The Condemned (S1E4):        Missing Scenes

Disclaimer:  I do not own either of the Mission: Impossible series or any of the characters therein.  I receive no compensation or any other tangible benefit from this story.  I am just a fan who enjoys taking the team out for an adventure every now and then.  🙂

 

Once Nicholas had finished with Grant’s makeup, Jim returned to the room to admire his teammate’s handiwork. The elder agent was taken aback as he observed Grant and Barney standing across from one another. Grant was a little slimmer, and his face mask perhaps a touch more youthful
in appearance. Otherwise, father and son could have passed for twins.

“Good work, Nicholas,” Jim praised. Then he turned to Grant. “I heard from Max,” he advised. “The phone tap is in place, whenever you’re ready.”

After consulting briefly with Barney about his upcoming confrontation with Lydia Adem, Grant left Casey in charge of watching over his father and climbed into the car with the others. They rode in silence to the café. Jim found a fairly inconspicuous place to park, then he turned to look at Grant sitting in the backseat.

“Grant, are you sure you’re up to this?” he asked softly.

“I’m fine, Jim,” the Black agent replied dismissively. “I have to do this for Dad. It’s the only way we’re going to find out the truth.”

Jim nodded in agreement, then he reached across the back of the seat to squeeze Grant’s bicep.

“When you hear the siren, get out of there,” he ordered. “Max will be waiting for you behind the café.”

“Good luck,” Nicholas interjected, as Grant opened the back door. He smiled at his dark-haired teammate and started to get out of the car, then Jim’s voice stopped him in his tracks again.  

“Be careful.”

“I will,” Grant promised, then he disappeared into the back door of the café.

*****

Max was watching the café nervously when he suddenly saw Grant running from the back door.  He scrambled into the dark-blue sedan and had barely slammed the door before Max sped away.

“How’d it go?” the blond agent asked.

Grant shrugged. “I guess we’ll see,” he replied in a half-whisper.

Max stole a glance at his teammate but said nothing, as they waited for news from Jim and Nicholas. Presently, Max’s communicator emitted a telltale beep. “Lydia’s on the move,” reported Nicholas. “We’re following.”

“Right. Be careful,” answered Max. Then he turned to his companion and smiled. “Nice job, buddy.”

Grant said nothing, his eyes downcast. Max’s smile faded, and his stomach lurched, knowing how difficult the past couple of days had been.

“Hey, Grant.”

It took a moment for his friend to finally look up at him. “I know this isn’t easy for you,” Max said empathically. “How are you holding up?”

Grant sighed heavily. “Like I told Jim, I’m fine,” he answered, in a tone that was almost angry.

Realizing a split second later how he had sounded, he shot a look at Max. The look on the blond’s face hit his teammate’s gut like a brick.

“Look, pal, I’m sorry,” Grant said soberly. “I guess I’m a little on edge.”

A little?  Max thought.  Now that’s an understatement. Aloud, he said nothing. Instead, he smiled at Grant, then reached over and patted his friend’s shoulder affectionately to let him know that all was forgiven. Grant returned his smile, and the two men fell silent as they made their way back to
headquarters.

*****

Jim pulled the black sedan behind a large tree but in view of the large two-story brick building where Lydia Adem had exited the cab just moments before. As they sat in the car, Jim and Nicholas could see Lydia on the second floor, walking with an unidentified man.

“You take the back,” Jim ordered as he exited the vehicle.

“Right,” Nicholas acknowledged, as he followed suit.

As Jim approached the front entrance, Nicholas jogged around to the back of the building in search of a way in. He found a set of double doors and tried them, but they were locked. He looked around for a few moments in frustration.

Finally, in a hidden corner, he found a trio of metal pipes leading up to the second floor balcony. This will have to do, he thought.  Yanking them twice to make sure they were secure, Nicholas began to climb upwards, planting his feet against the side of the building for leverage until he reached level ground.

He entered a large room with waist-high wooden partitions. As he was making his way to the front of the building where he was sure Jim would be, he stopped short. There were two different voices coming from the next room. One was definitely Jim’s; the other he did not recognize, but he assumed that it belonged to the man they’d seen with Lydia.

“We know about the necklace, Collier, everything,” Jim was saying.

Quickly but stealthily, Nicholas moved closer to the doorway, which was at the top of a small set of stairs. He sucked in his breath sharply as he noticed that the other man had a gun pointed toward Jim. I’d better think of something fast.

