It all happens so fast. One second, they're just hanging out at home on a weekend, and the next, there's glass spraying everywhere, and Eric's got a hole in his shoulder that's spurting blood like ketchup squirting from the bottle. Julia grabs Eric and tells the kids to hide as the front door is kicked open.
Ideally, she'd get a weapon, normally a gun but Ethan has it, and she can't use anything anyway because she's got Eric who's trying to move on his own but just keeps tripping on his blood that's still flowing steadily. Back door, that's her first instinct but that's shut down when the back door's kicked open too.
"Mom," Chloe points to the stairs. That wouldn't buy them much time though. They wouldn't have time for all of them to get out through a window before they were either caught or killed depending on what exactly was happening. No doors, no windows, not upstairs or downstairs, and no adequate weapons. But the kids are smart.
Adam grabs the sharpest knife he can see as they scramble through the kitchen to follow Chloe who's got a good hiding place. It's the hollow part of the wall that they'd found when they first moved in. The kids would play in there when they were little after Eric helped them make a door out of the wall, and right now it's their best option. They squeeze in and everything is silent.
Footsteps, glass crunching, and measured breaths are the only sounds now. Now they just sit, not knowing what exactly they're waiting to happen. Julia can tell there are at least five gunmen searching every inch of the house. What do they want? Julia knows it's got something to do with whatever Ethan's gotten himself mixed up in. The footsteps are getting louder. Why would they be here though? Do they think Ethan's here?
Are they looking for him, or for them? Why? The footsteps keep coming closer and closer. Ar-The footsteps stop. They know where they are.
Adam's got the knife in an iron grip, looking like he's ready to pounce. He's also scared, but he's been through a lot before he got here which, at the moment, is very helpful. Julia and Ethan had adopted Adam after they'd caught him trying to steal food. The kid's extremely resilient and has amazing street smarts. It is tragic of course, but right now it's the only thing keeping him from panicking too much. There's a noise coming from the outside of the wall. They're cutting through it.
The second Adam can see movement from outside the wall, he crawls forward. Julia grabs him, pulling him back as their only barrier of protection is pulled away and there's a gunman peering at them, but Adam wrenches himself free and buries the blade into the man's trachea. It's still for less than a second as everyone, even the intruders are momentarily stunned seeing a kid kill one of them before he's dragged out of the way and more intruders come closer, this time with guns raised.
They won't kill them. If they were going to they would have already. So, Julia takes a chance and jams her thumbs deep into the closest shooter's eyes as hard as she can, long enough for Chloe to get his gun. Julia lets him go and takes the gun, pointing it at the others, who realize she will shoot them. She's about to pull the trigger and take every last one of them out but then their point of aim goes to Adam and Chloe and Julia too realizes that even if they won't kill them, they will shoot them. Shit. After looking every intruder in the eyes, warning them that if they hurt her kids, she will kill them without hesitation.
They understand as they aim their guns at the ground instead. Julia sets the gun down when, out of nowhere, Maverick comes flying, latching his teeth into one man's windpipe and jerking him from side to side. Adam and Julia act instantly, Julia grabbing the gun and Adam starts sawing at one attacker's achilles when he goes to shoot Maverick. Julia manages to hit six of the shooters before she's out of ammo.
Six because one bullet was already fired, the one that's lodged in Eric's shoulder. Chloe's still trying to keep pressure on the wound but Eric tells her to go. Chloe uses a stray piece of the wall to start bashing an intruder's head in as he tries to grab Adam. Now Eric's searching for a way outside without getting them gunned down. His stomach sinks even more as he sees more shooters waiting outside in the bushes. Why weren't they attacking or at least trying to help their colleagues? W-There's a muted sound that stops everyone in their tracks.
The next thing Adam sees is his dog bleeding from his head on the tile and whimpering as he's still trying to get up and protect them. Adam doesn't think about how stupid he's being when he starts stabbing at the intruders again. He's quickly stopped as one of the shooters aims his gun back at Chloe. He's not gonna let that happen and he puts down the knife and retreats to his Mom's side.
One of the shooters speaks after a brief pause, "Come on." That's all he says as the rest of the shooters clear the way for them. Adam and Chloe are looking to Julia for an answer. "It's okay guys," she nods and steps out of their hiding place, and the kids follow suit. Chloe's starting to get Eric to his feet but one shooter moves closer to her. "Leave him." Now it's Eric's turn to give a defeated nod.
Once they're out, they are quickly pointed to their mini-van. Why are we riding in our own van? But Julia realizes the answer, so, if they clean the debris up well enough, maybe it would be less noticeable and people would just assume they went somewhere. No way that'll actually work.
They're stopped when a man stands in front of them, looking at each of them. He's trying to make sure he has the right people. "You guys aren't hurt, are you?" What? Is that question meant to be mocking? Adan talks before Julia can stop him.
"We're fine, other than the fact we're being kidnapped, and one of your people killed my fucking dog!" Julia pulls him back to her side before he does something stupid, which he's been known to do. The man tilts his head, unbothered. "Your dog? Do you know who did it?"
Why is asking them these questions? "How the hell am I supposed to know? Your people aren't very distinguishable 'ya know?" Adam's right. All the intruders had the same military gear on. A black helmet with a tinted visor, grey work gloves, black vests, and heavy-duty black boots. They were posing as S.W.A.T. judging by the vests, in case someone was to walk by or something and started asking questions.
"Are you sure? Take a minute." Why does this matter so much to this guy? Adam points to the one who's got a stab wound in his hand. The man motions to the shooter, "Hey."
