Chapter Text
Part 2
Waverly's office.
New York.
Alexander Waverly's office was on the fourteenth floor. It was the only unit that occupied the fourteenth floor other than his private suite and his secretary’s area. The office itself was huge. The south wall, almost all window with imbedded blinds, overlooked New York’s Business section. Along the east wall, by the main door, stood an early twentieth-century sideboard holding thermal jugs of tea and coffee on one side, juice and water on the other, and in the centre were covered trays of Danish pastries and muffins along with milk, cream and sugars. The opposite (west) wall held a hidden panel leading to Waverly’s private suite and entryway with an elevator to main floor. Opposite the window, the wall held a floor to ceiling mural of the world; with all of U.N.C.L.E.’s offices lighted in red lights. The floor, covered with a deep plush beige carpet to absorb all unnecessary noises. The room’s centre contained the main focus. A round dark walnut conference table. Ten chairs sat neatly around it. The exception was in front of the west wall, where a slightly taller arm chair sat. There was no doubt that that was Waverly’s chair. The portion of the table directly in front of the chair, is imbedded a screen and several rows of switches. The centre of the conference table was fitted with another smaller circular disk. On it sat several stacks of folders right in front of Waverly. He was in the process of lighting his pipe when a figure entered the room.
Some call her Aphrodite, since she vaguely resembled her namesake. Her shapely physique was not hidden by the style of clothes she wore, nor by her covering lab coat. Standing at a height of five foot six with green-gold eyes and long auburn hair, set in a stylish pony tail, which hung almost to her waist. Her peaches and cream complexion gave her the appearance of being young, fragile and her elfin-like facial features only helped her charisma. But she was neither young nor delicate. She was one of them: the ‘Old Ones’.
The ‘Old Ones’, as they are call themselves, are known as teachers and healers. The teachers - teach. The Healers - heal. Today, their numbers are extremely rare among human race. She was barely four years old when Waverly first laid eyes on her. He had arraigned for two of his associates, Ross Rowe and Gregory Evans, to care for her. Though he was in and out of her life then it wasn’t until Aphrodite turned seventeen that Alexander Waverly of MI-6, came into her life for good. The following year she graduated from The Sorbonne in Paris, France. Aphrodite was the youngest student to ever graduate with first class honors. She also attained several doctorates within the Science field. In fact, Aphrodite was now a doctor three times over. Of course this was only the beginning of her medical career, she still had another two to three years of practical to get before she could actually call herself “Doctor Ae”. As the years passed their friendship grew and developed until it’s where it’s at today. Her dedication to the medical field was outstanding. Alex had never known her to fail or balk at situation. Her very nature being one of giving unconditionally. Her charismatic personality, and her fondness for the human race, was what had led Alexander to join him on his quest.
Aphrodite or rather ‘Ephe’ to her friends, was nothing like her namesake and she hated her name with a passion. Only God and her father knew why her mother; who deserted her shortly after she turned four, named her Aphrodite, and since she was basically raised as an orphan, they weren’t likely to tell her anytime soon. So, from a tender age of four, young Aphrodite became Ephe (Ef fee) to everyone.
Ephe had been with Alexander during the initial concept of U.N.C.L.E. Waverly along with five ex-MI-6 agents and Aphrodite, created and gave birth to The United Network Command of Law Enforcement after spending many a late hour in a local Kingston pub, just outside of London. Aphrodite, along with the others, were with Alex all through U.N.C.L.E.’s infancy. She was, and still is, the first medical professional Waverly hired. Waverly was determined to make U.N.C.L.E. a worldwide organization made up of the very best the world had to offer. Together the team of five pitched their idea to the rulers of the world. When they were through they had a truly international organization, made up of people from all over the world. Every country was to have their own branch office and their own voice. Those early years were rough, tough and taxing on so many. In the end, with lots of hard work, it flourished.
Today, Ephe knew it wasn’t hard to get people to enlist. No, the hard part was keeping those who enlisted; and became field agents, alive. That’s why Waverly spared no expense when it came to U.N.C.L.E.s medical and research departments. They not only had the best in machines and technology, but they also had the best in staff.
