A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! Hope you enjoy this chapter though!

I don't own them…

Chapter 11

"Are you sure about this?" Brandt asked cautiously, as Benji sat in front of his laptop again.

"We don't have a choice," the Englishman replied. "I don't like this idea, either, but we need to get to someone who's close to Lovett".

"Someone like Luther," Jane continued.

"But breaking into the security system… Of the IMF… the agency we still work for, by the way…" Brandt really didn't like the direction things were going in.

"If it makes you feel any better, you are not doing it anyway. I am. And I am already disavowed," Benji reasoned, the last sentence sounding a bit too bitter for his own liking.

"That's not the point!" the analyst cut him off. "I don't know all the specifics but surely intervening with the security system of an agency like IMF can be dangerous…"

Benji rolled his eyes.

"If this is what you are worried about, calm down," he replied. "I've done it before".

"You what?" Brandt and Jane exclaimed almost simultaneously. "Why the hell…"

"A friend asked me," Benji said without looking up. Ethan, who had been silent for the entire conversation, swallowed and looked through the window into the empty space around. "I broke into IMF's system to erase a phone call… A few years ago".

Ethan stood up and walked up to the Englishman.

"So how are you going to do this? You can't just email him, can you?" he asked, hurrying to change the topic.

"There are some tricks Luther can do. And some tricks he knows I can do," Benji replied. When he noticed that the team leader was still staring at him, he got a bit irritated. "You want to know the detail? Will it make much sense to you?"

Ethan held up his hands, not wanting to get his friend too nervous, knowing it might not end well in this case.

"But Luther still thinks you are dead," Brandt said softly over the sound of typing. "He might get suspicious…"

"Maybe that's not a bad thing," Ethan raised his head. He had an idea. "If we make Lovett worry a bit… he might make some mistake. And we can trace him to whoever stands behind him".

"Alternatively, he can kill all of us though," Benji stated matter-of-factly. "We… our recent team made him worry once, you know how it ended".

"So what are we going to do, exactly?" Jane cut in, being sick of staying silent for so long.

"Alerting Lovett might be a good idea," Benji suddenly said. It was clear that he didn't really like this idea one bit, the struggle between his emotions and trying to find some logic evident on his face. "If he finds out I am alive, he will definitely freak out. And we know he'll have to take things under his control. Last time not all agents obeyed his orders…"

"He can't risk another Stevenson popping up," Jane agreed reluctantly.

"Or another Brandt," Benji said, staring into empty space. They all knew what it would tell Lovett. If Benji was alive, then Brandt hadn't really killed him. Which meant Brandt was a threat, too.

"So we are going to do this now?" Brandt stared at the others in disbelief.

Benji didn't want to take part in this conversation, it was making him sick. He fully realised that in this scenario he was essentially being used as bait. He couldn't even think about seeing Lovett's face again, it literally made his hands shake. Ethan noticed it and placed his hand onto the younger man's shoulder.

"If you disagree, we'll have to try to think of something else," he said reassuringly.

"No," the Brit's voice was hoarse, as if it took him an effort to force the words out. "I think it's a good idea. My… personal problems shouldn't be in the way".

"Are you sure you are going to be fine, Benji?" Jane asked, her voice almost uncharacteristically soft.

"I have to face my problem, haven't I?" he replied, trying to keep his voice even. "And it really is the best way for us now. We do what we have to do".

Despite this obviously forced reassurance, the other agents knew it was going to be hard. On the other hand, bringing this up again would mean they doubted Benji, and they certainly didn't want that.

The rest of the day was spent in preparations for something they were not entirely sure about. They had no idea what exactly would come. Benji was up in the room he used as his bedroom, working on his laptop, saying that he needed some silence to concentrate.

"I still don't like this idea," Brandt's voice made him jump.

"Neither do I," Benji replied honestly, as the analyst walked closer and sat down in some old armchair. "But have you got a better plan?"

"No," William shook his head.

"And neither have I," the Englishman smiled bitterly. "I guess we've got to hope it works".

"Yeah… Something has to work at least once in a while, right?" Brandt smiled, trying to keep his mood up.

"Yeah," Benji smiled. "I keep saying this to myself. That the worst is in the past, that it can't be worse than what we've already been through…"

Brandt chuckled, remembering their meeting in Seattle. Now it felt like it had been ages ago.

"… but there's always something worse coming," the former technician suddenly continued. "It's like when you read some dark novel, and everything is horrible, and a character says something like "Life was hellish, but it was just about to get a hell of a lot worse", and you just think… you think, how the hell can it get worse? And then it really does…"

Brandt froze, not knowing what to say. All possible words of reassurance had been already said multiple times. Benji sensed the uneasiness and shrugged.

"Sorry, I have these thoughts sometimes… Anyway, back to work," and he got back to typing something without ever looking up.