WARNING! A LOT OF SWEAR WORDS!
Courtney woke up to the car stopping. She immediately knew they had arrived. She looked at August who was staring out the window.
"Are you alright?" She whispered to him.
He looked at her and nodded. "I'm fine. Get a good sleep?"
She smiled. "Yeah.."
He stared at Ethan and Benji who were asleep.
"They're asleep." He smiled.
"How long are we going to be here for?" She asked, sighing.
"Until people appear, Courts."
She frowned. "That's gonna take forever."
"Don't frown. I hate when you frown, okay? Put a smile on your face."
She pouted. "Do I have to?"
"Of course you do." He replied.
She rested her head in his lap as he played with her hair.
Benji woke up a while later and looked at them.
"Are you two dating?" He asked.
"You don't need to know." Courtney sighed.
"Come on, Courts. I'm not gonna tell anyone."
"Can I trust you?"
"Mhm."
August interrupted the spies's conversation and said. "Benjamin, you don't need to know. She's not telling you. I'm not telling you. It's not happening, okay?"
"August, you can trust me."
"I said NO!"
"August..." Courtney looked at him.
"Hmm?"
"I'm not going to tell him, Auggie."
"Good."
"So you are dating?" Ethan was awake and stared at them.
"No." Courtney sighed.
"If you aren't, why are you laying on him?"
"It's a best friend thing."
"Are you sure?"
"Just leave us alone, Ethan."
"Fine! But you're fired if you're dating him."
She frowned. "EXCUSE ME?! You probably had fun with most girls in your team and girls that you meet when you aren't working." She stared at August who's eyes were widened. "You too, Mr Walker, you too."
"Courtney, don't even start with that." August sighed, then mumbled. "Ellen was just a distraction."
"So you're admitting that you did things with her?"
"Stop it." He whispered to her. "Please?"
She smirked. "Make me."
He pouted. "Courts... please?"
"So you are dating?" Benji muttered to them.
"Maybe, maybe not." August smiled.
"Tell me, August."
"NO!"
Courtney sighed, trying to cover up the relationship. "If him and I were dating, we would be all over each other."
"And we would be kissing." August added.
Courtney nodded. "Yeah. We aren't dating, okay?"
Benji smiled. "Can we talk, Miss Jenkins?"
"Umm..." She paused. "Sure, I guess."
Both of them got out of the car, Benji leading her to a place behind a nearby tree and Courtney following him.
"You like August, don't you?" He smirked a little.
"No." She replied, keeping it simple.
"You do. It's obvious, Courtney." He said. "You don't have to lie to me."
"I don't like him like that."
"But you do. He likes you. You like him. You're dating him."
"I'm not dating him."
"Why are you blushing then?"
"I'm not..."
He gave her a small mirror and she took it, staring into the mirror. He was right. She was blushing.
"For fuck sake." She mumbled.
"Told you! Now tell me the truth and I won't tell anyone. Are you and August dating?"
"N-N-N-Yes."
"So you are dating him?"
"Mhm..."
"Congratulations! My hypothesis was true."
She rolled her eyes. "But why am I here?"
"We need to talk."
"About?"
"Ethan's really sorry for hurting you. He said he wouldn't do it again."
"Get him to tell me that."
"I'll get him then. Stay here."
After a few minutes, Benji came back with Ethan. He then left again to go back to August.
"Courtney..." Ethan sighed.
"Yeah?" She stared at the ground.
"I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. I'm used to the pain."
"Pain isn't something you should be used to, Jenky."
"But.."
"No buts."
"Fine."
Silence filled the air.
Ethan suddenly said. "I just want to point out some things. Can you give me some advice?"
"Go ahead."
"I really like a girl. How do I tell her about my feelings?"
"Aren't you married?"
"Julia probably hates me."
"You... umm... I don't know. I'm not a professional at this stuff. Who is this girl?"
"Maybe I'm staring at them right now."
Courtney's eyes widened. "You like me even though you hurt me?"
"Umm... yeah."
"I'm taken by someone."
"Who?"
"You're correct about me dating August."
"Isn't he a little too... good for you?"
