section7mfu | New Girl ch 6

Previously…

"Get out! Go, get out now!" Illya turned as he yelled at the others, extending his hands to them as though to push them through the cave entrance and out to safety. In a matter of seconds after they hit the beach a rumble of noise erupted behind them. The blast was enough to generate a gust of hot air through the opening and push the four agents forward so that they landed face down in the sand. Illya took the brunt of it since he was in the back and now, as the other began to stir, he was lying unconscious.

"Illya…' Napoleon was at his partner's side immediately.

"He's out, but I don't see any blood." April gasped at the thought of what might have been. First Trevor and now Illya; she wasn't sure she could take much more of her friends and colleagues being injured.

Illya moved, grunting as he did so. Finally he opened his eyes to the sight of the other three standing over him and staring.

"I think they might have laid a trap." That made Napoleon laugh.

"I think you might be right Illya. Now, let's get you up and us back to Celia's. You okay to walk?" Illya snorted at the idea of not being okay.

"I am fine. Just … "

But that was all he said.

......................................

Illya was staring at something that made his stomach lurch, a sight that his fellow agents had somehow missed.

"Do you not see what is in front of us?" His voice was deep and solemn sounding, directing the others to what the Russian was looking at.

Napoleon started towards the figure on the beach; a lone body, partially decomposed and surrounded by dead fish. A spear protruded from the body, obviously the cause of death.

"Do you think…?" April hated that it was probably Antonio's father; a victim of THRUSH and whatever diabolical scheme he had discovered.

"It is. This is my father." Antonio was suddenly in their midst, kneeling down beside the body of his dead father. "Papa… " And then he wept.

"Let's get him out of here, we'll ask questions later." Napoleon took Antonio by the shoulders, lifting him up, surprised when the boy turned into him and his grief pour onto the UNCLE agent's chest. April felt her eyes well up with tears, the sight of this almost more than her own emotions could endure.

"I know son, it's a terrible thing and we are all so very sorry. But we need to go now, THRUSH set this trap for us and anyone else who might come looking. We need to get you back to your aunt Celia, and we need to find the people who did this to your father."

Antonio pushed away from Napoleon at that, looking up with a new sense of impending manhood, a determination to right this awful wrong. He would do as Mr. Solo said, but he would be the one to get justice for his Papa.

"Si signore, I understand. But… " Illya understood what was coming next.

"We will make certain that he is buried Antonio. We will not leave him here." At that Antonio nodded his understanding and turned towards his town, over the cliffs and beyond this awful scene.

The next morning found the four agents from UNCLE back in the little cafe from the day before, working on a plan to track down the perpetrators of this murderous plot. Not only were the fishermen being deprived of their livelihoods, a young man was bereft of his father. Napoleon knew that Illya was particularly affected by this situation; his own father had been taken away by Stalin's secret police during the Yezhovshchina, the great purge administered by Nikolai Yezhov. Illya was only five years old when his musician father was torn away from his family, leaving only Illya and his mother. When she was betrayed by a family member, only young Illya remained, and was ushered into the elite echelons of Soviet training after his natural abilities and intellect were determined to be of use to the State and its affairs.**

Illya was sitting with Antonio, possibly sharing a part of his own story. Napoleon couldn't be sure, but the boy was looking at the blond with an intensity that told the American a connection had been made that, in all probability, no one else could have achieved.

April sat with Napoleon and Mark, watching the scene. Trevor was seated alone, his thoughts going back to the night in Paris when he was left for dead. It wasn't supposed to have been like that. When Napoleon happened to look over his shoulder towards the British agent, he noticed another man approach and leave an envelope on the bar, next to where Trevor was seated. The man left, not in a rush, and not without Trevor taking notice and, to Napoleon's surprise, acknowledging him with an almost imperceptible nod. Not everyone would have caught it, but the CEA of UNCLE Northwest had an uncanny ability to read people and situations. He didn't like what he saw, and almost immediately knew that Trevor Dalton was working for the other side in this situation.

He leaned in and whispered in April's ear; she immediately got up and feigned forgetfulness, saying she'd be back as soon as she went back to the hotel to get her … The last few words were unintelligible as she rushed out of the cafe, her eyes on the man who had walked past Trevor. Her assignment was to follow the man and report back on his location. Napoleon was impressed with her quick action; she hadn't asked why, jumping into action and covering her departure with the ease of a seasoned spy.

