benji told him smiling at his work.
"What's done is done. When we say it's done." I pipped up as I took a needle full of serum out and plunged it into the doctors neck. He passed out.
"Any word from Brandt?" Ethan asked me. I shook my head walking away from them.
"She's gotta be a mess." I heard Luther say.
"I can hear you." I told them.
"I'll fix it." Ethan said.
"And I'll kill you." I told Ethan in a sing song voice. He laughed with the others as we made our way out of HQ the others trailing behind me.