The Fortune (S1E12): 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.  🙂

*****

The three younger men, along with Shannon, waited in the yellow and white tractor trailer that served as team headquarters. Jim had left at the crack of dawn that morning, without mentioning where he was headed. They all assumed he was going to pick up Casey, who had been sent early to watch the Berezans and was supposed to be joining them there.

But when Jim returned, he was alone.

Nicholas looked up when he heard the trailer doors opening. Instantly, the perceptive agent noted the haunted look in Jim’s eyes. His stomach lurched.

“What is it, Jim?” he asked worriedly, causing the others to immediately turn their attention to the team leader. 

Jim sighed heavily and looked toward his four companions, meeting each of their eyes in succession. “I’m afraid I have some bad news,” he said quietly. “Casey’s dead.”

For a long moment, the room was completely silent as the information sunk in. Nicholas was the first to speak.

“Oh, Jim, she can’t be dead.” The dark-haired agent rose to his feet and thrust his hands in his pockets, the pain in his voice almost palpable.

“I just identified the body, Nicholas. It was Casey.” Jim’s blue eyes locked with his teammate’s brown ones. There was no chance he was mistaken.

“I can’t believe it,” Grant said sadly, his eyes downcast, as Jim walked by him. “How?”

“Berezan! It must have been Berezan!” exclaimed Nicholas.

“We don’t know that yet,” Jim reminded them, arms clasped behind his back, as he paused in front of Max and turned around to face the dark-haired agent.

“It had to be,” reasoned Shannon. “She was keeping them under surveillance.”

Jim looked at Shannon resolutely. “Yes, she was. She started this job, and we’re going to finish it, and when-“

“I’m sorry, Jim, I just can’t do it,” Max interrupted suddenly, shaking his head. Surprised, Jim turned to look at the young agent. “I can’t play my part.”

The team leader took a deep breath and chose his words carefully. “You can, Max, and you will,” he countered, his tone authoritative but gentle, as Max shook his head again and looked downward. “We all cared about Casey, but you’re the only one who will be able to move freely about that house.”

Max looked up, meeting Jim’s eyes, as he continued. “You’re the only one who will have access to the upstairs.”

Grant stood up and walked over to where Max was sitting, with Nicholas a step behind. “And that could be the only way that we can find out if they did kill her,” the Black agent said pleadingly, his eyes moist, “and prove that they’re guilty.”

Max scoffed. “What are you talking about?” he demanded, slapping his thighs with his hands.

“When I was on the Berezans’ roof, I saw…” Grant paused to take a breath, as he glanced toward Nicholas. “…video cameras, infrared cameras that cover every inch of those grounds. Now I think it’s likely that they record everything that goes on in that compound.”

“Yeah, so?” said Max angrily.

“So, perhaps they recorded what happened to Casey,” finished Jim.

“It’s a long shot,” admitted Grant, “but it could be the only evidence we’ll get.”

Jim turned his gaze toward their troubled team member. His three companions followed suit, wordlessly pleading that he would understand how invaluable his cooperation would be.

“So you want the tapes,” the blond agent mused, his eyes still downcast. Then he looked up at at Jim. “All right,” he conceded. “I’ll get the tapes.”

“I know how you all feel,” Jim assured them. “She was like a daughter to me.” Then the team leader’s eyes darkened. “We will nail whoever did this,” he vowed, his lips drawn into a thin line. “That’s a promise.”

*****

For Max, the air inside the trailer had suddenly become stifling. He felt as if his breath were going to shut off in his chest. He had to get out of there.

The others didn’t seem to notice his departure. Grant had located a videocassette player and was about to rig it to strip off layers of tape and reveal what was hiding underneath them. Jim and Shannon turned their attention back to editing the script that Nicholas would be using for his speech as Luis Berezan.

Nicholas, distracted momentarily by his own thoughts about Casey, snapped back to reality just in time to see his blond teammate slip quietly through the open trailer door. Once again, his stomach lurched with worry.

Nicholas still didn’t know much about the younger agent; since they played such different roles within the team, they had only worked closely together a handful of times. He knew Max was very protective of all of them — and had been especially so with Casey. And while Max was often jovial and funny, there were times when he would turn serious and brooding. As an actor adept at reading people, Nicholas knew that there was something lurking just beneath Max’s tough exterior that Casey’s death had brought to the surface. And Nicholas couldn’t let it rest until he found out what it was.

