Title: A Case of Deja-vu

Chapter title: Brokenpromiseland

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: Before we move on to the story I would like to thank Sabsi13 (also for chapter 1) and SPN4eva556 for reviewing. It means a lot. Thank you.

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Mission: Impossible or anything else you might recognize bla bla bla and so on and so forth …

"If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self."

Their safe house was a good five hour drive away from the construction site.

Upon examining the house and all electronics the team learned that the Italian mobsters only had been henchmen, assigned to protect and eventually move the girl from location to location. They knew nothing of Giovianni or where he would be hiding nor were there any clues in the estate on where he could be. So they grabbed the walkie-talkie Luigi dropped when he was shot as they had stormed the house. Then they left the construction site and tied up goons for a clean-up crew from the IMF to take care of.

The whole time Claire refused to leave Brandt's side. Every time he tried to put her down, she squirmed and held onto him tighter. So Ethan, Jane and Benji assured him they would take care of cleaning up and packing their van while Brandt sat in the vehicle, waiting and gently rocked his body back and forth to comfort the scared girl. When there was nothing going on other than sitting and waiting, Claire was quick to fall asleep. Brandt doubted she had been getting enough rest since her capture. Few people were able to sleep while being held against their will, child or not. So he let her sleep with her small body curled and nuzzled up against his chest.

Brandt too felt exhausted but he decided he would wait until they reached the safe house so he could take a shower before going to sleep. If he had to guess he would say the rest of the team probably hadn't gotten much sleep either. They hadn't slept much since they started the mission and he didn't believe they would have rested since his capture.

But as they were driving, with Benji and Jane in the back and Ethan next to him behind the wheel, Brandt felt his eyes grow heavy. He tried to his best to keep them open and focused on the endless road and forest that surrounded the highway. Ethan noticed it as he had risked a quick glance on the girl to make sure she was alright and he had already noted the dark circles that had started to form under the analyst's eyes.

"It's okay to sleep, Brandt. We'll watch over her," he assured his agent.

Brandt didn't respond. Instead he first looked at Ethan with his tired green orbs before he shifted his gaze down to Claire, who was still sleeping peacefully.

"You're practically sleeping already," Ethan smiled at him. "We're a few hours away from the safe house so you might as well use the time wisely."

Brandt sighed and finally surrendered. He closed his eyes and instantly he landed in a dreamless sleep.

When they arrived, Brandt felt just as worn out as before but considerably less tired, though in an ideal world he could do with a few more hours of sleep.

They emptied the van, made sure they weren't followed, and then barricaded themselves inside the safe house. It was small in size with only two bedrooms and an open kitchen to the large living room. Claire took up one of the bedrooms, still exhausted. As Brandt had placed her on the bed she had grabbed in his arm in slight panic. He tried to assure her that he wouldn't leave, but when she still held on, he sat down on the floor next to her bed. There he planned to stay until she fell asleep. But what he did not plan for was for himself to close his eyes.

He woke an hour later though, surprised to see he fallen asleep on the wooden floor. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes and stretching the kinks out of his back, he gently pried his hand out of Claire's grasp. Realizing he was still in his muddy outfit, he quickly found his bag in the room and changed into a cleaner set of clothes. His appearance didn't matter much to him at the moment so he decided to leave it like that for now. Then he walked out silently. He left the door open, though, so she easily would recognize her surroundings and find him if needed.

When he walked out of her room he found Benji asleep on the small lumpy couch next to his computer and every other technical equipment they had brought along. Ethan was sitting by a wood table, examining a map and a case file. Jane wasn't in the room but the door to the other bedroom was closed, so he assumed she was in there, taking a well-deserved nap.

Ethan looked up when he felt the new presence in the room. He acknowledged it by nodding his head upwards a single time before he pressed his finger against to lips and signaling to the slumbering Benji. Brandt smiled wryly in understanding before he moved silently towards the table and sat down opposite of Ethan.

"So how are things progressing?" Brandt asked casually, keeping his voice low.

"Well, before Benji went into a coma over there," Ethan whispered back and nodded towards the mentioned Brit. "He was working on triangulating Giovianni's position from the walkie we took."

"No luck I take it?"

"None so far, but we keep trying," Ethan answered. "Jane was almost dead on her feet, so I ordered her to get some sleep."

"And you?" Brandt asked. Ethan looked as tired as all of them put together so he guessed the agent hadn't slept yet.

"I'll wait until Jane wakes up," he said and then cracked a smile. "I am not sleeping on the floor."

"You can always push Benji out."

The smile widened on Ethan's face for a second, causing a small smile to erupt on Brandt's face too, before he turned serious. "And how are you doing?"

The curves of Brandt's mouth turned downwards again and he shrugged. "Sore," he honestly replied. "I think my pride is hurt more than my body."

"Good. How about the girl?"

"Tired, scared …" Brandt answered. "I think she just wants to go home. Have you contacted McGregor yet?"

"No, not yet," Ethan answered and turned his eyes back to the paper on the table and picked up the pencil.

"Why not?" Brandt frowned.

"Giovianni is still out there. Just because we wrecked his first attempt doesn't mean he's going to give up. What's to say he doesn't try again when all calms down?"

"So we're keeping her here?" Brandt asked. A chill had run down his spine and a small feeling of fear started to grab him.

"Yeah," Ethan's answer didn't settle well in Brandt's stomach. "We keep an eye on her here. We'll protect her."

"No, we won't," said the analyst.

"What?" Ethan looked up surprised. "What are you talking about?"

"We can't keep her here. We rescued her and we are going to return her to her concerned family."

"We have to neutralize Giovianni first. Otherwise we have accomplished nothing," Ethan argued.

