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Chapter Text

Happy Spy Day-1

Ten minutes until the explosion.

The reminder ran over and over again through Ethan Hunt’s mind as he rushed down the corridor to the control room, jumping around the bodies that had been laid down by his teammates earlier. Brandt, Jane and Benji were already in the control room, desperately trying to hack into the system and stop the timer.

Mr Evil of the Week, a mad scientist named Eric Malrik, had developed a habit of sending his evil plans via a video by email and also had the unfortunate habit of succeeding. So far, he had bombed small infrastructures, but this time things had started to escalate and his last video had clearly described the damage he would do if they didn’t stop him. In this message, he had bragged that this bomb could be stopped but even if it was, they would not come out victorious.

Hunt didn’t believe a word of it. They weren’t the IMF team for nothing, they had overcome worst. They would stop the bomb. They had to! The bomb had been set in a huge manufacture in Beijing and the explosion would not only kill the massive amount of workers there, but half of the neighborhood. Hunt didn’t want to think of the consequences if the complex exploded.

“Update now.” He barked as he bolted into the room. Benji was sweating heavily over a computer screen, Jane scanning over the instructions Malrik had left behind to find something, anything to stop that bomb from blowing up everything on a ten-mile radius. Another odd thing about this case, Malrik always abandoned a hint to stop his machinations. Ethan always suspected that guy’s goal in life was to gloat at the failure to stop his attempts.

“The firewalls are too sophisticated to be cracked” Benji announced. “I’m trying to hack directly into the server but it’s taking longer than I thought.”

“Something is missing in this book” Jane barked, still reading even though her eyes must have hurt. “It mentions it can be stopped at distance but I can’t see where…”

“Where’s Brandt?”

The two colleagues’ head snapped up in surprise.

“He was there a minute ago. He was going through…” Jane started, paused, and took a second look around. “He’s gone?”

Hunt swore and tried to contact his teammate by earpiece. When it didn’t work, he picked up his phone and speed-dialed Brandt’s number. It picked up at the second ring.

“Where the hell are you Brandt!”

There was a lot of noise in the background, sounds of mechanics in action. Hunt barely heard his teammate’s answer so he turned on the speaker.

“-paradise. I’m a bit busy right now if you don’t mind –“

“Brandt, where. Are. You?”

“Switch… channel 3 on…vellance footage..actually n…ou guys.”

Benji did and the three gasped: Brandt was navigating through a very active machine room, his phone stuck between his head and shoulder. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows as he worked on something that strangely looked a control box…

“What –Will, what-“

“You can stop the mechanism manually” he started, twisting his head in an awkward position. “I left the book under the desk I was sitting on. Read page 5 to me please I’m kinda stuck here.”

The three took a second to blink before Jane sprang into action, found said book and opened it page 5 as requested. Her eyes widened in shock; there was everything they needed, extremely detailed.

“Instructions please!”

Hunt took the book and started reading loud and clear. Five minutes left. Benji followed Brandt’s every move from his seat and Jane was ready to bolt down the stairs to join him. The only thing that held her back was the fear she’d bother him during his manipulations –and incidentally put everyone in harm’s way. Three minutes went by slowly, too slowly. Until Ethan stopped reading. On the monitor, the machines came to a halt. Brandt paused and stepped back from the job. The timer stopped ticking. A large ‘FAILED’ blinked on the screen and Jane and Benji started cheering. When they turned to their team leader, they realized how pale he had become.

“Brandt, what have you done?”

“What’s going on?” Jane asked immediately, eyes darting between the man on the screen and the man holding the book. “Ethan?”

“You knew didn’t you?” Hunt went on, ignoring the woman. “You knew this was likely to be a one-way trip.”

One-way trip. Jane did not like the words. Brandt shrugged on the screen.

“Why do you think I left without telling anyone? And by the way, I locked the door. It’s reinforced stuff, so the only damages will happen in the machine room. Maybe the blast will hit the corridors around… You guys should be safe though.”

“Ethan?” Benji said, staring at his team leader with increasingly worried eyes.

“The bomb has two timers, once you stop the first, the second timer gives you five minutes. To dissemble the bomb completely, you have to enter the code. The bomb will stop but a smaller explosion is set to explode thirty seconds later.” The team leader replied, way too calm. “There is only one door to get in and out, electronically and ultra-secured to prevent thievery. It would take at least two minutes to open it. Brandt will never make it back in time.”

“If I hadn’t done it, we would have wasted much more time deciding who was willing to pull the short straw, before you shut everyone up and sneak in and attempt repairs on your own. You wouldn’t have survived Ethan and you’re the best in IMF.”

Hunt’s face –if possible- hardened more.

“Fuck you Brandt! You’ve got someone waiting for you at home!”

The man looked guilty at that. He and Maria, Ethan’s niece, had been going steady for nearly three years now. If Brandt had been right next to him, he would have strangled him with his bare hands.

“I had to do it, Ethan.” He said quietly. “I know she would have done the same in my stead. Can you tell her I’m sorry?”

“You will tell her yourself once you get out of this mess.” The older man hissed, the anger slowly being replaced by panic. “You have to survive this or she will never forgive me.”

“You and I both know the chance of me surviving this is close to none. I’m the analyst remember? I went through all the schemes and that was the last one with minimum damage loss.”

Ethan shut his eyes and inhaled sharply.

“I never thought I’d see the day I actually wish I’d have to kill you after you break Maria’s heart.” Jane and Benji exchanged glances. Did Ethan know Brandt’s girlfriend? And why did the name ring a bell? “You do realize…”

“Can we just be done with the chitchat?” Brandt suddenly cut. He clearly wasn’t half as self-confident as he tried to pass it off, and he was starting to lose his nerves. Benji admired his attempt to keep them from panicking. “Just, say ‘see you in the afterlife’ or something?”

At first, no-one spoke. Then, Jane took a deep breath and said quietly:

“I liked you. I mean, I was falling for you, Will.”

Brandt smiled sadly.

“I knew. I’m sorry Jane, but I’m in love my girlfriend.” Ethan snorted, although that was mostly a ‘way to show it’ kind of snort. “Just find someone who’ll make you happy, you deserve it.”

“It’s not fair.” Benji mumbled, his throat tight with fear and regret. Then he laughed nervously. “You just want an excuse not to play that video game I want to show you.”

Brandt merely shrugged. Ethan swallowed hard. William had been a reliable colleague and friend and he had been good for Maria. He didn’t know how to say half of the things he wanted, so summed it in a sentence. He figured Brandt would understand, they were both alike in a way.

“It was an honor working with you, Agent Brandt.”

William Brandt made an army-like salute, a small albeit a little scared, smile on his face.

“Likewise, Agent Hunt.”

He entered the code and ran off the screen. Thirty seconds later, everything exploded.

Five months later

Ethan was becoming restless. The head of the medical department had convoked him in the middle of a debriefing for an upcoming mission. The only reason the IMF agent hadn’t told administration to fuck off was because he desperately hoped to have news from his injured teammate.

Five months had gone by since the explosion in that factory, five months since they managed to find Brandt’s bloody and burned body under a mass of iron remains, barely breathing. The shock of finding him alive –weakened to the core, but alive- had been short-lived. The ambulance had arrived in-extremis, driven their colleague into the closest hospital. On the way, he had cooled three times, had barely made it to the surgery room and even after surgery, had needed to be transported to another hospital under another name for intensive care. Only a handful of people were allowed to know he was alive.

What worried him the most was Malrik’s complete inactivity since then. He had vanished underground, probably to plot something huge. IMF suspected the failure of his gigantic explosion had spooked him and now he wanted revenge in his own way, like a child vexed an adult had stolen his favorite toy. The guy was also known to be a perfectionist and it became painfully clear that Brandt was the only thing that had escaped his evil plots. If his survival came to be known, the scientist would immediately return to finish his job. Ethan understood the need for secrecy –none of his teammates had been given his location or even updates on his state. Even Benji’s hacking skills weren’t enough and his and Jane’s contacts had no clue on his situation. They had been forced to come to the conclusion that all they could do for now was to sit back and wait.

What killed him the most though, was Maria’s face when he had announced Brandt’s ‘death’. He clearly had underestimated her attachment to him, because her skin has grown very pale and her voice had been too rough and too sharp when she had asked him to give her some time. She still sent emails as a sign that she was still alive, but he hadn’t seen her since and wasn’t sure what he would find next time he confronted her. He just hoped that if Brandt made it back, she’d forgive him for lying to her.

A small man wearing a white blouse over a pair of jeans and black Tee motioned him to get up and follow. Ethan nearly jumped off his chair and ran, but losing his cool now would be unprofessional. He was well aware that this call had been one of courtesy.

“Agent Hunt, correct?” the man asked once they had entered the pale green office (literary green; even the furniture was a dark shade of green). “Please sit down.” Ethan obeyed, keeping his impatience in check. The doctor walked around his desk and sat. A bit fat file was resting next to a pencil box, on which Ethan could read the numbers P.WB0413. “You must wonder why I called you while you were busy.”

Ethan didn’t speak a word and waited. His silence didn’t seem to bother the man, who went on:

“Last April I was given a patient by the name of Wallace Banner. A fake name, I knew, since Brandt and I have crossed paths a few times before, but that’s not the point.”

“Is he recovering?” Ethan interrupted, his impatience getting the best of him. The doctor didn’t seem to mind.

“He’s pretty much alive with not as many injuries as expected. Quite a miracle I have to admit, given the circumstances…” A huge wave of relieve nearly overthrew the IMF agent. Brandt was alive. He had survived surgery. He was going to be all right. Jane and Benji would be overjoyed to hear that. And Maria- oh God, Maria was going to KILL him. “Now, you see agent Hunt, to make this short, Agent Brandt had suffered internal bleedings –that were tended successfully of course –and a massive concussion with no repercussion on the long term.” He paused, and Ethan waited for the ‘but’ to arrive. “But in the short term, he needs to be…carefully monitored.”

Ethan tensed.

“What do you mean, doctor?”

The man grimaced as he lay back on his chair.

“Agent Brandt is suffering from amnesia.” The IMF agent felt the room slowly felt the walls closing in. “He kept his mental abilities and sharp instincts, but forgot bits and parts of his life. He remembers most of his youth, being an IMF agent, a few missions he carried on…he remembers clearly a few people and not at all others.”

Ethan took a deep breath. So the situation wasn’t quite desperate then.

“You said this wouldn’t be long term…”

“I said his recovery would be complete and effective. Mentally, he wouldn’t suffer brain injuries. This memory loss though needs to be filled quickly. I understand he was the sole survivor of a madman, and since he is mentally capable of taking care of himself, we cannot keep him in the facility and threaten the safety of the civilians treated there. You are his team leader, correct?” Ethan nodded, at loss, but having a pretty goddamn feeling where this was going. “I requested he be sent back on a few low-cases missions with people familiar with him. Hopefully, returning on the field will help him recover faster.”

“You want to use him as bait?”

The doctor shrugged.

“Agent Brandt is one of the brightest agents of IMF. Had he not been so insecure, he could have gone very far.” The doctor muttered, shaking his head in defect. “Anyway, my point Agent Hunt, are you willing to take your former teammate back in your team until his recovery?”

The question was useless.

“Of course.” He replied immediately. He didn’t leave his friends behind. Jane and Benji would agree with his decision.

