So this was not part of my original plan, but I just kept reading the last lines and thought that it was kind of an ending but it felt incomplete, so I wrote this between last night and this morning.

Disclaimer (yes, again): I do not own Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol or any of the affiliated characters.

Chapter 15: Epilogue

I told Will to sleep, but he didn't. I told Will to stay on the cot, but he didn't.

"Are you trying to piss me off?" I asked as I grudgingly helped him take a seat next to me on the floor of the train compartment.

He hissed in pain a little while rearranging his position. "That depends. Is it working?"

"I'm really tempted to push you over."

"Please don't," he murmured, the glint in his eyes telling me he knew I would never.

Instead, I said, "You're lucky you at least got a say. I didn't get to appeal when I was thrown off something."

Will chuckled lightly and sighed. "I'm sorry I threw you off the oil tanker."

"I'll forgive you when you go to sleep." He had remained awake for the whole train ride so far, even though he'd been through an explosion and looked like he was about to keel over any second anyway.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead."

"That's not funny," I scolded him.

He heard the changed tone in my voice and managed to wrap an arm around me. He hugged me close to him. "I'll sleep on the plane."

"Better answer," I said, lightly resting my head on his shoulder, still thinking about what he'd said. Away and safe from the chaos - and now that I'd had my fill of screaming at him - I could fully appreciate the fact that he had come back to life.

He'd been dead. He'd been gone, taken by Reynolds and Baker and Cibulka and that explosion. I would never again see those expressive eyes, that wry grin, those flexing muscles as he leaned against a door jam. He'd been dead.

And now he wasn't.

"I'm really glad you're alive," I continued quietly. "I don't think I mentioned that before."

I felt his chuckle vibrate his chest. "Yeah, you were a little busy yelling at me earlier."

"I'm sorry. I was...I was just scared."

"Scared?" he asked, lowering his voice when he heard my sincerity.

"Will, I was terrified." He turned his head to look me in the eyes. "I thought you were dead. You have no idea how that felt."

He nodded, understanding, but replied, "How do you think I felt when I saw Reynolds standing there with his gun pointing at you?"

My mouth parted a little. I hadn't thought of that. I'd been so wrapped up in my own emotional vortex that I hadn't thought of his.

"Not quite the same," he admitted, "but I'd say it's fairly close."

I nodded and leaned as close to him as I could without abusing his injuries. "Thanks for saving my life," I said quietly.

"Any time," he mumbled into my hair. I knew it was the truth.

Once the train stopped, it took a little longer for me to help Will off the floor.

"I told you to just stay on the cot."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled.

I put one of his arms around my shoulders to support his weight, helping him off the train and across the tarmac to the plane. Going up the stairs looked painful and took him time, prompting Benji to comment, "Move it along, old man."

"I'll remind you in a week or two that I'm younger," Will replied conversationally as he collapsed into a seat on the plane.

"That's not fair," Benji grumbled in good humor. "I'm only a technician."

"I'm an analyst."

Benji took his own seat. "Field agent turned analyst turned field agent."

Will shrugged as much as his injuries allowed him too. "Then pick on someone you can take in a fight."

He looked down to focus his attention on buckling his seatbelt as the plane engine roared to life, but I could see the glint in Benji's eyes, the one that expressed the same relief I felt at Will's living presence. It was the same feeling I could see in Jane's smile and Ethan's eye roll.

As promised, now that we were on the plane and in cushier seats, Will leaned his head back and closed his eyes. His face was still drawn taught with pain even as he slept, but at least he was resting now. Of all of his problems, I wasn't worried that he had a concussion; now that he was asleep, I could relax too. I stared out the window into the the sky and the ocean, seeing absolutely nothing except the darkest shade of navy blue. Every minute or so, I looked over to make sure he was still there and asleep. Still there and alive.

My check was interrupted once by Benji, who came up beside me and leaned over to whisper in my ear. "I'd just like it on record that I saw this." He pointed from Will, to me, and back, his sly grin having turned into a smug one.

"Hey, Benji?" I said, whispering back, my voice and face sweet and innocent.

"Yes, Love?"

"Shut up."

All right, so not my best work - kind of hastily thrown together, but I think it's a bit more of an ending. Reviews are always welcome!

If anyone noticed, I took out the bit that was a preview for the sequel - yes, there will definitely be a sequel! I just have to wait for (insert unpredictable amount of time here) until my writer's block lifts. Until that time, if you have any ideas/specific scenes you would like to see in the sequel, go ahead and leave a review or PM me...my creative waters have been depressingly immobile, and I really need some help on this. Anything you want to see - Brandt whump, an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, car chase, explosion...a girlfriend for Benji? All suggestions are welcome!