"No."

"No?"

"No," Brandt repeated.

"You can and you will," The words were harsh and Ethan made sure it sounded more like a command than a suggestion. But Brandt didn't back down. He held his ground.

"I won't do it."

Ethan rose from his chair as he felt his anger rising. Right now they were in the middle of a mission they needed to complete at fast as possible. He did not need one of his agents backing out. Furthermore he couldn't understand why Brandt would suddenly retreat. As an analyst he must have seen the tactical advantage by keeping Claire McGregor in their custody. If Giovianni decided to try again they would stand ready to take him down. It was their best, and maybe their only shot at this. It led Ethan to believe something had happened during Brandt's short capture he hadn't told anyone about.

"Brandt, what the hell are you talking about?" Ethan asked.

Brandt stood too and though he was shorter than Ethan he managed to remain intimidating as he kept their eye contact, both of them too stubborn to back down.

"Let's just get the girl back to her father," Brandt said.

"And if Giovianni gets a hold of her again? Should we just let history repeat itself? She is safer here with us," Ethan argued back.

"No! She isn't!"

None of the agents no longer cared or remembered to keep their voices down and soon their argument woke both Benji and Jane.

"What is going on?" Benji asked while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Jane walked out of the bedroom, her eyes squinted and her hair tussled.

"Why is that such a problem, Brandt? It is just until we find Giovianni!" Ethan said, ignoring his two other agents.

"Because the last time we thought someone was safer with us, your wife died!" Brandt shot back, his voice rising to a yelling.

An uncomfortable silence spread in the little safe house. Jane and Benji stood rooted in place, shocked to hear the statement. Ethan himself looked like Brandt had just hit him. But the analyst continued, his eyes and voice full of pain and guilt.

"I can't let someone get hurt like that on my watch again, Ethan. You'll have to do it without me."

"We need you here, Brandt," Ethan took a step forward. "You can spot the things we will miss. It won't happen again, that I can guarantee."

"You're right; it won't happen again, because I'm not doing it. Return the girl to her parents … she will be safer that way."

"You know, we can't do that, Brandt."

"Then I'm out," Brandt said softly.

He turned and stalked towards the front door. Just as he touched the handle Ethan's voice stopped him in his tracks. "And if she gets hurt or worse?"

Brandt turned his head sideways and cast a quick glance in Ethan's direction. "Then we can comfort ourselves with the fact that we weren't responsible." Then he pushed down the handle and walked out the door without as much as looking back.

"Brandt!" Ethan called, but the door slammed shut and marked the end of the conversation.

As Brandt left an almost eerie silence filled the living room. No one dared to speak, nor did anyone know what to say if they opened their mouths.

Ethan knew the last mission Brandt had had before resigning from active duty had been a protection detail and that it had went to hell. He had been there. But he didn't know Brandt would actually walk out of the mission now that the perimeter had changed. He knew he needed to talk to his agent, sooner rather than later, but with Giovianni snooping around he didn't think he would get the time. Besides it was very personal and a mission called for professionalism. They didn't have time for old demons.

Benji could no longer stand the silence and was the first to speak, his voice ringing of uncertainty. "So … what do we do now, Ethan?"

Ethan leaned his arms against the table. He closed his eyes and for a second he thought. Then he opened them. "We continue on without him. We get Giovianni. We finish this mission and we finish it now."

After that, it quickly became business. Benji was trying typing away on his computer, trying to track Giovianni in every possible way that could be done electronic. Meanwhile Jane and Ethan talked plans and strategies on how to wash out Giovianni and how they could set up a trap for the Italian mobster without including Claire. For everything in the world they had all agreed pretty quickly that they would not use a girl to get the criminal. It would go against the definition of a protection detail not to mention their own moral codes.

She had been awake a few times since the time that had passed and asked after Brandt, the man she saw as her new protector and rescuer, and Ethan couldn't bring himself to tell her he had left. Instead he managed to convince her that he would be back in a few hours. It bought him a bit of time to figure out what to say to her if Brandt didn't return, which after an hour had passed, seemed very likely. But he got her to loosen up a little so she could eat a little.

"Am I going home to my daddy soon?" she asked while she cuddled her knees.

Ethan was sitting next to her on the bed with his elbows resting on his knees. He sighed heavily before answering. "Not immediately, but we are working on it."

"I just want to go home," she complained to him.

"I know you do. But there are just a few things to take care of and then you can go home, okay?" He waited for her to nod before he continued. "Good. Just look at it as a … vacation. It'll be over before you know it. If you need anything just call for me, okay? Anything at all."

"Okay. Thank you," she whispered and looked up at him. Then she smiled at the senior agent, showing the upper row of her teeth where one of them was missing.

Ethan couldn't help but smile back. It was the first time he had seen her look like the little girl she really was. "Get some sleep. Like I said, we are all right outside if you need anything."

She went under the blanket and when he was sure she was asleep, Ethan walked out and closed the door slightly.

Brave kid …

Benji was sitting on the couch, a headset covering his ears and the end line was plucked into the walkie-talkie lying next to the computer. While he was listening he was typing on the keyboard, stuck in his own thoughts.

That was until sounds caught his attention and he stopped typing and started listening intently instead. The more he listened, the more alert he became. Convinced that he had heard enough, he tore out the earphones.

"Guys," he called. As he got their attention he swallowed a single time before he stated, "we have a problem."

Jane straightened up from leaning on the table. "What is it, Benji?"

"I just picked up chatter from the radio. They are coming here."

"Who, Benji?" Ethan asked, though he had a pretty good guess on whom.

"Giovianni … they're trying to trace us and based on what I just heard, they are succeeding. They are coming here … to the safe house."

TBC

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