Illya had seen the strange man as well, took note of Trevor's reaction and of April's quick departure. It was Dalton's turn to act, and he did so without hesitation as he watched Dancer's departure. Of course he'd been caught, it was ridiculous to think he could be safe after that stupid stunt. It was almost as though…

"I give up. I am surrendering to you, I will tell you everything." Dalton knew he'd been set up by THRUSH, that he should never have trusted anyone from that slimy crew to deal honestly with him. He would rather take his chances by confessing than trying to outrun these agents, the odds were against him.

"Blimey, are out of your mind mate? What could have driven you to working for THRUSH?" Mark was outraged to think another Brit would betray them.

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Napoleon and Illya moved in, one on each side of Dalton now as they prepared to escort him to the office of the local polizia. They would interrogate him there and call for transport to a larger UNCLE facility where he would be held until decisions were made regarding his future. A blue American made vehicle was parked outside, a rental that had seen better days but would do for now. They loaded the British spy into the back seat, his hands cuffed behind him.

Trevor was anxious to explain things, to get them to understand why he did it. His story was not that unusual; THRUSH had threatened his family unless he cooperated. Their scheme to poison the waters of the Mediterranean was a ruse to lure certain operatives to this location. The trap that was set for them had been obvious, but there was something else. Something that he needed for them to know about.

"Look Napoleon, I know what I did is wrong. They gave me the parcel and told me to walk through that park in Paris. I had to tell New York about it and ask for support. I didn't expect to be shot and left for dead though, and when I survived it… well, I honestly thought I could just get back to being an UNCLE agent and help you lot solve the puzzle of it. I didn't know they'd murdered Antonio's father, honestly I didn't."

Napoleon was furious at Trevor for the deceit, but when he heard about the threats to the man's family, he could understand how someone might capitulate to the demands made by THRUSH.

"And you are telling us that we were the target? But why?" Illya was still puzzling over it, the tactics of terrorizing a man through threats to his family a familiar theme to the young Soviet. He wasn't ignorant of such things in his homeland, and thought back to his own father's disappearance at the hands of the Secret Police.

Trevor Dalton felt the weight of his actions and knew there would be a price to pay regardless of his reasons for doing the wrong thing. He only hoped that THRUSH wouldn't retaliate against him now, that his family would still be safe.

As though reading his mind, Napoleon assured him now that UNCLE would take care of his family. His mother and father, a younger sister and a grandfather were the objects of the threat. Napoleon called in to Mr. Waverly to report this new development and to ask that a team be sent to the Dalton home immediately and apprised of the threat to their safety.

"So what do we do now? And where is April? She should have returned by now." Illya was aware that Napoleon had set her on the trail of the man who left an envelope full of incriminating cash. THRUSH almost certainly wanted the satisfaction of discrediting a rising star in UNCLE's ranks while they continued to plot the demise of Solo and Kuryakin.

Napoleon looked at his watch. They had moved from the cafe to the police station, leaving Mark behind to wait for April's return. After two hours neither of that team had joined Solo and Kuryakin, nor were they returning a communication asking for their location.

Trevor watched and waited along with Napoleon and Illya. He liked April, admired Mark as a fellow Brit and dedicated UNCLE agent. He didn't want to be the man responsible for…

"I think they might have been taken. The man in charge of this area has people everywhere, and he would have been watching that cafe. That's how the messenger knew to find me there, because I haven't contacted anyone. I really thought they were going to leave me along, that I could put it all behind me without any more damage."

Illya turned on him, his recollection of the grief in Antonio's voice as he spoke of his father.

"Your comrades killed Antonio's father. It's too late to to put things behind you." Napoleon took note of the vehemence in Illya's delivery. He wouldn't want to be on the other end of that.

"I didn't know Illya, I didn't know…' Dalton's voice trailed off, he knew there was no way to shed his responsibility in this wretched affair. "I'm truly sorry."

Napoleon decided to leave Trevor in the custody of the local police while he and Illya went in search of their missing friends. If Trevor was right then April and Mark were just two more pawns in this game of catching him and Illya. No more casualties on his watch, Napoleon was unwilling to sacrifice anyone else.

"Let's go Illya. We have some things to take care of."

They got up to go, but Trevor had one more thing to say.

"Go to Celia's." Napoleon and Illya both turned, quizzical expressions on both of their faces that soon turned to a scowl of disbelief.

"Are you certain?" It was a serious allegation, unthinkable considering her brother-in-law's death at the hands of THRUSH. Dalton nodded, his eyes hooded with the dismay of his circumstance.

"Yes, and be careful. She isn't what you think."

Napoleon and Illya exchanged knowing looks, nodding to Trevor as they left. Was nothing in this affair what it seemed?