"Nope."
"You think he's GREAT?!"
"Mhm..."
"He could be John Lark, you know."
"I don't see how. You could be John Lark, you know. Oh wait... you are."
"Courtney, stop it."
"Make me."
"I'll fucking kill you."
"Don't even try."
"I won't. But if you try to annoy me, you're dead meat."
"How is August like John Lark?"
"Doesn't he seem a little... protective over you?"
"What do you mean? He isn't protective. He's just caring."
"Mhm.. yeah sure. I heard that John Lark loves girls that can defend themselves."
"But I..."
"Didn't you defend yourself when you were fighting off drunk men?"
"Who told you that?"
"Who do you think?"
"He... he told YOU?!"
"Mhmmmm."
"That's a lie."
"It's not! I'm serious."
"I'll kill you if you've lied to me."
Courtney walked back to the car and sat inside. She stared at August who was talking to Benji but he glanced at her. Once the conversation was finished, and when Benji was leaving the car to speak with Ethan, August stared at her.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"Why wouldn't there be something wrong? There's always something wrong in Courtney Jenkins land." She sighed, looking out the window.
"What did Ethan say?"
"Apparently you told him about how we met. If you have, tell me. I will still trust you but not as much... well, unless you're telling the truth and explain why you did it . If you haven't, my hypothesis is correct and Ethan gets hurt badly to make up for all the times he's hurt me."
"I wouldn't do anything like that. You know I wouldn't do anything like that. But he did ask me a lot of questions."
"What kind of questions?"
"Questions about you."
"Did you answer ANY of the questions?"
"Well... I answered some questions."
"How many?"
"About three."
"Good." She smiled slightly. "Did you ever tell him about the second time we met?"
"No."
"So he's lied to me?"
"Probably."
"August..."
"C-Courtney?"
"What are you hiding from me?"
"Nothing. I'm just... nervous."
"About what?"
"Tonight? To be honest, I don't know."
She held his hand tight, looking at him. "You'll do great. I'm still confused though."
He smiled slightly. "About?"
"The thing I'm supposed to do."
"Oh... that. Change of plans. You're supposed to stick with me. You won't be a distraction for the Widow." He read the piece of paper that Ethan gave him. "Apparently you're supposed to act like you're Ethan's girlfriend and I'm your brother."
"What about Benji?"
"He's going to fill in for Luther. And yes, Luther can't make it. I knew you were going to ask me that."
"Why?"
"Influenza."
"Ohh... flu?"
"I guess you can call it that."
Courtney sighed. "Why can't I be YOUR girlfriend instead of Ethan's girlfriend?"
"I don't know, honey."
"What if Ethan hurts me?"
"He won't. He wouldn't do it in public."
"But what if he does?"
"If he does, we're leaving. We'll tell Sloane everything, even if we lie about some of it. We'll tell her that he's the real John Lark. We'll get him in jail. We can make his team hate each other. We can do anything to make him seem bad."
"Wouldn't we go to jail? I mean, think of all the people we've been forced to murder. Apparently a male and female spy from the CIA, also known as us, are the most wanted criminals this year."
"We were forced by Erica Sloane to murder those people so she should go to jail. She was the one that made us who we are. She was the one that taught us how to kill people. She was the one that made us kill people that tried to threaten the American government. She deserves to rot in a jail cell, not us."
"But..."
"No buts, Little One."
She stayed quiet.
"What's wrong?" He asked, pulling her close to him.
"They know." She sighed.
"They know about what?"
"Us dating."
"They forced you to tell them, didn't they?"
"Mhm."
"I'll fucking kill them."
"Even Luther?"
"Probably. He's in their team. He'll find out."
"But we're working with them."
"So? We can still kill them."
"August."
"Mmm?"
"We can't kill them. We could get fired and sent to jail."
"It was just an idea, Courts. Okay? We actually aren't going to kill them."
"Good. We aren't spending the rest of our lives in jail."
"At least we won't get the death penalty and won't die."
"Can you not mention death? It brings back memories of my childhood."
"Your childhood wasn't like childhood. It was like a nightmare."