“If you find any trouble, make sure to contact me. Please follow me.”

“He’s here?”

“Next room. I told him to wait.”

“You knew I’d take him back.”

It wasn’t a question. The doctor shrugged.

“Pleading guilty. I want what’s best for my patient and according to the rumors I heard, you two are good friends.” Pause. “I have to warn you beforehand though; since he doesn’t seem to remember the most traumatic missions he went through, his behavior is slightly…different.”

“That means?”

The doctor sighed and mentioned a door.

“You better see for yourself.”

A little more wary now, Ethan opened the door, and what he saw left him speechless.

Chapter Text

2

Ethan couldn’t believe his eyes. The last time he had seen Brandt, the agent had been covered with blood and in a pitiful state.

He was now doing pushups in equilibrium against the waiting table. With one hand. When he realized he wasn’t alone anymore, Brandt stood up, brushed dust from his pants and looked at them innocently.

“Good morning Agent Brandt” the doctor said with a little smile. “I see you were keeping busy.”

Brandt –who wasn’t lying on a medical bed, Ethan couldn’t believe it yet –shrugged.

“You were gone for a while. I had to come up with something.”

He was fine. In one piece, with scratches and a few bruises, but fine. He had been beyond fixing, they had told him, and yet he was there and goddamn alive.

“And you are?”

Ethan’s attention snapped back to reality when he noticed that Brandt was addressing to him. Those blue-grey eyes were open and curious, but Ethan knew by experience that the man was doing a full mental assessment. It hurt a little to see no recognition, but the doctor had warned him.

“Ethan Hunt,” he introduced himself, handing out his hand.

“You were my team leader, correct?” Brandt asked cautiously. Ethan nodded.

“I still am if you are willing to return on the field.”

“Will is always willing,” Brandt replied cheerfully, to which Ethan nearly raised an eyebrow. The doctor gave him a helpless shrug. The younger man caught the exchange. “Yeah I know, I became boringly polite with no humor. I’ll keep my mouth shut, promise. So, when do we start?”

“Agent Hunt still needs to sign a few papers…”

“Okay, fine. Am I needed or can I go walk around? I’ve been stuck in this room for hours.”

The doctor waved towards the door.

“Don’t wander off too far.”

“Yessir.” Brandt replied with a small salute.

Ethan waited until he had closed the door behind to fire his questions

“What happened to him?”

“Mentally, I’d say he’s back to his early twenties, when he first arrived at IMF.” The doctor replied with a shrug. “He’s aware of his situation and has taken it quite well actually. I am more worried about controlling his impulses.”

“Impulses?”

“Not unlike your earlier years, agent Hunt, nothing to worry about.” Ethan winced –if this was the case, there was actually a lot to worry about. “He grew calmer after a while, but he wasn’t that subbed until that mission in Croatia.” The doctor said absentmindedly, making Ethan suddenly uneasy. “The screw-up really messed him up. Poor kid, taking that analyst job right away was the worst choice he could have made.”

“So…you suggest he returns on the field?” the IMF agent replied a bit too fast, eager to change subject. The doctor hummed his agreement.

“It will keep him busy, and I believe it was a direct order of HQ anyway.” Really? Ethan wondered, but let it slide. He’d have to ask their new Director why later. “In the meantime, he’s all yours. Good luck, Agent Hunt. I believe you’ll need it.”

HSD

Brandt had diligently followed Ethan in his car. It wasn’t after a five minute drive in complete silence that he eventually spoke up:

“So, what kind of team do you lead? What are the others like?”

Ethan picked up the ‘others’, so different from the ‘we’ Brandt used all the time. He replied nonetheless:

“We are a team of four. The two others you haven’t met yet are Jane Carter and Benji Dunn.”

“Let me guess, BAMF chick and tech guy? That’s how most of the IMF teams are composed.” When Ethan gave him an odd look, he added: “Fine, I’ll shut up.”

“No! No it’s just… you’re not that talkative, usually. But it’s nice to see you…” Ethan cleared his throat. “It’s nice to see you doing well. Eh…the others don’t know you’re with me. So don’t be surprise if…”

Brandt nodded.

“Former team overjoyed and overly affectionate -noted. I can’t wait to meet them.”

Ethan was glad to hear the tone of his voice was actually genuine.

“And for the heads up, are they any tensions I should be aware of? I mean, are we all a big happy family, friends? Is there a forbidden fraternization developing? Did I play a prank on someone and backstabbing is on the menu?”

‘You are dating my niece, so the backstabber might be me’ Ethan wanted to reply, but he held back.

“No, we’re like family, there’s nothing you have to worry about.”

Brandt hum-ed his ‘okay’ and returned to admire the outside. Ethan drove them to an IMF base where his team was waiting for him. Their new mission wasn’t supposed to be very complicated in regards of Brandt’s state, but given his team’s luck, he hoped the recovering agent was up for it.

Jane and Benji’s reaction were everything he expected. Once they entered the room the briefing was supposed to happen, the two other agents, completely caught off-guard, gawked at them with huge, shocked eyes and dropped jaws.

“WILL?!?!”

The tech dropped everything –which was a mug of coffee and biscuits- on Jane’s feet and ran to pull his colleague in a tight bear-hug. Jane held back, too stunned to actually move and annoyed at the stains on her shoes.

“O-okay I was not expecting that” the former analyst admitted, patting Benji’s shoulder awkwardly. “This is Benji Dunn, correct?”

The tech nearly sniffed –sniffed- and backed out of the embrace.

“Yeah, why? You don’t recognize me?”

“He’s got amnesia” Ethan interrupted, earning an annoyed stare from Brandt. “The doctor thought leaving him back with us would help him recover faster.”

“I can speak for myself, you know” Brandt interjected with narrowed eyes. “But yeah, it’s damn annoying not to remember so I hope this’ll work. Jane Carter, correct?”

The female agent nodded and extended a hand. Brandt didn’t take his eyes off her, and even narrowed them slightly. To Ethan’s relief, he didn’t comment on the coolness of her reaction. Jane was good at hiding her emotions most of the time, but this was a man she had developed feelings for, even though they weren’t returned, and she had thought him dead. Given how observant Brandt had showed himself so far, he must have felt it.

“It’s nice to have you back, Will.” She said quietly.

“Glad to be back,” he replied with a shrug. “So,” he added, turning back towards Hunt. “When’s the debrief starting?”

Benji and Jane raised their eyebrows in surprise.

“He’s coming for the next one?” the tech asked.

“But what about…” Jane started, unsure of mentioning Malrik. Ethan shook his head, wordlessly promising he’d explain it later. Brandt was already fidgeting impatiently, staring at them like a kid waiting to be given permission to enter a candy store. None dare to make the analogy out loud, so they settled in the couches and waited for Ethan to launch the video presenting their new mission.

The first picture that appeared on screen was the face of a billionaire that had made a lot of people talk lately. Brandt was immediately all focused, which didn’t escape Ethan and the others.

“Anthony Stark was the leader of weapon industry until he was captured by rebels in Afghanistan. He built an armor that he perfected after his return. The armor has proven to be the highest advance technology that might be a threat for our Nation.” A couple of pictures appeared on screen, showing a red and golden metal armor they all recognized as being the Iron Man. A feed video came to support, where the odd armor flew through the airs and fired shots. “Your mission, should you accept it, is to retrieve information data on the making of this armor …”

“Infiltrate Stark’s house?” the technician repeated in awe once the full mission was dictated. “Are they serious? It’s nearly impossible to get through the security system!”

“Stark had made a lot of fuss lately.” Ethan admitted with a nod. “His technology is incredibly advanced and if they find nothing to counter it…” He turned sharply towards Benji. “You said nearly impossible, right?”

“I might have managed to go through the codes once, but that was five years ago! I might be good, but not Stark good.”

“We just need a couple of minutes, enough to copy those files. Even so he must have hidden blueprints somewhere.” Ethan said. “We could probably shut down the electricity of the building if it helps.”

Benji’s mouth twisted, just like each time he was considering a course of action.

“I’ll need a few hours to see how his system works. After that…” his voice trailed off, but he had a more determined look on his face. “I might be able to pull that off. But it’s Stark we’re after. Don’t expect miracles.”

“You’re basically going to work into hacking one of the best systems in the world to steal some of the best well-guarded documents belonging to a genius billionaire?”

Ethan nearly rolled his eyes; Brandt hadn’t lost that habit of summarizing everything they’d just say to integrate it in his logical mind. It felt good in some way, but still goddamn annoying.

“I’ll test the firewalls first. If needed, it’ll be easier to cut the current to destabilize the system a few moments” Benji explained patiently. “The perturbation should give me enough time to snoop around.”

“You can’t hack into SI even with weeks of preparation.” Brandt said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms. “You do that, Stark will locate you within five minutes and fry every bit you have left here.”

Benji snorted.

“Yeah, yeah. Well his firewalls are good but we’re not staying long and I’ve got IMF’s support system to back me up too. So if I stay less than three minutes…”

“The moment you’re in, he’ll take fifteen seconds to pinpoint your location.”

“So what, you’ve got a better plan?” Jane cut in, irritated. Benji and Ethan stared at him in turn. Brandt smirked at them and pulled out his cell phone.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

HSD

“How exactly did you get us hired again?” Jane asked. She was sitting next to him in the car that would both lead them to SI, where they had been given a job as a secretary and security agent the previous day.

“Hunt is not the only one having useful contacts, what do you expect?” Brandt replied with a smug smirk. The rest of the drive was done in silence, as Jane didn’t know what to say and Brandt didn’t seem to care. They parked easily and arrived just in time at the reception, where they were told to wait a moment. The woman who came to greet them was a stunning redhead with loose wavy hair, dressed in a white blouse and black pants. Professional from top to bottom.

“Welcome to Stark Industry,” she said with a small polite smile. “Clint Brenan and Justine Parker I presume? Natalie Rushman, Miss Pott’s PA. I will ask you to fill a few papers before starting; standard procedure, nothing to worry about.”

The personal assistant of the CEO came in person to welcome them? Jane was startled and honestly surprised. SI was a large company, she didn’t expect someone from the ‘higher spheres’ to care about another secretary and a security agent.

“Stark Industries had been under more attacks than usual since Mr Stark’s…breakthrough.” Rushman said, apparently reading the confusion on Jane’s face. The agent scolded herself; she didn’t need to burst their cover, especially since she actually was a spy. “You were hired quite fast, please understand these precautions.”

Jane gave her an understanding smile and discreetly glanced at Brandt. His eyes were fixated on the redhead woman and…oh dear, was he truly checking her out?

“No problem at all, Miss Rushman,” he replied, and his voice was a lot more pleasant and charming that she had heard since his return. “Will you be conducting the interview?”

Rushman’s eyes glanced over Brandt, probably evaluating his words. Her welcoming smile melted into a shark-like disdainful smirk.

“Mr. Hogan, the head of security, will for you, Mr. Brenan. Mrs. Parker will go with me.”

The ‘I eat men like you for breakfast’ tone was loud and clear. It didn’t seem to deter Brandt as he flashed ‘I will get to know you better, trust that sweetheart’ eyes in return. Jane just hoped he wouldn’t be dragged in for a sexual harassment lawsuit later. Ethan would burst a vessel, especially since he knew Brandt’s girlfriend. Their team leader’s niece of all people –Benji figured it out soon after Brandt was brought to the ambulance, after Ethan had told them he’d take care of that. Maria Hill hadn’t crossed their way since that memorable Ghost Protocol incident, but she still remembered the woman as quiet and self-confident. That she and their William had been dating still sounded odd…at least that explained why Ethan had glared at Benji whenever he mentioned Brandt’s girlfriend.

