It should go without saying, but I don't own anything whatever to do with the Mission: Impossible franchise. I'm just playing with the characters for a little while.

Be advised, there are mild spoilers for Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol in this story.

=X=X=X=X=X=

Chapter One

William Brandt mentally catalogued the vehicles parked in front of Ethan Hunt's bungalow as he slowed his Harley to a non-adrenaline-inducing speed. There was Ethan's SUV, and the hybrid Toyota belonging to Jane Carter. Of Benji Dunn's Cooper Mini there was no sign.

Will parked the Harley behind Jane's hybrid and removed his helmet. Running one hand through his hair, Will started up Ethan's driveway. He'd been to Ethan's house half a dozen times since their mission to India last year, sometimes just to watch a ball game with his commander, and sometimes, like today, with the whole team.

He let himself into the house and made his way to the kitchen and then the back deck where Jane perched on a picnic table and Ethan checked the flame on the grill.

"Not exactly a stealthy engine on that thing," Jane observed.

"I'm supposed to be stealthy when I'm coming to a friend's house for a barbecue? Just checking." Will doffed the backpack he wore and pulled a grocery bag containing buns and hot dogs from it.

"You never know what might happen," Jane said.

Will handed the bag to Ethan, then looked at Jane dubiously. "So on that zero point zero zero one percent chance, I'm supposed to drive something with all the get up and go of a brain-dead hamster? No, thanks." Then he saw the bowl on the table beside her. "Is that fruit salad?"

"What's wrong with fruit salad? Got to have something to offset all the beer and beef."

"Speaking of beer," Ethan said, "there's plenty in the blue cooler. Red cooler has water and soda."

"Thanks." Will opened the red cooler and pulled out a bottle of water first, given how dry his throat had gotten on the ride over. "Where's Benji?"

"He called and said he was stopping to get ice cream for dessert," Ethan said. "Should be here any minute."

"He better hurry," Will observed, "if he wants anything other than fruit salad."

"Ha ha." Jane glared at him, and he grinned back, raising his water bottle in a mock toast.

"First burgers are medium rare," Ethan said. "Will?"

"Thanks." He took the burger Ethan offered and moved to the array of condiments.

"Yours up next, Jane. Medium in another minute."

"Sorry I'm late." The British-accented voice belonged to Benji Dunn, the final member of their team. "Bloody long queue at the market."

"There's still some fruit salad left," Will offered and ducked as Jane swatted at him.

"And I can throw a burger on the grill for you," Ethan said. "These two haven't eaten all of them yet."

"Thanks, medium well, please," Benji said. "And it wasn't just the queue. You're not going to believe this."

"What?" Jane asked.

"Take a look." Benji pulled a tabloid from his pocket, thumbed through it.

"You know reading those things drops your IQ ten points a page." Will finished loading his burger with onions and put the top half of the bun in place. If he pressed down exactly on the center of the top bun, he should be able to compress the burger enough to fit his mouth around it. Maybe.

"I'm not reading it," Benji protested. "But there's a picture … ah, here we go. They say everyone has a double, but I never believed it. Until now. Look at this."

Benji thrust the paper toward Ethan, and Will bit into his burger.

"She's the spitting image of Julia," Benji said, and Will's burger went tasteless in his mouth. He forced himself to swallow anyway, watching Ethan as he did. His commander's blank expression made him drop the rest of his burger and cross to look over Ethan's shoulder at the photo.

It wasn't just any photo, Will saw. It was an engagement photo on the "Personalities" page. And it was Julia Mead Hunt. Sparing a mental curse for the situation, Will said, "What have you been drinking, Benji? She doesn't look anything like Julia Hunt."

It was the baldest lie he'd ever told, and Will could only hope he could pull it off. He wouldn't convince Ethan, of course, but maybe he could deter Benji and buy Ethan some recovery time. His commander needed it, Will thought, given his continuing silence.

"Sure she does," Benji said, gesturing to the paper with the beer Jane had given him. "That smile - I saw her after Ethan's mission in China. Exact same smile."

Will fixed Benji with a hard glare. "And I staked her out in Croatia for three days. This woman has dark hair, too, but that's the extent of the resemblance."

Benji opened his mouth, and Will shifted his expression from You're wrong to You're wrong and I'm going to kill you for it. Benji swallowed, and said, "Well, I thought she looks like Julia. Odd thing, too, her name's also Julia."