"Actually, more like a monster you can't escape from."
"Same thing. What exactly happened that makes you uncomfortable about death?"
"Long story short: my father killed my mother when I was 8."
"No offence to your father but he's psychotic."
Just as Courtney was about to speak, Ethan and Benji came back. Ethan was smirking and staring at Courtney.
"Have you got a problem, Mr Hunt?" She looked at Ethan.
"No, Miss Jenkins."
"Why are you staring at me then? Am I ugly or something? Is there something on my face that's making you stare at me?"
"First of all, you're my 'girlfriend' for the night. Second of all, you aren't ugly. Third of all, there's nothing on your face. Also, address me as John, Lark, Mr Lark, anything about John Lark."
"Well... I guess you'll have to address me as Miss Whatever-My-Name-Is then. What's my name supposed to be?"
"Well, apparently you're Isla Anderson. And August will be Jack Anderson as he's your brother."
"When are our names going to change?"
"In five hours. We'll all know each other by our regular names for the time being."
*****
It was finally time to meet the White Widow. Isla, Jack and John were walking towards a queue of people to get to the entrance of the place that the White Widow was in.
Reason why they were here? Ethan, well John, had to buy a drug off of the White Widow before a group known as The Apostles got it off of her. Isla looked at Jack with a bit of worry on her face. Jack gently held her hand. John looked at Jack and Isla and frowned.
Once they finally got to the entrance, Ethan began talking to the bouncer. He introduced introduced himself as John Lark. He introduced Courtney as Isla Anderson and August as Jack Anderson. The bouncer allowed them inside. They began to walk around the building, looking for the Widow. That's when August nudged Courtney.
She looked at him and whispered. "What is it?"
"Tell Ethan that I found the Widow." He whispered back.
"Eth— John."
"Isla, what is it?"
"Jack says he's found the White Widow."
John stared at Jack. "Speak up, Anderson. Where is she?"
Jack sighed. "Move four steps forward, turn right, walk forward two more steps and then you'll see her."
"Thanks." John moved closer to Jack. "Look after her for me, will you?"
"Sure, I guess." Jack mumbled.
"Speak LOUDER!"
"I don't have to. Just go, John. She'll be fine."
"Ugh... you're a great help, aren't you?"
"I must be if I'm in charge of looking after my sister."
"Jack, I'll fucking kill you if you hurt her."
"Could you just leave him alone for once?" Isla interrupted their conversation. "I know you hate him being around us, most specifically me, but he won't do anything to hurt me. Will you, Jack?"
"No." He smiled.
"I'll be fine. He won't hurt me. He's my brother. He hasn't done anything like that before. Also, my name's ISLA, not her."
"Jeez... just leave me alone." John frowned and walked away, leaving Isla and Jack together.
*****
August stared at Courtney.
"He's in a good mood, isn't he?" He said sarcastically, smiling a bit more.
"You call THAT a good mood?" Courtney bit her lip, trying not to laugh.
"I'm joking." He smirked. "But I know you're trying not to laugh."
"What's the point of us being here? Ethan doesn't need us. He's capable of doing things on his own."
"Cou— Isla, you can't call him Ethan. It's John, remember?"
What they didn't know was that many people in the room hated Ethan, well... John.
"Did you just say Ethan? As in Ethan Hunt?" Some random person came over to them. "I heard that's he's a criminal in disguise."
Another person said. "I heard that he killed over thirty people in a week. Can't believe he isn't in jail yet."
More and more people surrounded them, talking about why they hated Ethan Matthew Hunt.
Meanwhile, Ethan had managed to get close enough to the White Widow.
"Excuse me? Miss Widow?!" He yelled.
The woman stared at him. "Do you mind? I'm trying to sell this plutonium."
"I need it."
"You don't. I'm waiting for Mr Lark."
"I am Mr Lark."
"How much are you paying me?"
"As much as you want."
"$10000."
"I gave my girlfriend the money. I'll be back in a second."
Ethan ran back to Courtney and August. He noticed that many people were in the place that they were before he left. He walked into the crowd, trying to find the assassins.
