Feeling Used - Short Affair - Oct 19th

[jantojones.livejournal.com]

Prompts – Jeopardy/Forest Green
Word Count (approx.) – 385

The assignment had been concluded with the maximum amount of success and the minimum amount of fuss. There had been very little jeopardy, no-one had been endangered, and there had been no fatalities. Even Illya had come out of it unscathed. Yet, as Napoleon toyed with the object in his hand, the fruit of their endeavours, he couldn’t help but feel used.

The top team of U.N.C.L.E. New York were travelling back to headquarters and the silence in the car was palpable. Ordinarily, Illya would be quite happy that his usually chatty partner was being quiet for once, but this time was different. He could feel the disquiet emanating from the American and it didn’t bode well.

“A kopek for your thoughts my friend.”

Napoleon looked across to Illya and held up the object.

“What does this have to do with global security? Tell me that.”

The large emerald glinted in the late evening sunlight. It was more of a forest green than an emerald green, and this is what made it worth quite a lot more than the average. That and the fact it was the size of a golf ball.

“Why did we risk our lives to retrieve this from thieves?”

“You already know the answer,” Illya replied softly. “You just don’t like it, so you’re trying to find some other rationale.”

Napoleon recognised the truth of the Russian’s words. The whole thing came down to politics. The gem had been stolen form the treasury of one of the many countries which had been invited to affiliate itself with U.N.C.L.E. Having the Solo/ Kuryakin team retrieve it was meant to show how highly the country was regarded. Napoleon hated having to jump through hoops to prove themselves. As far as he was concerned, their track record was proof enough.

“Don’t forget,” Illya continued “The L in U.N.C.L.E. stands for law. Sometimes we are nothing more than glorified police officers. Besides, it makes a nice change to do something so straight forward and risk free. Just think of it as keeping our skills honed.”

Napoleon suddenly grinned as his mood lifted.

“You’re a smart Russian sometimes.”

“All the time,” Illya countered.

“You’re right about the assignment,” Solo went on, ignoring Illya’s interjection. “Do you feel like getting some food?”

“All the time,” Illya repeated.
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Comments

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

All the time... that's the motto we've needed ;)

[jantojones.livejournal.com]

You could be right :-)