A/N: Okay, I am so, so, SO sorry for such a long wait! Things are getting very difficult in my life, and I just was in no state to write. I really hope someone is still interested in this story…
Still don't own any of the movies.
Chapter 12
Benji drove as fast as it was possible without breaking the speed limit. Getting stopped by the police, despite even being sure they would be able to deal with them easily, would take too long. Benji felt like they didn't have much time. He tried not to picture the possible state his brother could be in, focusing on the road instead. From time to time he would throw a glance at Danny, who now looked completely lost. The sergeant probably regretted his weakness, thinking he should have stopped the wild IT guy on his way. At least his expression was clearly saying that. The agent had given him a gun on their way to the car, saying he would explain everything later. He wasn't sure that was going to happen though.
"What are you gonna do?" Danny asked, looking at the driver with a mix of worry and uneasiness.
That is a good question, Benji thought, sighing sharply and shrugging.
"We can arrive there and check if the coast is clear for the guys," he replied reluctantly.
"Do you even know how dangerous it is?" Danny tried to pull an authority voice and felt like he wasn't even convincing himself.
"Yeah," Benji let out with an uneasy laugh. "What I know is, there is a gang of armed mobsters holding my brother hostage… Thinking that he is me".
Danny's eyes went wide. For some reason he hadn't made that connection before. He tried to imagine what the other man must have been feeling. Besides worry, of course, there was probably guilt or something Danny couldn't grasp.
"So it's you they're after?" the sergeant asked quietly. Benji nodded, remembering what he saw on the CCTV record.
"And Nick, being Nick, is trying to defend me… pretending to be me," he added bitterly after a short pause. There was another silence before another thought occurred to him. "It's better for him to keep pretending though".
"Why?" Danny felt like he knew the answer but was too afraid of thinking about it so decided to shut his thoughts down.
Benji knew perfectly well that the reply was clear to both of them, but answered the question anyway.
"Because the moment they find out he's not me, they will kill him," Benji wanted to add that he hoped that hadn't happened already but managed to hold it back. He heard Danny gasp and went on talking. "They need me and they need me alive".
"So as long as they think he's you, he's safe?" Danny sounded childishly hopeful, and Benji wanted to say yes, he really wanted to believe that, but he knew it wasn't true. He knew what those people were capable of to get the information they needed, and it made his blood boil.
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Ethan hit the steering wheel in exasperation. It was a wonder that didn't happen more often, really. Now, when being in time was vitally important, Ethan Hunt and his team of the best agents the IMF could offer were stopped by traffic.
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Danny still couldn't believe what was happening when they pulled over near what looked like an abandoned warehouse outside the city.
"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked cautiously, noticing that Benji was about to leave the car.
"I told you, we should check if the coast is clear for the guys," the blond replied.
"Can't we stay in the car?" Danny didn't like having to have the control over the situation, especially now that he felt that he was losing said control. He wondered how those people could even protect Benjamin – he seemed impossible to protect. Danny remembered how he had gotten called childish at times, but this was beyond childish.
"We need to at least know how many of them there are," Benji argued, opening the door and taking his gun out. A bit too proficiently. Too subconsciously. Some crazy thought crossed Danny's mind but he had no time for it, trying to keep up with the man.
"Wait!" the sergeant yelped, catching up with Benjamin and finally facing him. "Can you just- I'm supposed to ensure your safety!"
And then something unexpected happened. He saw Benjamin's features change in a matter of milliseconds as he raised his gun and fired it somewhere behind Danny's head. There were a couple of seconds of shocked silence before Danny heard something hitting the ground behind him through the ringing in his ears.
"And I'm gonna ensure yours," the blond said without any expression, as the sergeant turned his head to see a body lying in the distance. Wordlessly, they walked up to it. There was a bleeding wound right in the centre of the man's neck, as he was drawing his last raspy breaths, the blood gargling in his throat. There was a gun lying near his hand, as he had been obviously holding it before getting hit.
He turned his eyes back to Benjamin, whose face now looked stern and slightly scary. Much sterner than Nicholas had ever looked.
"You… killed him," Danny's voice was just a bit louder than a whisper. There was no reply from the other man, as his features were still stone-like. Danny wondered how the same man who had produced childish and timid grins not so long ago had now turned into someone so completely different.
Then another thought hit him – he had just witnessed a murder. He was a police officer. What was he supposed to do? Granted, it was to save his life, and they were in the middle of something… This was making the sergeant's head spin. Nicholas would know what to do… But it was Nicholas who they were trying to rescue, wasn't it? Actually no, they were supposed to wait for the agents to arrive. Danny looked up just in time to see Benjamin begin to walk forward, the same stone-faced expression making his features almost unrecognisable.
"You are not really an IT expert, are you?" Danny's realisation came to him just as he was voicing it, still shivering.
"I am," Benjamin's voice was low and dry, as he didn't look directly at the police officer. "Sort of," he muttered under his breath, turning round the corner.