With a heavy sigh, she followed Miss Rushman to her office and sat behind the desk. To her relief, the PA didn’t mention Brandt’s embarrassing behavior. The interview went also very briefly, a few questions about her fake past jobs –but she had the background covered, so she answered without hesitation– amiable chatting that included subtle but very precise inquisitions about some points in her resume, and nothing she couldn’t handle on her everyday life. Jane didn’t lower her guard the whole time; she felt –no, she knew the woman before her would smell a lie the moment it passed her lips. In spite of her physical appearance and professional manners, she had no doubt Rushman was more than just a pretty face. The new CEO had the reputation of being stricter and more competent than the actual owner, she wouldn’t hire anyone if they didn’t have a solid background. She made a mental note to ask Benji to launch a research on her, just in case.

When they walked out, they crossed paths with Brandt and another man, slightly wider but muscular. The two of them were laughing like old college pals and at Rushman’s glance, both straightened and adopted a more serious posture. Jane bit back a smirk; apparently, Rushman was way more in control that it seemed. They headed to a bunch of desks in the corner and into a corridor not so far away from the interesting places. That was good, she thought. Perhaps after some time, she could map out the place and get insight…

“I will call your superior, Mrs. Brighton. Once again, welcome to Stark Industries.” The PA said with one last shake of the hand. Jane nearly missed her speech, but thanked her politely and waited for her new ‘boss’ to pick her up. At the same time, she wondered who did Brandt know in SI that permitted them such a fast access. She’d have to ask later.

Chapter Text

Happy Spy Day

3

“I have no idea why you think we are progressing,” Jane hissed in her cell phone. “I’m tired of smiling and pretending to blend in with a bunch of idiotic secretaries who had nothing else in mind but gossip.”

“Trust me, you are gathering more Intel on SI than IMF had even managed to in years,” Ethan replied as he eyed his watch. Two weeks had gone by since Brandt had managed to get himself and Jane ‘hired’. The reports hadn’t brought much, but still a lot that IMF couldn’t have found from the outside. Details could make the whole difference, and the two were bringing back a bunch of them. “Even the smallest thing can be useful. Brandt will be accessing the camera room next week.”

“HE has the interesting job. I don’t.” she complained. “I feel like a rookie sent on a first mission all over again. And even my first mission wasn’t so dull and boring.”

“Do it for Brandt,” Ethan went on encouragingly. “I’m seeing the Secretary this afternoon, maybe he’ll want an update.”

“Make up your mind on whenever we need to move on, because I am turning crazy in here.” Jane went on before her voice trailed off and he heard her curse under her breath. “And if I see Brandt make puppy eyes at her one more time, I am going to shoot something. He tried to ask her out yesterday again.”

Ethan sighed heavily. Brandt’s constant flirting with Miss Pott’s PA, a certain Natalie Rushman was getting on everyone’s nerves (Ethan understood his attraction though, she was gorgeous). Thankfully, said lady appeared more amused by his advances than annoyed, but Jane feared he would compromise the mission. Ethan worried for another reason. He was unfamiliar with this unexpected side of Brandt, didn’t know how to deal with it. Brandt’s acting was impeccable, integrating the flirting as a part of his cover’s persona so it didn’t appear odd, but no-one, not even Benji, recognized the quiet agent they knew so well. It almost felt like he had a hidden personality all this time, a personality that was now slowly emerging.

His thoughts were interrupted when she added quickly: “I need to go. Talk to you later. ”

Ethan hung up in turn, wincing. He would have stayed longer on the line and told Jane that chips needing to be implanted in SI were about to arrive. Apparently, some guy in the higher spheres had decided that since there were people undercover in SI, they might as well try to build a whole spy system from within. But he was already late for his meeting with Maria, and didn’t want to draw the wrath of a second woman in one day.

The reason why he had agreed to meet with his niece while on duty was simple: she asked to see him in their usual gym (and usual gym meant need to hit something, meant a bad day). He hadn’t seen her in the flesh since he had announced Brandt’s ‘death’ to her. She had gone off on an incredibly long period of time, accumulating jobs she said, but Ethan suspected she wanted to keep busy, which had him worried. And second reason, the current mission was going flawlessly; Brandt had become the head of security’s best friend and had gone out to drink with Hogan, Stark’s personal bodyguard, at least twice this past week, and Jane, for all her complaining, kept a close eye on the workers’ activities.

Ethan brushed these thoughts for another day and entered the gym center.

Maria was already hitting the punching bags when he arrived, dressed in a sleeveless shirt and sports pants. A few people were staring at her, her disheveled hair falling over her face and shoulders. Ethan felt the usual hint of pride that came whenever he saw her, what she had become. She was an attractive and a fantastic person and no, parental pride had nothing to do with his judgment. The small time back in Dubai when they had worked together to stop a nuclear war almost made him regret she had refused to join IMF after leaving the army. The goddamn Secretary himself had wanted to recruit her. Former secretary, he corrected mentally. And watching her beating out the punching bags, making out her style and patterns, and knowing her cool, he knew she would have made a brilliant agent.

Maria stopped her activity and turned around, as if sensing his gaze. She immediately headed towards the training mats. Ethan hurriedly joined her.

“You need to warm up?” she asked as a greeting. Ethan wasn’t offended that she didn’t bother with a ‘hello’. At least she hadn’t tried to attack him unexpectedly this time.

“I walked to here.” He replied and positioned himself in a defensive stance. “I’m warmed up enough.”

He didn’t add that villain didn’t give him the luxury to warm up. She jumped on him and threw a few punches. Maria was particularly vicious today and angry. It reflected on the way she favored her fists and the bluntness of her moves (not to mention the strength behind each punch). Ethan finally managed to pin her down and immobilize her in a headlock when she finally slammed on the mat, admitting defeat.

“You should really follow anger management classes,” he said as they both stood up. The look on her face was murderous.

“You are the third person to mention it in two weeks.” she replied dryly. The words were barely out she shut her lids close and inhaled sharply. “I’m sorry, this isn’t your fault. I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately.”

Stressed and tired, he noticed. He hated seeing her like that. Brandt’s ‘death’ must have taken a harder tool than he expected. Ethan hesitated a moment and made a decision; he should have told her way earlier, but the state of secrecy…screw that, she should have been notified the moment he had seen him in the doctor’s office.

“Maria, I have to tell you something.” He started at the same time she blurted: “We were about to break up.”

The sentence caught him off-guard and she raised an eyebrow at him.

“You were saying?” she asked first, but Ethan didn’t let her finish.

“You were going to break up with Brandt?” he repeated, incredulous. Maria shrugged.

“It wasn’t working, not in the long run.” She confessed. “We were good, I suppose, but our schedules were…” she shook her head. “Missions can drop anytime, and I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow. And neither of us wanted to abandon our jobs. We were going to discuss it once he returned.” she stared at him, shame reflecting in her steel-blue eyes. Ethan waited for her to continue, feeling she needed to empty her bag here and there. “I keep wondering, you know, when you told me about the…how he died. I keep wondering, what if he had gone to disarm the bomb knowing he wouldn’t return, so he could avoid this conversation? So he wouldn’t keep returning to an empty apartment?” Ethan widened his eyes at her words in shock. Was she blaming herself for his ‘death’? Maria swallowed heavily and stared down at the ground. “I know it’s irrational, that he might have done the exact same thing without this…but that idea is keeping me awake.”

And all thoughts of telling Maria that Brandt was alive vanished, because whether she knew or not, Ethan realized, wouldn’t change the fact that the discussion would have happened, they would have probably broken up. Most importantly, even if Brandt remembered dating Maria, she would probably not return to him. Another thought crossed his mind, but he didn’t dare ask out loud. Could it be that she knew he was alive? It wouldn’t be the first time she got very confidential information through her contacts, whoever they might be. And one of these days, Ethan would know who they were.

“Maria-“ he started, but she interrupted him.

“I have an idea what you want to tell me, and I don’t want to hear it.” Her voice was strained and she avoided his eyes, which confirmed his theory. “Just…make sure he’s happy, all right?”

And before he could answer, she took off and walked out of the room without looking back.

Ethan was still pondering over Maria’s last confession when he arrived at the Secretary’s office. Her attachment to Brandt had been genuine and it broke his heart to see her in this state. He nearly missed the Secretary’s arrival.

Langton was a former field agent who had retired to a desk job before being elected to replace the Secretary. Ethan didn’t really like the man, but said man had proven his competence and so far, directed the IMF efficiently, so who was he to argue? They shook hands, exchanged casual sentences before entering the Secretary’s office. Once they were seated, Langton didn’t miss a beat and jumped straight into the problem at hand.

“I called you to talk about a very sad…affair.” He said, all good humor gone and sharp eyes back in place. Ethan knew they were talking business now. “But before we tackle that matter, how has agent Brandt been recovering?”

“He had adapted back to the field easily, had brought back valuable information.” He replied, wondering why a single agent’s health mattered to him. “He still has trouble working with a team, but his memory loss doesn’t seem to compromise his behavior in the field.”

The Secretary pursed his lips in distaste and pushed a file towards him. Ethan picked it up and opened it. A list of names, files and dates were aligned in one neat column. Archives, he realized.

“A year ago, it has been noticed that archives of IMF had been consulted. Nothing outstanding, just outdated missions, all closed or succeeded. The watchdog in charge thought it could be someone looking for complementary information for a mission. He engaged a Code 1 when he noticed some files were entirely deleted from the system after being consulted.”

“There is a leak in IMF?” Ethan asked. Jane was going to be relieved if the team had to switch cases, although Benji might be the only one involved if it concerned computer matters. Brandt and Jane leaving now after only a few weeks would raise suspicions.

“I believe someone has been selling information to another intelligence agency.” The Secretary replied grimly. “My predecessor never notified me about a possible transaction and the President seems unaware of it as well. The technicians had managed to trace the leak to an account, named ‘Clive Doppelganger’ and are positive this fictive agent belongs to IMF. We lead an investigation, agent,” he went on. “And this investigation led to one of your team members, Agent Brandt.”

Ethan blinked in shock.

“Brandt?” He sputtered, entirely caught off-guard. “Impossible.”

“Why is that?” Langton asked with genuine curiosity.

“He is one of the most dedicated agents I’ve ever met. He would never betray IMF.”

Langton stared at him intensely. Ethan recalled he used to excel in interrogation and understood why; his eyes shone with intelligence and awareness, as if he could read through any lie.

“Before his accident,” the Secretary went on, “we invited him to the office to have a…talk, about his possible involvement in this matter.” Ethan’s fists slightly tightened, fully knowing he meant interrogation. “Unfortunately, he left on that last mission with you and was nearly killed. We never got to listen to his side of the story, but interestingly enough, the erasing of the files stopped.” The Secretary paused and added: “Are you certain, Agent Hunt, that Agent Brandt had no mobile, no interest in past missions? That maybe he could have passed said information to someone? A colleague? A member of his family? A close friend perhaps?”

“I am certain,” Ethan replied firmly. But Langton’s words made him uneasy. For some reason, he couldn’t help thinking of Maria. But she wouldn’t push Brandt to betray his own organization, no way. He knew his niece, she wasn’t that kind of person.

