Day 4 - Help is at Hand (MI:4)
Title: Help is at Hand
Author: /hellbells(tth)
Summary : Ethan had discovered some of Brandt's secrets, but there was still one very big secret he'd kept from the group - his wife. She's cute, blonde, tiny, packs a punch and holds enough political weight that even the Secretary dislikes tangling with her.
Challenge:
Authors note: For those unfamiliar, Mission Impossible four stars Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, Jeremy Renner as William Brandt. I don’t want to spoil the film so I’ll say the only thing you really need to know is that they are part of a team of spies, who take on impossible missions. - Therefore i'll make a note that there are some move spoilers
Rating: Fr-15
Word Count: 2,665
Beta - Big thanks to ConstanceTruggle/jaded_angel8 - who read through this, even if, it wasn't one of her usual fandoms.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All rights belong to their owners and I merely borrow the characters for your amusement.
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Ethan Hunt regarded his new team with curiosity, because he liked to know what made them tick. He had gotten to know Benji well enough over the years when he'd been a specialist who'd helped him get out of scrapes. He respected Jane's quiet competence, and was relieved that he could help her get over Hanaway's death in a healthy way.
The biggest enigma of the group was - one, William Brandt. After the whole ordeal with the Russians Ethan had pulled Brandt's file. He’d needed to know how an Agent with the skills and reactions he'd exhibited in Dubai had ended up an analyst. Ethan had a healthy respect for analysts but Brandt was clearly wasted there - he was needed in the field.
Whilst Ethan could access Brandt’s IMF file, the rest of his file, including his personal life, was blacked out - on the grounds that Ethan had insufficient security clearance. Although, Ethan did notice that Brandt had refused to go out into the field after Croatia. Damn-it, Ethan realised that it was his faking of Jules death that made him abandon fieldwork.
Still, at least Ethan could solve that part. When he'd pulled the team together he had given Brandt the truth about Croatia. The team had pulled together and they quickly became the go to team for missions. The team worked well together and had started to learn each other’s quirks. However, Ethan realised that he knew absolutely nothing about Brandt's personal life. The only clue he got was that, maybe, he had once glimpsed a ring. The other possible clue was the sole tattoo that Brandt had. The tattoo was small, and located low, by his hip, in the shape of a small red scythe.
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The team got a very shocking introduction into Brandt's life during the course of one mission. However it did explain quite a few things, like his ability to accept - and then adapt - to any situation. It was an ability that the whole team had come to respect and appreciate.
Like now. They were holed up in a hotel, going over the available intel for their latest mission. It did not look promising. The rich oil baron had stolen the government's emergency protocols. Why? Well, having watched one too many movies he came up with what he felt was a bright idea.
In all good disaster movies - the government would always refer to disaster plans. The baron had taken it a step further, and had stolen the plans to see just what disaster he could enact so that he could maximize his profits. Brandt had snorted when he’d heard the details, and made a quip about watching too much Jericho. The team was equipped to handle the humans; however they were unable to handle demons. One perk of having such a high security clearance was the knowledge and training to recognise what went bump in the night.
The big problem for the team is that the idiot's plan had attracted the help of several demonic allies. The demon allies, as a favour, had provided the baron with demonic security.
Benji was helpfully telling the team just how screwed they were. “Ethan! They have demons guarding the information - THEY HAVE HORNS!"
Ethan paced, "I heard you Benji."
Jane added, a little mournfully, "The guy does not have any public engagements and he travels with five guards."
Ethan continued to pace, his mind thinking of a thousand different scenarios and immediately discarding them. He stopped pacing and looked at his Agent/Analyst. "Why are you so quiet?"
Brandt looked up from the data. "I don't see the problem. I know someone who can get you the data."
Ethan raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Just who do you know?"
William shrugged, and sighed, knowing that he would have to tell, perhaps, his biggest secret. “If the woman I know… If she knocks on his door, I can guarantee the demon crew will scatter."
Ethan frowned, and he knew he was missing something as Brandt liked to deal in absolutes. To him, the idea that one woman could make all the demons run away was absurd. Yet, for Brandt, he was absolutely sure, which was difficult to imagine. However the stark reality was that Ethan was running out of options, and knowing this, he would let Brandt run with his idea. "It's your show!"
Brandt pulled out a phone that none of them recognised, "Hey it's me. Please tell me the world is not ending as I really need my wife."
