Chapter Text
YOU ARE DUNN
“It knows who I am!”
Benji stares at the letters in front of him. He feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest. Normally this is Ethan’s job. Normally Ethan would deal with the death threat and he and Luther figure out how to get the key. Now he is responsible for every life in the airport above him faced with an impossible riddle to solve. No one knows, not even Ethan, that every life around them is dependent on a small guy from England. How did he ever end up here?
The display on the bomb flickers.
WHAT FLIES BUT HAS NOW WINGS?
Benji reads it out loud.
“I think it is voice activated, I need to say the answer!”
“Time! The answer is time!”, Luther exclaims before going back to talking with Ethan.
Benji gives the answer and the first digit of the twist lock starts to turn.
ARE YOU AFRAID TO DIE?
“What type of riddle is that?”
Benji’s mind is racing but he can’t find the twist in the question.
“That isn’t a riddle. It’s a data harvest. This thing is trying to analyze you. You have to answer! Just say what’s true!”
“Am I afraid to die? No!”
They display blinks a red cross at him and the letter remains unmoved.
“Did it work?”, Luther asks.
“I lied, it knew I lied.”
Shit. That’s impossible! If he can’t lie but is still forced to answer, what’s the point? Is this just torture, forcing him to admit the truth? Benji turns back to the bomb.
“Yes! Yes I’m afraid to die!”
The twist lock turns again.
The next few questions are riddles again and they can solve them without a big issue. Luther even asks Ethan for an answer but thankfully he is too preoccupied with finding the key and its buyer that he doesn’t seem to question it.
WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT MOST IN YOUR LIFE?
“My friends.”
Green light.
DO YOU HAVE A FAMILY?
“I- I don’t,” Benji admits. It hurts, his parents both died a while ago and he never had any siblings.
“Why does it ask these questions?”, he cries out in frustration.
“I hate to tell you this but it is trying to find a weak point. It probably knows you have no family left but is trying to verify the information. If you secretly had someone left and admitted it, the entity would now have an advantage against you.”
“Fuck!”
The time is ticking down and there is still one question left.
TELL ME YOUR BIGGEST SECRET
“No.”
“What does it say, Benji?”
Luther's voice echoes through Benji’s earpiece. He barely hears it.
“Benji, you don’t have enough time, what does the display say?!”
“I need to tell it my biggest secret,” Benji mumbles.
He doesn’t even know what his biggest secret is. Living your life like this, you can barely keep track of all the lies you’ve told.
“I don’t- I don’t know…”
“What would you not want anyone to know? Something you never told Ethan or Ilsa or me, that you feel embarrassed about? C’mon Benji, there is no time!”
What would he not want anyone to know? His biggest secret, the thing that keeps him up at night…
40 seconds, 39, 38, 37.
“I killed someone!”
Benji hears his voice crack.
“That’s why the IMF recruited me. It was either work for them or go to prison. I killed someone in my civilian life!”
There is only static in his earpiece, Luther has fallen quiet. Benji feels the burning pain of being pried open, judged. His biggest secret that he never wanted anyone to know.
The display blinks with a big red cross.
I KNEW THAT AS SOON AS I KNEW YOUR NAME. IT IS IN YOUR IMF FILES, BENJAMIN. I WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING NO ONE ELSE KNOWS. SOMETHING YOU HAVE NEVER SAID OUT LOUD, SOMETHING NO OTHER HUMAN HAS EVER KNOWN ABOUT YOU
15, 14, 13
“Shit! Shit shit shit!”
Benji’s heart is racing. He has no time, he can’t go back. He is going to die, Ethan is going to die and Luther and every innocent person in this airport.
He feels his eyes watering as he stares the display. He doesn’t know what to do, he feels helpless.
His biggest secret, something he never said out loud.
His secret.
His time is running out.
5, 4, 3
“I’m in love with Ethan!”
The display stops at 2 seconds to go, the last lock twists into place and it seems to take forever until the bomb hisses and opens up.
“It’s empty”, Benji whispers into his comm. “There is no bomb.”
Luther is quiet for a long moment before he speaks.
“Benji, I’m sorry.”
Because he knows. The entity got what it wanted.
It knows almost everything about anyone. It obviously read Benji’s files. But something no one knows? A big secret like that? That can be used. It can manipulate Benji now. It found the weak spot. Every data point, every information about them is something the entity can use. It can calculate the future better, it can analyze the players in this big game. And Benji just gifted his own biggest failure on a silver plate.
“Fuck!”, Benji screams. He is deflated, alone in a warehouse surrounded by packages of passengers who will never know what happened here.
Maybe Benji should leave. Maybe he is too big of a risk to continue this mission. He almost feels like a double agent. If he joined Ethan without telling him this happened, without Ethan knowing Benji is a security risk for them, he feels like he would help the entity more than bring anything helpful to the group.
“Benji, Luther?”, Ethan’s voice pulls Benji out of his thoughts, “Run! Get away!”
“Where will we meet?”, Luther asks through the comm.
“Nowhere. This mission is canceled! Get away as quickly as you can!”
Benji has no time to think, he grabs his bag and runs to the gate where his getaway plane is about to leave. He shows the ticket they bought as backup for situations like this and finally comes to a stop in the airplane.
He is done.
His earpiece is dead, Ethan has disappeared once again and Luther is on his way to the opposite end of the world.
He knows this story isn’t over. Ethan will find a way to keep fighting, he always does. But there is a feeling of finality that settles into his chest.
He loves Ethan.
He has been in love with him for years.
But he had never thought, even for a second, that he would ever face this fact. He ignores it, buries it, plays it down. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
He can watch Ilsa and Ethan together, he can see the way they look at each other. He can listen to her asking Ethan to run away together and see that he is considering it.
In the end, Ethan is going to save him. He is going to risk his life to get Benji back from Lane. He is going to trust Benji with saving his life. And really, that’s all he’ll ever ask for.
He looks down, the ticket says he'll land in Prague. It's a beautiful city, Benji has no problem with that. He'll find Luther and eventually Ethan. Because this isn't over, it never is. Ethan will find a way. And Benji will have to think about his own choices. Ethan is going to need their help but at some point in the future, Benji will be more danger than help. And he'll have to leave, he will be used, he might die.
Even knowing that can't keep him away though. Until that moment comes, he will do his best.