“We?” asked the stranger.

“You don’t think I’m in this alone, do you?” returned Jim with a sideways glance. Where was Nicholas?

“It really doesn’t matter,” the man answered, as he moved his pistol closer and started to fire.

At that same time, Nicholas reached the top of the stairs, grasped the stranger’s right arm and pointed it up in the air. The gun discharged harmlessly as Nicholas shoved the man into a stack of cardboard boxes. The two men wrestled for the gun until finally the stranger dropped it. He kicked
Nicholas to the side with a groan and headed for the back doors.

Nicholas rolled with the kick and landed on his feet, instantly positioning himself between the stranger and the doors. The man lowered his head into Nicholas’ gut, and the two of them broke through the double doors and landed on the concrete rooftop amidst a pile of broken glass. Nicholas freed his left arm and threw an awkward punch, knocking his adversary off him. Both men scrambled to their feet. The stranger kicked Nicholas down again, then reached over and broke off a two-by-four from a nearby bench.

Nicholas got to his feet but immediately had to duck to avoid being hit by the two-by-four. Five times, his adversary swung the board with all his might. Five times, Nicholas ducked out of the way, as momentum carried the two men closer and closer to the rooftop’s edge. On the sixth swing, the
strength with which he wielded his weapon carried the stranger over the thigh-high wall. He went flailing toward the ground with a scream, which was silenced by a sickening thud.

Nicholas rushed to the wall and peered down at the stranger, a pained expression on his face.  Dear God, he thought to himself.  This wasn’t supposed to happen.

The dark-haired agent heard footsteps approaching him. A second later, Jim was at his left side, also looking down.

“Better check him out,” Jim advised.

Nicholas turned toward the doors without saying a word, still upset about what had just taken place, and started toward them at a rapid clip. Jim watched him go for a moment, absently noting that his companion’s normally immaculate appearance was now disheveled, with one side of his shirttail sticking out of his dress slacks, and his hair was mussed. The image hit home; though fighting wasn’t Nicholas’ normal forte, he had acted on pure instinct when he’d seen Jim in trouble.

“Uh, Nicholas?” Jim called out, impulsively, causing his teammate to stop in his tracks and turn around. “Thank you.”

Nicholas nodded, then turned his attention back to his task.

*****
Once everyone was reunited at headquarters, Jim gave the rest of the team the information that Lydia Adem had given him just before she died. Together, they hatched a plan to bring down Captain Hamidou and clear Barney’s name in the process. And now that Barney had had some time to rest, he was ready to play his role.

Jim sent Nicholas and Max to the bar where Hamidou and Barney would be meeting to set up the recording equipment. As they labored side by side, Max couldn’t resist some good-natured fun.

“So, you went a couple of rounds with George Stanton,” the blond agent teased, knowing that such physical altercations were usually reserved for himself or Grant. “Maybe I’m rubbing off on you, pal.”

Nicholas remained quiet as he stood on a stepstool and reached up to install a video camera.  Max, doing likewise in the other corner of the room, noticed the silence and glanced over at his friend.

When Nicholas finished his work and turned to face Max, the troubled expression on the dark-haired agent’s face silenced the chuckle in Max’s throat.

Max walked over to his teammate. “What’s bothering you?” he asked gently.

Nicholas thrust his hands in his pockets, his eyes downcast. There was a lengthy pause before he finally answered.

“Stanton,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean for him to die.”

Max felt a knot come up in his stomach. “I know that,” he assured Nicholas, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “But, Nicholas, you did what you had to do. You saved Jim’s life, and probably your own as well. Think of all the people Stanton killed -- the four men guarding the necklace, the man he shot in the face, and Lydia Adem. He wouldn’t have stopped until he’d killed both of you. And he wouldn’t have played along with anything we could have planned.”

Max paused and squeezed Nicholas’ shoulder, waiting until the shorter man looked up. Then Max’s earnest blue eyes locked with his friend’s dark brown ones. “It was the only way, buddy.”

Nicholas sighed as he slowly recognized the wisdom in Max’s words. “I guess you’re right,” he conceded. Then he broke into a grin, grateful for his friend’s support. “Thanks, Max.”

Max returned his grin and thumped his teammate’s back fondly, then the two men went back to work.

The End.

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