The team shared a look of surprise; their colleague sure kept that one under his hat. They would have words - later. Of course, it begged the question of what sort of person could be married to an IMF agent, and be safe. Their musings were disturbed when they heard Brandt huff.
Jane didn’t think she’d ever heard Brandt that frustrated, and she overheard many conversations between Benji and Brandt. "What? Please Xan, I don't have time for games."
The others listened in fascination, "Look Xan, if you had had the balls to mention you were dating Dawn earlier, then Buffy wouldn't be demanding them now."
Jane's eyebrows were getting higher and higher, "Well Xan, if you are so scared - ask one of the minis. Look at it this way. It will get Buffy out of the mansion and away from trying to emasculate you."
There was a pause before he smiled, and finished graciously, "I knew you would see it my way."
The team watched as Brandt seemed to relax by degrees, just by hearing the other person's voice. "Hey, yeah a shot scythe wedding sounds cool."
He paused, the woman's voice could be heard, “No, I'm not just agreeing with you. However, like a good husband, I can offer you some demon violence if you come to Rio.”
He saw the group staring at him with varying degrees of fascination, he refrained from rolling his eyes - barely. "Yes I'm wearing my amulet. I didn't fancy you kicking my ass, or Willow resurrecting me so you could do it again."
Benji was beginning to look a little worried at the prospect of meeting this woman. Although, considering how dangerous Brandt could be, she sounded like the perfect wife for him. Ethan could admit to a more than professional curiosity at meeting the woman, who had managed to get underneath all of Brandt's defences. And Jane? Well she just really liked the idea of meeting this woman - she just sounded badass. It was something that she could appreciate.
Brandt finally snickered, "Don't worry I'll let them know."
He clicked his cell off. "Okay my wife and her associate will be appearing in a minute. It will be an unorthodox method of travel. Do not shoot them. She gets upset when people shoot her."
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Not five minutes later, a portal formed in the middle of the hotel room. It was only Brandt's repeated warning not to shoot that got the agents to lower their guns.
Benji Dunn did not know what bothered him more. The portal that had completely destroyed everything he thought he knew about Science, or actually meeting Brandt's wife. Don't get me wrong, they certainly made a pretty couple. However, he was finding it hard to reconcile the big badass image that Brandt's conversation conjured, with whom had stepped through the portal. He wondered just how strange his life could become.
Buffy did not bother to justify herself to Ethan, although she could clearly see the scepticism on his face. Benji did note the look of amusement that flashed across the couple's faces. Ethan tried to play it hardball but failed. Benji figured he was onto a losing game when the trick had failed against Brandt, that one time in Dubai.
Buffy raised one eyebrow, Brandt knew she was trying hard not to laugh in his face. He appreciated the attempt - it wouldn't be good for his wife to laugh in his boss' face, even if he kind of deserved it.
Buffy shrugged and looked to Faith who unrolled the weapons bag. “Let’s see what we’ll need to take to get this party started. Let’s have a look at the photos.” The last part was directed at Benji, who was standing there - staring. It seemed his doubt ended the minute he saw the weapons. Although, he could confess that the dark hair slayer would probably be the source of fantasy material for him for months.
Faith took the photo, and Buffy stared at the photo over her shoulder. Benji couldn’t decide if Brandt was the luckiest son of bitch to live, or not. The women were close, and seemingly did not believe in personal space. Benji would not be the only person whose mind wandered to dirty places.
Buffy gave Brandt her special smile, and it promised him a very nice evening. They just had a few things to do before that; like grab Government secrets and destroy the demons. Well, Buffy always worked better with incentives, and getting to spend some quality time with her husband was up there. After all, it would give her a chance to scratch some H and H itches, and let’s just say that she wasn’t interested in food.
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The spies sat around the floor, and laid out the problem. Buffy and Faith listened attentively, before Faith asked, “So Big E here needs the paper documents but you can’t get past your horny demons.”
Jane wanted to giggle, as she didn’t think anyone had ever sassed Ethan before. She also thought that it might be good for him.
Benji was the one to ask the main question, “So is there a way to do it?”
Faith and Buffy shared a grin, knowing that this could be fun. The problem with being the last chosen two was that they had become figureheads. Buffy and Faith were called upon for level seven apocalypses or more, otherwise they trained the minis. Giles said that it was only fair; they deserved a chance to grow old. Whilst they could respect that, sometimes they needed to find outlets for the slayer, and Will, like any good husband - had found her an appropriate outlet.
