~Chimera Returns~

The phone rang. The secretary picked up. "The call is for you, Mr. Hunt." She said. "Pick up extension."

"Thank you, Claire." Ethan Hunt gave her a smile before picking up and said, "Agent Ethan Hunt."

"Mr. Ethan Hunt?" The man at the other end sounded unfamiliar.

"Yes. Who is this?" Ethan replied.

"I think you better come to the hospital right away, Mr. Hunt." The man sounded grim.

"Why?" Ethan demanded into the phone. "What's wrong? Who's hurt?"

"It's your wife, sir. I'm sorry, we are not entitled to tell you this over the phone, but if you would please––"

Ethan didn't hear the rest. He had already grabbed his black leather jacket and ran out of the IMF headquarters. The phone was hanging down the table.

"Not Nyah." He thought desperately as he got into his car. "It just can't be her! What could be wrong?" He put his foot hard on the gas and zoomed down the street to the hospital. "Everything was doing fine for the last five years, something can't happen now." But he knew something had happened. And that something was big.



"Where is she!?" Ethan demanded at the registration counter. "Where is my wife!? Her name is Nyah, Nyah Hunt." The two young ladies behind the counter tried to explain, but their word was not heard by Ethan.

"Sir, if you would wait right there, I can get someone to help you." One tried saying. Ethan slammed his fist on the counter top.

"I want to know where she is RIGHT NOW!" He shouted, pointing a finger at the lady.

"Ethan Hunt?" A male voice spoke above the noise from behind Ethan. Ethan turned. The man behind him was tall. He had glasses on. He was almost bald. He looked serious and grim.

"We have been expecting you." The doctor told him. "This way please." Ethan followed the doctor to an uninhabited wing of the hospital. Ethan recognized that this was where all the rare and uncommonly diseased patients were. The doctor stopped at a door and opened it, motioned Ethan to go in, then followed him and closed the door.

"Ethan?" A strained voice said. Ethan saw Nyah in a large white bed.

"Nyah? Are you okay? What's wrong, Honey?" Ethan hurried over to Nyah's side.

"Ethan, It's back. It's back." Nyah grasped Ethan's hand. Her beautiful face was pale and she looked more than ill.

"What's back, Nyah?" Ethan urged.

"Mr. Hunt. We have to attend right to the business." The doctor interrupted. "I suggest you sit down and we are going to talk."

Ethan stared at the doctor, what could be so big that the doctor though he, Ethan Hunt, couldn't take it? He took a chair.

"Ethan Hunt, as you wife had told me, five years ago, the virus Chimera was injected into her body, is that right?"

"That's right." Ethan was getting disturbed. It couldn't be, but…

"And you, Mr. Hunt was the one that injected Bellerophon to kill the Chimera and save her?"

"That's correct." Ethan said, looking at the doctor.

"In order doing that, the last fragment of the Bellerophon was destroyed, is that right?"

"Yes, get to the point. What's wrong with Nyah?" Ethan said annoyingly. The doctor looked way beyond grim now and Ethan was afraid to hear the answer.

"I'm afraid there is nothing we could do to save her in time, Mr. Hunt." The doctor said sadly. "She was beyond her time. She would only have a few hours left and we couldn't possibly find Bellerophon in time."

"Save her from what?" Ethan said numbly, he knew the answer, but just had to hear it from the doctor.

"Chimera. We have discovered a trace of Chimera in her bloodstream. The Bellerophon didn't destroy every single bit of Chimera. Chimera is back."

~Ambrose or Hunt?~

"Nyah," Ethan sat beside her bed late that night. "I am so sorry. I am so sorry. I was so stupid that I couldn't even save you after five years. I have led you to death. If you hadn't tried to save me that day..." Ethan was numb. His whole body. His brain would not comprehend what's going on. The only thing he remembered was the doctor said she would only have about three hours left. That's all he remembered. "I--"

"Ethan--" Nyah interrupted him. "Listen to me. It's not your fault. You can't expect to kill every single one of the Chimera cells. It's bound to be back." She sighed and laid back. "Ethan, there is something I have to tell you."

"More bad news?" Ethan said, his eyes steady on Nyah. He was ready to believe anything now.

Nyah sighed again, louder this time. She looked tired and weary. "Yes, I afraid so. It's about Hope. I am so sorry to tell you this."

Hope was their five-year-old daughter. She had soft dark brown curls that hung down past her shoulders. She had thick, long lashes that curled above her large beautiful dark eyes. When Nyah dressed Hope up for a special occasion, Hope looked just like a doll standing by Ethan, holding his big hands with her own small ones.

