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section7mfu2016-04-04 08:03 am
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"Walk the Wire" [Abridged] (Short Affair Challenge 4/4)
Short Affair 4/4
Prompt: Consume
Color: White
Title: Walk the Wire (Abridged edition)
Author: Rose of Pollux
Word Count: 720
(This is only the first scene of what became a full-fledged fic inspired by the A-Team episode "The Say UNCLE Affair"--the full version on AO3 is, in fact, a crossover comparing the two sets of partners, and the version on ff.net is just the other Napoleon and Illya scenes.
This particular scene is based on S2's "The Virtue Affair")
Illya Kuryakin was quieter than usual after their dealings with Robespierre. The Russian was refusing to meet his partner’s eye on the flight back to New York as he sat there, still in his failed disguise—the white suit and glasses. Illya’s face was deadpan as usual, but only Napoleon knew him well enough to see through his default expression and into the true emotions behind his eyes—and right now, Illya could feel his bottled-up guilt threatening to consume him and hoped that it didn’t reflect too much in his eyes. Napoleon had only narrowly stopped Robespierre’s plan and had succeeded in saving the vineyards, but Illya knew that if he had just destroyed that last, vital missile part when he’d had the chance to do so, they wouldn’t have had to cut it so close—in more ways than one, Illya silently thought, massaging his neck as he suppressed a shudder.
“Illya?” Napoleon asked.
Startled, the Russian looked to the American; his heart gave a slight twinge to see the look of concern on his partner’s face.
“I will be fine, Napoleon,” Illya promised, but then he paused. There was hardly any conviction in his voice.
Napoleon’s expression clearly showed that he wasn’t buying it, and Illya knew that he would have to either come up with something convincing, or come clean.
“You know, Illya—” Napoleon began, but Illya cut him off.
“Napoleon, there is something you need to know as Chief Enforcement Agent,” Illya confessed. “I had a chance to destroy that last part of the missile, but I did not; I threw the mission, Napoleon. He twisted my arm, metaphorically speaking, and I gave it back to him. Because of that, the vineyards were almost destroyed—they would have been if you had not managed to rectify my inexcusable blunder.”
He looked away, unable to look his partner in the eye. He was determined not to reveal the reason why he had thrown the mission. Napoleon would be biased to go easy on him already as his partner; if he found out it had been to save his life, he would go even easier on him. Illya’s intentions had been noble, but he had broken protocol; as field agents, he knew they were expendable, and the success of the mission came first. Furthermore, he had disobeyed a direct order from Waverly to return to headquarters.
“Illya—”
“Napoleon, please… Do not show me any preferential treatment. Treat me as you would anyone else in Section II who had broken protocol.”
“For anyone in Section II, I would go over their service record,” Napoleon said. “Yours is exemplary. You always provide results, Illya, even if you sometimes deviate from protocol. And while it is true that you disobeyed orders and broke protocol, you did so to save the life of a fellow agent.”
Illya froze and looked back to Napoleon.
“How…?”
“Le Mademoiselle Professor told me everything,” Napoleon said, with a smirk. “And I’d called in to Mr. Waverly just before we got on the plane.”
“…Then…”
“Mr. Waverly has left me with the decision of what action to take.”
“And?”
“And I already know your service record very well, so there’s no reason for me to look that up. Taking that into consideration, as well as your intent, I think an unofficial reprimand will be enough.”
Illya exhaled.
“I do not know whether to be relieved or exasperated,” he said. “Napoleon, do you understand that I nearly allowed the vineyards to go up in flames!? So many people could have suffered…!”
“Making this call wasn’t easy for me, Illya. Fortunately, I was able to cover for you and stop that from happening, so there was no lasting harm done. And of course, my self-preservation instinct can’t exactly blame you for what you did. And making this decision would’ve been difficult even if it hadn’t been my hide you’d saved.” He sighed and glanced at his partner. “Thank you, by the way.”
Illya looked him straight in the eyes now.
“What frightens me most is that I would do it again—without a moment’s hesitation,” he confessed.
“…So would I,” Napoleon admitted.
Illya blinked in surprise, but nodded and then sighed again as the guilt continued to gnaw at him. Theirs was a complex and agonizing profession—one that would never get any easier.
