Song Story - Hide And Seek

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

It was not my intention to do so, but I seem to have a WIP on my hands.  I'll try to keep at it daily... maybe even just finish it off.
:::::::::::::

Prompt: A Little Hope

I think the general idea of the song is here, but admittedly, I've wandered a bit.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

April Dancer was tough, and she did her job like the professional she was.  But she also cared about what she did and how it affected people, the world.

Mark Slate was silent, his reflections on this latest affair best kept to himself.  He and April had done everything they were assigned, contacted the people in the dossier whose lives were being threatened by THRUSH.

“We were too late Mark, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get over that.  We weren’t given enough time or information.”  The emotion of losing people never lessened, no matter how long an enforcement agent sought to distance him or herself from caring.

“April luv, we did everything right…” She held up her hand to stop him.

“We failed Mark.  Two people are dead because we didn’t reach them in time to stop a THRUSH assassin from doing his job.  He succeeded and we failed.”  The last few were words were tangled in a sob that soon erupted into a flow of tears.  Mark held April as tightly as he could, hoping to quell the emotional outburst with as much comfort as his embrace could produce.

Two hours later found the pair of agents on board a flight heading back to New York.  Napoleon Solo was onboard the plane as well, his own participation in the failed mission another ingredient in the general malaise among them.  What had gone wrong would remain a topic of discussion when they all gathered at Waverly’s round table.  In the end, the fault would be found in the initial report, all of which ended up in the dossier to which the agents referred in the formulation of their attempted rescue.  Even with better information, the mission seemed to have been doomed from the start; it offered little in the way of consolation to the team of Dancer and Slate, whose efforts had been met with the sight of the two men laying dead, the result of sniper bullets.

There were five people seated in Waverly’s office as the discussion turned to the apprehension of this THRUSH assassin who was terrorizing the people in pursuit of world peace.  The altruism of such a movement was indicative of the decade, and several pursuits included recognized intellectuals, writers and politicians.  The number of them being targeted by THRUSH seemed to be on the increase.

“Do we know who the assassin is?  He was able to take out the victims from a very great distance, and there was nothing close by to offer cover.” Napoleon was going to make it a personal endeavor to catch whoever it was that THRUSH was using to take out specific targets among some of the world’s emerging voices for peace.

Waverly puffed on a pipe, paused as the smoke circled above his head.

“We are gathering information, listening to the whispers about a person with no morality, no conscience… ‘ he looked around at his agents, settling in on the Russian as he considered what would come next.

“The most recent information on this person is that he is, ahh… a Ukrainian national who communicates only through written correspondence.  There are no photographs, he has apparently, ahh… executed anyone who is an eyewitness to his, hmpphh… work.”

The room shifted uncomfortably, all eyes trying to avoiding but ending up looking at Illya Kuryakin.  The situation seemed to be unfolding.

“Sir, I am going to assume that I have a part to play in the capture of this individual.” Illya had no doubt about it, he would certainly be posing as this person in an attempt to draw him out.

“Yes indeed Mister Kuryakin, you are integral to the capture of this assassin.  The only account we have of him is that he bears some resemblance to you, and … ahhh, let me see…’  Waverly sorted through a file as the others waited.

“Oh yes, here it is… hmmm… ahh yes.  It has been reported that the assassin is medium height, light colored hair and…slender.”  He looked up at Illya, scrutinizing the man against the meager description.

“I am afraid you will be making the rest of this up according to your own discretion.  The man must be apprehended before he can strike again. THRUSH is after the soul of the peace movement, and it cannot succeed.”

Illya cut his eyes to get a glimpse of Napoleon’s response.  April’s breath caught as she considered the danger that Illya would be in, and wondered if there was any hope of him not being another victim.

“I understand sir.  Should I assume that this mission will be headquartered in Europe?” Illya knew that it was likely, and he also understood that he would have this entourage of support.  The beginnings of a plan were already in his mind.

“You and the others…’ The bushy eyebrows rose nearly to the Old Man’s hairline as he emphasized the inclusion of everyone at the table.

“… all of you have plane tickets waiting, hotel accommodations generally in order.  Nothing too conspicuous, mind you.  Be circumspect in your public appearances, this individual we seek is secretive and stealth in his affairs.  Find him, deal with him as you must.”

Everyone understood what that meant.

Comments

[gevr.livejournal.com]

For a minute you got me thinking Illya was the sniper, through some diabolical machinations from Thrush. But it is even worse : you're making him a stand-in for the sniper :-)

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to know there was some suspense, thank you.

[jantojones.livejournal.com]

Excellent, and chilling, beginning.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Ah, chilling... something to live up to ;)

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

You're right; you do seem to have a work in progress. Great start, too. I like that you included Dancer and Slate, too. We tend not to focus on them often. Thanks for participating in the Song Story Challenge!

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was not my intention, but I didn't have time to finish what I started. I'll hopefully be able to sit down and write it all at once.
'

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

A promising start! I look forward to reading what comes next.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm going to get to the rest of the story as soon as I can carve out time for writing. Soon.