Ethan suddenly realized something. "Wait!" He said, his eyes growing wide. "If Chimera was in your DNA, then...doesn't that mean..." Ethan stopped. This news was worse than Nyah's.

"Yes, Ethan." Nyah said. "But she would be alright." She hastened to add, for she knew how much Hope meant to Ethan. "The doctor said that since Chimera was in my when I gave birth to Hope, the Chimera was not going to affect her. Hope has the Chimera in her as part of her blood."

Ethan was horrified that his little Hope has the deadly virus in her bloodstream, but he calmed to hear that it was not going to harm her.

"But that's not the news I was going to tell you." Nyah looked more than pained. She knew this news is going to kill Ethan, but he deserves to know. He deserves to know the truth.

"What is it?" Ethan looked as tired as Nyah.

"Ethan, Hope, she's..." Nyah took a deep breath. "Hope...she's not yours, Ethan."

Ethan felt like he was thrown back by a huge unstoppable force. His face paled. "What do you mean?" He gasped.

"Ethan," Nyah ignore the question. Her eyes begging for forgiveness. "Remember when you recruited me because of the Ambrose case?"

"Yeah." Ethan racked his brain for anytime that Nyah could have possibly slept with another man.

"Remember what you and Swanbeck wanted me to do? With Ambrose?"

"Yeah." Ethan closed his eyes. This was a nightmare. No. It was worse than a nightmare. He couldn't wake up from it and pretend it never happened.

"Hope is..." He couldn't finish the sentence. This was killing him. All these years, all this time, all the love that they gave each other...and Hope was Sean Ambrose's daughter. All this time... All this time and he had never known.

"Are you saying..." Ethan was paralyzed. He stood up and walked over to the window, turning his back on Nyah. He tried to control his emotions. He stared out the window, but he was not seeing anything.

"Ethan, I am really sorry." Nyah started to cry. Tears were dripping down her face. "I know how much this would hurt you, but I couldn't bare to tell you when I saw the joy on your face when you first saw Hope. I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

"It's okay, Nyah." Ethan reassured huskily, swallowing his anger. He turned and walked back to Nyah. He sat back down. Why bother getting angry at Nyah. She was going to die. "I understood why you did that."

"Would you ever forgive me?" Nyah pleaded.

"Yeah, of course I forgive you." Ethan said automatically. He would take his anger out at someone else. "Now, rest, Nyah. You need to rest."

"I love you, Ethan. I always will." Nyah whispered as Ethan turned to leave.

"I love you, too, Nyah. With all of my heart. Rest now."

"Good-bye."

"Good-bye."



That was the last time they spoke to each other. Nyah died the next morning. The doctor was unable to save her. Ethan had dressed Hope in a tiny black dress and black shoes. They both stood in the rain as the minister said the ceremony. They didn't want to arouse a crowd about a woman dying of Chimera.

"Where is Mommy, Daddy?" Hope looked up at Ethan.

"Mommy is going to be gone, Honey." Ethan whispered back, tightening his hold on her hand.

"Where is she going?" Ethan looked down at the little girl that was his daughter for five years. Her eyes were filled with curiosity. He kneeled down till they were eye-leveled.

"Hope, have I or Mommy ever told you about heaven?" He asked her. Hope shook her head. Her thick curls bounced. "It's a place where people go when their life finishes here. We don't know when our life would finish here, but heaven is a beautiful place with angels. Mommy's life is finished here, so she is in heaven, with all the angels surrounding her, playing the harp." He tried to convince her.

"When will I see her again?" Hope asked. "I want to see her." Ethan forced the fist-sized lump down his throat.

"That's the problem, Honey. We are not going to see her until our time on the earth finishes. Then we would get to see Mommy again."

"Really?" Hope's eyes were filled with hope. "I miss her, Daddy." Her eyes filled up with tears.

"I miss her, too, Hope." Ethan choked out. "But we must be brave. That's what Mommy would want us to do. We have to be brave for her. She doesn't want you to be sad and crying. She wants to see you happy down from heaven. Come on," he probed. "Give Daddy one of your best smiles." Hope smile through her tears.

"Good, now we must be quiet while the minister finishes the ceremony." Ethan said. Hope nodded. They didn't say a word as the ceremony finished and the casket was lowered.

After that, Ethan picked Hope up and walked back to his black sports like convertible, perfect color for the occasion, the weather, and his feelings. Hope was a brave little girl, she didn't cry and wail, but stood next to him without fidgeting, though Ethan did see a few tears leak from Hope's large, dark eyes.

He buckled Hope and himself in the car and started the engine. Now there was no one else left in the world except of him and his spouse's daughter. He couldn't even call her his own daughter.

