"Blood Moon~ Part two"

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

By request from so many of you, I'm continuing this story started in the original 'Snapshot."  Please be patient as it's a WIP...don't like doing them, but the story is a bit complicated the way it's unfolding in my mind, an is turing into a bit of a future fic. (don't worry no major character deaths) And I promise the story will be finished as quickly as possible. I'll try to post another chapter later this week. Special thanks again to Lindafishes8 for the original prompt...a post about the lunar eclispe last week.

Here's the link to part 1:http://section7mfu.livejournal.com/582662.html?thread=3561734

It was in the wee hours of the morning when Napoleon and Illya finished up their verbal report with Alexander Waverly. Both of them were dog tired and were now walking together in the nearly empty grey corridors of their home away from home.

It was a strange sensation, seeing only a few Communications specialists coming and going or housekeeping services cleaning the floors with their electronic floor polishers.

It was rare this pair of agents were at headquarters this time of the morning, unless one or both of them worked a late shift, manning Security or Communications stations, generally that meant it was a holiday and the Russian was generously covering for someone else.

Solo, being the Chief Enforcement Agent, was exempt from such duty but like his partner, he volunteered for it from time to time.

“Hey did you see that eclipse this morning tovarisch?” Solo yawned.” I’ve never seen the moon that color before. I swear it looked blood red...very eerie.”

“Yes I saw the start of it. It is actually called a blood moon... a rare phenomenon”.

“ What made it red?” Napoleon asked.

“Some sunlight was still hitting the moon and particles in the atmosphere caused the light rays coming from the sun to bounce around. Some were refracted, or bent. They were redirected through the atmosphere and out around behind Earth and onto the moon, which is blocked only from direct sunlight. Therefore  the moon was still visible in the sky. However, it was the refracted rays of sunlight  illuminating the moon, that turned it a reddish color.”

That actually made sense to the American but as Illya continued, Napoleon realized his partner had lost him at the words, ‘reddish color.’

“All the bouncing around of those rays had to go through on their way through the atmosphere, well the more atmosphere that sunlight travels through, the more the blue and green parts of the spectrum are scattered. That is why sunrises and sunsets are yellow and pink and red. The low early or late sun, hitting the atmosphere at a shallow angle, has to fight through more atmospheric particles on its way to your eye, and the reddish wavelengths get through better.”

“You know what pal, though I’m actually interested in what you have to say, I’m just too tired to listen anymore at the moment. What say you explain it again to me tomorrow...I mean in the daylight hours today after we’ve both had some shut eye?”

Illya yawned as well. “You will get no argument from me there.”

“How about we use guest quarters?” Napoleon clapped his partner on the back.” We can hit the hay a half hour sooner if we do than if he head back to our apartment building.”

“Agreed,” Illya yawned again, covering his mouth with his hand.

The partners did just that, heading upstairs and passively waved goodnight to each other as they disappeared into their rooms.

Illya stripped down, removing everything, and slipped between the soft sheets. Their coolness against his skin made him sigh as he completely relaxed, closing  his eyes and instantly drifting off.

He had a a strange dream. He was on a roof staring at that blood moon, and there were people staggering on the streets below...zombie-like. That gave the Russian a sinking feeling.

Snoring lightly; he was woken with a start by a rapping at his door and instinctively Kuryakin’s hand went to his gun hidden beneath his pillow.

A young freckle-faced Section III agent stuck his head inside, calling out to him.

“I’m sorry to wake you Mr. Kuryakin but Mr. Waverly has requested you come down to his office immediately... Mr. Solo as well..”

Illya switched on the lamp beside the bed, squinting at his wrist watch as his eyes adjusted.  It was barely six o’clock in the morning, meaning he’d gotten at best three hours sleep.  He sequestered a moan as he threw back the covers and rose from the bed, oblivious to his nudity..

“Please inform Mr. Waverly that I will be there shortly.” He stretched his arms above his head, trying to will himself to alertness.

“Yes sir.” The ginger-haired agent averted his eyes out of respect.

“Agent Williams, is Mr. Solo awake yet?”

“Yes sir, he said he’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Thank you Mr. Williams. Any chance you can get us a couple of cups of coffee up here in record time?

"Yes sir, right away."

Illya headed to the bathroom and after a moment of staring in the mirror, the disturbiing images of his dream came back to him, and he asked himself what they meant? Shrugging; he gave himself a shave with a safety razor provided there for guests of U.N.C.L.E. and quickly dressed. Just as he finished tying his shoelaces, he heard Napoleon’s coded knock on the door.

Solo opened it without waiting. “You ready chum?”