“The doctor said this situation is unusual.” The Secretary went on. “Brandt’s brain didn’t show any signs of concussion or anything that could justify a memory loss. The main reason, or shall I say the only reason we brought him back on the field is because he remembered a couple of important missions and we needed to supervise his moves.”

“What are you implying, sir?”

“Trust me, Agent Hunt, this pains me to say, because Brandt has an exemplary and brilliant career. A 95 percent success rate, he supervised countless schemes as an analyst and his instructions were always precise and relevant. Brilliant, really. But I am implying that Brandt may be playing you, Agent Hunt. I –and the team –believe he might not be so amnesiac that he claims to be.”

Ethan felt a burst of anger rise within but he kept quiet. The man sitting across the desk, the man wielding the power had his own opinion made on the matter, Ethan wasn’t here to give his.

“I don’t believe in coincidences, Agent Hunt. And I want you, if he ever shows a smudge of inclination of deception, to arrest him and bring him back to IMF for interrogation.” The tone was final. “Are we clear?”

Ethan wanted to scream he was wrong. Brandt would never betray them. But arguing now would only lead to nothing, and a probable removal of Ethan on Brandt’s surveillance. If the Secretary believe he would be compromised, the agent knew he wouldn’t hesitate to put another team on Brandt’s back without informing him. So he swallowed back his anger and replied through gritted teeth:

“Perfectly clear, sir.”

Chapter Text

Happy Spy Day

4

“We’re out of paper!”

Jane was going to burst a vessel if one of those women complained once more. She was currently typing in data on the last order –chemicals and materials –when Linda shrieked at the lack of paper like the world was about to collapse. She needed to get out.

“Where is it already?” she asked, standing up before anyone else could move. Linda stared at her with shiny eyes.

“Oh Justine, you are such a darling. It’s in the basement, third door on the left, with all the furniture. Do you remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll find it,” Jane replied and promptly left. Once she was out tonight, she’d need a drink, and a strong one.

Why did she have to like Brandt so much? She should have moved over her crush the moment she heard he had gotten himself a girlfriend, but a small part of her couldn’t let go. She had to stick to it, hoping in vain he’d break up and come to ask her out.

What a pathetic romantic notion, she growled to herself. She wasn’t a child anymore, didn’t need any of that nonsense. Also, she knew he was taken with his current girlfriend and wouldn’t have cheated on her. She wasn’t one to break couples either. Jane sighed and pushed the thoughts aside.

She found the storage room, took two stacks of paper and was about to return to her desk when an odd sound caught her attention. It was a muffled moan or groan, she wasn’t quite sure, but definitively human. She cautiously walked towards a barely opened door and glanced inside. Blinked twice. Dropped her jaw.

Mostly hidden behind the door and sitting on an abandoned desk was Natalie, and she wasn’t alone. The PA was currently held against a wall, her hair in disarray –such an odd sight, since even when it was loose, it seemed to be perfectly loose-  her blouse left hanging open to show a lacy purple bra, her skirt pulled over her hips and a bare-chested man kneeling between her thighs. Jane froze in shock. Not in her wildest dream she had imagined she would one day watch the PA everyone respected getting…

“That,” Natalie moaned, her voice rougher and huskier than usual, “was decent.”

…by Brandt of all people! Because the blondish hair the PA had her hands in totally did belong to her colleague, as did that playful grin she never thought she’d see again.

“Just decent?” he echoed, a noticeable purr and challenge in his voice. “Then I guess I’ll have to try harder.” He rose to his feet, leaned forwards and gave her a heated kiss. Natalie wrapped her arms around him and secured her legs around his waist to pull him closer. When they parted, his hand wandered towards his pants –and Jane turned around and promptly abandoned the ground to return to a safer level.

Upon her return, she threw the papers at Linda and returned to her desk without even waiting for a ‘thank you’. She buried herself in her paperwork, suddenly too grateful for the distraction and too embarrassed to even speak.

Two hours later, the subject of her distress came knocking at her office room.

“Justine, can I talk to you for a second?”

Her female co-workers gave her envious and jealous stares at the same time. Brandt had turned on the charming persona the moment he had set foot in the office. It wasn’t an unknown fact to her temporary colleagues that he was gunning for the mighty Natalie Rushman (and had succeeded) but that didn’t stop them from swooning whenever he stopped by. Jane was torn between unimpressed, pissed off or fascinated by their reaction. The William Brandt she knew had never displayed that sort of self-confidence. Whether it was an advantage or a hindrance, she yet knew. And she suddenly realized she hadn’t answered yet.

“Give me a sec,” she replied dryly and saved her last entry before locking her session.

He dragged her to an empty room and shut the door behind.

“I know you saw me and Natalie earlier, in the basement.” He said without preamble. Jane’s cheeks burned and she looked everywhere except at Brandt.

“That is…none of my business.” She lied. Brandt shook his head.

“It actually is IMF business. I’m probably a lot more professional than that in my older years, but that was just a fling. Natalie and I are both tensed for different reasons,” he added with a light shrug, as if it held no importance. “A little release doesn’t hurt.”

Jane narrowed her eyes, remembering the expression on Natalia’s face.

“Is it only release for her?”

Brandt snorted.

“Oh trust me, I’m not the first man she’s screwed before. And she’d definitively not the first woman I’ve screwed on a job either.”

The crude words made Jane frown. Has Brandt come from such a long way to become the man she knew? She decided to focus on something else.

“Why are you trying to justify this to me?”

“Because you are tempted to report to Ethan that I am ‘compromised’ but you haven’t yet.” The candid words and honest expression reassured her a little. “For everyone’s sake, just don’t. Please. That is just unnecessary complication.”

If IMF got word of his affair with Rushman, they would probably create a file and investigate her. Brandt would be given a warning and pulled off the case. That was not the aim of the mission. Ethan just wanted his colleague and friend back on tracts, and Jane had a nasty feeling Brandt wasn’t seeing this. Damn, sometimes she wished he had returned with his full memory.

“Out of curiosity,” Self-harming curiosity, she added in her mind, “how many women have you ‘screwed’ since you’ve arrived here?”

Brandt missed –or ignored –the annoyance in her voice.

“I’ve got a lot of…offers, but Natalie’s the only one so far who hadn’t shown the slight interest of pursuing a long-term relationship.” He shrugged carelessly.”So just one. Are we done?”

Jane nodded reluctantly; she would have liked to talk, say something, but she didn’t know what. It unsettled her; she never used to have trouble speaking with him. Now, he felt like a complete stranger. Brandt headed to the door and paused as his hand rested on the handle.

“Oh, one last thing; I’m sorry I’m not the guy you remember.” Jane winced slightly, uneasy that he had decided to point out her crush after all. “But after that explosion, I guess I’ll never be the same again, even if I get my full memories back. William Brandt, the one you use to know, probably died in that manufacture. You better try to move on and find someone who’ll give you the respect you deserve.”

Jane looked away. This sounded more like something Brandt would say. Why did he have to have an inkling of her colleague right when she caught him acting so unlike himself?

“I understand,” she muttered.

“Thanks J, you’re the best.”

He gave her that half-crocked, slightly shy smile she had grown fond of, and left to return to his occupations. Jane watched him leave, wondering if by letting the incident slide, she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

HSD

For the first time in weeks, the team was gathering in the main office, and only four days since Ethan had met with the Secretary. He hated his situation. He hated that one of the most powerful man in the US of A had put him there. And he hated that he hadn’t decided yet whether to tell Benji and Jane or not. While the doubts on Brandt’s loyalty to IMF pissed him off, he couldn’t lay aside that nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, Maria could have played a part in these accusations. The fact that their couple wasn’t running straight, maybe he could have wanted to help her on her jobs, give up hints…

He focused again when the tech and Brandt entered the room, arguing over waffles.

“Honey and chocolate!” Benji exclaimed passionately. “You can’t be serious!”

“You ever tried marmalade? Or strawberry jam? Give me some credit, man.”

“Your cooking is tolerable a best!” The tech protested. “You nearly burned rice thrice since we’ve arrived here!”

“Guys,” Ethan interrupted them immediately, feeling the slow raise of a headache upcoming. Another thing Brandt had lost in the explosion was his cooking skills. While Ethan remembered a very tense dinner with Brandt and Maria, the food had been decent. Now, not so much. “Can we focus for a moment?”

“’Oh hi guys, how are you?’ ‘Fine Hunt, how do you do?’ ‘I’m tired, but let’s talk about your work undercover, how is it-“

“William Brandt,” Ethan started, eyes narrowed and nearly growling as smirk of the younger agent’s face grew. “Shut up.”

“Yes boss.”

It wasn’t that Ethan has never liked Brandt. Secretly, Brandt had always been his favorite of the three. But that was before (before he got blown up, before he became a rebellious little brat with an attitude).

“Holy shit Dunn! Be careful!”

Ethan’s mournful thoughts were temporarily pushed aside as he glanced up to see Brandt glaring at Benj. The technician had accidentally spread some hot coffee on the man’s white shirt. Brandt’s was now glaring at him, not too happy. Inwardly, Ethan cheered; he had it coming.

“That was the last clean before my spare.” He hissed. Benji looked like he wanted to crawl into a rabbit hole. “Thank you very much.”

He unbuttoned it –swore when he realized his undershirt was not intact either. Benji raised a surprised eyebrow.

“What are you doing?”

“Changing. I’m not walking around the office with a big coffee stain.”

“Uh…they have rooms for that reason, you know…” Benji started, slightly uncomfortable.

“Jane’s not here.” Brandt replied, brushing him off. “And don’t tell me you’ve never seen a guy shirtless before.”

Ethan frowned, but any word he was about to say got stuck in his mouth when he saw Brandt’s body. The skin of his torso and sides was marred with scars and remains of injuries. The one on his abdomen looked particularly nasty.

“Are these from the explosion?” Hunt asked quietly. He had won the stuntman prize of the IMF, yet his body didn’t look that bad.

“Probably.” Brandt replied with an odd grimace before turning back to grab his last clean shirt in his bag. This time, he earned gasps from both Ethan and Benji. Reddish scratches were trailing down his backside, some looked very recent.

“Well that must hurt like a bitch.” Benji commented, clearly impressed. “Is that your girl’s doing?”

Brandt stared at him blankly.

“I don’t kiss and tell, Dunn.”

Benji didn’t insist. Ethan though, felt his blood boiling. Sure, Maria was not exactly Brandt’s girlfriend anymore. Brandt didn’t even remember her, and she had been thinking of breaking up with him but he couldn’t help feeling angry on Maria’s behalf. He just sincerely hoped Brandt would guilt himself to death when he remembered.

Jane chose this moment to push the door open. Her eyes popped wide open and her jaw hung a big low. Brandt quickly pulled on his top, hiding his scars and the nail trails. Ethan swallowed back his anger and waved the file.

“Good, people, why don’t we go back to work now?”

They summarized the current situation and report. Intel was being gathered, but not the kind they were after.

“I have an in with the CEO’s PA and the Head of Security,” Brandt eventually said. “Sometime this week my probation time will be over and I’ll go through more security protocols.”

“And you can’t go a bit faster?”

“Happy is loyal to Stark to a fault; Rushman is a tough cookie to crack. Dunno if you’ve dealt with her after your interview, Carter, but there’s a reason why she’s been hired, and not just her good looks.”

