"A Fortunate Circumstance"~ for The Great Episode Challenge

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

The Great Episode Challenge

# 2:

In season two’s “The Round Table Affair,” Illya has been detained in the Ingolstein jail for a variety of crimes.  To pass the time, he is reading from the Ingolstein Travel Guide to Linda, a woman in Communications.  At one point she says, “Oh, Mr. Kuryakin, it sounds so romantic!  I wish I were there with you” to which he answers, enthusiastically and without a hint of sarcasm, “So do I, Linda.”  The challenge is: Who is Linda and what is she to Illya?

Title: A fortunate circumstance

Author: mrua7

Rating: Gen

Word count: Approximately 1200

As soon as Illya said it, he knew he’d regret it, especially after the tone of voice he’d used. He realized he might have been a bit too flirtatious.

He was bored reading the the Ingolstein Travel Guide to Linda via communicator as it was just so impersonal at times. It just would have been nice to have company here, that was all. Nothing more than that, really but his intuition told him Linda now thought otherwise as she did use the word 'romantic.' Why did he not pick up on her signals?

Kuryakin brushed it off for the moment until this particular predicament he’d gotten himself into was resolved.

It eventually did, with the embedded members of the mob taken care of. Both he and Solo stayed for the wedding of the Grand Duchess Victoria and Artie King; that was a rather unexpected turn of events, but a satisfactory one, especially for Vicky and Artie.

Returning from Ingolstein; Headquarters in New York was a welcome sight and it was immediately back to business as usual.  After meeting with Mr. Waverly and filing their reports on the affair, it was finally time to call it a day.

Napoleon had somehow managed an impromptu date for himself, not that there wasn’t an endless queue of ladies waiting for the chance to be wined and dined by him. After saluting his farewell, Solo disappeared through the open door. No doubt he would be unavailable for the entire evening, as that was his usual modus operandi.

Remaining in the office, Illya buried his nose in a journal he’d been wanting to read when he was interrupted by the opening of the pneumatic doors.

Without looking up to see who it was, he spoke. “Did you forget something Napoleon?”

“Eeeeel-yaaa.” It was Linda from Communications.

”Oh boy...” Illya instantly recalled his last conversation with her, which until that exact moment had completely slipped his mind.

“So you’re all alone again, poor thing. Want some company?” She purred, obviously remembering his words uttered to her while he was in the jail  in Liechtenstein.

“Actually umm, now  is not a good time.”

“What do you mean it’s not a good time? All you wanted was for you to be alone with me?” The tonal quality of her voice changed completely, becoming more nasal, higher in pitch and irritating, like fingernails being scraped across a chalkboard. Listening to her made him remember exactly why he'd regretted flirting with her...that voice. It only became like that if she was annoyed, and right now she was, maybe just a little too annoyed.

Illya swallowed hard, not sure what else to say. He didn't want to set her off any further.

The doors opened again giving a momentary distraction, and standing there was Solo.

Thinking fast now, Illya blurted out,“Yes, umm...Napoleon and I have to go on assignment. Is that not right?” He flashed his baby blues at his partner, filled with a definite ‘begging and pleading’ look, hoping he’d get the hint.

“Well, ahem,” the American paused.”About that assignment. It’s been delayed.”

If looks could kill, Kuryakin’s would have burned his partner to a crisp as if he'd used a fiery red laser beam.

“Oh good, Illya,” Linda squealed,”That means we get that time alone after all.”

“Napoleon...please?” The desperation in Illya’s voice was evident, though Linda seemed oblivious to it.

“Yes errrm, sorry Linda but we do have an assignment. Our departure has only been delayed for a few minutes while they get a car ready for us in the motorpool. So perhaps another time?” Solo took her by the shoulders, turning her around and escorted to and through the doors, letting them close closed behind her with a soft ‘whoosh.’

A second later they reopened with Linda facing Napoleon a raised finger pointed upwards, looking as though she were going to say something.

“Good bye Linda,” he hit a button, deliberately shutting the doors on her.

“Thank you Napoleon,” Illya sighed with relief.

“So going to tell me what that was all about? I mean you seriously aren’t  turning down a lovely lady like that are you?”

“She is not really my type. It is a long story, but suffice to say I have learned my lesson when chatting with a tech while being locked in a jail cell. The nuances of verbal interactions become somewhat blurred while using a communications device, as opposed to speaking with someone in person.”

“Oh I get it. She misread your umm...signals." Napoleon though that was quite a clever remark, though his partner paid it no mind. Usually there would be some sort of remard about bad puns or some such. He shrugged, figuring you can't beat a guy for trying. "So come on let’s go IK.”

Illya quirked his head to one side. “Go where?”

“Didn’t I say we had an assignment?”

“You were not just following my lead?”

“No, now let’s get going," Solo looked at his watch. "The car should be ready. I’ll brief you on the way down to the garage.”

“So you did not come to my rescue then.”

“No I guess not, but it did work out, didn’t it?”

Illya failed to respond as he was trying to puzzle out the conundrum in his head.  Napoleon didn’t rescue him but in reality he did, though not intentionally, but he did...but he didn’t. The crux of that problem was that there was a contradiction. Logically he should be able to find a definitive answer but where was the logic in this case?

“I can practically see the wheels turning in that blond head of yours. You’re trying to figure something out Illya aren’t you?”

Before Kuryakin could answer, Napoleon spoke again.

“Please drop it for now. We have an assignment to attend to,” he turned to his partner, running his finger along Illya’s lapel.

“Just as a reminder if you end up in a jail cell again, don’t chat up Linda or anyone else of the female persuasion for that matter...just to be on the safe side? That is unless it’s someone you want to flirt with of course.” That last thought made Solo grin.

“I think I got that already.” Illya peeked out into the corridor, making sure the coast was clear.