Title: A Case of Deja-vu

Chapter title: Breakout

Summary: Brandt's worst nightmare comes to life as he is forced to relive his demons when a kidnapping turns into a protection detail … and this time he is determined not to fail, no matter the cost.

Author's note: Hi! So the first part of this chapter is a little back in time. It kinda explains the mission and how and why, just so you all know and don't get confused or anything. I trust you guys to figure it out :D

Thanks to DevinBourdain, Faustine68, SPN4eva556 and shila1378 for following, DevinBourdain and SPN4eva556 for reviewing and lastly thanks to SPN4eva556 for adding to their favorite list.

Your support means a lot to me, really! You guys are awesome and I love you! :D

And for the rest of you who have read the story, I would appreciate a review or something because otherwise I have no idea whether you like it or not

Anyways … I stop talking now and let you read chapter number two

Disclaimer: During the time that had passed, I have not yet succeeded into owning Mission: Impossible or Jeremy Renner, which I find very unfortunate.

"Never believe for a second that you're weak, within all of us we have a reserve of inner hidden strength"

The mission was of high-priority; but then again, which mission wasn't? Especially when you worked for the IMF.

A senator named James McGregor got a phone call while he was in the middle of a meeting. The caller claimed to have taken his 7-year-old daughter, Claire McGregor, and now demanded the upcoming election to be fixed, so another opponent could win, along with 10 million dollars. At first it had been an FBI case, but when the opponent assigned to win turned out to be tied to a dangerous Italian gang, it had been handed over to the IMF and landed in the hands of Ethan Hunt and his team. If the opponent won, and if he played his cards right while he received a little help from manipulation and the Italians' so-called "motivation", it could turn into a disaster for the US, and over time, the rest of the world. It would leave the Italian gang with total power. The gang called themselves "Ai Cavalieri Oscuri", meaning The Dark Knights, and was lead by a man named Antonio Giovianni.

The plan was straight forward: Neutralize Antonio Giovianni, and any of the involved, and return the girl safely to her father.

Giovianni was a smart man with an IQ of nearly 170. He had taken over his father's business, which had been a lousy one, and rebuilt everything. He was unforgivable and quickly made himself a name in the Italian underworld, and rose in the ranks until he became the most feared and powerful man among the various mobsters. His conscience was next to non-existent and he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

So a rescue mission was seeing the light of day. And it had started off easy when they had been told the name of a man who had inside-knowledge and was more than willing to share them. His name was Lionel Mechi, a rat among the snakes of gangsters. He scared easily and was already shaking his pants when Benji and Brandt picked him up and after Ethan had talked to him, he was willing to give up his own mother if that was what it took. He gave up four different locations of safe-houses where Claire McGregor would be transported to and from. If any of the locations were compromised they would simply move her to another. Mechi also told them where the girl was currently being held.

When they stood at a table in their own safe-house later that night, with Mechi blindfolded in another room, their plan was quickly coming together and taking shape nicely.

"Okay, we know Giovianni will be attending the party tomorrow, which gives us an opening," Ethan started. "We know he will be surrounded by his infamous bodyguards, who refuse to leave his side until he tells them to … which is where Jane comes in."

"I'll lure him away and then take him out, nice and quietly," Jane finished, while nodding her head knowingly.

"Right, I will also be there, in case shit hit the fan," Ethan said and passed on an envelope to Jane. "That's your invitation."

Jane took it and then looked at the table before looking back at him. "Where's yours?" she asked.

"Well, consider me as the uninvited guest that only shows up when things start to go wrong," Ethan smiled and winked at her quickly before continuing. "Brandt, I want you at that safe-house. You stake out there, make sure the girl is even there or if this is some sort of set-up. If you can't spot the girl, we can't move in. If the girl is there and the safe-house is compromised you follow them when they are going to move her, so we know exactly where she will be."

Brandt simply nodded, but otherwise didn't talk. He was just trying to suppress the bad feeling that had somehow manifested itself in his stomach. He didn't voice his concern, not yet at least, because he didn't have a specific reason for it.

Ethan took no notice of the analyst's silence, so he turned to Benji instead. "Benji, you will be stationed in our van where you'll monitor every one of our movements. You are going to make sure neither Giovianni nor senator McGregor make or receive a call we wouldn't know about. You are our safety-net, which means you can help if things go wrong in our end or if things go wrong in Brandt's end, okay?"

Benji nodded seriously, understanding his role. "You got it, Ethan."