(Continued on FFN or AO3)
Prompt: Consume
Color: White
Title: Walk the Wire (Abridged edition)
Author: Rose of Pollux
Word Count: 720
(This is only the first scene of what became a full-fledged fic inspired by the A-Team episode "The Say UNCLE Affair"--the full version on AO3 is, in fact, a crossover comparing the two sets of partners, and the version on ff.net is just the other Napoleon and Illya scenes.
This particular scene is based on S2's "The Virtue Affair")
Illya Kuryakin was quieter than usual after their dealings with Robespierre. The Russian was refusing to meet his partner’s eye on the flight back to New York as he sat there, still in his failed disguise—the white suit and glasses. Illya’s face was deadpan as usual, but only Napoleon knew him well enough to see through his default expression and into the true emotions behind his eyes—and right now, Illya could feel his bottled-up guilt threatening to consume him and hoped that it didn’t reflect too much in his eyes. Napoleon had only narrowly stopped Robespierre’s plan and had succeeded in saving the vineyards, but Illya knew that if he had just destroyed that last, vital missile part when he’d had the chance to do so, they wouldn’t have had to cut it so close—in more ways than one, Illya silently thought, massaging his neck as he suppressed a shudder.
“Illya?” Napoleon asked.
Startled, the Russian looked to the American; his heart gave a slight twinge to see the look of concern on his partner’s face.
“I will be fine, Napoleon,” Illya promised, but then he paused. There was hardly any conviction in his voice.
Napoleon’s expression clearly showed that he wasn’t buying it, and Illya knew that he would have to either come up with something convincing, or come clean.
“You know, Illya—” Napoleon began, but Illya cut him off.
“Napoleon, there is something you need to know as Chief Enforcement Agent,” Illya confessed. “I had a chance to destroy that last part of the missile, but I did not; I threw the mission, Napoleon. He twisted my arm, metaphorically speaking, and I gave it back to him. Because of that, the vineyards were almost destroyed—they would have been if you had not managed to rectify my inexcusable blunder.”
He looked away, unable to look his partner in the eye. He was determined not to reveal the reason why he had thrown the mission. Napoleon would be biased to go easy on him already as his partner; if he found out it had been to save his life, he would go even easier on him. Illya’s intentions had been noble, but he had broken protocol; as field agents, he knew they were expendable, and the success of the mission came first. Furthermore, he had disobeyed a direct order from Waverly to return to headquarters.
“Illya—”
“Napoleon, please… Do not show me any preferential treatment. Treat me as you would anyone else in Section II who had broken protocol.”
“For anyone in Section II, I would go over their service record,” Napoleon said. “Yours is exemplary. You always provide results, Illya, even if you sometimes deviate from protocol. And while it is true that you disobeyed orders and broke protocol, you did so to save the life of a fellow agent.”
Illya froze and looked back to Napoleon.
“How…?”
“Le Mademoiselle Professor told me everything,” Napoleon said, with a smirk. “And I’d called in to Mr. Waverly just before we got on the plane.”
“…Then…”
“Mr. Waverly has left me with the decision of what action to take.”
“And?”
“And I already know your service record very well, so there’s no reason for me to look that up. Taking that into consideration, as well as your intent, I think an unofficial reprimand will be enough.”
Illya exhaled.
“I do not know whether to be relieved or exasperated,” he said. “Napoleon, do you understand that I nearly allowed the vineyards to go up in flames!? So many people could have suffered…!”
“Making this call wasn’t easy for me, Illya. Fortunately, I was able to cover for you and stop that from happening, so there was no lasting harm done. And of course, my self-preservation instinct can’t exactly blame you for what you did. And making this decision would’ve been difficult even if it hadn’t been my hide you’d saved.” He sighed and glanced at his partner. “Thank you, by the way.”
Illya looked him straight in the eyes now.
“What frightens me most is that I would do it again—without a moment’s hesitation,” he confessed.
“…So would I,” Napoleon admitted.
Illya blinked in surprise, but nodded and then sighed again as the guilt continued to gnaw at him. Theirs was a complex and agonizing profession—one that would never get any easier.
(Continued on FFN or AO3)