A/N: Let the arguing begin! Thanks for the reviews, guys. Hope this one's still amusing to you all. :)

Shouting matches were no unusual event amidst Hunt's team of crack agents, and shouting matches going on well into the night when other hotel guests were sleeping was something that they had unconsciously learned to work around. At the moment, one such battle was in full swing, everyone vying to be heard over the other while at the same time still managing to keep their volume down. "Screaming at the bottom of their lungs" was the term Brandt had given it one time following a rather heated debate regarding taking too many needless, life-endangering risks, which quickly broke down into amused laughter as they all realized no one was going to get anywhere in that argument.

At the moment Benji was, in his best inside voice, yelling at Jane for not keeping the dog distracted long enough for him to get through the door, resulting in some light bruising and surface punctures around one of his ankles. The situation had been further enhanced in the van when Jane had to drive while the tech tended to his dog bite wounds. Brandt had taken one look, laughed, called Benji a pussy, and asked him if they shouldn't go back to get one of the dog's teeth as a souvenir like the one he always wore on a chain around his neck – the one from the crocodile that Benji had kept for him. Benji didn't think it was very funny, especially after the day he had already been having leading up to that point.

In return, Jane was softly yelling at Benji for not properly securing the closet door to begin with. Apparently the doorknob was a little tricky, and despite her telling him to put a chair or something in front of the door before they had set to work on planting the bugs, he had shrugged it off thinking the little rat dog was too small to get out on its own. She didn't realize he hadn't listened to her instructions until she found herself being ambushed by the little monster while she was cleaning up after installing the last of the listening devices in the kitchen. It had rounded the corner, teeth fully bared, and she had barely moved fast enough to get up onto the island in order to avoid suffering the same fate as Benji. She had been stuck there for nearly an hour while waiting for Dunn to come to her rescue.

Benji then returned fired because he wouldn't have been delayed in returning to the house in the first place if Ethan hadn't decided to get into a brawl with a bunch of kids for no real reason at all. Then there were the unexpected stops along the way back to Styles' place, all of which involved catering to Brandt's drugged-up antics. Benji was so frustrated and wound up by the time he got to the front door, even a gentle dog would've tried to attack him upon entry - the anger vibes were probably coming off him in waves. Ethan, of course, was also to blame for that, because was it really necessary to drug him?

Ethan took the opportunity to quietly shout back at Benji for allowing himself to be conned by Brandt into getting the means to go undercover, thus negating the whole reason for administering the extra medication in the first place. It was Benji's fault that now they had to find a way to safely get their injured, somewhat hazy-thinking friend through a meeting with the target's people, and just hope that nothing would be said that would compromise their real purpose for being there.

Jane lit into Ethan for having the idiotic idea to take the mission in the first place, that he should've known better than to think they could actually keep Brandt sitting in the van with nothing to keep his overactive mind occupied.

As they kept at it, something tickled at the back of Ethan's head…a sound that shouldn't be there. He distanced himself from the fight and listened for a brief second, alarm setting in as he registered the noise as running water. The shower.

"Shit," he bit out, and rushed to the bathroom, cursing again as he passed Will's empty chair in the hallway. How did they not notice a man in a wheelchair leaving the room?

Knocking once, he didn't wait for an answer before he pushed the door open. Part relief, party pity, and part guilt settled in his gut as he found Will just sitting on the toilet, face hidden in crossed arms as he leaned his head down on his walker.

The agent spoke, his voice full of defeat, without picking his head up. "I can't get in there, can I?"

Ethan sighed and squatted down in front of Will. "Thought you figured that out this morning, buddy. That's why we're getting a new hotel tomorrow, remember?"

"Doesn't help wash it off now," Brandt whined.

"Wash what off? What'd you get into?" Hunt did his best to look over the folded form of his friend, wondering if somehow the man had also managed to spill something on himself while the other three were too engaged in their verbal sparring to realize it.

"I don't know," Will sighed out in a long breath. "I feel…dirty." He paused for a long time before adding a quiet, "I'm sorry."

Hunt closed his eyes for second. For a group of such intelligent people, they could all be real idiots sometimes. "Don't worry about the meeting, okay? We'll figure it out."

"Not just…" He took one of his arms and draped it over his head, hiding himself even further the best he could. "Should've left me home… I'm screwing up everything."

"Brandt, you're not-" Hunt cursed himself as Will shied away from the hand that he was trying to lay on the distraught man's shoulder. He shouldn't have drugged him, that wasn't the right way to handle the situation. Sighing, he sat back again, dipping his head a little as he spoke. "Why don't we just get you to bed, okay? You'll feel better in the morning." -Mostly because he wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, but Ethan wasn't about to tell him that.

There was another long pause before Brandt answered. "Can you give me five minutes? I'm slow."

"I can help you stand if-"

Will cut him off. "No, I just really have to pee. I don't want you to watch."

Ethan couldn't help the little laugh that escaped him as he nodded and stood up. "I'll be right outside if you need me," he said, patting his agent on the arm. As he turned, he flashed Benji and Jane a sad smile as they observed the conversation quietly from the doorway. They moved back, returning their own supportive smiles as he slipped out and shut the door behind him.

"Don't listen!" Brandt hollered.