Jane made a face, although her cheeks had –interestingly- slightly reddened. Before Ethan could dig further in, his cell phone rang. He apologized and left the room. But the news he received didn’t brighten his mood. He hung up and returned to the conference room. His teammates were launched back into the debate of the best waffle flavor when he returned, and his presence silenced them at once.

“Mission objective has changed,” he announced. “The army had a suit to study Stark’s armor. Since you two are already in, we’re going to keep you there for awhile –don’t, Jane,” he added before she could protest. “No agent has gone as far as you have undetected. Higher ups want you on the ground for another few weeks. At least, until Stark Expo is over.”

Jane sulked, and Ethan understood perfectly. This rookie job was killing her.

“Anything else?” Brandt asked plainly. He didn’t look as upset as Jane about the news. Ethan suspected his new lover was part of SI.

“Not for the time being. I’m needed at headquarters. Apparently someone attempted a hit against the Secretary.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

The corridors seemed to stretch indefinitely, but Ethan kept on walking. He was exhausted, lost, and numb. People avoided his stare or sent him glances of sympathy as he passed by. He ignored them all. He just wished this was just a nightmare he would wake up from soon. Yes, that must be it, a nightmare, because there was no reason for him to go down that alley, no reason for him to reach the underground holding cells built to keep the most dangerous terrorists inside.

And he’d definitively not be walking to see the one person he thought he could trust no matter what bounded to a chair and bloodied from repetitive hits given from his own colleagues.

“Did they catch the guy?” Ethan asked the moment he arrived. A rookie agent he had came across a few times accompanied him on the way to the interrogation rooms. The rookie shrugged.

“They were two. One managed to get away but the other was captured. She hadn’t spoken yet, but we think she’ll give up soon.”

They reached the restricted section and the rookie, not having enough clearance, let him go on his own. Ethan reached one of the most highly secured cells and spotted the Secretary standing on the other side of a one-side mirror. The man rarely smiled, that was a known fact, but even his grimace appeared grimmer when Ethan made his presence known. He kept his face stoic as stone until the agent came within two meter from him and growled:

“The only reason why you haven’t been arrested and trialed for treason is your uncontested loyalty to IMF.”

Ethan stopped in his steps and stared incredulously at his superior. Before he could ask why he should be considered a threat, the Secretary added, turning back to contemplating the prisoner inside the cell:

“Tell me, Agent Hunt, what is the meaning of this?”

The agent turned to watch in turn and froze in shock.

The door slide open and Ethan stepped inside. The woman inside looked in a pitiful state; head hanging low, breathing irregularly, shoulders held back in an uncomfortable position and feet held to the feet of the iron chair by leather straps. Langton must have had it bad after her, Ethan though, which made him feel even guiltier. What had gone wrong?  What mistake had he made for her to end up here? Her face was turned down, brown dirty hair masking any expression she could have worn.

“Why did you do this Maria?” he asked quietly.

His niece didn’t move at first, showed no reaction to his presence. Anyone could have believed she hadn’t heard him, but Ethan knew her well enough. After a full minute of complete silence, she slowly raised her head and stared at him. And Ethan felt pulled back all these years, when he had met her the very first time.

She had been a frightened child back then, with enough strength to start anew after witnessing her father pulling the trigger on himself. At the time, Ethan thought he had done a decent job putting her back together, but what if he hadn’t? What if he had screwed her all over with letting her know he was an agent? Or had he not trusted her enough? Should he have abandoned IMF for a few years to stay by her side?

“You did nothing wrong, Ethan.”

He realized he had been lost in thoughts and lowered his guard; Maria had raised her head and was now looking at him serenely. Damn, he hadn’t even seen her move!

“Then why are you here?” he asked in turn, hoping she had, in some way, a twisted explanation to all this. But all she just smirked and snorted and turned her eyes back on the ground. Ethan stared at her in silence for a long time. She didn’t move, didn’t attempt to talk again. It was only when the guard knocked at the door to signal that the interview time was over that she spoke, so quietly he nearly missed it:

“You did everything right, that’s why I’m here.”

The words cut him deep and sharp. She was considered a criminal because he had raised her right? He couldn’t even find a snarky comeback; didn’t even wonder if there existed a suitable one. He just left and slammed the door on his way out.

Ethan returned immediately to his team’s safehouse to overview their mission. Stark Expo was to happen the very evening, so Jane’s complaints wouldn’t last very long. She was absent when he arrived; so was Benji, out for some groceries according to the note he left. He didn’t expect to find the former analyst sitting on the couch, watching TV.

“Day off,” he said as an explanation before Ethan could even ask. “Nothing unusual to report.”

The team leader took a seat on the other side of the couch and forced his mind to concentrate on the reality show going on. Maybe he would forget the past hour, if his brain was stuffed with enough stupidity. Unfortunately, Brandt wasn’t about to let that happen.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I heard what happened. Bout your niece.”

And there Ethan nearly burst a vessel. He didn’t want to talk about Maria, didn’t want to hear her name, didn’t want to think about her and even less talk about her with Brandt. He gave him a thunderous look that might have frightened Benji out of the room and Jane to turn away, but Brandt kept staring back, unflinching.

“Did she give you her reasons?” he went on, ignoring Ethan’s need to be left alone.

“No.” he replied dryly. Brandt hummed and nodded but still didn’t move. “What do you want?”

“It’s just so weird,” the analyst said, as if thinking out loud. “Your niece attempting to kill the Secretary. It doesn’t add up.”

“What are you suggesting?”

Brandt stared at him again, eyes intense in a way Ethan had rarely seen.

“How much do you know about the new Secretary? Was he a good agent? A good leader? How did he arrive in this position?”

“He was chosen, why? You thing the Secretary is at fault?”

“Look, I know we haven’t been working together for long – I mean, I as I am haven’t been working with you for long, but I’m good at reading people. And I’m telling you, something is amiss. From what I gathered from rumors, you raised her, right?” Ethan nodded, the betrayal still tasting bitter in his mouth. “Then there must be more to it. Maybe you should trust your niece on this one,” he added quietly. “After all, no-one except the Secretary and his men know what happened.”

Ethan stared in disbelief, his heartbeat accelerating with the underlining.

“You can’t be serious. She would have told me something!”

Brandt’s face suddenly adorned a deep frown.

“I never liked Langton. Gave out a weird vibe, y’know. I mean, every man has his secrets, and I’ve met a bunch that’d be ready to go to great lengths, in order to protect their own. Maybe she’s doing the same. Maybe letting herself being caught is her way of protecting you.” He smiled briefly. “It’s odd. When I interrogated her earlier-“

“You what?” The analyst blinked in surprise at Ethan’s sudden reaction. “You interrogated her?”

“Yeah, sure. The Secretary asked me to. Doesn’t look like it, but I’m pretty good when it comes to fishing out random information.”

Ethan knew that, but he hadn't expected their boss to give him that order, especially since he suspected Brandt of being a double agent. Or...or maybe he wanted to check if Brandt and Maria knew each other.

“You’re the one who beat her to bleeding?”

Brandt, once again, frowned. Even though he knew Maria was now considered a criminal, Ethan would give his colleague a black eye if he answered positively.

“Just gave her a couple slaps, I don’t hit on prisoners had enough to bleed." And Ethan shut his eyes briefly, wondering if his niece had hurt seeing her former lover on the other side. "And,” Brandt added with a small smirk, “She’s the kind of woman you don’t want to get on the bad side of. If she’s actually innocent, the downfall won’t be so bad for me.” Was it a hint of admiration Ethan heard in Brandt’s voice? As if reading his thoughts, the younger man went on: “She’s got spunk and she believes hardcore that what she’s doing is necessary. I suppose she’s the kind of woman that would inspire loyalty. I’d be more worried about someone infiltrating IMF to rescue her.”

That caught his attention.

“You think someone will attempt a rescue?”

“My mentor told me once; if there’s an opportunity to save yourself in one piece and rescue your partner later instead of getting both killed at once, run. I don’t know why, but I’m 95 percent sure said partner will return to get her out within the next forty-eight hours.”

Ethan snorted, but deep inside, wished Brandt was right. Maybe Maria had found out something, maybe she was trying to convey a message. It was a wistful belief, but it couldn’t hurt any further. As a woman on the reality show bragged about her supposedly faithful boyfriend, he promised himself to return talk to Maria again. He would give her another try, once the Stark Expo was over, and figure out what exactly she had in mind.

The very evening at ten pm, the building had a blackout of twenty seconds. The whole alarm system was deactivated during that time, making everyone turn into panic. A simple default contact was to blame and quickly fixed. Unfortunately, Brandt had been right in his prevision. When the cameras went back on, the Underground Cell number 9 containing the woman who had attempted on the IMF leader's life was empty.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Undisclosed location, hospital

William Brandt closed his eyes, enjoying the light breeze on his face. It had been far too long since he had been outside. Since he had woken up three weeks ago, he hadn’t been allowed out of bed. His injuries had been too severe for him to even think of moving. Heck, he knew he should have died after that explosion. He had managed to convince a doctor to tell him the extension of his injuries, and given the internal bleeding, the broken bones and fractures and concussions, he shouldn’t have survived the three days. But he miraculously had, mostly thanks to the extra care the hospital had provided him and the challenge he presented to his determined medical team.

A medical team belonging to SHIELD, that Maria Hill herself had assembled for him. Sometimes, he wondered what the hell had he done to deserve her.

His survival had also been due to the fact his head had been relatively spared and his main organs hadn’t suffered too much. His legs, though, might not make it. The doctor had been very clear on that point; they might have managed to fix the most of him, but his spinal cord being damaged, he might never be able to walk again.

He was alive though, and should be grateful for it.

“Deep in thoughts, agent Brandt?”

Will jumped a little, startled by the newcomer. He hadn’t expected any visitors today, and when he turned around, he blinked in surprise when he recognized the redhead woman standing next to him. Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, a SHIELD agent and one of Maria’s rare friends. They had crossed roads before, when a few colleagues of his girlfriend had deemed their relationship serious enough to give him a friendly warning. She and Clint Barton had threatened him with torture and death through blood loss if he ever came to hurt her.

“Agent Romanoff?” his voice sounded off to his own ears, way too rough, but at least it was stronger than the last couple of days.

“You can call me Natasha.” The assassin said with a smirk. She was wearing a tight jeans and a red Tee-shirt that spooned her curves better than her own skin and its neckline low enough for an eyeful, and well Brandt might be a gentleman, totally know she belonged to Clint Barton and be head over heels for Maria, but in the end he was just a man. “It’s nice to see you outside for a change. Maria will be glad to hear that.”

At the mention of his girlfriend, William dropped the subtle ogling and returned his full attention on the conversation.

“How is she?”

“Holding up. She apologizes for not being able to visit today, she was stuck at HQ.” she replied. “A new situation has arisen and since she’s the Deputy Director…you know how it works.”

“Actually, I don’t,” he said, and added at her puzzled look: “I didn’t know she was the Deputy Director. I’ve been trying to find out since we’ve started dating, but she wouldn’t tell.” When she frowned, he changed subject: “So what brings you here?”

Natasha smiled.

“I thought you would want an update on how Clint is managing your team.”

Brandt blinked.

“What do you mean, managing my team?” At Natasha’s surprised eyebrow, he added: “Another thing Maria didn’t tell me I suppose?”

