Because Rogue Nation disappointed me by a severe lack of a team/family bonding element and I like deaged stories...

A lengthy prologue (sort of)...This will have a plot, mission, and action.

Take My Hand

The soft, toddler tufts of hair ghosting under his rough, unshaven jawline remind Ethan Hunt of the off-axis state of the world. It's almost dizzying in a way he's never felt before, yet resemblant of the nervous way he felt on his first mission for the IMF. His calloused hands run along the back of the child that's clung tightly to him in a sniffling, shivering mess. There's no amount of training that could have prepared him for this, no amount of bribes or payment that could have convinced him of this, but there's also nothing in the world he'd trade for this.

Two Weeks Earlier...

Jane finds Ethan in the small study of the house they've been rather dormant in the past week and a half. He's sat hunched over files from the IMF she's not too pleased to see, but his ragged appearance keeps her from bringing up the argument that's been between them. Instead, she sits across from him, her own exhaustion and worry displayed in the way she's kept her hair in the same ponytail for three days and the state of her clothes.

"Where's-"

"With Benji," she says, not bothering to bring her gaze away from the window as she knows Ethan hasn't bothered to glance up from the papers on the desk. "They're playing video games - Mario Kart, this time- so it should be fine, unless he has nightmares about plumbers shooting red shells at him."

"Or Bowser breathing fire at him," Ethan says, this time looking up and giving her the beginning of a small smirk she hasn't seen in days when she finally looks at him.

She rolls her eyes, but forces herself to keep his gaze. "Benji can deal with that one. I need sleep."

Ethan gives her a nod of his head, glancing back down at the files, "I'm going to head to-"

"No." Jane cuts him off, and any slouch she gave to her posture before is gone now as she sits up straight.

"No?"

"No. IMF has already briefed us. There's nothing else we can do. We just have to ride this out until he's back to normal."

Ethan straightens at that, and she knows the tension between them is about to show its head. "IMF can say what they want. I can't sit here for two months and babysit."

"You think that's what any of us want?"

"No, but-"

"But nothing. Look, you're the leader of this team and I get that you feel like you're sitting on your hands with this one, but forget about the team for two minutes and think about this family. We're all each other has and we need that more than ever right now," she says, and softens her tone as anger gives way to desperation to get through to him.

"I know...I know you're not comfortable with this, none of us are, and we have no amount of training or experience to deal with this, and I'll admit that it scares the hell out of me, it scares Benji, and I know it's scaring you, but think about Brandt. He's terrified, and you avoiding him like the plague isn't helping."

Ethan's fingers find the long strands of his hair before coming down to rub at his eyes.

"I can't...It's just..."

"Julia wanted kids," she supplies, folding back into her chair comfortably again as the heart of the matter comes to light. Ethan follows suit in his own seat and gives a long sigh.

"Yeah, but I knew we couldn't ever have them, not the white-picket fence scenario, at least. They'd always be in danger, just like her. I couldn't risk that, so I wrote them off."

She nods in understanding, but Ethan watches the way her eyes start to glaze. "You and Hanaway?"

"Yeah. We talked about it. Leaving, or getting a desk job," she huffs out an airy laugh at that. "I always thought he would've hated that, told him it was okay if he didn't want to, but he always...seemed so excited about having kids. Eventually, I realized it was me that would hate riding a desk, but I...I would have done it," her eyes were glassy, but she gave him a small smile. "I know it's hard to look at him and not think about the family you didn't get, but we have this one, and I'm not about to let go of it in order to hold on to lost wishes. I hope you don't either."

Ethan pauses in the hallway, listening to the sound of food being dished out onto plates and Benji rambling on about how little kids shouldn't be that good at Mario Kart. Small, childish giggles spill out into the hallway, nearly knocking the breath out of him, but he does his best to control it with a deep breath before stepping into the kitchen. If the laughter dies out, and a small blonde headed boy seems to melt underneath the table and into Benji's side, he doesn't acknowledge it.

Instead, he sits down across from the tech at the table, giving a nod at him before turning to Jane and receiving the "be normal" glare he knows will be directed at him. She walks over from the counter with a plate in her hands and sets it down in front of Brandt who suddenly reappears so that his shoulders are above the tabletop. The sound of rustling papers as he squirms to get comfortable remind Ethan of the phonebook he's sitting on in order to be able to reach his food.

Jane hands him a fork that he nearly drops, telling him, "Be careful, Will. Those are the only forks we have. We'll get you a smaller one tomorrow, seeing as how Benji can't read a shopping list," she teases the tech as she runs a hand through the child's hair before sitting down across from him and beside Ethan.

"Maybe if I carried around a magnifying glass with me I'd be able to read those little, tiny scribbles you call penmanship," Benji counters around the mashed potatoes he'd just shoveled in his mouth at a rapid speed causing Brandt to laugh. Jane and Ethan begin to eat their food at a more respectable pace, while watching Brandt out of the corner of their eyes struggle with a such a large fork. Finally managing to hook a noodle from the macaroni and cheese, he opens his mouth as wide as it would go and with a protruding elbow puts it in his mouth.