~Struggles~

It was morning and Sean Ambrose just got out of the shower. He hummed to himself while he was shaving. The phone rang abruptly and loudly. Startled, Sean accidentally nicked himself.

"Crap." He swore. He could hear Hugh walking across the room and picking up the phone.

"Hello?" He said in his deep, rich Australian-accented voice. Sean peeked out. Ethan's voice was booming out of the phone and Hugh cringed as he held the phone away from his ear. Sean supposed that Hugh's eardrums were more than injured. He probably couldn't hear anything anymore.

"Ambrose! You b*****d! You low down piece of s**t. You are worse than a son-of-a-b***h! How could you––" Blah, blah, blah…etc, etc, etc…

"Sean, I think this is for you." Hugh held the phone out toward Sean as Ethan's voice continued to blast across the room. Sean took the phone and listened until Ethan stopped swearing long enough to take a breath.

"What do you want, Hunt?" He asked over the phone coldly. "If you just called to swear bloody murder at me, then I would suggest you to hang up the phone." He rubbed the part where he had nicked himself.

"No, Ambrose." Ethan said bitterly over the phone. "I need to see you. Can you meet me in Starbucks in an half-an-hour?"

Sean was surprised. Ethan's voice had a pleading and helpless tone into it. But Sean wasn't about to be moved.

"I am saying this once again, Hunt, What do you want? I am going to go anywhere to meet you unless I know what you want. I am still recovering from getting beaten up by you. Not that I couldn't beat you." He added hastily.

"She's gone, Ambrose. She's gone." Ethan's voice choked over the phone. "Nyah's dead."

Sean's jaws dropped. "How did that happen!? What did you do!?" He hollered not over the phone, but at the phone.

"Chimera. By the time the doctor found the trace of Chimera in her bloodstream, it was too late to save her."

Sean swore.

"Chimera. It's back." He covered the phone and told Hugh. He went back to the phone. "Is that why you want to meet me? Because Nyah is dead?" He asked Ethan angrily.

"No." Ethan's voice sounded more than worn out.

"Then what the bloody hell is it?!" Sean hollered impatiently. He heard Ethan sigh.

"She's left somebody, Ambrose. Nyah has left a daughter."

"So you want me to go meet your daughter? Over my dead body!" Sean couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. The only woman he had ever loved. She loved Ethan, now she is dead, and she even left someone for Ethan. This world disgusts him.

"Ambrose," Ethan's voice sounded desperate. "Hope...she isn't mine."

"Oh," Sean gave a short laugh. "How very interesting. So you have a daughter that is not yours. What does that have to do with me?" Ethan said something over the phone that Hugh can't hear.

Hugh looked up just in time to see Sean's face turn into a look of horror and fear. He dropped the phone. Ethan was still talking on the other end. But Sean wasn't listening. He was paralyzed and his face was pale. He hurried over to his own room and grabbed his jacket and shoes.

"What's wrong, Sean?" Hugh went over and hung up the phone.

"We are going to Starbucks, Hugh." Sean stated matter-of-factly.

"What changed your mind so quickly?" Hugh picked a jacket out of the clothes closet.

"Well, Hugh." Sean jerked the shoes on his feet, grabbed his keys from the coffee table, and walked over to the door. "Seems like I just got a daughter."

~Starbucks Coffee~

"You're finally here!" Ethan demanded, jumping up from the table in the far back corner. "I would be asleep if I wasn't so mad at you, you crazy blasted idiot!"

"Get to the point, Hunt. Where is she?" Sean said just as loud. The customers from Starbucks stared at the three men.

"Well, what I'm here to tell you is... Hope is..." Ethan began.

"Yes I know, she's mine! I mean, isn't that obvious enough?" Sean snorted. "Besides you already told me over the phone!" He noticed Ethan looking at him in a funny way. "What?" He snapped.

"What's wrong with your jaw?" Ethan indicated.

"Oh, that." Sean rubbed the Band-Aid that had covered the nick. "I had a little accident when you called." He said breezily.

"Excuse me, sirs?" A waitress inquired. "Do you want to order anything?"

"I'll take an Italian Soda with extra whipped cream and an umbrella and a cherry, please." Hugh drawled in his deep, rich Australian accent. He shrugged when Sean and Ethan stared at him. "While I am sipping my Italian Soda, you two work the things out."

"A black coffee, thank you." Ethan told the waitress.

"A vodka." Sean ordered. "I think I'm going to need it." The waitress hurried away with the orders. The three men stared at each other in silent until the waitress returned.

