If you are new to my stories, as always, I recommend you start at the beginning and read them in the order they are posted.

Note: This story is still set before Fallout.

More important note: This story contains some rather descriptive bloody grossness (hence the rating).

Part one

Chapter one

Good morning!"

Brandt blinked himself into consciousness, then slowly figured out where up and down was. He decided the underground was too hard to be his pillow and once his body was awake enough to judge his position, he found himself in an all too familiar posture: hunched over his desk, half out of his office chair, his face resting on an open mission report.

"Coffee?" the voice asked again and he pulled himself upright.

The analyst gratefully accepted the cup and took a long sip of the strong hot brew. Then he looked up at his visitor. "Weren't you supposed to come back tomorrow?"

"It is tomorrow," Elaine replied, leaning on the edge of the desk.

Brandt looked at his watch, registered the date and time, then buried his face in his hands with a desperate sigh. When he looked up again, Elaine was smiling at him compassionately. "Bad day?" she asked.

"Bad year," Brandt muttered. They were barely a month into 2015, but he already had enough. But before he could launch into a rant, he cut himself short. "Thanks for the coffee."

Elaine nodded. "When was the last time you've eaten?"

Will thought for a moment, then shrugged sheepishly. With a sigh Bray produced a wrapped sandwich and a nougat croissant, indicating the sofa with her head. He wanted to protest, but one look told him that resistance was futile, so he only checked his phone to make sure no new disasters had come up since last night. Then he sat down next to her.

"What global catastrophe did I miss this time that makes you so stressed out?" Elaine asked once he had obediently started eating his sandwich.

Brandt took just enough time to swallow. "Nothing, actually," he grumbled. "But we're still cleaning up after London, and the CIA is getting annoying again. And for some reason, everything that's going wrong ends up on my desk."

"I thought things were getting better," Elaine put in.

"They are," Brandt replied, thinking back to the time the IMF had spent in limbo and he had had to run the place. Compared to then the current situation was almost relaxing.

"And you can't just delegate more things?" she asked, well aware that was one of his weak spots.

"To whom?" Brandt sighed. "We're not even halfway through the intel from Reykjavik and brought back a ton more from London. And that the thing you and Skye found in Oslo shut down half our tech department isn't helping either."

"Ouch," Elaine commented. "Anything I can do?" she offered, although she knew there probably wasn't much.

Brandt shook his head and emptied his coffee. Then he looked at her with a thoughtful frown. "Actually," he started, "have you had your medical check-up yet?"

"I've got an appointment with Dr. Lee tomorrow," she replied. "The Oslo doctors generally cleared me, but I think she's gonna ground me from missions for another few weeks for rehab."

"Well, it's not really a mission," Brandt started and received an annoyed glare from Elaine. He sighed.

"The CIA is trying shut us down again. Hunley has used his influence to shut them up so far, but now the FBI is in on it," Brandt explained. "Anyway, they called a conference, a meeting of all heads of the bigger intelligence agencies. It's not actually official since we are involved, but I still have to put together a security detail."

"And?" Elaine asked with mild interest.

"I already have Luíse Pike on the overall planing and the perimeter, but I still need people for the actual detail. I know it's not exactly a high profile job." Brandt shrugged. "On the plus side, we'll be spending a week in some posh hotel in Chicago."

"Chicago?" she asked in surprise. "Isn't that a bit out of the way, considering everyone is in D.C. already?"

"That's the point," Brandt replied. "Helps keeping it a secret."

Elaine nodded, then smiled. "Alright," she said. "Provided Dr. Lee gives her okay, I'm in."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"How long did you stay yesterday?" Luther asked, fishing a coffee cup out of the cupboard.

A very obviously sleep deprived Benji grimaced. "Too long," he replied filling his own mug. "But at least it got us back to 80%. And the rest is Yusuf's problem now."

"Oh?" Luther replied. "Where are you going?"

"Brandt drafted me for the surveillance part of his security detail," the Brit replied almost happily.

"Sounds boring," the other techie commented.

Benji shrugged. "Beats hours of restarts and defragmentation and sifting through server protocols."

"Isn't that a bit unfair?" Elaine chimed in, filling up two cups.

"That's why I'm a field agent," Benji grinned and wanted to add something more, but was interrupted.