“Coming.” Illya stood, joining his bleary eyed partner; wordlessly heading out into the corridor.

As the elevator doors opened  and there was the young Section III agent holding two coffee cups for them.

“Good job Williams, I’ll be keeping my eye on you,”Napoleon smiled.

He and Illya stepped inside and after both taking a long sip of caffeine, Napoleon spoke up, rubbing his face with his hand. Such a summons from the Old Man generally meant something bad was going down.

“Good God, that man doesn’t sleep. I know they say you need less of it as you age but I swear he doesn’t sleep at all,” the American groused.

Illya refrained from complaining, as was his usual habit, but what was the point?

“Good Morning sir,” he finally spoke as they arrived at and entered the conference room, finding Alexander Waverly seated at always at the circular table.

“Yes good morning gentlemen. I do apologize for disturbing your sleep but a rather urgent situation has developed since we last spoke, what a little over three hours ago?  To cut to the chase, the city is in a near state of panic as there have been at least two hundred drug-related deaths in the last few hours.”

“What are they taking?” Illya forced himself not to yawn.

“It is a new drug that has seemingly just hit with unprecedented rapidity, and it’s use has already gone completely out of control...the street names for it are White Horse and White Rider.”

“Horse as in heroin?” Napoleon asked.

“Like heroin, it's opiate-based. That's what Research and Development have been able to surmise from the small samples that have been obtained, it is essentially pure except for one additive they are unable to identify as of yet.”

“Is it that powerful that it is killing users so quickly? Illya asked.

“ Apparently it is so potent and addictive that as soon as a person uses it, they need another hit almost immediately and the process repeats itself again and again until the user succumbs from too much of it in their system.  If they don’t receive those additional doeses, they become, shall we say...combative and quite violent.  FDNY, Police and medical emergency personnel are already becoming overwhelmed with emergency calls.  Hospitals have been flooded with overdose patients, but unfortunately traditional treatments seem ineffective.”

“This all happened in just three hours?”Napoleon was blown away.

“Yes Mr. Solo.”

“Imagine what the situation will excalate to if this trend continues over the next twenty four hours?” Illya added.” It boggles the mind.” He wondered if this was related to his dream...his 'gift' of minor prophecy perhaps alluding to the growing crisis. Usually he voiced it as being 'I have a bad feeling about this," never saying more about his dreams.

“Precisely Mr. Kuryakin. The FBI has been called in and we have been asked to assist in the investigation. Though you will not be working directly with them;  your fact-finding will be conducted independently, however, there will be information-sharing between U.N.C.L.E.  and the Americans. At the moment there is no clue as to the source of the drug, and no chatter or indications T.H.R.U.S.H. is involved."

“Where should we start sir?” Solo asked, thinking this had the potential to be looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

“I suggest the location of your last assignment, since that was a major hub for drug distribution. Report to me as soon as you find anything of note. Dismissed.”

Waverly turned his attention back to a stack of file folders in front of him, not even giving them the customary wave of his hand.

His face was filled with concern on this one, perhaps more than he wanted to let on to his agents. There were few things that frightened Alexander Waverly, and he'd thought he'd seen it all in his lifetime, but this he had to admit unnerved him.

That was the last thing he needed Solo and Kuryakin to see...

Comments

[lindafishes8.livejournal.com]

All right- you jumped right in with another chapter and it's goooood ...and you left the reader hanging on. UNCLE and the FBI never mix well. Can't wait for the next one.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Am tryng to get ahead on this one, since it's a wip, and most people don't like that. Can't be helped though as I wanted to start posting the story not long after the original SNAPSHOT, so it was still fresh in readers minds...though I posted a link to it.

Thanks for reading and commenting so quickly. Remember, this is all your fault. Hahahhaa! Seriously, your original post was a great inspiration!

[lindafishes8.livejournal.com]

When something is my fault I'd rather it be a 'good thing' like this story than a bad thing. And no-Martha Stewart does not live here.

[svetlanacat4.livejournal.com]

Yay!!! That's great! Waiting for next chapter, of course!!!
(I have to say that you first lost me with "he threw back the covers and rose from the bed, oblivious to his nudity...")

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

hahahhaaa!

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Oh I knew that visual would get to some! Couldn't resist throwing in that little tidbit. thanks for taking the time to read and comment! Next chapter soon!

PS I just realized some last lines got cut off when posting, so adding them in now if you want to take a quick peek.

[pactnmmt.livejournal.com]

Ask an ye shall receive! Oh what a tasty chapter proposing more things to come! So many different directions you could take this. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Ewww 'tasty. I like that! Hope you like what's to come? Thanks for the comment!