"Good. Our objective is rescuing this girl and we leave nothing to chances," Ethan finished. He needed every one of his teammates to know what exactly what this mission was going to be about. They had been told what it was millions of times, but a repetition never hurt, especially with important and dangerous missions … which was all of their missions.

Benji, Brandt and Jane all nodded, knowing what their part of the mission was going to be.

"Okay, Benji, your codename this time is Baldur …" Ethan started but didn't get any further as Benji immediately interrupted.

"Hang on. Baldur, really? Come on," Benji said non-believing.

"Here we go …" Brandt muttered under his breath and leaned onto the table. Jane muffled a laugh as Benji started to complain of his new codename and his unfair life.

"Why does every protection detail turn to crap in my hands?" The sentence was Brandt's first thought as he staggered towards consciousness.

He groaned lightly and opened his eyes. They quickly adjusted to the dim light that bathed his 'room'. Despite his bindings being cut, he was in the exact position he had fallen: on his stomach, face down. His body protested slightly as he rose to his elbows and his world blurred and tipped for a small second. A copper taste filled his mouth and he spit out a mixture of saliva and blood. Brandt smiled for himself, satisfied to know it wasn't his blood that was in his mouth. Grunting slightly, he proceeded to move himself up in a standing position.

When everything started to spin he used the wall for support until the world stopped moving too fast. Brandt then moved to the steel door. He had no idea how long he had been out and what had happened in the meantime. He did not know if they had moved out and taken the girl with them and just left him in the room for his team to find when they would arrive. He prayed they had assumed it was only him who was watching them and they hadn't made a connection to a larger team or organization. Therefore he placed his ear against the cold steel and listened for any sign of life buzzing outside. A ghost of a smile hinted across his lips when he heard the faint sounds of men scuffing around and mutters in Italian. So they were still there. For how long he had no idea, but for now nothing seemed to have changed.

He turned his attention to the door itself. It was made of shiny steel and its surface was completely smooth. In fact, there was nothing on it at all. Brandt ran his hands over the cold material and they encountered nothing but steel. The lock must be on the other side and on the other side only. It was a clever design. There was no way he could unlock it from his side unless he had a high-powered weapon that could cut through steel and currently he was a little short on those. He started banging on the door to get the Italian minions' attention. When his palms started to hurt from being slammed into the door he put his ear against the cold steel again and listened. No noises outside suggested they had heard him. Or they had heard him and just didn't bother to pay attention to it. They probably knew he couldn't escape anyway.

Brandt sighed and slit down the door until he sat on the floor. He knew that his options quickly disappeared one by one. He couldn't escape on his own; he would have to get assistance from an outside-force. He couldn't con his captors; they were cleverer than they looked. It all boiled down to one opportunity: he would have to wait until Ethan, Jane and Benji broke him out. But that could take awhile. He didn't know if Ethan decided to ignore protocol and break him and Claire McGregor out as soon as possible or if he would go along with the original plan and wait until they would move Claire and take it from there. Knowing Ethan, he would most likely choose the plan that went the most against procedure.

So Brandt closed his eyes, got as comfortable as he could and waited.

It was nightfall by the time Ethan decided it was time. They had all watched the newly built house the previous night, or what had been left of it, and spent the day making their plan-of-attack. They had seen Brandt being carried away from the living room and disappearing in the hall. Other than him being down the hall somewhere, they did not know much going on. But Ethan had always been a bit of a fan of the unexpected. That was after all his trademark.

So as the sun had set and cast its final shine on the construction site the three agents got ready to bring back their teammate.

"You ready?" Ethan asked as Jane pulled the rubber band out of her hair. She ran her fingers through it and rustled it a bit so her brown locks fell around her shoulders and into her face. Then she pulled down on her shirt so her cleavage became more prominent.

Then she nodded. "Let's get this over with," she confirmed and stepped out of the back of their white van. Ethan and Benji followed her out. "Let's just hope the Italians live up to their name."

With that she strutted away towards the house. The two male agents followed her halfway before they hid out of sight and from their hiding place they watched anxiously as she took a breath and knocked on the door. As soon as the door was opened Jane got into character and broke down.

"Oh, thank God someone's home! I saw there was a light on, but I didn't know someone lived here. Please help me, my car broke down and I'm stranded out here all alone and I don't know what to do …" Jane rambled on and tears started to fill up in her eyes. The Italian looked at her dumbfounded at first but quickly he caved in to his male instincts and leaned forward to comfort the terrified woman.

