Ilsa's advice

Ethan's reaction

As soon as he entered the tiny living area, Ethan looked up from his laptop. Within two seconds, his facial expression first switched from relief with a tint of anger to worry. "Benji," he exclaimed, closing his laptop to fully concentrate on the younger agent, "what happened?"

Benji shrugged his shoulders, feeling embarrassed. "Someone tried to rob me on my way back. It's no big deal, I got my wallet back, see?" he waved the item to show it to Ethan.

The latter wasn't even looking at it though, his eyes were scanning Benji from head to toe, making him feel even more uncomfortable. Benji nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other, apparently, he looked worse than he thought. The next second, Ethan took two big steps and was standing right in front of the younger agent. And as if that wasn't already enough to increase Benji's heartrate, he took his chin in one hand and stared intently on his face, examining his nose at close range. Satisfied that it wasn't broken (which Benji could've told him himself, but he didn't exactly trust his voice right now, not with Ethan being so very close), Ethan let his hand drop to his side and took a small step back, sighting lightly.

Benji meanwhile took a deep breath, noticing just now that he had hold it for seconds. Damn, his well-prepared speech (well, more or less) had just vanished into nirvana. That was what Ethan's closeness did to him.

"No other wounds? You're alright?" Ethan wanted to know. "I'm fine," Benji managed to say with some emphasis. Ethan was still standing quite close to him, closer than normal. His heartrate was still elevated. He was still a bit dizzy from the amount of beer he drunk and the ridiculous race after the thief, although he had no intention sharing that fact with Ethan. He was worried enough as it was.

Sadly, the smell of beer didn't escape Ethan's senses. "How much did you drink?"

"Not that much or I wouldn't have overrun a thief," Benji tried to appease him.

Ethan wasn't exactly happy about his consume, Benji could tell from the way he frowned, but to give him credit, he didn't say anything, just looked at him in a way that clearly stated "don't do that again".

"Ahem, can we sit?" Benji asked, he really needed more space to be able to think clearly again. Besides that, he was starting to get tired and he hadn't even began telling Ethan any of the things he wanted to tell him. If he still had the heart for it today, that is.

"Sure," Ethan quickly made space for him, sitting on the sofa and invitingly tapping on the place beside him. Benji made his way to the sofa more slowly and made sure he had a little distance to Ethan, when he sat down. He thought, Ethan looked a bit disappointed at that, but maybe it was just his imagination.

Now that he was here, he wasn't so sure of what Ilsa had told him anymore. It was difficult to, giving that he had been into Ethan for years and never noticed him liking him back in that way. Yes, he had always been friendly to him and their friendship definitely had grown closer over time, but he also was a man of exceptional professional behaviour, and had never crossed the line of friendly behaviour when interacting with Benji. Still, he had to tell him something. Even if it was just an apology for breaking the rules and acting against Ethan's direct command. No to speak about the reason for it.

"Ethan," he started, or tried to, but the older agent said his name at the same time, making both of them pause. "You first," Benji said quickly, as it would give him some more time to rethink what he was going to tell him.

Ethan smiled slightly, amused from his eagerness to let him speak first.

"Benji," he started again, turning serious. "I'm sorry for my behaviour. I've thought about it and you were right – I controlled you way too much, pushed you away from the action. I didn't thought it would bother you that much." When Benji opened his mouth to protest, he quickly continued, "I know now, though. You made that pretty clear earlier."

Ethan shook his head sadly, staring into distance while going on, "I never thought you would think that you were in any way less competent than the rest of the team."

He locked his eyes with Benji's now, keeping the contact as if to empathise his following words. "You must never think that! In fact, you are the most extraordinary, the worthiest field agent I've ever met! And I'm telling you this way too late, I'm sorry!"

To hear Ethan's prise of him in combination with his adorable and earnest expression melted Benji's heart melt entirely, forming a pitying puddle somewhere in the depths of his being. It wasn't heard often that Ethan was apologising to someone. In fact, it was a rather rare occurrence. And if he did, he really meant it. So maybe there was some hope for Benji's affection after all.

Benji smiled while he stored away this precious moment in his memory to be remembered forever.

But Ethan wasn't finished yet.

"But I'm afraid that I had another reason for keeping you out of the heat, and I think that I owe you to tell you. It's just, I don't want you to feel obliged in any way to anything. And I don't want to ruin our friendship either," Ethan added, slight tremble in his voice.

Benji was astonished, he had never seen Ethan so vulnerable. He also had a hopeful feeling that he knew what would follow, so he wanted to make it easier for him.

"I love you too," he quickly said, before his voice of warning became too loud. Luckily, the latter was dimmed down enough by the alcohol in his blood to be somewhat suppressed for now. Benji grinned nervously, waiting for Ethan's answer.

The experienced agent blinked in surprise, his eyes widening. He was totally baffled. He opened his mouth and closed it again, before finally finding his voice back.

"You do?" he asked huskily with wonder in his eyes.

Benji's face softened as he observed Ethan's hopeful expression. "I do," he confirmed.

Ethan's expression quickly transformed into a beaming smile, showing his white teeth.

"I love you," he affirmed in a warm and rich voice, leaning closer to Benji. The blonde likewise leaned closer, staring into Ethan's beautiful face until he was so close that their breaths mingled. Skipping the rest of the distance, Benji finally did what he had wanted to do for a long time: kissing Ethan.

When their lips met, it was like a sensual explosion and they both adjusted their seats to be even closer, heavily leaning into the kiss. Benji felt Ethan's hand in his hair and nearly shivered from the pleasant feeling. He ran his hand down Ethan's back and side, exploring his well-defined body. Ethan started the same, sliding a hand under Benji's shirt. This time, he couldn't supress a shudder. Ethan took this as encouragement, placing his other hand on Benji's high side and moving it slowly and sensually downwards.

Benji was feeling like heaven. It was highly intoxicating to be surrounded by Ethan in this way. Pressing closer to him, he closed his eyes, fully concentration on every inch on skin which was touched by Ethan. Heat and pleasure were rushing through him. He wanted this to never stop. And it wouldn't anytime soon. They had all night.