The Index of Chapters is below. You can find the Epilogue to this grand adventure at the bottom of the page...

It Ain't Over Til It's Over...

The round table was populated once more by the top agents of the Western World, and of course, their Chief. Alexander Waverly could have done without this latest escapade landing squarely in the middle of his Christmas holiday. His wife was highly annoyed by the entire episode, him being out late and vexed by yet another encounter with inexplicably difficult people.

As for the Old Man, he felt satisfied that now, after several grueling days of dealing with the Claibornes and the errant love affair of his agent, the newly incarcerated Collier Adams with the peculiarly seductive Marjorie Claiborne... devil have it, he never would figure out the human condition.

Napoleon and Illya sat side by side at the big table, their fellow agents, Mark Slate and April Dancer, opposite them and also waiting for Waverly to finish his mulling over of things. The pipe was poised for action but, as yet, unlit. There was a certain sense of comfort in the sameness of it, the anticipation but not the certainty that the pipe would be lit, and the smoke would rise to the ceiling.

Illya cut his eyes to the left, to his partner, and then across the table to the other two. It was New Year's Eve, and in spite of the odds against it, he had a date. It was the first year since coming to New York that he had actually made plans for the night, and here he sat...

Napoleon had two options for the evening. Miss Darcy Winger, a lovely young thing from the typing pool, was waiting for him in the lobby of his apartment. Not the most gentlemanly arrangement he had ever made, but she had insisted on being the one to pick him up. He wondered how long she would wait for him, knowing that his job might take precedence over a date.

His other option, should she decide he wasn't worth the effort, was a standing offer to meet up with a certain platinum blonde who was always, mysteriously and conveniently, available on New Years Eve. He dared not flatter himself that she always hoped he would knock on her door.

As for Mark and April, they had vowed to celebrate together, to mark a year of living dangerously and surviving it. The newness of the partnership was still something that made them wonder at the serendipity of it all.

This was the mood in the room as Alexander perused the series of events that had led them here, to this round table discussion of the Time Square affair and the despicable business that was now, thankfully, completely dismantled. Human trafficking was a 20th Century slave trade that included both the lowest and highest echelons of society. He would certainly endeavor to eradicate it from his world in the coming months, although he was, in all honesty, uncertain of the success of his intentions. For the moment, he needed to go home and kiss his wife.

"Thank you all for a job well done. A few harrowing moments, to be sure, but all in all the situation was contained and the victims, at least those we encountered, are safe and on their way home.' Now the ritual began in earnest. Waverly took a match and, after tamping the tobacco once more and staring down the pipe until it acquiesced to its purpose, he lit it with a flourish and took his first draw. Everyone watched as he expelled the smoke and sent it spiraling upwards. Impossibly, or perhaps not, the vapor seemed to form an exclamation point.

"I will not keep you, I imagine you all have plans for this evening. Just in the nick of time, as it were."

With that the Old Man winked, as though he had known something all along that none of them were entirely sure of discovering.

The End

A Blessed and Prosperous New Year to You All!

The Trouble In Times Square Affair - Epilogue

It Ain't Over Til It's Over...

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