“It seems so.” The redhead replied warily, then shrugged. She seemed to think that she had told too much anyway. “Maria sent Clint undercover for a while, mostly to burst Malrik. She seems to think he had a spy within IMF. Or at least, a way inside the files.”

“Is he driving them crazy?”

“Considering he is acting like himself and they still think he is you, yes.” Brandt groaned and hid his face in his hand. “His cover won’t last long though. Hill escaped from IMF barely two days ago and Hunt is out for blood. He suspects Clint helped her.”

“Did he?”

Natasha snorted.

“Of course not, Maria can handle herself just fine.” Brandt wasn’t sure whether that was reassuring or frightening. “Although Clint did make sure the vents grills were unbolted and slipped her a knife during interrogation just in case.”

The man sighed in relief. Maria was fine then. Then winced. His team was probably not.

“Weren’t you on babysitting Stark?” he suddenly remembered. Natasha shrugged.

“My mission is over, I am officially off Stark’s case. I need to finish my report though.” She added pensively, then checked her watch. “Sorry, I can’t stay. Clint is about to wrap up his own mission and I need to watch my partner’s back.”

She was about to turn around to leave when he interrupted her:

“Why are you telling me this? Isn’t this supposed to be confidential?”

Natasha smirked at him.

“You are directly linked to this case, and when your team shows up at the reception in two days, you need to know what you are getting involved into.” Pause. “Maria offered you a job at SHIELD for nothing. You should think over it.”

“They figured out…”

“IMF only suspects you of being Doppelganger and Langton told Ethan.” She informed him honestly. “From what I heard, he refused to believe it. But you know how IMF works.”

“Presumed guilty until proven innocent,” Brandt muttered. “And since I am guilty…”

“Secretary Langton is a stubborn idiot. You’ve only been doing the job he should have ordered someone to do.” The redhead chided. “Now focus on getting better; that’s all that matters right now.”

The day had started on a bad note with a pissed off Secretary. Or at least, for Hunt, it meant a bad note. Clint, on his end, couldn’t care less. He had just wanted this case to end soon, no matter if he was doing this for Maria and Will. He actually liked his lookalike. The man was a bit stiff, but he knew when to get loose and he was good to Maria.

“Don’t worry Brandt, we’ll get the guy!” Dunn said, typing on his laptop furiously. Clint glanced over the tech’s shoulder, trying to get a hand on his progresses.

“I trust you,” he replied calmly, feeling bored inside.

Another bad note today was that a certain mad doctor had realized one of his victims wasn’t quite dead. Clint had received a threatening email in his box the very morning, which had ensued with an awkward explanation that he was targeted from the beginning. They had all told him they would protect him –Clint had nearly snorted then –but he had gone along their ill-constructed plan. They wanted to localize Malrik’s location first, and then move on him and take him down right then.

“Do you want to spar?” Jane asked, looking no better herself.

Jane’s presence, since Stark Expo was over, had been near constant. Her resignation hadn’t come as a surprise; some employees of SI had freaked out a little at the fiasco Stark and Vanko had made and decided to quit before getting dragged in another mess. Clint had pretended that a relative was sick so had left a sulking Happy behind. As it appeared, according to Jane, even ‘Natalie Rushman’ had left her post.

“Nah, I’m fine,” he replied and stood from the couch. “I’ll just go for a walk or something.”

Ethan entered the living room and stared at him. Clint returned his gaze sternly. The team leader’s behavior had slightly changed over the last few days, since Maria’s escape. Barely noticeable, but the doubts were definitively there. Clint knew it was only a matter of time before Brandt’s team realized he had been replaced. He thought he had been made the day Dunn had dropped coffee on a table and he had changed in the room, but no. According to Maria, her uncle might be suspicious of any stranger, but once someone earned his trust, it was unbreakable. And he trusted Brandt.

“He wants to go outside,” Jane started. Clint rolled his eyes; her protectiveness was starting to annoy him.

“Am I supposed to stay locked in all day? I’ll just go in the park. I mean, the plan was to use me as bait, right? So give me a chip or whatever and if I get caught, you’ll be able to track me.”

The three exchanged a glance. Dunn threw him a sort of pins that he attached inside his shirt and left the room without another word. They were a tight team, but that wasn’t how Clint played it. He was more of a loner, worked best with Natasha, and SHIELD knew it. But he was a professional; he had made a promise to a friend, and he was going to hold it till the end. Clint knew he would have to apologize for his behavior once he returned to the safehouse, so he took the long road.

He also needed to text Maria about the reemergence of the mad scientist, if only to make sure the real Brandt wasn’t targeted. Still, he was confident they were after him. Clint grinned suddenly, thinking that would mean this undercover work would soon be over and he could soon return to his apartment. With Natasha, preferentially. And no mission in view.

Wistful thinking, he muttered inwardly as he took out his phone, and prayed he would be caught soon.

Chapter Text

Happy Spy Day

7

It had taken a while for Ethan to make up his mind, but once done, he held onto his decision. It wasn’t quite like he had a choice either; the Secretary was breathing down his neck, especially since he knew the family link between him and Maria. Thank God he had no idea Brandt and her had been dating, or Ethan had a vague suspicion he would already behind bars for retaining information.

He needed to speak to his team, without Brandt there. He needed to tell them what was exactly going on.

On his way, he crossed paths with Brandt. The man gave his a quiet nod as he walked out of the room and headed what suspiciously looked like outside. Ethan observed him with narrowed eyes. Ever since Malrik’s intentions had been known, the man had been quiet. Was it worry or stress or something else?

“Where are you going?” he asked before the other agent could escape him. Brandt sent him a flat stare.

“Getting some fresh air. And yes, I’ll be careful, and Benji gave me one of his fancy chips anyway. I’ll break it in case, don’t sweat.”

Unhappy but having no choice in the matter, Ethan reluctantly let him go. Brandt could hardly stand in place to begin with and if he was just breathing outside…The opportunity was perfect though. he glanced at his two other colleagues upon arriving and showed them to the couch.

“We need to talk,” he demanded. “About William.”

Jane and Benji exchanged worried glances but obeyed and took a seat. Ethan breathed deeply, wondering once again why, oh why this was happening.

“They suspect Brandt of being a mole and selling out confidential information on the IMF to another organization.” He said calmly. Both Jane and Benji stiffened.

“What?”

Hunt sat across their seat and leaned forwards, elbows resting on his knees for support.

“Valuable information had been slipping out of the building for the past few months. The Secretary ordered me to watch out especially for Brandt; apparently he had been on their suspect list far before the explosion.” Jane and Benji had disbelieved expressions on their faces.

“No way!” the tech yelped in shock and maybe anger. That had been Ethan’s reaction too, but with time, his opinion had slightly changed. Jane seemed aware of his shift of feelings and asked instead:

“Why would he do that?”

Ethan sighed and rubbed his face tiredly.

“I suspect he…” his voice trailed off and he sighed again, suddenly looking a lot older. “I suspect he was giving information to Maria.” None of them interrupted him yet, so he went on. “He was the steadiest relationship she had in a while, I thought… But after what happened…” his teammates didn’t need to be told about the recent events, the whole IMF knew about the Ethan Hunt’s niece betrayal: “I don’t know whether she was manipulating him, if he was onto this with her, of if he is completely innocent. Maria managed to break into my IMF laptop guessing my password when she was fifteen. It would be child’s play for her to guess Brandt’s.”

“But Brandt breathes protocol,” Benji protested. “You and he are always clashing on details over missions! Even if he was involved with her, he wouldn’t let mission details slip like that.”

Ethan gave him a look.

“What do we know about Brandt’s past? What do we really know about Brandt at all?” His teammates exchanged questioning glances. “We know his tastes, his favorite color, a few past missions he’s been on; but what do we know about him? About how he thinks, about what he thinks? What does he really think of IMF? Where does his true loyalty lay?” Ethan hated himself for speaking those words, but he couldn’t help but wonder. If Brandt had truly betrayed them… “Just think. His behavior differs from his usual self. Something feels wrong.”

Benji released a breath he hadn’t realized being holding. This was a side they hadn’t seen –or even suspected –coming from Brandt. He was acting very differently that the man they had come to know. Perhaps IMF was right in their doubts.

A sudden thought crossed Hunt’s mind and he wanted to smack himself for not thinking of this earlier. The Brandt he knew would have never acted so irrationally. The Brandt he trusted would have never let them down especially if it compromised a mission. He refused to thing that Croatia had triggered so many changes. Maybe he was trying to alleviate the guilt, but Ethan felt in his guts that he wasn’t wrong. There was one possibility they hadn’t explored to explain his sudden change of behavior. One possibility they never thought of exploring, because they would have never suspected it to be actually possible…the possibility that Brandt might not be…

A loud beep echoed in the room. All eyes turned on Benji’s screen. A red dot blinked on a map. They all exchanged a knowing glance: Brandt had activated the transmitter. That could only mean one thing: he was in trouble.

HSD

The place Brandt had been transported to was an apparent abandoned small warehouse, located far from town. The place looked creepy and all too stereotyped for a villain’s refuge. If Ethan hadn’t been worried about his colleague and friend, he would have snorted in disbelief. The plan was a simple and rather hurriedly made and unclear, but it could be summed up in three words; break in, free Brandt, break out. Benji was to remain in the van if outside rescue was needed. Jane and Ethan both armed themselves and prepared for the infiltration. They parked the car behind a bush in the afar without raising suspicion and the two agents continued by foot as discreetly as they could. They had no information, no knowledge on how many people Malrik employed, how he was armed…

And they were sneaking in to save a man that might not even be their colleague, Ethan mused sarcastically. The rescue better be worth it.

No guards stood at the entrance, which felt weird. When they reached the front door, it was slightly ajar. Ethan and Jane set into position and waited. At Jane’s signal, Ethan pushed the door open and glanced inside, gun ready to shoot. The inside was bright and clean, mostly white, and clear to spot eventual intruders. But Ethan’s eyes laid down on a couple of what he assumed to be guards that were lying on the floor, one barely breathing and the second one with his head wrongly angled.

Someone had arrived or left right before them. And that someone hadn’t been joking around. The IMF agent tried to reach the tech to warn him, but no-one responded to his call. Ethan swore, feeling that the communication had been cut. He glanced at Jane, who grimaced in turn. No outside feed then, great. Ethan just hoped their tech wouldn’t try to play hero and run after them in attempt to save them from a potential danger.

So Jane and Ethan exchanged a knowing glance, readied themselves and explored the rest of the facility. As they should have expected, the building was deserted. Safe for the occasional body left behind, breathing of not. Empty labs, empty rooms, the cafeteria…they made most of the building before arriving at what appeared to be the control room. The door leading inside was half-opened…and they registered movement inside. Carter, being the closest, was the first to peek inside and when she pulled back, her face was white as a sheet. Ethan glanced inside in turn and saw a woman standing in front of a large screen, hands on the keyboard.

“That’s Natalie Rushman,” she whispered. “She was the CEO’s PA when I was in Stark Industries. She quit after the expo.”

The redhead kept typing on the computer, blissfully unaware of their presence. Her hair had been recently cut and she was dressed in a black catsuit, looking more of a spy than a CEO’s personal assistant. Hunt glanced at his colleague. Jane’s jaw was tight and her mouth pursed in anger. He briefly remembered that Brandt might have had a lover during his time undercover, and wondered if she had been it. No wonder why Brandt and Jane had been hired so fast in SI, if the CEO’s personal assistant was on their side.