Jane took the paper from Ethan's hand, examined it. "Well, whoever she is, she's marrying well."

"Well?" Ethan asked, and Will hoped the other two didn't hear the crack in their commander's voice.

"Mm-hm. She's marrying Martin Bryce, of Bryce Pharmaceuticals." Jane raised an eyebrow as she scanned whatever else was in the article. "A real Cinderella story. He was in a skiing accident last winter, and they met while she was helping him recover."

"Lucky girl," Benji said.

"Yeah," Ethan muttered. "Lucky."

Will's mind raced. What more could he do to ease the tension? His gaze drifted to his unfinished burger, and he knew. He looked up at Ethan. "You planning to make Benji's burger really well done, or what?"

Just then, a bit of fat from the burgers dripped into the grill and flames shot up six inches above the patties.

"Hey!" Benji yelped, and Ethan spun to deal with the grill.

In the moment's commotion, Will slipped the paper from Jane's hands and tucked it into his backpack. "I didn't know we were getting a floor show, too," he quipped.

"Would've been better if Benji'd been standing closer to the grill," Ethan responded, and his gaze met Will's. Will read gratitude in his commander's eyes for the briefest of heartbeats before Ethan composed his expression once more.

"I'm not the one who bought fatty beef," Benji said. "You could've bought lean, and it wouldn't drip like that."

"Hey, you want healthy, there's always Jane's fruit salad," Will said, and then had to back away as Jane started toward him, a forkful of fruit in one hand.

"Just for that," Jane was saying, "you get the first taste."

"Oh, God," Benji moaned. "Not another food fight."

"Ethan won't throw us out like that guy did in Sarasota." Jane didn't take her attention away from Will as she spoke, and Will debated five different pins and two throws before deciding that just eating the fruit salad was the best choice. The team had been effectively distracted from the article about Julia, and that was enough for now.

Later, though - Later, he and Ethan would talk.

=X=

"See you on the range tomorrow, guys." Ethan closed the door behind Benji and Jane, let his forehead fall forward against it with a soft thunk. Behind him, he heard Will quietly cleaning up the remains of the barbecue. Ethan was pretty sure it should've been Jane's turn, but when the party was winding down, Will simply started gathering empty bottles. Ethan wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not.

The photo Benji had brought still filled his mind's eye. Julia was getting married again.

"You okay?" Will's voice came quietly from behind him. It was a sign of just how distracted he was that Ethan hadn't heard the other man approach.

"I don't know," Ethan admitted honestly. His last conversation with Julia replayed in his mind, and he heaved a quiet sigh. "I told her to be happy."

"Got to be tough, seeing it in the paper."

"Tough seeing it, period." And why was he being so honest with Will, a part of him wondered. He's earned it, Ethan thought in response. Will was the only other person in the world who knew Julia was still alive, and since he'd found out, he'd joined Ethan in the unofficial mission to keep Julia safe. "Did you know?"

"No." Will let out a breath, and Ethan finally turned to face his second in command - his friend. "I haven't seen her since that night in Seattle. Have you?"

Ethan knew he'd hesitated too long when Will's expression shifted from sympathetic to stern. "Once."

"Jesus, Ethan -"

"I know it was stupid, all right? But her sister sent me a Christmas card, and I figured checking on her once wasn't too risky."

"Just the once?"

Ethan nodded. "Just the once."

"And never again?" Despite Will's inflection, it sounded more like an order.

"Never again," Ethan agreed.

Will studied him for a moment, then nodded once and returned to cleaning up.

"I'll finish," Ethan said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You've already cleaned up a bigger mess. Thanks."

Will studied him again, and Ethan knew the other man was deciding whether he was fit to be alone.

"I'll be fine." And he would be, once he got past the initial shock.

"Okay." Will disposed of the trash he was holding, then grabbed his jacket and backpack. "See you in the morning."

It was only after the sound of Will's motorcycle faded into the night that Ethan went looking for the newspaper Benji had brought.

And exactly why am I torturing myself with it? Ethan couldn't answer that question. He also couldn't find the paper, even after turning out the contents of two garbage cans.

He stood in the center of his kitchen, frowning at the garbage now littering his floor. Then it hit him.

Brandt. Of course. Will had his back, even in this.

Just this once, Ethan wished Will hadn't been so thorough.