"Hey, Munchkin!"

The two men turned their heads, and so did most of the people in the corridor. Only Elaine kept staring straight ahead as the tall, blond man approached with a broad grin. He comradely slapped her on the back and she almost spilled her coffee. "What's up?"

"Nothing that would concern you," Elaine replied coldly. She added milk to one cup and a generous amount of sugar to the other, but he was blocking her way.

"Heard some interesting stuff about you lately," he continued, pouring coffee in an exaggeratedly slow motion. "I got to tell you, I wouldn't have thought you could..."

"Cliff, move," Elaine said threateningly. She considered pushing past him, but there was no way to get through with both of her coffee mugs intact.

"Oh, am I in your way?" Cliff asked innocently. He answered her deadly glare with a wicked grin, but when he caught sight of Luther and Benji he retreated. "Well, see you around," he said, toasting with his coffee mug before he disappeared back down the corridor.

"I hope not," Elaine muttered under her breath.

"Munchkin?" Luther asked, but didn't receive a reply. "You two got a history?"

"Don't ask," Elaine answered sourly.

"You know, I think it's fitting," Benji put in, but then refrained from elaborating when he caught her frosty glance.

"Well, Munchkin," Luther grinned, ignoring her stare. "You two have fun at that conference. I'll see you in a week."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"Tyto, we're coming out."

There was a hint of relief reverberating in the calm voice that came in over the radio. Benji smiled. He had nothing against an easy assignment every now and then, but it was still tiring and after spending a week in a van, he was looking forward to the next mission with real action. "Roger that, Lupus," he said. "All stations ready, car standing by."

"Copy," Elaine replied with a smile she knew he could see over the security camera.

"Am I glad this is over," Brandt sighed next to her. They were walking briskly down the corridor, their steps echoing from the stone floor and high walls. "If I never hear the words 'jurisdiction' and 'oversight' again it's still too soon."

"It wasn't that bad," Hunley put in, but not without irony.

"Grown men and women bickering like little children in a sandbox," Brandt replied and shuddered. "And your successor at the CIA is getting almost as bad as, well, you, sir."

The secretary chuckled. "Erika may be stubborn and ambitious, but she knows when she's in over her head. She'll come around eventually," he said. "Also Homeland seems to be on our side."

Brandt smiled wryly. "Only because Brassel knows what it's like on our side."

They had reached the glass double doors at the entrance of the conference building which were held open by two suited agents. Down on the street, an armored black car was already waiting. They crossed the stripe of side-walk quickly and in silence and the secretary already had his hand on the handle of the back door when Elaine interjected.

"Sir," she said pointedly.

Hunley stepped back with a smile. "Alright," he replied with a 'go-ahead'-gesture. "Protocol to the last."

The agent opened the door and quickly but thoroughly sized up the interior. Then she frowned and stepped inside the car.

Brandt tensed involuntarily. He told himself it was probably nothing, but his arm automatically brushed the hem of his jacket aside that was covering his back holster while waiting for the 'all-clear' signal. It never came.

Later he couldn't say what exactly had made him react. He grabbed the secretary by the collar of his suit and dragged him down, just before the shock-wave hit him in the back. Brandt was remotely aware of the impact and the subsequent rain of glass and shrapnel showering them. He felt the fabric of his jacket and shirt tear and the exposed skin of his face, hands and arms shred over the concrete. A small voice in the back of his mind told him he should be experiencing pain, but in that moment it just seemed unimportant.

Although he knew it was a bad idea, he turned his head back. Dazed, he stared at the car that was rapidly being devoured by a blazing fire. Then, slowly, everything faded to black.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

For one shocked second Benji just stared at the screen. A moment ago he had joked about how they'd have had more to do back in the labs, now he wished he hadn't said it. "Neil, call emergency services," he ordered.

The younger technician swallowed, then nodded, but Dunn was already focusing on something else. "Crover, I need a full perimeter shut-down, now," he said to the third man in the van who simply acknowledged silently. Then he got on the radio.

"Code red, code red. Situation unclear, agents are down," Benji said, surprised at how calm his voice was. On his screen, black-suited agents were now blocking the view of Brandt and the secretary, but what he could see of the car told him the fire brigade was probably going to be late. He took a shaky breath. "I repeat, code red..."