Faith snickered, “We’re gonna knock on the front door.”
Ethan snorted in disbelief, “I thought Brandt was joking.”
Buffy rolled her eyes; usually she would let the others discover the error of their ways. In this situation though, this team in a misguided sense of protection could screw everything up. Worse they could get Will hurt, and that was never good for B’s mood.
Faith snorted, “You’ve heard about slayers, right?”
Ethan nodded, “Sure it’s in the mandatory training when you become a senior agent. You need to know when to call in help.”
Buffy smiled brightly, but this smile had none of the warmth that was directed at Brandt, “Well you’re in luck. Thanks to Will, you have the Queen and Dark Slayer assisting you. So when we say we’re gonna ring the doorbell - it’s what we will do.”
Buffy and Faith were very disappointed. The demons were no challenge at all. It was actually kind of pathetic. They may have been slaying for nearly fifteen years, but this was unfunny. When they knocked on the door; the demons ran - honest to God, ran away. Buffy sighed and looked a little amused, but she pouted as she withdrew two silver, sharpened stakes that she brought for runaways.
Faith was in total agreement as she removed another two stakes so that she could get the last of the guards. The coast was clear, and the team walked in a little wide eyed. The baron came forward, spluttering and wanting to know where his hired help was. Buffy snickered in delight. “You know, you should get a HR manager; it would stop you hiring demon help.”
The poor guy. If he hadn’t been trying to destroy the world as they knew it, Buffy might have felt sorry for him. Nah, she hated potential world-endage, whether it be man-made, or demonic.
He finally managed to stutter out, a little-wide eyed, “Who are you?”
Buffy and Faith stared at him, and the look they gave the baron made Benji shiver. They were not very human in that minute; Brandt understood immediately what had happened - they had unleashed the slayer.
In any other situation, he would have probably said it was mean to tease the human. However in this situation, he just grinned. It was beautiful. The baron was terrified, he made a signed confession explaining about all his past misdeeds, and promised to accept any punishment. All on the proviso that Ethan’s team kept the slayers away from him.
Well, Brandt was more than happy to distract his wife. In fact, it was probably part of his wedding vows or something. They exited from the main group not long after they returned to the hotel. Faith had given one salacious grin to Ethan, and promised him the night of his life. All for the price of helping her scratch an itch, and Ethan was only too happy to help. Jane decided that if you can’t beat them, then join them - and dragged Benji off to her bed
Faith did not realise that night that in helping her sister slayer out - she would find her future husband. For William, well he personally loved it when a plan came together. Croatia had nearly broken him, but Buffy had helped him heal. It still amazed him some days that she had fallen for him, seen something in the broken remnants of a man to love. Still, she had, and he would always be grateful. He was also glad that Buffy and he, had managed to introduce Ethan and Faith. They were a good fit - brash, adrenaline seeking, protective. More importantly, they could both let themselves fall in love.
Brandt sat back, relaxing on the sofa next to Buffy. Faith often teased the couple for being middle-aged before their time. Buffy, in a very adult way, would flick a finger without looking up from the book she was reading. On evenings when she was particularly annoying, Buffy would tell her to go and take out her excess energy on Ethan.
All in all, life was good for Ethan and his team. Will fought with the IMF, and in his down time, he would be at the Council House with his wife. It wasn’t even weird having Ethan around the Council House. The other senior Council House members were unsure whether they were grateful, or horrified. They were of course ecstatic that Faith had found someone to love. However, Xander was going to lose it big time if he had to explain once more exactly what the Dark Slayer and her husband were doing on the floor of the training room. There were just something’s that were too traumatic for the one-eyed carpenter - and that was one of them.
Of course, his life got way more interesting, when Benji and Jane decided that their partnership should actually be a trio, and pursued Xander aggressively. The two happily married slayers were no help at all, In fact, the traitors just stood on the sides laughing. Xander began to understand that insanity was contagious and, also if you can’t beat them; join them.
For the most part, Giles was very happy to see all his charges grow into adults, all of whom found their partners. Still, there were some things he could do without seeing. If he wore away another pair of glasses out of his desire to not see any of his charges in the midst of a passionate clinch - he intended to demand that they buy him shares in Boots ™ Opticians. It would certainly be more prudent and cost effective, but he would never tell them off or deny them their happiness.
Darn, he thought, there went yet another set of lenses.
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