As soon as laid his arms around her, Jane took a hold of his right arm, turned under his armpit and held him in an arm-lock. Quickly she smashed his head into the wall beside him and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Jane cast a quick glance to Ethan and Benji, as she took out her weapon hidden in the rim of her pants, signaling them that it was clear. Ethan smiled and took out his own gun.

The action had begun.

Brandt snapped out his thoughts and jumped when a gunshot rang out outside of his prison. He quickly moved away from the door when more followed and fast, Italian, desperate sounds joined in. Brandt couldn't help the small smile that crept over his mouth. He had a pretty good guess on who could cause such loud commotion. Scrambling feet neared the door and Brandt scooted closer to the wall. He didn't know who was going to walk through that door so he prepared himself.

A gliding sound filled the room as the lock was turned and the door swung open. "Brandt?" a British voice said.

"Benji," Brandt said and sighed relieved as he saw the voice's owner walk through the door with his gun raised. The Brit smiled at him and lowered his weapon.

"What took you so long?" Brandt asked with a smile and took the gun Benji held out to him.

"We can't all be super-agents," Benji shot back quickly and followed Brandt out of the door, adding, "and a thank you would have been nice!"

Brandt found the two other teammates in the hall outside the door. Jane was tying an unconscious man's hands together while Ethan had collected all of the Italians' weapons and put the last ones in the growing pile.

"Brandt. Good to see you're alright," the team leader said with a quick smile as he saw the mentioned agent come through the hallway, Benji fast on his heels. A large bump had formed on Brandt's forehead and he looked worn with dust and mud still clinging to his clothes, but otherwise the agent seemed unharmed, a fact Ethan was relieved to discover.

Brandt only nodded at Ethan's comment but otherwise didn't make one himself. He looked around the empty living room and at all the either dead or unconscious Italian mobsters. Luigi, he noted, was lying dead with a bullet hole in his forehead. But he also noticed something was missing. "You get the girl yet?"

"No," Jane answered. "We wanted to make sure there was no else hiding."

Brandt nodded at the answer and then he quickly turned on his heel and headed for the locked room where he knew she had been placed. In front of the door he unlocked the bolt and pushed open the heavy metal door. It revealed the small girl, looking even more frightened than she had the first time.

"Claire?" Brandt said as he entered.

At his entrance, she cowered further into the farthest corner and hugged her knees tighter. She made a small terrified squeak as he neared her slowly, scared of what was about to happen. She had only heard the screams of panic from her captors, followed by sounds of loud gunfire and fighting. Having no idea what had just transpired, she could only assume it had to be something bad.

So Brandt stopped his advance to the girl and put his hands up in the air, showing he had no intention of hurting her. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you," he said to her in a hushed voice. "I'm one of the good guys. My name is Will."

Claire's body was still tense and while she was still hugging her knees, she seemed to loosen up a little bit as she regarded him. Taking a chance, Brandt moved slightly closer to her. She hid behind her hair and tried to press herself further against the wall so he stopped. She opened her eyes when she heard him stop and looked at him again.

"Your father sent me and my friends to rescue you," Brandt tried. "I'm here to take you home, alright?"

He lowered himself to his knees so his eyes were at level with hers. He still kept his hands raised so he was certain she understood he meant her no harm and that he would not force her to do anything she did not like. She had to go with the team by her own free will otherwise the mission would be much longer and complicated than it already was.

Now that he was closer she studied his face and suddenly a small spark of recognition ignited in her eyes. "You are the man they captured," she said. Her voice was shaky and tiny.

"Yeah, I am," he smiled at her. "I came looking for you. Let me take you home." He extended his hand to her, ever so slowly so he wouldn't spook her.

"Are you friends with my dad?" she asked him instead.

"Yes. He is very concerned for you, so how about we take you to see him?" Brandt said, smiled wider as he realized she started to trust him.

She hesitated at first and Brandt held his breath while she decided. Then she nodded quickly and took his hand. She allowed him to scoop her up in his arms.

He felt her arms tighten around his neck and to comfort her he rubbed her back with his hand. "I got you," he whispered as both of them exited the room and headed towards the rest of the team, waiting in the hall.

TBC

So know they got the girl. And all seems fun and games. But staying true to the Mission: Impossible way … nothing is what it seems and shit is about to hit the fan :D

Like I said at the beginning of chapter … Please review. I hate to beg, but …