CHAPTER FIVE

Ethan and Ilsa bolted through the warehouse door and into the road. The truck was lumbering away at a surprisingly decent clip. Without the remote, Ethan couldn't do anything. The only option was to stop the truck and figure the rest out later.

However, they did not have a chance to run after the truck. A loud crackle and pop went off as smoke curled from the truck. It had been completely fried. Ethan and Ilsa exchanged confused expressions. Where did that come from?

Benji stumbled out from behind the warehouse wall. He held the remote in his hand. Grinning, he jogged back to Ethan and Ilsa. "We got it done! Sorry to crash the party and all that, but I could hear that you were preoccupied."

Luther pulled their car up to the warehouse. They got inside and drove to the nearest motel. Once they got there, they called Brandt to arrange extraction. He congratulated Ethan on a job well done and said they'd be collected in the morning. That meant staying the night. Ilsa and Ethan booked one room while Luther and Benji took another.

Ethan sat on the edge of their mattress with a defeated expression. Ilsa had just exited the shower. She sat on his lap and set her forehead against his. He put his hands on her back, breathing in and out in time with the rise and fall of her spine.

"What's on your mind?" she whispered.

"You. They took you because of me."

"I'm fine, Ethan. If you hadn't come, I still would've found a way out eventually. Those men were amateurs."

He shook his head. "This time they were. This time you got away with scrapes and bruises. What about next time? What about when we go up against a more formidable opponent?"

"We'll handle it."

"I nearly lost my head when I lost you today. I failed back there. I failed our mission. If Benji hadn't come in and taken that remote, the North Koreans would have escaped with the weapons. It was my job to hit the button."

"But you didn't because you wanted to save me from Carlo."

"Yes. I did the very thing I told you we couldn't do. I put you first."

Ilsa softly set her hands on his shoulders. "I would've done the same thing in your position."

"Then we have a serious problem. We're supposed to protect the world…but you are my world, Ilsa."

"You're mine too, and I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either, but I can't protect you. If anything, I'm endangering you. I have a long list of enemies who'd gladly use you to get to me."

She scoffed. "I don't need your protection, and I'm putting you at risk too. I have plenty of enemies out there myself."

"I know," he muttered. He gazed into those gorgeous blue eyes, the ones he had fallen in love with the second he saw them, and sighed. "If we stay together, we're putting our lives—and the lives of every person on this planet—at risk. We promised we'd walk away if it came to that."

She somberly nodded. "We did say that. So, that's that? One bump in the road and it's over?"

"Bump? You were taken hostage, and we almost facilitated the next world war."

"You think that you're going to lose me, so you're telling me to leave. That's what this is," Ilsa knew. She swept the hair from his forehead with a tender breath. "I know you're afraid. You told me that in London. You don't have to be."

"Of course I'm afraid. I love you. And that's exactly why we shouldn't keep doing this."

Ilsa smiled at those words. "I love you. I've always loved you."

"Then walk. Walk right now. There are billions of other people out there, and they'd all be better for you than me. I will get you, and countless others, killed."

"If you stay with the IMF," Ilsa said. He stared at her curiously. "My offer still stands. Come away with me. We wouldn't have to worry about the world or anything else. We could live a quiet life together. We've given so much without anybody knowing. Without any gratitude. We deserve happiness, and we can have it. It's only a matter of going."

Ethan considered the offer, but not for long. He held Ilsa hands, frowning. "I can't. The IMF still needs me."

"In that case, it doesn't need me," she replied. "I thought I joined the IMF because I wanted this life. I joined it because I wanted a life with you. And you're saying that can't happen."

"I'm sorry, Ilsa. I don't know why I was expecting this to go any differently than it has."

She knew when she'd lost a fight, and this was one of those times. Her arms wrapped around him as her chin sat on his shoulder. "This doesn't change how I feel about you, Ethan. If you're ever ready to leave the IMF, I want you to find me. Promise me that you will."

"You'll have forgotten about me by then."

"I'll never forget you. It'll always be you."

They moved in for a kiss. In the blink of an eye, they had fallen to the mattress. They made love a final time before Ilsa packed her bags. She left Ethan with a lasting embrace and passionate kiss. He watched her leave through the motel window. She vanished into the night like a shadow.

Come morning, Ethan met Luther and Benji in the parking lot. Benji yawned as if he hadn't slept in a decade. "Those beds were like cinderblocks. I barely slept."

"You slept. We heard your snores through the walls," Ethan quietly responded.

Benji and Luther realized Ilsa wasn't with Ethan. Benji asked. "Where's Ilsa? We'll miss the extraction point if we don't get going."

"She's gone," Ethan answered.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Benji wondered.

Luther knew Ethan's expression. "She's moved on, Benji."

"It's for the best," Ethan muttered.

On a cargo boat bound for Cuba, Ilsa hid among the crates in the hold. She was never one for tears, but she felt like crying. Her life with Ethan had been her best life, and she had lived many lives. There was no way of knowing which life she'd start next, yet she knew that Ethan Hunt would pop up again eventually.

This isn't goodbye, Ilsa thought to herself. It's only farewell for now.