Only Hope {Ethan Hunt/OC}

* The General's Daughter *

The young brunette woman was unsure as to why she decided to walk the streets alone in Prague, even if it was a beautiful evening. She thought back on the events from the past two hours as she carefully and quietly made her way to her hotel room. It began with a simple dinner and a quiet conversation. An old classmate had showed up on a business occasion, and had early bumped into the lovely twenty-four year old brunette. He asked her if she had plans, thankfully for her, she had none, and so she accepted. 

Unfortunately, the evening went spectacularly for him as the dinner was being prepared at 8, and he talked on and on about how dull his occupation was. Now an introvert, such as herself, would be known to listen to people as they spoke and ranted about their life's situations, but not Laura. No, Laura was very bored with the uninteresting dinner companion. As soon as dinner was finished, she politely excused herself from his company, deciding to walk back to her hotel, instead of finding some other mode of transportation, and that is what led her to this moment. 

It had been a long day and she was honestly very exhausted from it, but something drew her away from her hotel, or rather someone. A young man seemed either lost or very anxious as he wandered the streets aimlessly, at least that's what it looked like to her. She decided to make sure he was alright when he entered a building as if he had something to hide. Laura couldn't help the fact that her curiosity got the better of her as she followed behind him carefully, making sure not to alarm him. She considered herself lucky she settled on wearing flats rather than heels as she gingerly shadowed the man climbing up the winding staircase of the building. 

It was a wonder why she wasn't caught yet as she was sure at some point the man had seen her, or at least was aware of her presence. She was suddenly alerted by a cat which made her gasp. At the point, she knew she had to have been heard, yet the man continued to his destination this time with more speed. The more mysterious he got, the more curiouser Laura became. She made sure she was out of his line of sight as he reached the hall he wanted. What happened next completely confused the brunette. She heard the man breathing loudly, clearly having been doing something physical besides running up the staircase, before she heard sounds of him taking off his jacket. She soundlessly peeked a floor up as he unscrewed a light bulb from the lantern near the hallway, and put it into his jacket. 

A soft crunch came from the jacket as he broke the glass, and spread it across the floor on his way down the hall. Intrigued by the man's paranoia, Laura continued to follow, despite the light at the end of his hallway instantly going black. She heard the faint sound of keys jangling and a door opening and closing before she made another move. Due to what she was taught as a child, she avoided stepping on the glass down the hall, especially keeping away from even the tiniest of broken pieces. Eventually, she made it to the end of the hallway to the door, hearing commotion going on inside the room, and constant mutterings about money. 

It was then she started to question what on earth she was doing. Lifting her hand to knock, she opted to sigh heavily instead, and walk back to her destination. This actually was not the most thought out of plans as the man opened the door again, the loud creaking shocking her ears. 

"Don't move or I will shoot you," a threatening voice said from behind her. 

She gulped, knowing she was busted, and raised her hands in surrender. She heard his footsteps coming up before a gun was jabbed into her back, but unlike most people, she didn't whimper nor did she cower in fear. She waited for an explanation, but instead the man forced her into the room he was previously in. He made sure no one else followed them before shutting the door. Laura took a mental note that this was no ordinary hotel room, but more of a workshop or base of some kind. 

"Who are you? And why are you following me?" he ordered firmly. 

She slowly turned around to face the man, whose face was shrouded by shadows. 

"My name is Laura Kaeser, and it looked like you were in some kind of trouble. I didn't know if you needed help. I'm sorry," she apologized with a timid voice, regretting following him in the first place, because she knew better. Her general father would be very disappointed in her stealth skills. 

Unexpectedly, the man took a step forward, gun in hand still pointed at her, and that's when she recognized him. His brown hair had been cut, and his physique had changed a bit, but his dark green eyes remained the same. It was his name she was having trouble with at the moment, but she knew who he was. His look of confusion took over his features while she continued to have her hands raised in the air. 

"Haven't I seen you before?" he questioned. 

She nodded, "At UPenn." 

Usually when people tried to place Laura's face somewhere, they either came up short and just barely remembered her, whereas the man identified her almost immediately.

"So what are you doing here?" he asked, still a bit paranoid now that he remembered where he had seen her. "Are you an agent?" 

She shook her head before asking to lower her arms. He didn't answer, instead he body-checked her for weapons of any kind. When he finished, he placed the gun on the table. 

He spoke again, "Right. So, Laura do you mind telling me what made you follow me?" 

"Curiosity?" she shrugged before continuing, "I'm not really sure. I just thought you needed some help. Do you mind telling me what's going on...?" 

"Ethan. And the less you know, the better, and I suggest you get out of here before they assume you're with me," he said as he removed his shirt and put on a white tank top. 

"Who's they? And what if I want to help you?" 

She followed him into a separate room where he picked up a fallen chair, and sat down in front of a computer, previously set up. 

"This is dangerous, and you could get hurt," he warned right before she clutched his wrist and held on tightly. 

She answered back, "I know we were never friends, but I can tell when someone needs help. Let me help you. Tell me everything you know." 

Ethan studied her closely before sighing in frustration, and starting at the beginning. It was the most curious thing for Ethan as he told her briefly about becoming an agent for the IMF, and the failed mission, he seemed at ease informing her, as if they had been friends for a long time. He didn't understand it, but he only gave her snippets of his past and the IMF agency for her safety, but he had a feeling she knew certain things, and wasn't telling him. 

Once he finished, he turned on the surveillance from the computer. Three small screens had lost connection while two still filmed their areas. Laura saw Ethan thinking of something before he pulled up an internet link, typing in Job 314. A small noise beeped from the computer, notifying the user that it did not understand. Ethan closed his eyes in order to concentrate while Laura eyed the small shelf filled with books in front of Ethan. 

Ethan continued typing key phrases into the search engine, and coming up empty-handed. Laura touched each of the books softly, feeling the covers. Her fingers rested on the light brown colored bible when Ethan tilted his head to the side and muttered, "Job 3:14." 

Laura turned to him as he asked, "Laura, can you hand me that?" 

She picked it out carefully, handing it to the desperate agent. He flipped through the book in a rush, but still with a light touch so as not to rip the pages. Laura spied over his shoulder as he found the book of Job, chapter three, verse fourteen. He continued to mumble incoherently before he placed the bible down on the table and looked up the book of Job on the internet and sent an email to Max. 

"What do we do now?" Laura spoke up, still standing beside Ethan. 

Ethan explained to her that in order to get the message across he would have to send the message in every language. Laura decided to explore the room as Ethan continued sending message after message. 

An hour after Ethan had slept, Laura heard an intruder, and prepared to protect herself and Ethan if necessary. She waited in darkness, curious of who entered the safe house. It wasn't until the intruder tried to place a hand on Ethan's shoulder that Laura attacked the woman, kicking her into a table across the room, which awoke Ethan, who stood up in confusion. Laura picked up the gun from the table next to Ethan, and held the woman in front of her at gunpoint. 

"Who are you?" Laura ordered the woman. 

Ethan blinked before saying, "Claire?"