The dinner table was covered in silence for the most part except for Benji's failed attempts at conversation. Brandt ate at a snail's pace, and the way Jane praised him for eating such a little amount, told Ethan that the woman hadn't lied about his small appetite and that her concern might be sound. Glancing over, he looked at his teammate in observation for the first time since he'd been turned, or deaged, into a four year old boy a few days prior. Ethan, without extensive knowledge about children, could still see that Brandt was small for his age, but despite his drastic change in appearance, he still had eyes that looked tired and faint lines that cupped his mouth, leaving no room for doubt that this was their analyst.

Benji suddenly stood from the table with the intention of getting a second helping of chicken and macaroni, and Jane followed adding, "and broccoli," leaving Ethan and Brandt at the table alone. The small boy was trying to get the last bite of macaroni on his fork, but ended up shoveling it off his plate and into the floor. Ethan hid his smirk behind his napkin as the boy hunched his shoulders in defeat at the sight of only a large portion of broccoli and a few pieces of meat left on his plate.

Giving a quick glance to make sure Benji, and especially Jane, weren't looking, Ethan scooped up some of his own macaroni on his fork, reached over the table, and dumped it on Brandt's plate before taking a few pieces of broccoli from the kid's plate as a trade.

Will blinked at him in uncertainty, obviously a bit thrown at Ethan's sudden attention towards him, but the older man grinned at him with a go ahead motion before eating his newly acquired, yet undesired vegetable.

When Jane came back and praised the analyst again for eating some of his broccoli, Ethan gave a Brandt a mischievous wink causing the boy to grin.

A couple of days later, they were all out in the backyard enjoying the last rays of the sunshine. Jane sat reading a book in a lounge chair, while Ethan piddled around in the back shed for something to work on and accomplish, and Benji chased Brandt around the shade trees in some game that Jane did not understand, nor cared to.

With a shriek and fit of giggles, Brandt dove out from behind one of the trees as Benji chased him towards the back of the property where the shed sat. Benji gave up half way there, saying something about techs not having to do so much running while joining Jane on the porch, leaving Brandt to run off his energy by himself.

As fate would have it though, the small boy reached the front of the shed as soon as Ethan stumbled out of the door carrying a rather large box and bumped into his legs. The older man stumbled, but didn't fall or drop his box until Brandt gave a small, whimper as he landed on his rear with a thump.

Benji winced and stood to go intervene, but Jane stopped him with a hand on his arm and a shake of her head, forcing him to sit back down and observe.

From across the lawn, Ethan dumped his box on the ground with a quick motion and knelt down in front the boy, who scooted away just as quickly as the older man disposed of his box with a, "Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry," mantra spilling from his wobbling lips.

"Woah, hey!" Ethan held up his hands in a non-threatening gesture, "It's okay, Brandt. Are you alright?"

Will blinked at him, as if considering his answer or Ethan's intentions, before giving a faint nod.

"You sure?"

Brandt gave a more forceful nod and stood up from the ground to prove himself. Ethan did a once over, even surprising the boy by running his hands down short arms and legs to check for scrapes. Satisfied there were none, Ethan gave him the all clear while standing himself. "What happened to Benji?"

"He...got tired," Will said, running a dirty sneaker across the grass. It almost pained Ethan to hear what would be a normal and appreciated chance to mock their tech sound so nonchalant.

"We may need to give him a physical fitness test, you know, so he's not so tired on missions," Ethan grinned to show he was teasing and was thankful to gain a smirk from the boy in front of him.

"You, uh, you wanna come help me rummage through some of this junk? Might find something interesting," Ethan offered, and surprised himself by hoping he wasn't turned down.

Brandt nodded quickly and followed the older man inside the shed. Once they stepped through though, Ethan turned quickly and earned a startled flinch from the boy as he picked him up under the arms. Ignoring it, he explained, "Gotta be careful in here, alright? Not sure what some of this stuff is."

He deposited Will on a table he'd cleared off earlier with a, "Don't fall off, or Jane'll have my head," remark and sat a small box of old records down beside the kid.

"I found these vinyls earlier, Thought I'd give them a listen- there's a record player in the study in the house. Know any of these?" He asked, holding up a 13th Floor Elevator record to receive a shake of the head from Brandt.

They searched through the box taking turns humming out songs they knew from each one until Brandt pulled out Elvis' Blue Hawaii record and became transfixed.

"What is it?" Ethan questioned, turning over a record in his own hands while giving quick glances at the boy. Will just swallowed and placed the vinyl back into the box with a mumble of, "Nothing," before wiggling as if he wanted to get down.

"You ready to head back inside? It's getting kind of late," The older agent asked, even as he helped Brandt off the table.

The boy only nodded waiting for Ethan to pick up the box of records and lead the way out.

Two nights later, Ethan was in the study, sleep hard to come by that night as he hunched over IMF files unbeknownst to Jane. His team had went to bed long ago, leaving him alone and one glance at the clock told him he should have another three or fours to himself before they woke up.

