AN: I have been a terrible author, and for that I apologize. No excuse will change the astronomical amount of time it has taken to publish this. It's been written since September, I just hadn't typed it up yet. Yes, this story is still alive, and yes it will be completed, gosh dang-it. Again, so extremely sorry ( running theme with my postings these days). Hope you enjoy this new installment. Thank-you for reading! (It's short, which just makes the whole time thing even sadder).

Disclaimer: I do not own Mission Impossible...it would be impossible for me to own it.

It had been a couple of weeks since they arrived back, a couple of weeks since Benji basically broke Brandt. Sure initially the man was falling all over himself to help Brandt with everything and anything, considering Will was pretty helpless. The bruising and concussion were healed up, it was his leg and ribs that were keeping him out of field work now. Nevertheless, that didn't stop him from begging himself onto this mission.

It was supposed to be a simple cut-and-dry one so Ethan okayed Brandt's presence, but only under certain conditions: one, he stayed in the van at all times, two, under no circumstances was he to overexert himself, and three, don't leave the van. Apparently they didn't trust him to follow orders.

The mission itself was just intelligence gathering on a new biological warfare scientist. Dr. Maria Burkhardt was, according to the IMF's source, working on a paralytic agent that could be weaponized and shot in a missile to explode over a city or encampment. Once airborne it could affect the area and the people there for around two days, leaving them helpless to any other form of attack. While not as destructive as a regular bomb it did provide a certain level of shame to its victims. Also, it could be used to aid in any crime from robberies to assassinations.

The IMF wanted one of the formulas in order to create an antidote and create a small-scale use of it for field agents. If possible, they were to take Dr. Burkhardt from her lab in Turkey and delete all the data off their computers there, after obtaining a copy of course. They were all in place for the op. Benji and Brandt were in the van monitoring the lab buildings' outside and inside cameras they had tapped into. Jane was disguised as an underling scientist complete with a fake ID and Ethan was maintenance there.

The plan was for Ethan to scope out the main lab on the third floor as he returned to the janitorial closet there. His findings would determine whether Jane was to just deal with the data or take the main scientist. So far everything was running smoothly, Ethan was already on the third floor making his way through the halls toward the lab.

"I'm so bored, why did I ask to come on this again?" Brant grumbled as he stared at the computer screen.

"Because you are getting stir crazy sitting at your home all day doing nothing," Benji replied, chuckling as he said it.

"Well maybe if I could have just taken a bath I may have been less bitter about the situation. But wait Brandt, why could you not take a bath? Oh that's right! Because your leg is broken and in a pink cast and your ribs won't let you lower yourself into the tub."

Benji just smiled in response, glancing through each of the cameras.

"Uh oh."

"What?" Brandt said to Benji looking, at the monitor that had a man's attention.

"Uh oh, indeed," he muttered.

It seemed security was extra tight and Jane's ID wasn't the only thing needed to get her into the building. Some other form of paperwork was needed and they were not happy that she didn't have it. They watched as three burly men pulled out their guns and pointed them at Jane with two more coming from the hall.

"What's going on?" Ethan inquired.

"Jane's not making it past the gate on the ground floor. Five men armed are keeping her company, can you get to her?" Benji asked, already rising and grabbing his gun.

"No, not quickly at least."

"I got it."

Benji dashed out of the van trying not to look too obvious as he ran to the front of the building. Jane had already taken out one of the soldiers and obtained his gun. She now hid behind the front desk as they exchanged gunfire. The glass front doors were broken from bullet holes, so Benji was able to dive through them and take cover behind the desk next to Jane, firing as he went. One hit its mark as they heard a grunt of pain.

"Brandt, how many are there left?" Benji said into his comm.

"Technically three and a half, you clipped one in the shoulder but he's still up. They are hiding next to the staircase and conference room. One of you only needs to run across the hall to that pillar. You'll have easy shots as long as the other covers them with crossfire."

"Understood." Jane said as her and Benji nodded to each other.

She rose up above the desk and began shooting at the area the men were. Benji dashed to the pillar, hiding behind in and waiting until Jane was down and being shot at before he popped out to take them down.