"Isla!" He pushed arms out of the way, finally grabbing the arm he was looking for. "Isla. Please speak to me."
Courtney glanced at him. "What is it?"
"$10000. Do you have $10000?"
"Umm... yeah. Why?"
"The plutonium cores. I'm getting them off of the Widow."
"What if she doesn't give you it?"
"She will. I trust her."
"You trust so many people, Ethan. When will it ever be enough for you?"
Ethan covered her mouth and held a knife close to her throat. "Don't call me ETHAN in front of these bastards. How many times do I have to tell you that, you BITCH?"
Courtney began to shed a few tears and screamed. People turned around to look at them. August, noticing Ethan threatening Courtney, started to feel terrified.
I was talking to some guy that hated Ethan when I heard Courtney and Ethan's conversation. Not really thinking straight, I kept talking to the guy. That's when I heard a scream.
'Courtney.' I thought. 'What has that man done now?'
I pushed my way through the crowd to find Ethan holding a knife near Courtney's throat. My eyes widened. He was threatening my girlfriend. What do I do? I couldn't let him hurt her.
August, not thinking straight, clenched his fists and punched Ethan in the chest, winding him. Luckily, the knife fell to the floor so no one got hurt. Courtney stared at August, smiling slightly.
"Can we leave?" She asked.
"We can't, Cutie." He sighed. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine." She glanced at Ethan. "You really shouldn't have threatened me."
"W-Why?" Ethan frowned, inhaling and exhaling quickly.
"Well, there's one thing we always say. You mess with him, you mess with me. You mess with me, you mess with him. You mess with us, you better pray." She then said softly. "And run."
"You shouldn't have called me Ethan."
"What about the plutonium cores? Do you still need the money?"
"I'm sure I can afford the cores without your help."
"But you said..."
"I CAN DO IT MYSELF!"
"Ethan, that's enough." August frowned. "Stop being rude to her. She's been through enough."
"She's an American spy, for God's sake. She can handle the pressure, can't she?"
"No, she can't. If you were kind to her, you'd understand why."
"But..."
"No buts. Maybe, one day, you'll understand why she's like this. By the way, she's half American, half British."
Ethan was silent.
He was emotionless.
Still.
"Take the money and get the plutonium cores as fast as you can. Miss Jenkins would like to get out of this place. We'll be outside, probably in the car with Benji, alright?"
"Alright. I'll be out soon. Go to the car. Tell Benji I sent you there because it wasn't safe. Or just tell him that I tried to hurt Courtney."
August quickly wrapped an arm around Courtney's waist, then he started walking outside with her.
"You were correct about him hurting you." He said. "Maybe you should've stayed in the car or near me."
"Ethan grabbed my arm and asked for $10000. I mistakenly called him Ethan. That's why he held a knife to my throat." She stared at the ground. "And it's all because I messed up in the mission. I'm a failure. I've always been a failure. I've been called a failure many times by my father so it's obvious that he's correct. I'm a distraction too. Ethan said that so it's obviously true."
"Courtney, we are not having this conversation again." He sighed and placed his thumb under her jaw, making her look up at him. "You are not a failure. Everyone messes up. Everybody makes mistakes. I've made many mistakes. You know I have. You were there when I made them."
"Would falling in love be a mistake?"
"It depends on the person. Are you trying to say that when you fell in love with me, it was a mistake?"
"Well, it was a mistake. A good one."
"You know what else was a good mistake?"
"Tell me..."
"Us dating. We really shouldn't have done it but we never gave up and did it anyway."
"You always try to see the good in things, don't you?"
"Is it not obvious? I've been doing it since you started working in my department."
"You did it because of me?"
"Yup."
"Why did I not notice it?"
"We didn't know each other that well. I was just being nice."
"So what about the time that I told you about the personal thing?"
"You mean the kiss, right?"
"Mhm."
"Well, I felt bad for you. I couldn't hide how I felt about you, Courts. I had to do it. Why did you kiss back?"
