Ch. 14: The Plan
Several hours ago...
"I'm not risking any more people. That's what caused this," Ethan had been saying to Luther.
"It sounds like putting Benji on the side is what did this."
Ethan fired a glare.
"Alright, I'm sorry-that was uncalled for. Look, all I'm trying to say is, don't make this a suicide mission. You've got people who've got your back. People who want to help."
"I can't lose anyone else. No one else."
Luther's eyes softened as he saw the desperation in Ethan's.
"You haven't lost him. Not yet. And all together, we can make sure you won't."
A truck pulled up quickly, the team exiting from the seats and heading towards Ethan and Luther. They watched the smoke billowing from the building and turned their attention to the other agents.
"What happened?" Brandt asked, dreading the casualty report.
"Kane happened," Ethan replied, "Hunley got to the safehouse because Benji sacrificed himself to buy time."
"Is he-"
"Kane has him."
Brandt nodded. Jane locked eyes with Ethan and drew in a breath, "What's the plan?"
Ethan tried to shake his head and decline the offer, but before he could even begin, Zhen cut him off. "We've handed Yanik off to other agents, he's in custody, he's preparing to make a deal rolling over Kane's other men."
"I think it's what Kane wanted," Ethan offered. "He had no long-term plan. He built a small empire with one goal in mind. He lead us right to a gathering of his consorts. He doesn't care if they go down. He has no loyalty. Yanik will seem like the traitor, but we were invited in to see them all. Kane just wants his revenge. That's it. Once he gets what he wants he will drop them all immediately."
"So," Jane perked up, "What's the plan?"
The team gathered in a small warehouse in Seattle around a table. The main source of light was an exposed bulb dangling from above them. On the table was a schematic of the building where Benji was being held. Luther was tinkering at a table off to the side as Ethan reviewed the layout of the building. Brandt marked locations of guards.
"From what we've gathered, they keep a small crew at night," Zhen was explaining, "The main guard barracks are down this way," she pointed on the map.
"This is the best entrance," Jane added, "It makes the most sense, but within 30 seconds, guards from this area," her finger tapped the spot, "will be all over you. Heavily armed. Big guns."
"What about this hall?" Ethan asked, indicating a direction that veered away from the other paths.
"Heavy security area. Alarms, cameras alerting every person on the base to your location. 45 seconds until you get swarmed. Maybe."
"What about maintenance shafts?" Jane asked, "Stealth your way in?"
"No," Ethan shook his head, stepping back, "I want the loudest, most populated route."
The women looked at him quizzically. Brandt, puzzled, slowly started to understand, "You want to go in...guns blazing…?"
"I want them to think I'm going in guns blazing."
"You'll be killed, fake gun-blazing or not," Brandt insisted.
"I'll be caught."
Jane's eyes narrowed. "This helps us, how…?"
"I'll be right in the middle of the compound," Ethan nodded to the rooms marked 'holding cell'.
"So…" Brandt moved over to Luther's table and picked up a grenade, "Blow them up from the inside?"
"Close," Luther chimed in before handing Brandt a wristwatch. Brandt looked it over before turning to Ethan for an explanation.
"It's like an EMP device," Luther continued. Brandt and the women looked from Ethan to Luther and back again.
"An EMP?" Zhen asked before shrugging, going along with it.
"It'll send out a signal frying everything from lights to security and comm systems."
"Okay, so you knock everything out from the inside...then what?" Jane inquired.
"The real blazing guns come in," Ethan offered, pointing to each of them.
"The big question," Jane began, looking at the watch, "Is what if they take the watch off of you, which they probably will...what then?"
"I'll get it back."
Jane shot him a look, "There has to be a less crazy plan."
"Crazy is sort of what we do," Luther replied.
"Kane has to think I'm at my wit's end," Ethan explained.
"I think you are," Jane countered.
Ethan sighed. "He thinks I've come charging in. He'll gloat. He'll get close to me. He'll leave us alone with each other. I'll bide my time. Get free. Get the watch back."
"What if he kills you first?"
"He won't kill me before he kills Benji, and if that happens…" Ethan trailed off, shaking his head. "What if it doesn't work?"
"It'll work," Brandt added, nodding.
All eyes were on him. "Ethan can do it. He'll get in. They'll catch him. He'll bide his time. Find Benji, set off the watch, we'll come in and escort them out."
"How can you be sure?" Jane continued, worried.
Brandt shrugged, "Because Benji would say it if he were here. He'd believe in him. He'd say, 'Oh, he can do it. He'd get the watch back in no time. He'd only need one grenade.'"
Ethan cracked a small hopeful smile, imagining what Benji would be saying to him now.
Jane paused a moment, looking to Ethan before making up her mind. "Okay."
The team started leaving the table, making the final preparations. Ethan moved to leave the room, but Brandt stopped him.
"I'm not Benji, please take more than one grenade."
In the holding cell, Ethan pulled Benji to his feet, the injured man calling out in pain at the movement. Ethan draped Benji's arm around his shoulder and grabbed the gun from the ground. Holding the watch in one hand, he looked to Benji, whose eyes were going in and out of focus.
"You ready?" Ethan asked.
Benji blinked, trying to clear his eyes. His one hand was clamped over his wound as blood threatened to spill between his fingers. His mouth was turned down in a scowl. With hooded eyes, he upturned the palm of his free hand and shrugged.
"Sounds like a yes," Ethan replied, pressing the button on the side of the lit watch.
The two men were suddenly submerged in darkness. Ethan clicked on a flashlight from the table and mounted it to his belt. Benji blinked at the sudden light. Ethan pulled Benji toward the door, then leaned him against the frame as he grabbed the pocketknife off the ground, slipping it into his pocket and checking both directions for a clear coast.
Benji was starting to slide toward the ground when Ethan turned back to him, catching and righting the man.
"Benji, I need you to stay with me, okay?"
Benji removed his hand from his wound and stared, panicked at the amount of blood drenching his shirt.
"Benji!"
Benji's eyes snapped to Ethan.
"Stay focused on me, okay? Don't look down."
Benji's blue eyes stared into Ethan's green ones and didn't leave.
"You're going to make it. It's not that bad. You just have to stay focused and we'll get you patched up, okay?"
Slowly Benji nodded.
"Lemme take a look, just stay staring ahead. You're in shock so it's going to look worse to you than it is."
"Okay," Benji stared around the hall, not looking down again.
The fact of the matter was that it was bad. Very bad. Benji was bleeding out. Ethan needed him to stay calm and strong so they could get out of there. Ethan knelt down and moved Benji's hands from the wound. Blood poured from the slit down the front of Benji's shirt and began soaking his trousers. Ethan knew he had to halt the bleeding with more than just Benji's hand. He looked at Benji's and his own trousers, but both men's were too dirty and bloodstained. Quickly Ethan pulled off his t-shirt, catching Benji's attention.
He stared amusedly at Ethan, seeing the opportunity for a quip. "Now's not really the time, Ethan…" he coughed out a laugh.
Ethan pressed the shirt to the wound and Benji let out a gasp and whimper, his head resting back against the doorframe. "You-you'd tell me if it was really bad, right?" Benji asked, voice shaking.
"Of course."
"And...it's not, right?"
"Stop being a baby, he hardly got you."
Ethan pressed Benji's hands to the shirt and wrapped a free arm around the man. Benji knew he was lying, but didn't know how bad the injury was. "Come on," Ethan commanded, "We have to keep moving. We'll make it out."
"I believe in ya, Ethan…"