A/N: I am so, so, SO sorry for being so late! I was really busy and then had a writer's block… Please forgive me! And thank you to everyone for the patience!

I don't own either of the movies.

Chapter 9

"So you're FBI agents," Danny couldn't hide his excitement even under such grave circumstances. Jane and Brandt exchanged slightly annoyed glances. They had no idea why Ethan had decided to take him with them. They were almost sure that Ethan didn't know that, either. It felt like everything they ever did just got more and more complicated as it progressed.

"And you protect people who are…" Danny took a pause before saying the important word, "… assets?"

"Yes," Ethan replied shortly with an inward sigh.

"And Nicholas' brother is one of your assets?" Danny asked after a pause as he contemplated asking about whether or not they had ever done all those awesome things FBI agents were supposed to do and pointing out that even he had done some of those. He was trying his hardest not to actually think about Nicholas, as the worry was making him feel slightly dizzy. The people who had him seemed dangerous. The FBI had to protect his brother from them, of course they were dangerous. But they hadn't killed Nicholas at once, so they needed him alive. You don't have to be a detective to understand that.

"Yes, he is," Brandt decided to try and step in. "He had to come here in business so we had to follow him to make sure he's safe".

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

One thing Nicholas could tell for sure was that around him there was complete darkness. His leg was going sore, giving him some hope that it would stop hurting soon. He felt slightly lightheaded, as the amounts of blood coming from the wound were quite impressive. He also noticed that someone must have put a bandage on his leg. Clearly they didn't want him to bleed to death just yet.

"So, Benjamin, that was a stupid thing you did there," he heard a voice coming from somewhere behind the fog. He had to blink a few times to get that fog to clear. "Let me assure you, we will not let you do that again".

In his state, Nicholas wasn't fast enough to notice the kick heading his way. Although he probably wouldn't have been able to do anything to avoid it even if he had noticed it. He let out a pained growl as his ribs and abdomen were taking hits of increasing strength. He vaguely heard some sickening cracking sounds but couldn't be sure, as all the noises were being overshadowed by the wild ringing in his ears. Despite the agony he was in, he knew they weren't going to kill him just yet. They still needed him. Needed Benji. Which meant there was more pain to come.

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

Danny was nervous. Well, he had more than one reason to be, but right now he was trying to focus on the seemingly least unnerving one, as some of the others were causing him to panic.

He was about to meet Nicholas' brother. Nicholas' twin brother. What was he like? He had only heard Nicholas mention him once and quite unwillingly. Did they get on well? He was an IT specialist, as Danny remembered. Hard to imagine someone whose twin brother was a supercop that couldn't be stopped being a person of such a… normal, usual kind.

After quite a peculiar sounding knock from Ethan the door opened… and Danny's eyes went wide. The man standing at the doorstep looked exactly like Nicholas, and yet… completely unlike him. He seemed slightly thinner than Nicholas, and despite his features were identical to those of his brother's, the expression on his face made him look a bit younger, despite now it was mainly worried and increasingly confused.

"Who is this?" he asked, looking from Danny to his teammates, his body visibly tense.

"Danny – Benji, Benji – Danny," Brandt introduced not without noticeable sarcasm.

"This is Sergeant Butterman," Jane interrupted with an exasperated sigh. She was about to add something but saw the technician's eyes go wide at the name itself. It was obvious he had heard it before.

"Benji, I need to talk to you for a second," Ethan had to put his hand on the younger agent's shoulder in order to get him to snap out of it, as he was still staring at their guest, and follow him into a next room. However, it was Benji who spoke first once they reached their destination.

"Why did you get him here?" he asked quietly before Ethan even got the chance to open his mouth.

"A hunch," Ethan knew this explanation wasn't good enough but he didn't have a better one. "I feel like he's capable of more than he looks like".

"I know he is," Benji replied, nodding to some of his thoughts. "I also know what Nick is capable of when someone he cares about is in danger. Butterman is not an agent, and you're dragging him into this so easily?"

Under any other circumstances Ethan would have found it hilarious how similar to Brandt Benji now was.

"Trust me, Benji," he drew a wide grin on his face. "Oh, and while Daniel is around, you are not an agent, either. You're an IT specialist under the FBI's protection".

Benji didn't even try to argue. By this point, having known Ethan for years, he knew there was no point in arguing with him. To him the result would be only exasperation, exhaustion and an almost painful desire to punch the older agent in the face. He drew a breath and nodded before returning to the other room where the silence was getting awkward.

"So, you are Danny Butterman," he reached to shake the police officer's hand, smiling as warmly as he could. "Nick has told me about you".

"Has he?" Danny was really surprised for some reason. He also couldn't help but notice how even the way Benji smiled was different to Nicholas. It seemed more innocent. Probably because, even though having had his death faked and being under protection, Benji didn't have to live with what Nicholas lived. All the deaths and fights and car chases… it really takes a lot out of you, Danny thought. He also remembered how shaken Nicholas was with the experience of having killed someone. Benjamin was lucky he didn't have to live with that. "What did he say?"

"You saved his life," the smile on Benji's face was now gone, making him look a lot more like Nicholas, his dark blue eyes looking into Danny's with all the sincerity he could muster. Danny couldn't help the odd feeling this was causing him.

"Well, you know…" Danny rubbed the back of his head and looked down. He had no idea the two brothers had kept in touch and even talked about him.

"I don't know if I would be ever able to do what you did," Benji went on, recalling Nicholas' story of how Danny had dived in front of a gun, taking a bullet for his friend… and Benji's brother. "And…" he could feel a lump in his throat, all the worry he had been pushing to the side up to this moment finally catching up with him. Would they get to save Nick this time? What if it was already too late?

Danny couldn't help but feel the same. He was suddenly so lost, involved in some game with real FBI agents, and it didn't seem as exciting as he had thought, because Nicholas was still missing, and they didn't know if he was even alive and… He sat down, his eyes welling up a bit.