Work Text:
Oh God, this was it? Wasn’t it? The universe gave him a sign the first time he encountered Solomon Lane by strapping a bomb to his chest, and how here he was again. Desperately clawing at his neck struggling to breathe after the man threw a noose around his neck.
He was grateful when Ilsa kicked the box towards him, at least he had a perch to prevent the strain on his airway. The glass bottle was another saving grace, he could get down, he could help… somehow.
And then — of course — he kicked the box out from under himself after kicking Lane in the back. He tried to cut the rope faster, but now that his hands weren’t there to give even the smallest amount of leeway he could feel the way the rope constricted his airway. His vision started to go fuzzy on the edges, and as he hung there frantically cutting the rope his thoughts drifted to Ethan…
Ethan who was out there going after the detonator. Ethan who still needed his help. Ethan who he would never see again, because it was getting a lot harder to saw at the rope, and it was getting a lot harder to stay awake.
His vision went black a moment later.
Suddenly he was gasping for fresh air. Coughing from both the dust on the floor, and the ache in his throat. He made sure to tell Ilsa “Thank you” once he had enough of his bearings, before moving to tie Lane up as she instructed.
Then of course he was up and defusing a bomb, can’t really let our near death experiences get in the way of the mission now can we? Hell, Ethan never let his death experiences get in the way of the mission.
God he better not die out there.
Why was he even thinking about Ethan? He had a bomb to defuse!
Him and Ilsa listened carefully to Luther’s instructions on the other end of the comm. And now he was thinking about Ethan again, but this time it was because he was hoping to any deity that was out there that he had the key, and that they all wouldn’t die.
Of course, something in him trusted Luther’s words, and something else trusted Ethan, they could do this. It would just be in the nick of time…like always. So he sat there, cutters on the green wire waiting and hoping. Ethan will get it, he will. He has to. They'll cut the wire on one.
The lack of a bomb going off was a great relief, and the opening of the bomb was an even bigger one. They were safe, Ethan disarmed it, just in time like always.
Now they just had to figure out where the hell Ethan actually was, because Benji had a bad feeling he was likely very,very injured.
It was the CIA who found Ethan. They managed to track their group down due to Sloane wanting them arrested. Of course, the whole arrest was cancelled after the group… saving the world. When they found Ethan he was very injured — as Benji thought.
The copter made it's way from wherever the hell Ethan was, and with every minute Benji grew more and more worried. When Ethan was finally on the ground the whole team rushed over to him as he was loaded onto a stretcher. God, Benji was never going to get used to seeing him like this. He was barely conscious, and the blood, there was so much blood. Julia ushered them away as he was brought over to a private tent, the doctors needed to look at him, and the rest of the team crowding them would be less than ideal.
So he sat and waited, though he was briefly interrupted by Ilsa pushing him into a different doctor's tent so that he could get himself checked out. It made sense, she wanted to make sure he didn't have any lasting breathing problems or damage to his trachea or esophagus or any of those other injuries that tend to be common with hanging. At least he didn't have any neck fractures.
By the time they finished examining him, they were notified that Ethan would be okay, he just needed some time to recover. Julia wanted to see him as soon as possible, and it made something in Benji's heart ache. Walking in seeing her giving him a kiss on the forehead just made his heart hurt more. It was an unusual feeling, was he jealous? Oh god, he was.
The feeling of jealousy was not helped by Ilsa and Ethan sharing a long stare, Ethan gently caressing her face and her resting her hands on him. Ethan had a thing for brunettes, Benji stands no chance. Well, plus the fact he was pretty sure Ethan didn't have an interest in men, he was a pretty big womanizer his entire career, before Julia.
Oh god, was he in love with Ethan Hunt?
This whole… everything, really had him thinking about a lot of things. So to distract himself, he asked Ethan, "How close were we?" Wow, his voice was raspy. Maybe he should drink some water.
"The usual." Yeah that made sense, him and Luther shared a look before huffing out a laugh. One that made him want water again. He was glad there were no major injuries, but the minor ones were still a bitch.
Ilsa and Ethan continue to chat, and Benji — despite the need to talk to Ethan and get the full story of what happened while they were diffusing the bomb, despite the ache in his heart — leaves them to it.