‘On my count’ he said with his eyes, back to business. Just in case, his hand made a significant gesture meaning: ‘need her alive’. Rushman might be a spy too, and interrogating her might bring more insight on what was going on. Jane looked annoyed but nodded and got ready.

‘Three’ he lowered a finger.

‘Two’. One finger left.

‘One’ Fist closed.

The two agents raised their gun and aimed at the redhead. Hunt was about to speak when he suddenly felt something cold against his skull and a too familiar voice say:

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

‘It can’t be’ Hunt thought, his whole body frozen in shock. ‘He wouldn’t…’

“Put your guns down. Now.” Brandt’s cold voice went on. A quick glance on the side made Ethan realize he was holding Jane at gunpoint too. His deadpan face made Ethan shiver slightly. That was Brandt’s usual concentrated expression, whenever he was about to take a shot against a target. And now he was aiming at him and Jane at once.

The redhead on the keyboard kept taping, as nothing was wrong. Hunt realized she must have known they were here from the start, but would let…her what, partner? -cover her back. On his right, Jane was stiffened too, her hands slightly shaking in disbelief, eyes wide in shock and betrayal.

“You too Carter.”

Jane moved slowly, but not to follow the order. In retribution, the barrel of the gun pushed harder against Hunt’s skull –making him wince. Jane froze and lowered her weapon reluctantly. They both raised their hand in the air. Brandt merely raised an eyebrow at them in return.

“You took long enough,” he said nonchalantly.

“You don’t look much like a prisoner,” Ethan pointed out angrily.

“I got bored and escaped. Apparently, Malrik was working with a bigger fish than expected, so Nat and I cleaned the area. Malrik’s dead by the way.” His sudden grin was very different from Brandt, which confirmed Ethan’s theory.

“You’re not him,” he blurted. “You’re not-”

“William Brandt? Sure ain’t him,” Brandt –or rather the doppelganger –replied. Jane’s face flushed red.

“Where is he?” she hissed under her breath. Not-Brandt raised an eyebrow.

“In some rehabilitation center nearby, so I heard,” he replied. “I’ll tell Maria to send you a text.”

“Don’t be too chatty Hawkeye,” a new voice appeared from the side, and this time too familiar for Ethan to ignore it.

‘Guys? Can you hear me? What’s going on?’ Benji’s panicked voice asked through their earpiece. The connection was functioning again.

“Maria.” Ethan whispered.

Indeed, Maria Hill was standing further up the corridor, walking in their direction. She was holstering her gun back in place and her face impossibly blank, unreadable, bruises from her time at IMF still visible in the open light.

“I never thought we’d find ourselves in this situation,” Maria said coldly, staring down at her uncle and his colleague once a time. Without turning her back to them, she glanced inside the computer room. “Are you done?”

Rushman, if that was her real name, stood up and headed towards the door.

“What should we do of those two?” the redhead asked, nodding towards them when she joined them.

“Lock them inside.” Maria replied without a hint of hesitation. “I’ll send Dunn to free them once we’re far enough.”

Brandt made an army-like salute.

“Yes ma’am.”

Jane attempted to move the moment the redhead stepped nearby. With accurate agility earned from training, she jumped on Rushman and tried to hold her in a headlock. The redhead elbowed her stomach, kicked her in the shin and pushed her violently against the wall. Not-Brandt watched the scene with amusement.

“Don’t kill her, Nat. She’s one of the good guys.”

The redhead sent him a glare before pulling Jane by the shoulder and dragging her towards the room she had just exited. A last punch in the face and the woman crumbled unconscious. Hunt returned his attention on his niece.

“Don’t do anything stupid Maria,” Ethan warned, nearly pleadingly. “We can work this out together.”

His niece gave him a brief, pathetic smile, but didn’t let them escape. Instead, she pulled out her own gun. Ethan noted she wasn’t going to a kill shot, but the canon was still aiming at his legs.

“Dunn should be here within twenty minutes. I’ll text you Will’s hospital address.”

They held stare for a while, before he eventually relented. Maria did not wish for their death, but he knew she would be capable of injuring them to make them obey. Once they had backed far enough, she spoke once again:

“I meant it Ethan, I’m sorry.”

And then she slammed the door close in his face.

Chapter Text

Happy Spy Day

8

A man lay on a bed, surrounded by machines that kept his lungs barely functioning and tubes feeding him. Behind the window glass, Maria Hill tightened her fists and swallowed in silent anger. The tag name on the door was left blank as a transfer was being ordered in another hospital within the day. His doctor hadn’t deemed it advisable given how unpredictable his patient’s state was, but the woman was past caring at this point. He would receive better treatment in SHIELD facilities.

A familiar set of footsteps approached on her left, and she knew they were making just enough noise not to startle her. Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff didn’t walk, they glided.

“Still no change?”

The redhead was still wearing her black pants and white blouse while the blond played with his plaster. A small building had crumbled down on him during his last mission but he had been lucky. Maria figured Natasha must have come straight from her undercover mission and had picked up Clint on the way to pay a visit.

“They say he might not wake up. That it’s a miracle he held on for so long.”

The two assassins turned around and glanced at the comatose patient. They wouldn’t speak up, but Maria knew she had their support. If they hadn’t cared, they wouldn’t have showed up at all.

“He went through the hard part; now he just needs to rest.” Clint said with conviction. “And SHIELD has the bests.”

“I know.” She replied tensely.

“What are you going to do?”

Maria closed her eyes in inhaled briefly.

“The responsible of the bombing has vanished.”

“You want to find him.” it was no question, but the brunette nodded anyway. Clint stepped on the side, trying to catch her gaze. “Tell us what you need. If we can do anything…”

Besides him, Natasha nodded, determination clear in her eyes. The two had met a couple of times before, enough to make Brandt likable in Barton’s eyes. Plus, the guy had helped them taking down those annoying Black Lotus gang by turning in old intel IMF had refused to share. Maria hesitated. She was not an analyst, she didn’t build crazy schemes but she was Fury’s second in command. She had enough experience to make up something.

“There’s something I might need you to do.”

HSD

Ethan entered the hospital, Benji and Jane close behind. The moment the tech had freed them, he had checked his phone and indeed, received a text from his niece with an address and a name. Against protocol, he had ordered Benji to drive there straight away –and hadn’t received much protest. Within two hours, they reached the medical center and were barging at the front desk to ask for the patient named William Brandon.

They reached the room in a matter of minutes. And when they pushed the door….Brandt was there, facing the window of his room, sitting –the sight made Ethan swallow hard –in a wheelchair. He turned his head at their arrival and raised both brows in surprise.

“Oh, hi?” he greeted. His voice was rough and faint, as if unused for a long time. The light of the day emphasized his tiredness and made him look like he had been run over by a truck. Ethan wasn’t deterred.

“Are you the real Brandt?” he asked darkly. Maybe-Brandt winced slightly.

“The resemblance was that freaky?” he replied, dejected. “I guess he is a better actor that I gave him credit for.”

The self-depraving humor was familiar but not enough for Ethan. Yes, this man looked like Brandt, maybe had his words, but he had been fooled once and would not allowed himself another mistake. So he walked till he stood by Brandt’s side. The man’s expression had turned puzzled.

“Ethan, what are you doing?”

“Checking on something.”

He grabbed the side of the wheelchair and shoved it violently. Brandt yelped in surprise and hit the floor. He groaned loudly and held onto his side, eyes shut tightly.

“What the hell is that for!” he hissed, glaring at his team leader with an unmistakable expression of pain. “I can’t walk!”

Now that Ethan could see the injury was not faked, he felt guilty. He leaned forward to help him back in his seat and explained:

“You have to understand, we thought you were-“

But Brandt shoved his arm away and glared at him harshly.

“The hell what you thought!” he shouted angrily. “Get out!”

A nurse opened the door and stared at the scene with wide eyes.

“Oh my –doctor! Doctor!” she hurried to the fallen man’s side and helped him in a sitting position. “Are you alright?”

Brandt grumbled under his breath:

“I’ve seen better days.”

“What got through your mind! He fell on his hip!” she snapped at Ethan. “The doctors just cleared him for physical therapy!”

He winced as he saw Brandt trying hard to bite back the pain, but the sweat over his forehead told him he definitively wasn’t faking that part. A few men entered and helped the agent back in his seat. The nurse stood up and glared at them.

"Out. NOW."

HSD

It took them a couple hours to be granted access to the room again. While Brandt hadn’t been truly injured by his fall, Ethan was determined to stick around and apologize before leaving. First the doctors were opposed to their visit, then the nurse strongly spoke against then, and Brandt himself wasn’t keen on letting them in. Ethan couldn't tell whether he was sulking or stalling -or both- but once he had flashed his IMF insignia and received the necessary authorizations, he was allowed to speak with Brandt. Jane and Benji though were politely asked to leave by security and the blonde nurse who had somewhat decided to be her patient’s watchdog. And boy, did she do her job efficiently. In spite of all protests, the two were remorselessly shoved back in the parking lot.

So it was alone that Ethan was led to the gardens by an intern. Brandt had been brought there, as he was apparently now enabled to move his wheelchair on his own.

"I only agreed because I knew you wouldn't stop harassing the medical team, and that's the last thing they need." Brandt said grumpily. Other patients were walking all over the place, but they were isolated by a bunch of bushes that allowed enough privacy for a conversation.

“I’m sorry about what I did,” Ethan said, feeling genuinely guilty. “But you were replaced by someone else, I needed to make sure you were…you.”

“Yeah, I got that part.” He grumbled, glaring at the flowers on display.

Ethan swallowed and stared at the flowers in turn. They were pretty, and a good excuse to avoid meeting his gaze.

“So you met my double,” Brandt eventually said. Ethan switched into interrogation mode:

“What do you know about him?” the injured agent didn’t seem willing to speak, but he still offered a minimum:

“Maria hired him to kill Malrik and put an end to his future plans, that’s all she told me.”

“Really?”

“I wasn’t quite in the mood or the position to act, if you see what I mean.” Brandt replied sarcastically. “I’ve only been allowed to leave my bed a week ago. I haven’t even started physical therapy, yet.” He swallowed. “If I will ever be able to walk on my own again.”

A heavy silence set between the two. Ethan swallowed and asked, pushing his luck:

“The Secretary suspected you were feeding information to enemies of IMF. Are you Clive Doppelganger?”

That made Brandt frown.

“What?”

“Are you Agent Doppelganger? Did you give information to Maria you obtained through the IMF?”

Brandt stared intensely at him, biting his lower lip. Ethan knew that gesture, he definitively knew something and was debating whether to tell him or not.

“They were old files no-one looked into anymore.” He eventually admitted. “At the time, she was following a trail, a gang named Black Lotus or something. They were officially dismantled by IMF ten years ago and turned out those guys were still in activity,” he muttered absentmindedly. Ethan stared at him in shock.

“She was going after a gang? What…and she was alone?”

“Of course not,” Brandt replied dryly and observed him intensely. Ethan had seen a suspect confess a crime under that stare. “I suppose she didn’t tell you then.”

“Tell me what?”

The man shook his head.

“We had an argument before I left for that last mission. I made a request she wasn’t ready to fulfill, regarding you. I guess she still didn’t.”

