A/N: A quick update for a change… Thank you to everyone who's reading it, and thank you for the reviews, they really keep me going. Hope you enjoy!

And I still don't own anything, strangely enough…

Chapter 11

Gingerly, Danny walked up to a sofa near the chair Benji was sitting in and sat down. He wanted to say something, felt like he was supposed to say something, but the lump in his throat wouldn't let him. He felt his stomach doing flips as he made feeble attempts at steadying his breath. He needed to pull himself together. He was responsible for someone else's safety now. This pressure was dragging him down a bit, even though nothing was probably going to happen. At least, Danny hoped so. In the past few years he had learned that proper action isn't always that amazing. Actually, he had completely finalised that conclusion in his mind the moment he had opened his eyes in a hospital in Buford Abbey, where he had been brought after the explosion… He remembered how much everything had hurt, and he couldn't figure out where he was, and he couldn't breathe… But one of the first things he saw upon waking up was one familiar face. The same face he remembered barely seeing before everything had gone to black, only now their surroundings were different. And Nicholas wasn't crying anymore, although his eyes were slightly red as his face lit up with a faint smile. And at that moment Danny was just happy it was all over, and they were both alive and safe… Although now they weren't that safe anymore.

His thoughts were interrupted by Benji's short sigh as he checked his watch.

"They will get Nicholas," Danny hadn't expected his voice to be so weak and shaky. There was no reply from the blond man, who just stared intently at the screen of his laptop, his fingers pressed tightly to his lips, as if preventing him from saying anything. "I mean, they look like they're good at what they do…"

"Oh, they are good, they are the best. I mean the best out of anyone I know. I mean…" Benji felt that he was now babbling and gritted his teeth to stop himself from saying anything that could give him away.

"Do you know them well?" Danny asked, shifting in his seat. Out of all the things he would ever want to ask Nicholas' brother about this wasn't anywhere near the top of the list. However, he felt that words were now escaping his mouth without much of an effort from his mind.

Benji checked his watch again.

"Yeah, quite. I mean, they've been around for years, you know…" he shrugged. He hated this. Hated having to stay away and have a social conversation with a person he barely knew and who was clearly just as worried as he was. Hated sitting and doing nothing when his brother was in danger. Because of him.

Danny nodded. This was getting increasingly awkward every second. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears. Benji checked his watch yet again when suddenly his eyes went wide, glued to some spot at the screen, and he grabbed his headphones. For about a minute Danny watched him in silence, noticing how the man's hands were now shaking.

"Damn it!" Benji exclaimed all of a sudden, ripping the headphones off and rushing to a desk across the room to get his phone.

"What happened?" Danny asked, watching him dial the number. There was no reply, as whoever he was calling seemed to have picked up, and the techie left the room.

"Ethan!" Benji practically yelled, barely giving the older agent the time ho say hello. "You went in the wrong way! They're at the opposite end of the city!"

"What? Where are they?"

"I'll send you the details," he swallowed. "We gotta hurry".

"We're on our way!" Ethan's voice was accompanied by the screeching of the breaks as he took a violent turn. It was unbelievable he managed to drive in big cities without killing any civilians.

"I'll get there faster," Benji replied in a low voice.

There was a sharp exhale on the other end of the line, and Benji could clearly picture the older agent closing his eyes and sighing exasperatedly. Obviously, this time he couldn't have closed his eyes because he was, most likely, driving.

"Just don't go in there before we arrive," Ethan said defeatedly. Benji was grateful for that. Ethan clearly realised it was pointless arguing with him trying to stop him. And he appreciated that a lot.

"I'll see what I can do," he stated before disconnecting. He vaguely heard weak protests from what sounded like Brandt before pressing the button.

Without a second thought he walked straight to his bag and reached inside it to get his gun.

"What are you doing?" he heard a faint voice behind him. The police officer is still here Benji. Great. So much for your work on your self control – you forgot about another person being in the room.

"Going to get my brother. Are you with me?" he decided that the blunter he was the better. It did have a great effect on Danny, as the poor officer seemed too confused to properly process the reply.

"But- but we're supposed to stay here!" the sergeant argued, still looking at the blond man with a mix of confusion, worry and a hint of fear.

"Look," Benji put his hands on Danny's shoulders, causing him to flinch, as it reminded him of how Nicholas sometimes did that, "it will take ages for the others to get there. In that time Nick can be dead," his voice trembled at the last word.

"But… no," Danny tried as hard as he could to put force into his tone. Who did he think he was? Life isn't like the movies. You can't just become an action hero when you want to. Danny now knew that too well. "I can't let you go, you don't…"

"You can go with me though," Benji looked down. He needed as much help as he could get. "I can't explain everything to you. Trust me, I know what I am doing. I just…" he looked up again, trying to find something in the other man's face. To find the worry for his friend, the hidden strength Nick had told him about, "… I can't do this alone".