section7mfu | Important Things - Short Affair

Prompts – Mugged/White
Word Count (approx.) – 528

So this is it, Napoleon thought to himself, my death has come from the knife of a teenaged mugger.

In hindsight, he realised he shouldn’t have taken the shortcut home, via the side alleys. The restaurant he’d just shared a dinner with Illya in, was only a ten minute walk from his apartment, and he was a highly trained secret agent. He thought he’d be fine.

The Kid had seemingly come from out of nowhere, wielding a knife, and demanding Solo’s watch and wallet. Unfortunately, as he reached into in inside breast pocket, the movement of the jacket allowed a glimpse of the special hidden beneath. Out of sheer panic, the mugger had thrust the blade into Napoleon’s abdomen before running off with his watch.

Falling against the wall, Napoleon slid the ground, with his left hand pressed against the bleeding wound. With his other hand he reached into his pocket for his communicator to call Illya.

“Stabbed,” he gasped when his partner replied. “Mugger.”

Napoleon managed to give his location before the communicator slipped from his grasp. Looking down as it fell, he saw the spreading expanse of blood over his shirt front. Four hours ago, it had been a fresh from the laundry, crisp white garment. Pulling his had away from the stickiness beneath, Napoleon’s attention was taken by the glint of gold shining through the blood. He smiled, and turned his hand over to look at the sapphire inset of his ring. Napoleon suddenly didn’t mind the loss of his watch, or even his life. As long as the ring was still with him then all was right with world.

It had been given to him as a coming of age gift when he’d turned twenty-one. His father had passed to it to him, just as he had received from Napoleon’s grandfather. He was the fourth custodian of the object, and the thought of losing it was one of his greatest fears. Illya had once asked why Napoleon continued to wear it if it held that kind of value, and had been given the enigmatic answer ‘It stops being that kind of value if it isn’t given its true purpose’.

Not yet having a son of his own, Napoleon had put provision in his will for the ring to be given to his nephew, Dashiell, when he came of age. Of course, he would have preferred to pass it down his direct line, but as his life slipped away in the dark alley, he knew it wasn’t to be.

………………………………………………………………………………….

Napoleon awoke to the unmistakable sound of a hospital. Opening his eyes, he found Illya sitting by his bedside.

“This isn’t medical,” he murmured.

Illya looked up from his newspaper with a smile.

“This hospital was closer to you,” he explained. “You’d lost quite a lot of blood and probably wouldn’t have made it all the way to HQ. Would you recognise the mugger, if you saw him?”

Solo shook his head. “I doubt it.”

“You probably won’t get your property back.”

Napoleon smiled as held up his hand to look at his ring.

“The watch can be replaced,” he said. “Some things are priceless.”