Wordlessly, Nicholas walked toward the still-open trailer door and slipped through it. He turned around and reached up to pull the door closed behind him. If the others noticed his actions, they showed no sign.

It didn’t take Nicholas long to find his friend. Max was sitting up against a large oak tree near the white picket fence, a few yards from the trailer. His knees were drawn up against his chest and his arms were crossed, his head downcast and resting upon them.

As he approached the blond agent, Nicholas hardly dared to breathe for fear of disturbing the heavy silence hanging in the air. But even as he drew closer, Max did not look up.

“Max,” Nicholas whispered.

“What do you want, Nicholas?” Max snapped.

Nicholas ignored his friend’s biting tone, knowing that the harshness wasn’t intended for him. “I just came to see if you were okay,” he said tentatively.

Max looked up for a brief moment and glared at Nicholas. “Fine,” he growled, then he put his head back down again.

Nicholas sat down on the ground beside his friend. “That’s not how it looks from here,” he disagreed softly.

“Look, Nicholas, I don’t feel like talking right now,” Max muttered. In that moment, he just wanted everyone to leave him alone — even Nicholas. His entire body tensed as he started to stand up.

But Nicholas clapped a gentle yet restraining hand on Max’s shoulder. “Max, wait.”

“Let me go.”

“Just hear me out, okay?”

Nicholas’ plea hung in the air for a long moment. At last, Max sighed heavily, and his muscles relaxed slightly.

“I know you’re hurting,” the dark-haired agent said gently, “but you don’t have to go through this alone. Casey was special to all of us. But we are not just a team, Max. We’re friends. And we can help each other through this.”

Max didn’t respond at first , and Nicholas gripped his shoulder a little tighter. “Please, Max,” he urged, “don’t shut us out.”

Max met his friend’s gaze. “I’m not trying to,” he promised, his voice barely audible. “I’m just used to being alone.”

“What do you mean?” Nicholas asked carefully.

Max sighed again and looked down at his hands. It was several seconds before he spoke again. “I’ve been on my own since I was seventeen,” he admitted. “My parents both died. It was just me and my big brother.”

Nicholas knew about the rescue mission that had brought young Max to the attention of the IMF; surely, he speculated, this was the brother he was speaking of.

“Then he went to Vietnam,” Nicholas guessed. Max nodded slowly in confirmation. “And was captured.” Max nodded again.

“I fought like hell to bring him home,” the blond agent recalled. “He was all I had. But then he died, too.”

“I’m so sorry, Max.” Nicholas winced at how trite the words sounded. He hadn’t realized that Max’s brother was gone, or that the loss had left Max with no surviving family.

“Then I got busy doing missions. And I forgot how much it hurt to lose someone.”

“But this brought it all back,” Nicholas deduced.

“Not only that,” Max countered, “but Jim wants me to get… close…” He shuddered slightly at the word. “…to the woman who killed her.” Max turned slightly to face his teammate, whose hand was still resting on the blond’s shoulder. His blue eyes were troubled. “I don’t know if I can do that, Nicholas,” he admitted. “It feels…wrong. Like I’m betraying Casey.”

Nicholas squeezed Max’s shoulder firmly. “You’re not betraying her, Max,” he said reassuringly. “You’re just playing a part. It’s not who you really are.”

Max didn’t look convinced, but Nicholas continued on. “Back when I was doing theater, I played a lot of roles that didn’t suit who I was, and I did things that I otherwise would have never done. I had to learn to set my personal feelings aside and focus on the ultimate goal.”

“Which, in this case, is bringing Berezan to justice,” Max finished after a pause, slowly realizing the wisdom of his friend’s words. “Not just for stealing from the people of Alcante, but for stealing Casey’s life.”

Nicholas nodded. “Max,” he said gently, “Casey would want you to do this.”

Max thought about this for a moment. “Yeah. I think she would,” he finally agreed, “but I’m not sure if I can.”

“It won’t be easy, Max,” Nicholas said honestly, “but I know you can do it. Just keep reminding yourself that you’re doing it for Casey.”

The thought settled in Max’s heart, soothing it like a warm drink on a frosty day. Yes, he realized, he could do this. “For Casey,” he repeated.

Nicholas saw a hint of sparkle come back into his friend’s blue eyes, and he broke into a warm smile. Max returned his smile, and reached out a hand to pat Nicholas’ shoulder affectionately. “Thanks for the talk, Nicholas. It really did help.”