"I'm going to get the data now, you guys just take those guards out and be ready to cover me as I come down the stairs," Ethan said.

Brandt watched the screens seeing Ethan's running form enter the lab and stick the special thumbdrive into the computer as he pulled out his sidearm and aimed it at the two scientists in the room. Neither of them was Dr. Burkhardt, and even if one was, taking her wasn't in the cards at the moment. The drive already had a program on it that Benji designed to get the right information and then delete it from the entire building's network, all Ethan had to do was open it.

"Guys, you got more company," Brandt informed as the images of three more men were shown rushing down the stairs. They would have full view of Benji if the agent didn't move before they got there.

"Benji, guys coming down the stairs, you need to move now!"

"I can't at the moment. Those guys are still firing at Jane, I think they got more ammo or something."

Brandt sighed in frustration, his mind trying to come up with a solution fast. Only one option made sense: leave the van. He jumped up, grabbed one of the handguns off the wall, and a couple of magazines, and rushed out the back. It hurt to run on the cast, but the pain was completely ignored as Will moved towards the building. He dived over the threshold and raced past the whizzing bullets to where Benji stood.

He arrived just in time to shoot the men coming down the stairs while Benji was still trying to shoot the other four men. Thankfully they were able to take out all the rest of the guards when they were reloading. That's of course when Ethan came sprinting down the stairs, shouting into the comm about some of the guards coming with small explosives with a liquid form of some chemical.

"I don't know what it is, but I don't want to find out," he said as they all began running out of the now nonexistent front doors. Understandably there was broken glass all over the ground, and running on it was bad enough with two normal shoes, but with a cast on it was impossible. The first time around Brandt jumped over it, but he didn't have that big of a running start, so, he slipped and fell. He was already the last person in their race to the van, so there wasn't anyone close by to help him up.

No one to shoot the armed-with-chemicals guards that were throwing the grenades at the crippled agent.

Ethan wasn't sure what he heard first, Brandt hitting the ground, or the explosive going off next to him. The explosion itself was more loud than destructive, as it was meant to spread its chemical. Oh no, it did that part quite well. Jane and Ethan shot the two guards, but not before Brandt was drenched. The agent still got up and ran to the van as they all quickly piled in and sped off. Everything about the mission was forgotten as they called for an extraction from Turkey to get Brandt help.

The man was already starting to look affected by whatever chemical coated him. Benji made sure not to touch Will as he asked how he felt, in a panicky voice. Brandt tried to answer, but the words wouldn't come, and the world faded to black. They were able to get him medical attention quickly after. Ethan driving haphazardly to the airport they were expected at.

Quarantine was ready when they arrived, since they had anticipated biological weapon exposure due to the nature of the operation. Apparently the chemical was a cousin to the developing paralytic agent, only it caused major flu-like symptoms along with initial 10-hour paralysis. It was the sudden fever that had caused the loss of consciousness, and the paralysis phase had finished its course by the time Will woke up.

"So what all did I miss?" He asked after he gained some lucidity.

"Well the mission was deemed a success, and while you didn't get a bath, you did get a major spray down by quarantine," Benji said as he sat by Brandt's hospital bed.

"Also you didn't re-injure your leg, although not from lack of trying."

"Well that's good I guess. When do I get to leave?"

"Poisoned and fainted as a result, and he already wants to know when he can leave," Jane joked as her and Ethan walked in.

"I just want to soak away all this ew-y science stuff."

"Well I'm sorry buddy, you won't be leaving for a couple of days. Gotta run those diagnostics ." The look of pure despair on Brandt's face only made his fellow agents smile and laugh. One day they would pay for their insolence against the sacredness of Brandt's bubble baths.

Please Review!

Scream at me if you must, maybe it will kick me into gear. But not too much screaming :D

AN: Seriously might be able to finish the next chapter this weekend. Otherwise, I might have to slap myself in the face (for real). But really, thanks to those who have waited for this. Please forgive me for my tardiness and subsequent broken promises. May you someday trust me again.