All three broke into lofty chuckles as they scattered for the night, leaving Ethan leaning against the opposite wall from the bathroom. In his head, he re-edited the drug rule back to its original wording. No more, not without Brandt's permission as long as he was fit enough to give it. This "simple" mission was going splendidly catastrophic enough without adding a high Brandt into the fray.

~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~MI~

The morning didn't seem to be any less chaotic than the evening had been, adding a now very sober Brandt into the mix as another player in the arguments.

"It'll be fine, I'll be fine. One of you can tag along. Someone else can be 'the helper' for once."

Benji glanced over his shoulder as he drove the van. "Well I can't be it, and neither can Ethan. Styles will recognize us."

"You could always wear a mask," Brandt shot back with a slight grin. "I'm sure you're dying to get near that guy ag-"

"No, nuh-huh, you promised. You are not supposed to talk about that."

Brandt cocked his head. "Did I? I don't remember that. Probably because someone" –he glared at Ethan- "decided to switch my meds up on me."

Ethan started to reply but Benji cut him off. "No! No. You made me that promise before you were all fruity loops."

Jane leaned forward to interrupt. "Styles didn't see me at all. I'm fine with being 'the helper.'" She eyed Brandt. "But I still think this is a terrible idea."

"Which is why I switched the meds in the first place," Ethan said, catching his chance to defend himself. At the look on Brandt's face, he was quick to speak before the analyst could. "But it won't happen again."

Benji frowned. "Wait, are we still arguing, or are we agreeing on things? It feels like an argument, but we're all on the same page…sort of…"

"We're not on the same page," Brandt pointed out. "Me going undercover is not a terrible idea."

"Yes it is!" everyone else blurted out.

Will threw his hands up and leaned back in his seat. "Fine, well, it's too late to do anything about it now. If you wanted me to play nice, you shouldn't have drugged me. You know what that shit does to me."

Benji shook his head. "And again, you had your undercover persona planned before you went all-"

"Fruity loops, I know; and would you stop saying that? You can't sugarcoat a drug high."

Ethan spoke up. "And you shouldn't try to use 'drug high' as an excuse for everything you do, especially since it won't be happening again."

"No, it won't." Brandt glared at everyone in turn. "Point stands, though. You know I don't think as clearly even on just the regular pain meds. I can still use it as an excuse a little bit."

"Which is why this undercover thing is a terrible idea," Jane reiterated.

"Which is why I'm not taking the meds," Brandt pointed out.

"What?" the other three practically shouted.

"Benji, stop the van," Ethan ordered.

The vehicle came to a stop on the side of the road, ending with everyone glaring at Brandt. He didn't back down from their near-seething looks. "I thought this over, okay? There's no other way this can work. I talk too much when I'm half fruity loops. I have to go without."

Benji scoffed. "Why do you get to say-? Nevermind. How do you expect to function with no pain killers?"

"Did you take anything this morning?" Jane asked, catching the way Will shifted uncomfortably in his seat at Benji's question.

Brandt shook his head. "I thought about taking some ibuprofen or something, but wasn't sure if it'd react to anything still in my system from last night. You know I can't-"

Ethan snapped his fingers. "Jane, get on the phone with his doctor and find out what's safe. Let him know I gave him the sedative yesterday."

"Guys. I'm fine. Let's just get to the new hotel, check in, I can finally get my shower – thank god, because I feel like ass right now - then get the hell over to Detroskye. It's just a quick meet-and-greet. I can get through a few hours without my pain meds."

Ethan blinked at him and turned back to Jane. "His doctor?"

"Got it in speed dial," she answered.

Benji grinned at the flustered look on Brandt's face, who in turn rolled his eyes and proceeded to stare at the ceiling while Jane made the call. The van was quiet as she explained the situation as best she could without giving away any details of the mission, and gave the analyst a smug look as she responded to something with, "I know, that's what I said."

"It's not a terrible idea," Brandt mumbled without looking at her.

She thanked the doctor and hung up, adding, "He says you shouldn't even be off the couch."

This time Ethan interrupted before another argument could start up. "The meds?"

Jane shook her head. "We need to wait at least two more hours before-"

"There, see? Two hours," Brandt said triumphantly. "That's plenty of time. Like I said, I'll be fine."

"Two hours before he can take something mild," Jane finished. "Nothing with acetaminophen, either."

Ethan sighed and motioned for Benji to get the van moving again. "Let's get this over with," he mumbled.

"Get this over-?" Brandt laughed sarcastically. "Thanks. Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys."

Jane shot a glare at their team leader before touching Brandt's leg. "It's not that we doubt you, Will. We're just concerned. You haven't been out of the hospital that long…"

"I don't need the pity speech, Jane." He brushed her hand off his knee. "You guys just do your jobs, I'll do mine, and we'll 'get it over with' as soon as possible. Then I can go back home and lay around the couch where I belong, right?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and shut his eyes, effectively closing himself off from anything else his teammates had to say. The other three remained silent, not wanting to agree with him, but at the same time not wanting to falsely disagree. Creating tension in the team wasn't a great way to start the day, and the sun hadn't even fully come up yet. They just hoped they could get their act together before the meet with Carmichael's people. Their mission, and possibly their already-injured friend's safety, was counting on it.