He walks over, clearly confused. "Sir?" Sir? What the hell is this? Some kind of group or organization? "What's the status on the dog you shot?" He answers without any hesitation, "It's dead, Sir." Julia tightens her grip on Adam as she can see the fury in his eyes. The man nods plainly. Then, without any warning, he takes a step closer to the shooter and puts his hand on his shoulder before pulling out a switchblade and slitting his throat. What the hell?
The man motions to another intruder. "Get him out of sight." The intruder nods and carries the dead body away. The man pockets his switchblade again and looks almost sympathetically toward Adam. "Sorry about your dog, kid. I didn't tell him to do that." The man pats Adam on the shoulder and gets into the van, "Let's go, we've got a long drive."
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Julia doesn't know how long they've been driving for. Probably a long time judging by the sun starting to set. Adam and Chloe are in the very back seats. Adam's got his head resting on Chloe's shoulder as they'd both fallen asleep a while ago.
It's good that they're asleep because Julia wants some kind of explanation for what's happening and the kids don't need to be even more scared than they already are. She turns her attention to the two men in front. One's driving, the other's the same one who killed the other guy, and he's just sitting there like nothing's happening and it's maddening.
"Okay, can one of you tell me what's happening here? Where are we going? Who are you? Why are you kidnapping us?" The man in the passenger seat turns around. "You ask a lot of questions." Julia just glares at him. "But you do have a right to know. First of all, who we are should be the least of your concerns. All you need to know is that my name's Gabriel. Second, I think you already have an idea why this is happening, don't you?"
"Because you don't like Ethan, or he's got something you want, right?" The man, Gabriel, smiles. "You're half right. No, Ethan didn't steal anything from me, and I don't want him to give me anything. But yes, it's about Ethan. After all, who else would it be about?" As infuriating as it is, Gabriel makes a good point. "Ethan and I are old friends." Julia cuts him off muttering, "Yeah, seems like it." And Gabriel rolls his eyes and continues. "Yeah, it's something that even I don't quite get, but we go back awhile. We served together in the military and then we worked in a private sector."
"A private sector?" He nods. "He never told you? Well, I guess it's not something that comes up in a conversation, and I doubt he wants you to know about what he did."
"What'd he do?" Gabriel tilts his head. That head tilt he does is actually quite annoying. "Well, he obviously doesn't want you to know, but I think it's important so, long story short, he was an assassin, and he took out targets." An assassin? I don't buy that for a second. "He was an assassin? Ethan Hunt was an assassin?"
"Yeah, it's really hard to believe now, but it's true, and for the record, Ethan's the best agent I've ever known. He was quite the sharpshooter."
"And he quit?" Gabriel sighs, almost looking disappointed like when you teach someone everything you know only for them to ditch you. "No, not exactly. He shot me in the chest because he refused to complete an assignment I asked him to do." Now it's Julia's turn to smile as she comments sarcastically. "Sorry to hear that." Gabriel returns the smile. "No, you're not."
"No, I'm not. So that's what this is about. You're pissed because he shot you?" Gabriel shakes his head. "No, actually I was quite impressed. I'm not mad at him for that and that's not why I'm here. I'm here because Ethan's always been driven by one thing. Compassion. The idea that there's always another way out, that he can save everyone. But we both know that's not true. He does too, but he refuses to accept it because without that drive he can't do his job. For every life he tries to save, he gambles millions more, just like he's doing right now. He believes that saving others is his responsibility and his alone. He believes it makes him a good person, but it's not that simple, is it? He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but even though he does know, even though he knows he can lose everything he loves, he still refuses to accept it because his compassion is the most important thing in his world, even if he doesn't know it yet."
"H-He knows? He knows what you're doing?" Gabriel nods. "Yes, I told him he can either protect you or accept that he can't save everyone to my face, and it seems quite clear what he chose." No. That's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true! It's not. It's not! ITS NOT TRUE! "In a matter of time, he'll show us his true colors and I really hope he makes the right choice, if not….."
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Adam and Chloe are woken up by a phone ringing. "Look at that, perfect timing." Adam wants to tell the man to shut up but then hears a familiar voice. "Where are they?" Dad. He knows what happened? Thank God!
"Is Eric alive?" Why does he care? Adam can't help but feel a tiny bit of tension edging away when Ethan responds, "Where the hell are they?!" Tell him! The man doesn't of course. "You Answer my question first, and then I'll answer yours." A-hole. "No. No, I'm not playing your games anymore-" Okay, that's a start. But the tension returns when the man speaks again. "You think I'm playing games, Ethan? I am not playing games." What does that mean? "Yes, Eric's alive-" Good, that's good. "Now tell me where they are." Yes. Tell him! "They're all here, Ethan."
"You're lying." No, he's not lying. "Why would I lie to you?" That's a fair point though. "If you really believe I'm lying, I can prove it to you if you want." What? How? "Do you want-" No, no. Please no. "No, I don't need that."
Adam lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Relax, my friend." Friend? "They're fine. They're all here. Julia, Adam, and Chloe. They aren't hurt at all, and I don't plan on hurting them either." Thank God.
"As long as you get here, they'll be okay." We Will be okay. "If not….well, then you can probably guess." He shudders at that. "But I can promise you one thing." What? "I won't kill them." We'll be okay. "Not until you're here to watch-" Adam feels sick and it gets worse when Ethan hangs up. Are they going to die? No, they're not. They're not. Ethan'll come. He'll come. He'll come and everything will be fine, right? Yes, he WILL come….