"What else was I supposed to do? Pull away?" That made him chuckle. "I did it because there was nothing else I could do. You were too strong so I couldn't break out of your grip. The reason I said 'Yes' when you asked me out was because I loved you. You seemed to make me feel safe. Well, you still do. That's why we're like this."
"You know you were cute when we first kissed."
"I wasn't."
"Let me speak, Little One."
She pouted. "Do I have to?"
"Yes. As I was saying, you were nearly in tears on that day."
"I'm pretty sure I was in tears, August."
"Shhh. Let me speak!"
"Fine. Sorry, Mr Irritated-Easily."
"As I was TRYING to say, you were nearly in tears on the day we kissed. Well, you probably were so I wiped the tears away. I really wasn't expecting an adorable face staring back at me. I mean, how is this not adorable?" He cupped her face with his hands. "You should never listen to your father or Ethan. Their words mean nothing to you. They never have and never will."
"I'm cold." She smiled. "And yes, I heard you. It's sunk into my brain. I'm just cold."
"Take the jacket." He helped her put his jacket on. "We should get you to the car."
"No, it's fine. I'm not as cold as I was." She cuddled into him, allowing him to wrap his arm around her waist again. "How are you warm when it's cold? It's like 2°C."
"Don't ask me, Little One. I'm just naturally warm." He smiled and took her to the car, letting her get inside. "Hey, Benj."
"Where's Ethan? Why are you two out of there? Is Ethan alright?" Benji asked.
"Ethan's fine." Courtney sighed. "He's getting the cores. He told us to come here."
"You know he tried to harm her?" August started at him.
"He what?!" Benji frowned. "I thought he said he wouldn't." He then mumbled. "He's an idiot."
"How long do you think Ethan will be in there for?" August asked. "This little woman is starting to get tired."
"I don't know." Benji replied, checking his device. "But if she falls asleep, we can splash her with water. I have a bottle."
"What is that weird map device thing supposed to be?" Courtney stared at the device Benjamin was using.
"It's a digital map. It's supposed to track down something or someone using a microchip. Luther put one in his face mask so I can track him."
"It's kind of like the Marauder's Map from
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, isn't it?"
"Well, I suppose it is like that. Only problem is we don't use magic words or phrases and we aren't in Harry Potter."
"But still... it's a digital version of it."
"Yeah, I suppose it is."
Ethan finally found the Widow again.
"Miss, I have your money."
"$10000? Already, Mr Lark? How'd you get it so fast?"
"Don't ask. So, about these cores. Do I get them?"
"Well, I need you to do me a favour."
"Tell me."
"I'm going to give you one core if you extract Solomon Lane from an armoured convoy somewhere in the streets of Paris; he'll be somewhere around here. And, by the way, don't call me White Widow. My name's Alanna Mitsopolis."
"Why do they call you White Widow?"
"It's just an alias."
"Alias?"
"Nickname."
"Oh, right."
"You should leave. I'm wishing you the best of luck."
Ethan left the place, returning to the vehicle he came in. He sighed and got inside.
Courtney stared at him. "You're back in one piece. What'd she say? Did she give you the cores?"
"Well, she's giving me one core if I extract Solomon Lane from an armoured convoy. We're in Paris, right?"
"Yes, Ethan." August replied. "We HALO jumped here on that jet."
"Oh. Yeah, we did. Benji and Luther rented a place a few hours away. And they rented a car so we could get there."
My boss, Alan Hunley, and CIA Director, Erica Sloane, instructed two spies to work with my team. One was male, one was female. The male spy kept glancing at his watch. The female spy kept her gaze on the ground, sometimes glancing at the male spy.
The thing about the female spy was that she kept her head straight so that you would think that she would be staring at the person in front of her when she really wasn't.
Don't make me talk about her eyes. They looked dull when she wasn't looking at anyone. I felt a bit sorry for her.
The male spy nudged her gently, making her stare at him. Her eyes lit up when she stared at him. For a second, I thought they were dating but they were only friends.
The male spy was called August Walker and the female spy was Courtney Jenkins, the girl I would eventually threaten and harm.
I overheard their boss talking to Hunley. I remember hearing her say, "The IMF is Halloween. Nothing but grown men wearing masks."