"How much extra whipped cream would you like, sir?" The waitress asked politely, shaking the whipped cream bottle.

"I'll take the whole bottle, thank you." The waitress stared at him as Hugh took the bottle from her hands and shook the bottle so hard that the she cringed, afraid that the bottle cap would fly right off.

"Now," Hugh looked pointedly at Sean and Ethan. "This is to spray at you two when things get too rough."

As soon as the waitress passed out the orders and was out of hearing range, Sean leaned over and whispered loudly to Ethan. "Where is she? Where is my daughter?"

Ethan glared at him. "I am not to be ordered around by you, Ambrose. I didn't bring the tiny tot. As the position of a father, I am responsible for her. And I am smart enough not to bring her near a killer." Sean's fist came down on the table.

"Where is my daughter!" He bellowed. Hugh cleared his throat and shook the whipped cream.

"We have bigger thing to talk about, Ambrose." Ethan gritted his teeth.

"Of course, Hunt." Sean mocked disgustedly. "What could be more important than finding my daughter, whom I haven't seen for the last five years. I didn't even know she existed until an hour ago."

"Well, what your block head didn't think about, I have already thought about." Ethan retorted. "One word--Chimera. Now think about it."

"First provide me with enough information." Sean snapped.

"Nyah had Chimera, she died, Hope is left." Ethan told him.

"Hope...Hope..." Sean whispered the name, rolling it and lingering it on his tongue.

"Yes." Ethan snapped his fingers in Sean's face. "Her name is Hope. And she has Chimera in her."

Sean choked on his vodka. He coughed and hacked at the strong liquor burned all the way down to his stomach. Hugh swatted him in the back.

"She has WHAT!" Sean roared. He stood up and grabbed Ethan by his collar, jerking him to a standing position.

"WHERE IS SHE!? HOW MANY HOURS DOES SHE HAVE LEFT?!"

"Sean," Hugh stood up. "Calm down. Um, I have the whipped cream ready."

"Don't try and stop me, Hugh." Sean growled. "I am going to kill this b*****d if he continues to taunt me." Sean's eyes were murderous and blazing. His hands were about to close on Ethan's throat.

"Ambrose," Ethan told him. "Hope is not going to die. She was born with Chimera. She has the blood that fights the virus so that she doesn't and won't die. And I would suggest you unhand me, Ambrose." Ethan's quiet voice commanded dangerously. Sean threw Ethan back into his seat. Ethan glared at him and adjusted his black tie.

"Now, to our business of been here. So Hope has Chimera in her, if anyone knows about that--"

"She would be chased after, and like vampires, are going to bleed her to death." Sean finished.

"Not exactly bleed her to death, but they will be after her." Hugh corrected. "So it is up to us to keep this a secret."

"Okay, so you have stated your point," Sean said impatiently. "Now, I would like to see my daughter." Ethan raised his eyebrows. Sean gritted his teeth. Hugh sipped his Italian Soda, shaking the whipped cream bottle, which was mostly used up in his soda.

"She's at my house." Ethan finally replied. "You want to see her?"

"Of course I want to see her, you blasted idiot!" Sean replied indignantly.

"Then come to my house tomorrow." Ethan said simply. He stood up to leave. "But I swear on the grave of Nyah, Ambrose, if you dare even to think about hurting her--" Sean waved him off.

"You haven't changed much, have you, Hunt? You still hold your own opinions about people that you have convinced yourself to believe in. Well, maybe I have changed during these five years, you don't know. What do you think I am? A lunatic? Oh, yes, kill my own daughter. My own flesh. So funny!" He spat.

"Ten o'clock AM tomorrow." Ethan ignored the sentence. "Late and you can forget about seeing her." He turned and walked out.

"If it wasn't for Hope, Sean, I bet you would have killed him already." Hugh remarked. "I can just see it in your eyes." But Sean wasn't listening. He was whispering to himself.

"Hope Ambrose...Hope Ambrose..."

~Love at First Sight~

"Daddy, why do you look so worried?" Hope asked as she was eating her cereal. "You are pacing back and forth. Aren't you tired?" Ethan stopped pacing and looked at the little figure sitting at the table. It was hard to believe that the healthy little girl sitting in front of him has the deadly German virus in her. She was so sweet and innocent.

"Honey, today a man is going to come and see you." He told her.

"Why, Daddy?" A shot of pain shot through Ethan. He wouldn't be her daddy too much longer. It was ten minutes to ten. Maybe Sean would be late. He hoped.