However, that was short lived as a soft pitter patter filtered down the hallway. Recognizing it as Brandt's small feet against the hardwood, he stood from the desk and walked to the door. Poking his head out in the hallway, he saw the boy's small silhouette in front of Jane's door, arm outstretched as if uncertain if he should touch the knob. Unsure why he just didn't let Jane deal with kid and his seemingly never ending nightmares, Ethan opened the study door wider to let light spill into the hallway so as not to startle him and called quietly.

"Brandt."

The kid jumped anyway, giving an odd intake of air that sounded wet, but turned away from Jane's door, going back to his own as if he had been scolded until Ethan called again.

"Will, come here, buddy," the older man softened his tone, and motioned for the kid to scamper down the hall.

Brandt did so, and when the boy reached the light Hunt could see steady tears falling down soft, pale cheeks. The boy crashed into his legs and he felt the small tremors of the child run up his legs. Pulling him away from his limbs, he bent down and picked the boy up, cringing slightly as wet eyelashes found his neck and pressed there.

Swallowing nervously, Ethan ran a hand up and down Will's back. "Another nightmare?"

A small shudder ran through the frame wrapped around his, and the tiniest movement of the face pressed above his collarbone followed by a, "c-can't control it," was his response.

"I know," Ethan surprised himself by sounding so understanding. "Well, I get it. The agency explained this stuff. Memories of your normal life, but mind and body of a four year old. No one expects you to be yourself right now."

The boy gave another shiver more pronounced than any before it and for the first time, Ethan felt something warm and moist around his waist. Cringing at the thought, and at the horrible memory of Jane explaining the first time it happened, he did his best to sound assuring.

"It's alright, okay? Shh, it's fine," he whispered into tufts of blonde hair under his jawline as he began the short trek to the boy's bedroom for some new pajamas and to pull the soiled sheets from the bed. Once he had the sheets in the hamper and a pair of dry clothes, he carried the boy to the bathroom and stood him on the floor. His face now red from embarrassment rather than crying, Ethan was desperate to give him a little bit of dignity back.

Smiling reassuringly while running a washcloth under warm water from the sink, he said, "I'll be right back, but while I'm gone can you clean yourself up and change into the those?" He pointed to the folded nightclothes he'd brought with them and handed Brandt the washcloth.

The boy nodded, grateful for the independence he'd been given and waited for the man to leave.

Ethan walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to Will's bedroom. Getting a pack of new sheets from the closet that Jane had been smart in purchasing, he put them on the small bed they'd also acquired a few days earlier on a shopping trip. Once completed, he went back down the hall to the bathroom. Rounding the doorframe, Will had just finished putting his arms through the shirt and pulling it down.

Without a word, Ethan snatched up the soiled clothes on the floor and tossed them in the hamper in the closet along with the washcloth that he hung in the shower. Turning back to the boy, he took a dry hand towel and ran it over Will's face to dry the tear stains before picking him up once more. He headed back towards the boy's room, intent on putting him back to bed, but he felt Will stiffen in his arms and changed directions.

Walking back into the study, he rubbed at Brandt's back having felt the child relax in his arms on the way and as he sat down in the chair behind the desk he felt the small breaths against his neck start to even out. Rocking side to side in the swivel chair, he aided the boy back to sleep for the few seconds that it took.

His arm had joined Brandt in sleep long ago, but he was reluctant to move it as he was fearful of waking the sleeping toddler still leaning against him. However, he would later wished he had as Will suddenly gave a violent jerk and a loud cry as he was once again woken by another nightmare.

Waiting for a warm, wet spot that thankfully never came, he tried to hush Will as he cried into his shoulder, but it seemed as if the boy couldn't hear him or didn't care. Feeling very unqualified to deal with this, he stood to go wake Jane, but once again Brandt tightened his arms around his neck and buried his face there, too, muffling the sudden hiccups that came with how hard the boy was crying.

"Hey, hey, calm down, buddy. You're alright," he kept repeating as he bounced the boy up and a down on his hip. It seemed to put an end to the audible sound of the tears, but Will had yet to quit crying or shaking.

Desperate to calm his analyst down, he walked over to the record player and pulled a record from the box he'd found in the shed all while keeping up his verbal mantra of, "It's okay, and calm down, kiddo." Noticing it was the record that Brandt had reacted to earlier, he hoped that this would do the trick as he placed it on the player and let it begin.

Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love quietly filled the study and Will stiffened in his arms as he began swaying and humming along to the song. Exhausted, and over any standing awkwardness, Ethan kept going hoping that it was working. Eventually, the boy relaxed and buried his head underneath the man's chin, only protesting once when the song ended until Ethan started it up again.

When Jane entered the study that morning to the song still playing and Brandt laying on top of Ethan slouched in the desk chair, she took a picture and hurried Benji out the door before he could see his sleeping teammates with the threat of cutting the cords to his video game controllers if he came back without a child's fork.

The only thing was, Benji didn't come back at all.

AN: Interested in more?