The Analyst's Nightmare (Mission Impossible 4)

08 ~ Jasmine Hanaway

WITHOUT ANY WARNING, the door snapped open and three people hauled themselves inside before the shutter slammed shut. Out of instinct, I grabbed the pistol that Jane had given me for self defence when we'd gotten here. The lights were quick to follow, illuminating the space so we could make sense of the new faces which actually turned out, not to be new at all. All except for one. A tall, slender blonde man of whom, I'd never seen before who looked up at me in confusion and partly fear, with strikingly bright blue eyes.

"Ethan? Jeez we thought you were dead!" Benji exclaimed.

"Who's this lot then?" The man with striking blue eyes asked. We still kept our guns trained on him incase he made any wrong moves.

"Agents, Dunn, Carter & her escort and perhaps soon to be agent, Hanaway." Ethan explained, motioning between us as we stayed unmoving and unnerved by his questioning. I was quite alarmed that he'd introduced me as a soon to be agent considering I didn't want to do anything of the sort. I mean granted it's cool and sort of rewarding but it hadn't really been my thing. More so when I was young, maybe that's why he still had this idea? After all, how was he possibly to know that my Father's murder would have put me off for good?

"William Brandt, chief analyst." Ethan continued.

"Analyst?" Jane repeated suspiciously, slowly lowering her gun as me and Benji followed. Ethan then strode across the short distance toward the wall, produced what looked to be a USB stick from his pocket and placed it atop of a table which I knew to be a disguised projector. He plugged some headphones into it (since I assumed it was top secret) and was about to put them on before Benji stopped him.

"Should the kids really be hearing this, here?" He questioned. Ethan shrugged.

"What choice do they have? They won't compromise it as they've nowhere else to go and if you remember correctly, both have or did have parents in the trade so they're probably used to it by now as well as the long trips etc." Ethan said. It was true. Neither one of us had a choice and I'd rather participate and keep productive than find alternative relatives/arrangements.

"Okay, if you say so." Benji replied, a little confused on how we'd been allowed to tag along if you will.

"Benji, we'll be fine. I promise you. Eventually the bird has to fly the nest. You can't stay there forever." I added. He nodded but didn't say a word as he surveyed Ethan carefully as he watched the mission play out on the table before him.

Moments later, Ethan removed the headphones and rang someone on the old fashioned phone, which sat neatly tucked away in a groove in the wall. I was just close enough to hear him mumbling away.

"Are you sure your line is secure?" He asked. A slight pause before he repeated his question. "No, I didn't ask that. I asked if you were certain. Are you certain your line's secure?" Suddenly, the headphones disconnected and started to play the mission to the carriage, making it even harder to hear what Ethan was saying. From somewhere behind me, there came a noise crossed between a beep and a whoosh. I turned round to see that the analyst guy (whose name I'd already forgotten) had accidentally leant against a button which brought up a wall of guns. Jane stared at him in disbelief whilst Benji rolled his eyes. Miles then came out of the bathroom and looked between us all; his Father still on the phone to a mystery person.

"What did I miss?" He asked as his eyes immediately doubled in size as he saw the gun wall Brandt had displayed. "There's a wall of guns in here?! Since when?!" He looked at them in awe almost like he'd never seen one before. Ethan motioned a hand for him to be quiet. I felt bad for the boy since he'd done nothing I could see wrong apart from get overexcited by a weapons display wall.