Old Friends and Old Enemies (Part 1) - Short Affair - August 31st

[jantojones.livejournal.com]

Prompts – Groggy/Orange
Word Count (approx.) – 690


As they were led between the desks in the main office of Locke Electronics, by Fiona Richards, Illya squinted at the glare from the walls.

“Who on Earth thought orange was a good colour for office space?” he complained.

The chosen shade hardly seemed conducive to any sort of concentration and it felt, to him, as though they were walking through a tangerine. Although Waverly agreed with the sentiment, he didn’t say so.

“We aren’t here to critique the décor, Mr Kuryakin.”

Chastised, Illya fell silent. Miss Richards showed the two men into the opulent office of Jacob Locke.

“If you would care to wait in here gentlemen, Mr Locke will be with you presently.”

Mr Waverly made himself comfortable on one of the two black leather armchairs, which were in the middle of the space. Illya made a surreptitious sweep of the office for bugs and cameras. Anyone watching would simply see a man inspecting and admiring the various artworks which were dotted around. He found nothing obvious, but couldn’t risk performing a more comprehensive search.

It was another ten minutes before Locke finally joined them.

“Gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting,” Locke announced as he entered. “The curse of being the boss means you’re always in demand.”

Waverly stood up and held his hand out to Locke.

“I understand perfectly, Jacob,” he stated to the elderly man. “It’s wonderful to see you again my old friend. May I introduce one of my best agents, Illya Kuryakin?”

The Russian moved forward to shake the man’s hand, before moving back again; taking up a protective stance behind his boss.

“Please relax young man,” Locke told him. “Take a seat both of you and I’ll get us all a drink.”

Despite the invite, Illya opted to remain standing. He’d never met Jacob Locke before, but there was something about his demeanour which put him on edge. The man seemed to be hiding something. Waverly sat back down.

“How are Jenny, and young Oliver?” he asked, as he accepted the drink being handed to him. “The boy must be about ten now.”

Locke handed Illya his drink before sitting down opposite Waverly.

“Ollie is twelve,” he corrected, before raising his glass in a toast. “Friends and family.”

The chief and his agent echoed the toast and dutifully took a drink.

“What’s going on Jacob?” Waverly queried. “What has you so afraid that you insisted I come personally?”

Behind Mr Waverly, Illya was becoming alarmed. He was beginning to feel strangely groggy, and was sure he’d just been poisoned. His concern for himself, however, took second place to that of the man he was guarding. Looking to Waverly, the older man appeared to be perfectly fine. Shaking his head as he felt his grip on consciousness slipping away, Illya fumbled his special from its holster, but a numbness in his fingers meant it clattered harmlessly to the floor. Waverly twisted round in time to see the Russian drop to his knees.

“Mr Kuryakin?”

“S . . . Sir, are you . . .?

Illya pitched forward as the darkness took him. The Old Man turned back to his friend, who was pointing a pistol and wearing an expression of absolute terror.

“What is this about, Jacob?” Waverly asked calmly.

“I’m sorry, Alex. They have my family.”

“Who do?”

The door opened to allow the entrance of Victor Marton, followed by three heavily armed guards.

“Good morning, Alexander,” Marton greeted his old enemy. “I’m sorry we had to incapacitate your man, but don’t worry, he’s only sleeping. We will need him later to test a lovely new device, before we use it on you.”

“You will get nothing from me Victor,” Waverly replied. “Better people than you have tried.”

Marton smiled, knowing that Waverly would be powerless against the device. They didn’t really need to test it first, as it already had been. He simply wanted to demonstrate its power to Waverly, and Kuryakin was the ideal demonstration subject. He ordered two of his guards to pick up the unconscious Russian.

“Shall we all repair to the basement?”



To be concluded with tomorrow's picfic.

Comments

[jantojones.livejournal.com]

Thank you :-)
I don't think you'll be disappointed.