As Illya pulled out a handkerchief and wrapped his wounded hand, Igor
shifted slightly and sighed gustily.

"Might I be allowed to make a single telephone call before being thrown into
a cell?"

"Why should we allow it?" Napoleon asked.  "You could be ordering up more
assassins."

"Nyet.  No more assassins.  As you have already noted, you work well
together."  He turned to Illya and continued, "I wish you good fortune with
your choice.  You had best hope you are never sent back to Mother Russia -- 
she will no longer welcome you."

As he said the last words, the three men could hear footsteps --many of
them -- coming toward them.  A group of Section 2 agents came running up to
take Igor away.  A few were moving to arrest Illya as well when they were
warned off by Waverly, who had followed his troops.

"Mr. Solo, your partner appears to have been wounded," the older man said.
"Please take him to Medical and have him seen to.  I'll expect the both of
in my office for debriefing as soon as the doctors will allow."

Napoleon nodded and steered his disgruntled partner away from the knot of
agents.  While Illya tried to explain the cut was not deep and would require
no stitches, the other man marveled at the concept of 'partners' and decided
his current one was all he'd ever need.

When they arrived at Medical, the doctor took a single look at the cut that
"was not deep" and rushed the protesting Russian into emergency surgery.
Illya emerged over an hour later with his hand encased in bandages and
sporting some 70-odd stitches.  A sling supported the oversized mass at the
end of his right arm.

"I'm giving you the same instructions I gave him," the doctor told Napoleon.
"Don't use the hand for *anything*, or you might pull out the stitches and
it won't heal properly.  Take two of these," he handed the CEA a bottle of
painkillers, "every four to six hours as needed.  Every 24 hours, you should
remove the bandages, clean the wound, check it for signs of infection such
as redness, swelling, or pus, apply this salve," he handed the agent a tin,
"and cover the wound with new bandages."  A sack containing bandages
and tape was added to Napoleon's burdens.  "Bring him back here in a
week so I can see how well he's progressing.  Take him home after your
debriefing, feed him a light meal such as soup, and send him to bed."

Napoleon committed the instructions to memory and solemnly promised the
doctor he would see they were followed as Illya glowered and shifted from
foot to foot, anxious to be away from the area.

Their next stop was Waverly's office for debriefing, where they learned Igor
had been allowed his telephone call, though it had been monitored by an
agent fluent in Russian.  The gist of the call was simply, "Tell everyone to
go home; the mission is over."  A short while later, agents at the airport
reported a number of men suddenly showed up and paid cash for any
flight to Europe they could get.

"It would seem, gentlemen," Waverly said, "the hunt for Mr. Kuryakin has
been called off, at least by the Russians.  I'll want you, Mr. Solo, to stay
close to him for the next week or so, just to be on the safe side."

"That won't be a problem, sir," Napoleon replied, his face showing nothing
of the joy he felt at being ordered to do the very thing he most wished.

He took Illya back to his apartment then, following doctor's orders by first
getting him to take his painkillers, following them with two cups of soup
which Illya drank left-handed, and ending by helping him get ready for bed.

Napoleon washed the dishes, tidied up a bit, checked the window and door
locks, set the security system, and got ready for bed himself.  As he
slipped under the covers, he felt Illya pull him into a warm embrace and
nibble on his neck.

"Sleep tonight, love," he softly said, "you need the rest.  We'll have
enough tomorrows for love."

"There are *never* enough tomorrows for love, Pasha."

---

This page is an unofficial site that exists only for the fun of it. All characters and situations from the television show "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." are property of Norman Felton and Warner Bros. Nothing ill is intended by this use of any television characters in these amateur efforts. Any fiction linked to these pages is the intellectual property of the amateur author who created it and is not presented here for profit.