A/N: I had an odd mood when I was writing this… Hope you enjoy!

I don't own the movies or the characters (except the OC's, of course).

Chapter 6

Brandt was standing in a dimly lit room, listening to every movement around him. He was surrounded, occasionally gunfire erupted here and there but there was no way he would give up. He was fighting back, trusting his instincts, hoping that the enemies would end before the bullets in his gun. He had one more bullet, and everything was quiet. He almost relaxed when suddenly he heard footsteps from the doorframe. Turning swiftly, he fired his gun into the shadowy corridor, praying that he had hit his target, because otherwise he was dead. The man had a gun, which he dropped, to Brandt's relief. He stumbled forward, stepping out from the shadows, revealing blonde hair and a pair of very confused blue eyes.

The former analyst could swear his heart stopped beating when he realized he was looking at Benji. The former technician's eyes never left his, confusion in them growing into pain and betrayal, as the blood from the gunshot wound in his forehead was flowing down freely into them. He didn't stop looking at Brandt though, and the "Why?" that was never spoken was way too obvious in his gaze. The Brit made another shaky step forward before falling down to the cold floor.

Snapping out of his stupor, Brandt dropped his gun and ran to his friend, painfully falling to his knees by his side. He cradled the tech in his arms, turning him to face up and trying to get Benji to look at him. But there was nothing he could do. The Brit's gaze was now aimed at some point of the ceiling, the blue eyes which used to be so childishly cheerful and full of energy now frozen with the same painful expression, unseeing and glassy. Lifeless. Dead.

"I'm so sorry…" Brandt's hand was trembling madly when he outstretched it to close his friend's eyes, trying not to get more blood into them. He didn't know why it was so important. He just didn't want to see Benji's eyes with that red in them. He looked down again. Now Benji looked almost like he was sleeping. If not for the blood now covering half of his face. And the lack of breathing. How was this possible? Benji was too alive to die. It couldn't be happening. It simply contradicted the laws of nature. Shaking with uncontrollable sobs, first weak and soft and then violent and suffocating, Will pressed his face against Benji's collarbone, mumbling "I'm so sorry" until those words stopped making any sense. His shaking was reinforced by someone else's efforts. Someone was holding him by the shoulders firmly. He didn't care. He wouldn't care if someone had come there and killed him. Or had blown up the building. Or even the entire planet. He just wanted it all to stop.

Just as he thought so, everything around him, including his friend's lifeless body, was going transparent before disappearing completely.

Startled, the former analyst looked around him in total bewilderment. Jane was holding his shoulders tightly, looking at him with worry. They were still on their plane to the UK.

"Bad dream?" the female agent asked. William nodded with a shrug. He hadn't had a proper sleep in a long while. His mind knew he was overreacting, and that Benji probably wasn't mad at him for that accident. Probably. That was exactly the kind of words his subconscious liked to pick on, quite possibly getting sadistic glee from its owner's suffering. The vision of his friend's dead eyes had been haunting him for weeks. And now that Benji was in trouble… What if they wouldn't find him?... Brandt's heart was racing, and he shut his eyes, breathing deep in order to calm down. When he opened them again he saw Jane still looking at him.

"I'm okay," he forced, knowing he couldn't fool her.

"No, you're not," she answered softly, remembering their similar conversation in Mumbai and allowing herself a small smile at the role reversal. She was about to ask if he wanted to talk about what was bothering him but decided it was a stupid question.

"We're gonna find Benji," she said, trying to sound confident. "Everything will be alright".

Brandt nodded, despite thoughts like "what if we don't" and "what if we are too late" being screamed in his head. Maybe he should tell his teammates the truth? Maybe, if he talked to them, at least this burden of guilt would be gone? Or would they be angry for keeping up with the lie for so long? It was Benji's fault. All his damn fault. Having finally made his decision, William opened his mouth but that very moment Ethan came up, telling them they'd be landing soon. The moment was missed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Benji brought himself into an upright position. He hated just to sit and wait, especially since he knew he needed some medical assistance, and the only thing he had instead was a piece of cloth wrapped around his shoulder by his friend. His attempts at determining their location didn't give him much. They were in a room which looked much like a prison cell from the past. The only source of light was a tiny bulb on the ceiling, which helped to see some shapes but wasn't bright enough to feel comfortable.

"What about the others?" Benji asked after a pause.

"What others?" the genuine confusion of Mike's voice was slightly worrying.

"A lot of people were kidnapped…"

"I haven't seen anyone," Mike sniffed. "Although I thought I heard some voices from time to time… But anyone can hear voices, right?"

Benji felt shivers down his spine.

"Oh, and I saw Dr. Wickham," the agent tensed at those words.

"When? Is he here?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, he's kind of like with them…" Mike began to babble. "He's not really himself, poor guy…" there was another pause, and Mike chuckled softly. "Remember what we used to call him?"

Benji looked at the other man with a mix of pity, confusion and slight annoyance. Benji Dunn getting annoyed by a guy who talks too much. Brandt would have loved the irony. But seriously, the former technician didn't feel like talking about stuff like that now. It wasn't the time to remember their old jokes.

"No, really, do you remember? Because I don't".

The last sentence sounded as if Mike had only realized that just now. He suddenly fell silent, and Benji really wished he had kept talking. The silence was so thick that whenever he closed his eyes he thought that the world around him was gone. The quiet, though, was broken sometime later when footsteps sounded from behind the door.