"Because he would like to get to know you, Sweetie." Ethan said, sitting down next to her. He looked at his watch. Six minutes to ten. "Why don't you to watch TV right now? I think they have Barney on right now." To prevent from sounding worried, Ethan hurried from the table to the den and turned on the TV. Hope squealed and ran after her "daddy." They settled down on the sofa and watched together.

At two minutes to ten, Ethan heard the sound of the slamming doors. He put Hope down from his lap and peeked out the window. Sean and Hugh were stepping out of Sean's silver Chrysler Convertible on the driveway.

"Darn, they are actually on time." Ethan muttered. He walked back to Hope. "Honey, they are here, but I want you to stay watching TV until I call you, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." Hope's eyes were fastened on the TV screen, where Ethan assumed that fat Barney was dancing.

On the dot to ten, the doorbell rang. Ethan opened the door.

"You are actually on time for once?" He said coldly. Sean didn't pay any attention. His eyes looked past Ethan into the den where Hope was watching TV. Without waiting for Ethan to invite him in, Sean walked into the den. Ethan glared at Hugh for no reason and Hugh shrugged, walking into the house himself where Sean had settled down next to Hope.

"Care for a cushion?" The voice had an accent, sweet and lulling, but it eluded Hope. If this was the man her daddy said wanted to see her, why was he so worried? This man seemed nice. But over her five years, she had seen her daddy in enough cases that she knew you can't depend on looks. Hope raised her head carefully to the stranger as he held out a plump, lacy, satin pillow. At the same time, he flicked his glasses into peroxide hair and offered his hand to shake hers. Hope accepted the offering and propped it behind her, even though she doesn't need it, before offering out her own, vastly smaller, hand.

"I'm Hope." She said, staring at this man expectantly. His hand enveloped hers and she cringed at the slight roughness. He didn't seem to notice and softly returned, "Sean."

"Now that you two have met…without me," Ethan interrupted icily. "Can I offer you something to drink, Ambrose?"

"No…thank you," Sean didn't ever revert his eyes from Hope.

"Ambrose––" Ethan insisted. Sean looked up, Ethan was motioning him to come to the kitchen with him.

"I'll be right back."

In the kitchen, Sean said lowly, "If this was an idea of luring me away from my daughter, Hunt––"

"Ambrose, think about Hope for a minute." Ethan said just as quietly. "Think about how she would feel if she knew that you were her daddy." Ethan tried reasoning. "One day, her mommy dies; another day, a man came to see her; the next day, she has a new daddy that she had never known. Wouldn't that be too big of a shock on her? She is only five."

Sean felt his heart tearing in half. On one side, he wanted to be this darling five-year-old's daddy, savoring her love for him and enjoying the fact that she knew that she was his. On the other side, his fathering instinct wanted to protect her from any hurt and harm. He gritted his teeth. "What are you proposing, Hunt?"

"I know you would throw a fit if I told you that she lives with me and never know about you, so…" He ran a hand through his hair. "I thought maybe Hope and I would move over to your house and say that you are her Uncle Sean."

"That doesn't sounds like you." Sean said dryly, folding his arms across his chest. "What made you think of such a generous idea?" Sarcasm dripped from his words.

Ethan shrugged. "This house has too many memories of Nyah." He said dully. "And this way, Hope gets to get use to you and you get to see Hope and take care of her. What do you think?" He added hastily. Sean didn't get a chance to answer. Hugh popped in, holding Hope in one arm and the newspaper in the other hand.

"Have you guys read the morning newspaper?" He said urgently, balancing Hope on his arm. Ethan took the paper.

"No, I was about to, but never got a chance. What are they saying?" He and Sean spread the newspaper to the front page.

" 'Outbreak: Chimera Returns'." Ethan gasped. Sean continued reading, " 'Nyah Hunt, the spouse of Agent Ethan Hunt, died last week after the doctor discovered a trace of Chimera in her DNA. But Chimera was not yet gone, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt's daughter, Hope, also has Chimera in her bloodstream.' " He stopped reading there and swore.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Hope's large dark eyes widened. She wiggled in Hugh's grasp. Ethan looked over. He realized that Hope's dark hair, large dark deep eyes, and fair skin does have an extreme resemblance to Sean Ambrose's.

"Hugh––" Sean said through gritted teeth. Hugh understood the silent command. He hurried out of the room into the backyard, where he tried to divert Hope's mind away from the ugly scene in the kitchen.

"What are we going to do?" Ethan slammed his fist onto the countertop. "Who could have told?"



On the other side of Australia, John C. McCloy was reading the paper. An ugly smile curled up upon the man's lips.

"We have a chance here, and I'm not going let it pass."





MORE IS COMING SOON...I JUST HAVE TO THINK UP SOME IDEAS!!!