“A requ- Brandt, do you know what she’s about?”

He snorted.

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet. But I got to say, she’s good, probably better than I am, maybe even better than you. She told me about the IMF escape, you know.” He added with a side smirk. “That you didn’t realize she had left the building until she walked out the front door.”

“There is nothing funny about that.” Ethan snapped dryly.

“I know.” Brandt became serious again. “And I’m pissed at the Secretary. He knew exactly why she was there and did a serious mistake by taking her hostage.”

“Hostage?” the other man replied in disbelief.

“You should dig deeper in Langton’s past, he wasn’t as clean as people might think, and seeing her in his office made him panic.” Will replied simply, and smirked: “Ironically, what he did put him straight on Maria’s shit list, so I bet he won’t be Secretary for long.” And then, he tilted his face and looked at Ethan square in the eye. “You’re the one missing the big picture, for once.” He hesitated then added softly: “You raised her, Ethan. You taught her to hold firmly on her beliefs. Don’t you think she must have had a good reason to do what she did?”

His words echoed the things the spy had told him, the day he’d found out Maria was a double agent.

“I don’t know anymore. I can’t believe she’d do this to begin with. That’s not the girl I remember.”

“She grew up Ethan. You just saw what you wanted to see, just like you did with me the first time we met. In your eyes, I was the analyst.” Brandt went on and he had to concede that point. “But she’s not the enemy, Ethan. She never was and never will be. I trust her.”

“How long have you know?”

Brandt had a little embarrassed smile, the same he had when Ethan had confronted him about dating Maria.

“She realized I wasn’t an analyst the first time we met, and I had suspicions she wasn’t a mere bounty hunter. We…bonded over our mutual lies.”

“You knew from the start?” Ethan summarized in disbelief. Brandt shrugged and stared at the gardens again.

“Like I said, not our enemy,” he replied and sighed. “You should leave now, I’m getting tired.”

Ethan wanted to stay longer but knew he was already pushing it. That, and the blonde nurse was standing in the background, eyeing them with an evil glare. The IMF agent caught the name ‘Sharon’ on the tag and made a side note to report her to her superiors. He watched as she approached Brandt and guided him elsewhere, probably back to his room. Shaking his head in annoyance, he headed to the front desk, firmly decided to get one back against that woman. Luckily, a doctor was chatting with the secretary so he was able to bring the matter to the right people straight ahead.

“I just want to make a statement;” he said once the two had acknowledged his existence. “One of your nurses is sure a little bit rough.”

The doctor hummed and shrugged.

“Some are protective of the people here. Which one was it? I’ll tell her to calm down.”

“Sharon.”

The doctor stared at him in puzzlement, then glanced at the secretary. She shook her head and replied:

“I’m sorry sir but we don’t have a nursed called Sharon.”

Ethan started to feel this nerves itching.

“She is being overprotective with the patient from room 404. A blond nurse. With brown eyes.”

Recognition hit the man, but instead of reassuring him, he only grew more confused.

“But sir, that patient was cleared to leave the facility this morning. And I truly don’t recall us having a nurse named Sharon…”

Ethan needed no more and ran to the front desk. Outside, he could see the blonde nurse closing the door of a big van and climb into the driver’s seat. Before he could think of reacting, the van started and disappeared past the barriers.

HSD

“You’ll be alright?”

Maria exhaled sharply and closed her eyes. Agent 13 had taken the wheel to leave them alone in the backseat and everything was soundproof. They could talk without being overheard, so she allowed herself a moment to rest. His hand found hers for comfort and he bit back a smile when she intertwined their fingers.

“Ethan’s going to hate me,” she said slowly. “But I’ll be fine.”

“You have more reliable eyes in IMF now anyway,” Will added gently. “IMF will have a new Secretary soon and Ethan will understand and forgive you eventually.”

Maria gave him a tight smile.

“I hope you’re right.” She sobered and asked: “Are you sure you won’t return to IMF once you’re fully recovered?”

Will shrugged.

“They’ll probably fire me for leaking information, no matter how useless to them it was.” He explained and rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand. “Plus I don’t want to be a spy within my own organization. I have a feeling Director Fury would guilt me into doing that.”

“Probably,” Maria admitted. She marked a small pause and asked: “Can I say ‘Welcome to SHIELD, agent Brandt’?”

The man smirked. He’d lean forward to steal a kiss, but he wasn’t sure that even if the sound was cut, the agent driving wouldn’t notice. And Maria had always been clear; no obvious PDA when her colleagues were around.

“Well, I do already have a codename, so why the hell not?”

Chapter Text

Happy Spy Day

Epilogue

One month later

‘The usual park. Sunday 22. 5pm. Don’t be late. M.’

Ethan shoved his cell phone back in his pocket and checked around again. He didn’t want to miss Maria’s arrival, especially since this was the first message she had sent since their last confrontation. He had to inform IMF of course, although he had managed to bargain a five minutes tête-à-tête with her before intervention. The meeting was to happen in the park, an open space with plenty of places to escape if needed. Most agents sent with him would be standing around and waiting for his signal.

He didn’t have to wait very long; Maria was anything but punctual and he spotted her come from afar. She looked good, refreshed and absolutely melting with the crowd. If he hadn’t been searching for her so insistently, he would have probably missed her.

“You didn’t come alone.” She stated, looking all too relaxed as she sat on the bench next to him. Ethan glared at her.

“They will arrest you at my signal, Maria.” He warned her reluctantly. “And I will give the signal.”

Maria didn’t look upset at all. She glanced around the park and recited:

“Three businessmen behind the tree. A homeless guy next to the garbage, and that woman sitting across the bench. You brought a full strike team just for me, I’m flattered.”

“You are on our hit list.” He hissed, annoyed that she had identified the other agents. He shut his eyes and breathed in deeply. He wished he could wake up in his bed and realize this was nothing but a nightmare. He couldn’t be having this conversation with her, of all people. “Maria, please, give yourself up. We can make things right, together. You made mistakes, but it’s never too late.”

Steel-blue eyes set on him. They lacked their usual warmth and were unnaturally unreadable. Ethan hated it even more.

“Had I known we would end like this, I would have told you the truth ages ago.” She said softly. “But I am not your enemy, Ethan. I never was, and I will never be.”

“Your spy and Brandt said the exact same thing.” Ethan muttered. “I suppose you extracted him from the hospital?”

“I did,” Maria confirmed, then asked softly: “Do you really think that after what happened in Croatia, William would have protected me if I was working against you?”

Ethan shut his eyes and laid back on the bench. Once again, he wondered how they had ended here.

“I don’t know anymore. I trusted Brandt with my life and now I’m not sure. I don’t know what to believe.”

Maria’s sad smile hit him like a punch to the guts. There was a faint remain of a bruise against her cheek, where one of her interrogators had hit her.

“I suppose you won’t tell me where is Brandt now?”

“Rehabilitation. He still isn’t done with physical therapy. But the doctors are optimistic about him regaining the use of his legs.” She paused and stared at the ground. “He might never be able to return on the field, but he will walk again.”

Knowing Brandt would get better eventually relieved Ethan a little, but barely.

“Why did you hire that man to replace Brandt? You called him ‘Hawkeye’. You can’t mean that Hawkeye…”

The name had hit in the IMF records. Deadliest sniper, long list of kills, scary percentage of accuracy. If Brandt’s double was that man, Ethan wanted to know exactly where she had found such dangerous contacts.

“Easy,” Maria chided. “Will was in no shape to be a target and that guy -he’s a friend of mine. He owed me a favor, was slightly injured at the time and bored. Sending him underground as bait was more of a game to him than an actual mission.” Pause. “And it was a sort of joke to IMF since Langton was not being cooperative.”

“You seem to know dangerous people.” He remarked, a hint of disapproval in his voice.

She offered him a half-smile.

“You’re family, and Langton won’t be Secretary for long anymore. So I’ll just say this. Look up what SHIELD is, if you don’t already know the name. It’ll give you an idea of what we’re…capable of.” SHIELD. The word rang a faint bell in Ethan’s mind but he couldn’t pinpoint what. Maria suddenly stood up. “I have to leave. Unlike you, my schedule is quite busy lately. And don’t think of following me.” She glanced at his shirt and when he followed her gaze, he noted with shock that two red dots had appeared on his chest. “Your name is on a ‘hands off’ list, but they will shoot to stop you. Please,” she added softer. “Take care.”

“Will I hear from you soon?”

She gave him her teasing smirk, the kind that might have made him smile back once.

“Sooner than you think.” She replied and walked away. Ethan just stood there, too dumbfounded to realize that none of the members of the IMF strike team had moved, each and every one knocked out.

HSD

His old colleague and friend was waiting for him when he arrived at their meeting place. Ethan smoothly slipped in the next seat and ordered a beer. A few moments of silence ran between them before he started speaking:

“Luther, you have been in IMF longer than me.”

“That’s true.” The black man replied with a casual nod.

“Then what can you tell me about an organization named SHIELD?”

Luther didn’t react, merely played with the edge of his glass. His mouth was twisted in that weird way when he had information he was not supposed to divulge.

“What do you want with them?” the black man eventually asked warily.

“I want to know everything you can tell me.”

Ethan’s tone was definite. Luther grimaced, hesitated, and spilled:

“SHIELD is an acronym for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division. It is a large underground organization that specializes in neutralizing hardcore threats. Another IMF if you will, but with fancier toys and a heck more spying at motion. Its existence is strictly need-to-know.”

Ethan gritted his teeth.

“How come I didn’t come across the name earlier?”

Luther shrugged.

“I am aware of their existence because I stumbled upon a meeting between the Director of SHIELD and IMF’s last Secretary. That guy…he told me that if I ever got tired of IMF, I could still send my curriculum vitae to them. If you didn’t hear of it, it’s probably because you had no reason to be told. Why the sudden interest?”

Ethan hesitated.

“The Secretary suspected that Brandt fed them information under the codename Agent Doppelganger.” He hesitated another minute then added softer: “Maria might be involved with them too.”

“Little Maria?” Luther repeated with a raised eyebrow. The man had come across his niece once or twice in the past, when she had accompanied Ethan to a few impromptu meetings. “Really?” instead of looking upset, he whistled, impressed. “I heard only the bests were recruited there. Now I suppose the rumors of Langton being seeking more turfs are founded.” Ethan rose a ‘please explain’ eyebrow. “I heard what happened, that Little Maria was caught trying to kill Langton. Didn’t believe it a second. A smart kid like her being raised by someone like you? No way in hell. Now that you say she’s SHIELD, it makes sense. Langton probably wanted to push SHIELD into a corner and force it to come forward. Give up some stuff, let him handle more matters. He was always an ambitious a-hole. But SHIELD has a reputation of never, ever negotiating with terrorists. I doubt the Director would have been inclined to agree to anything at all.”

The man took a sip of his own drink and waited. Ethan closed his eyes as he took in the information. Maria was working for a wide underground organization. She was on the side of the good guys. And she hadn’t told him. He didn’t know whether he should curse her or feel relieved that he hadn’t been played all this time.

“If this is so need-to-know, why tell me all this stuff?” Ethan eventually asked.

Luther chuckled and handed him a USB device.

“Because you, sir, are invited to a meeting between IMF and SHIELD to elect their new liaison. And should you chose to accept it, something tells me you’re gonna meet your niece over there.”