Max was half-expecting an “I told you so,” but that wasn’t Nicholas’ way. “I’m glad,” he said instead, sincerely. A beat, and then he added, “If you need me, or any of us…”

“Thanks, buddy, but I think I’ll be all right now,” Max assured him, with a renewed sense of determination, as he got to his feet. “Let’s go back inside with the others, shall we?”

Nicholas smiled again as Max lent him a hand. Then Max slung an arm around the shorter man, thumping his shoulder fondly as they made their way back to the trailer.

*****

The time for grief and introspection was over, at least for the moment. It was time to put the plan into action, which meant that Max had to rush off to the docks. To be there when Emilia Berezan emerged from her shopping trip. To rescue the woman he was sure was Casey’s killer, once Shannon threw the explosives at the pier, and earn himself an invitation to the Berezan compound.

To stand there in Berezan’s pool, with his arms wrapped around her body, looking into her eyes, smiling at her and feigning attraction, when all he wanted to do was shove her head under the water and hold it there until she stopped struggling. More than once, Max felt his stomach churn and the bile rising up in his throat. But he held on to Nicholas’ words playing in his head — “You’re doing it for Casey.” — and they helped him to push through the discomfort and do what he had to do.

From his position inside the Berezan mansion, Max watched the television van drive up into the compound. Grant hopped out of it and began to unload a myriad of fancy-looking electronic equipment. Presently, he heard Grant talking to the guard who was watching the cameras in the security room.

“Now, the old guy in the military uniform said you’d help me bring some equipment in? You want to get a move on?”

The guard took one last look at the cameras, put down his newspaper, and left to join Grant outside. Then Max emerged from the room across the hall. Quickly, his eyes scanned the security equipment until he found what he was looking for.

Grant was outside the van, still barking orders about where he wanted Berezan’s employees to put the equipment. Max came walking around the corner.

“Hey,” he greeted. “Pretty expensive looking equipment there.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Grant responded, as the two men walked around the van and out of sight of the others.

Max reached into his button-up plaid shirt and extracted a black video tape with a yellow label. “It was the only tape in the room,” he advised. “It’s got to be the one.”

“What about his financial records?”

“All on computer, up in his room.”

Max handed the tape to Grant, and the blond clasped Grant’s hand in both of his. Then Max kept walking, and Grant shoved the tape into his suit jacket before opening the van’s side door and disappearing within.

*****

By the time Luis Berezan’s driver returned to the family estate, Nicholas had already removed his mask. When the driver opened the back door of the limousine, he was shocked to discover that the man staring back at him was not Luis Berezan at all.

“Thanks for the lift,” the dark-haired agent said brightly, in his own voice. He got out of the car effortlessly, leaving the forearm crutches behind. The driver stared at him, open-mouthed, for a long moment, until the arrival of multiple carloads of FBI agents caught his eye.

Nicholas utilized the opportunity to make his escape. He spotted the team’s black sedan just to the left of the Berezans’ driveway and jogged toward it.

The driver’s side door was open and Max was standing there, watching for him, arms crossed and propped atop the driver’s side window, thinking about the events that had taken place in the last hour. It had taken Grant longer than anticipated to hack into the former leader’s financial records, and the blond agent had been a nervous wreck, listening to Nicholas stall for time while the taped speech played on. As worried as he’d been that they wouldn’t be able to get the resources transferred in time, he’d been just as worried that the dark-haired agent’s cover would be blown — perhaps sending him to the same fate as Casey. Max found himself sighing in relief as his teammate approached them, without any sign of trouble from Berezan’s guards.

“We got her?” Nicholas asked as he came within earshot, assuming such by the FBI’s presence but needing to hear confirmation.

“We got her,” Max assured him, satisfaction mingling with the relief in his voice, as his lips curled into a sideways grin.

“Good work, Max,” the dark-haired agent smiled, reaching out to shake his teammate’s hand, knowing Max’s work had been instrumental to their success. “Casey would be so proud of you.”

“Of all of us,” Max clarified, returning the handshake and placing his left hand on Nicholas’ for emphasis. “Let’s go home, buddy.”

Then Nicholas climbed into the backseat next to Grant and Shannon, as Max took the wheel beside Jim and headed for the airport.

The End.

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