A few days later, we had to infiltrate a nightclub party. Courtney suggested HALO jumping as we were in a jet. Here's how it all happened.
"Ethan." It was August.
"Hmm?" I looked at him.
"We're in a jet, many miles in the sky." He said. "How do we get down there if the jet's high in the sky and probably won't land for a long time?"
"We could try HALO jumping." Courtney joined our conversation.
"HALO jumping?" I asked.
"High Altitude Low Opening. It's also known as MFF. That's a Military Free Fall." She explained. "Sometimes, it can be HAHO; High Altitude High Opening."
"Have you ever done one?" I looked at her, a bit curious.
"Yeah, I have. Did it with MI6 when I worked there."
"MI6? Ilsa worked there."
"She did. Don't know how long she was there for. I left before she went rogue. But I did work with her once."
"You must be very skilled at this spy stuff."
"What about this HALO jump?" August asked.
"How do we do it? Do we have the right equipment?"
Courtney stared at him. "So you want to do it?"
"What does it look like?" He looked at her. "None of us know how long we'll be up here for. We won't find Lark if we're up here for hours, will we?"
"I guess you're right." She looked at me. "What do you think, Ethan? Will you try HALO jumping or not?"
"I guess." I replied. "Where's the equipment?"
"Over there." She smiled and walked towards the equipment, picking up helmets, oxygen tanks and safety clothes. "You can put the equipment over your clothes."
Once we were all ready, August took a long time by asking Courtney questions about HALO jumping, I sighed and opened the jet door.
"August, we're going to have to follow her instructions. Is that clear?"
"Crystal."
Courtney stared at us. "Hurry up. We don't have all day. You're wasting time."
She quickly examined me. "You go first."
"Are you sure? You should go first. You're the professional, not me."
She then examined August. "You need an oxygen tank." She looked him in the eye. "Are you trying to impress me?"
"There wasn't any left. And I could be impressing you." He quickly replied, walking away from her.
"You're not jumping without an oxygen tank! It's..."
He jumped, not listening to her.
"... dangerous."
"I think he is trying to impress you." I frowned. "Maybe he likes you?"
"He wouldn't. My boss doesn't allow agents to date other agents."
"She doesn't?"
"No. She never liked the idea of relationships."
"We should jump at the same time."
"Yeah. Can you help me with this oxygen tank?"
I smiled and helped her. That's when we noticed that there were loads of oxygen tanks.
"He- He lied." She frowned. "He never lies to me."
"He's just trying to impress you, Jenky."
"You think that he would impress me? I'm not interested in a relationship at this minute. I'm 21."
"So?"
"I'm too young."
"You're not. But you will love dating someone."
That's when I did something I would regret. I pulled her close, took her helmet off and kissed her. She couldn't break free so she had to kiss back. It was a very long kiss. I stopped and stared at her. She was a little confused. I could tell I was blushing.
"We should... umm... jump off this jet." She said, grabbing the helmet walking towards the opened door. "I'll see you on the other side."
That's the last thing I heard her say before she jumped. I jumped off a second after her and closed my eyes. I was scared.
*****
When I got to the ground, I finally opened my eyes. I found August messing with Courtney by tickling her waist and arms. She kept pleading him to stop, laughing at the same time. It seemed like they were dating but I knew they weren't.
They must've taken their gear off when they hit the ground because it was left to one side.
"August, stop it!" She giggled, trying to push his hands away.
That giggle was cute.
"Make..." He stopped, noticing that I was here. "I'll stop."
After that, Courtney waited for August and I while we were in the bathroom, fighting John Lark. All the bad things happened after that. I was correct about Courtney and August dating because they admitted that today. I just hope that Erica Sloane doesn't find out.
Courtney sighed. "We should probably start to find Solomon. I'm sure he'll be somewhere around the streets of Paris."
"Benji, pick up Luther and then we'll find Lane."
And with that, the car started and they left the place. All they had to do was find Solomon Lane and it would be easy. Well, so they thought. Courtney and Ethan were exhausted so they closed their eyes, trying to rest up for the next part of the mission.