She, like her colleagues, were constantly being trained and updated on the latest technology in areas of medicine and field-research. Both, because they kept the agents alive. Mostly because they needed to keep one step ahead of their enemies.
The U.N.C.L.E. agents of today were a tougher and more rugged breed than those who preceded them. She smiled to herself remembering how it was when they started. Most agents were just and extension of MI-6. But not today, today many enlisted after the Viet Nam war. These young ones have style, brains and muscle. And a limited few of these young men were fast becoming a breed of their own. And Alexander Waverly learned to pair this new breed of operatives to achieve optimum results.
Waverly spoke, bringing her out of her reverie. “Coffee or that dreadful tea you drink?” It was an ongoing joke between them.
“My tea, thank you very much, Alex.” Her British accent was strong.
“How was your trip from Saigon?” He asked as he handed her the cup and saucer, carrying his back to his chair.
“Thank you.” She replied, taking the cup and saucer from him. “Very long and tiring.” She quietly replied then sipped her tea. “So. Why this urgent request, Alex? You’ve said very little other than you needed me here as of yesterday.” She took another sip of tea. “The chopper lift from Kowloon to Saigon was, shall we say, a unique experience.” She waited for him to reply and when he didn't she continued, “You know, I was hoping to spend Christmas in London this year.”
“Sorry to upset your plans, my dear.” he took a puff on his pipe. “Christmas? Why on Earth would you want to-?’ He broke off mid-sentence. He sat back in his chair after taking several inhales of his pipe. “Sorry, my dearest, but I’m going to need you... hmm, rather your services, here for a while.” He spun the inner table containing the folder towards her.
She ignored him. “I thought you said you were giving that habit up, Alex?” She said placing her empty tea cup on the table and picked up the file Alex had sent her way.
“I did. But you try doing my job-.” He shot back, the slight smile softened the sharpness of his voice, “-without a break.”
She was still reading the file as she said, “Seems to me I did, once or twice. In fact, many times as I recall.” She put the file down and looked at him. “Besides, as for taking a break away from here, you do have a lover and a wife, you know...”
“Yes, quite true my dear.” He took another deep suck on his pipe, “However, today things not like they once were.” God, how I wish they were. He thought. Things were so much straight forward then.
“I should think not, times change, Alex. As you well know.” She said as she placed her elbows leaned on the table while her fingers entwined holding her chin. “Seems to me, I recall a certain someone, who said he was going to delegate some of the work load to his CEA.” She moved to settle back on her chair, “Wasn’t that why you created the position in the first place?”
“Quite right,” He replied putting his pipe down then stared straight at her. “So I did, didn’t I?”
She gave him a doubtful look, “Alex, don’t play this ‘forgetful game’ with me. I know your brain is much too sharp for that. And don't think you can snowball me either, I know you too well.”
He ignored her. But he needed her help too badly to continue with this small talk routine. “Ephe, the reason you are here is that I have need of your services.” She looked at him with a puzzled look wondering what he was really up to. He didn’t look ill. He knew what she was thinking. “Oh, not for me, for Agents Kuryakin and Solo.” He stated.
“I am on the payroll. Tell them to make an appointment like everyone else!” She retorted, then stopped. Remembering Alex’s last letter, “Wait a minute, didn't you say this ‘Solo’ person is your CEA? What was he doing in the field?”
He took another deep puff, “damn, blast it, out again,” he muttered under his breath. “I did and he is. But he and Kuryakin are also my best team. That is, they were, until this Paris business.” then muttered, “Lost ten good men in that mess.” Turning to look directly at her he said. “Ephe, I need them back on the job. I want-’
“Want? Alex. Forget what you want for a minute. What is it you are not saying, yet asking me for at the same time?” She stood and walked over to the window. Silence filled the room and it was deafening. It was a long time before either spoke. “You’ve lost me on this one.” Then Ephe stated, “And as for losing men Alex, you’ve lost agents before? Damn, you've even lost complete sections but it or they have never got to you like this.” She turned to face him. “Now, you are going to tell me what is going on; or I'm on the next plane out of here. I do not make house calls, even if one is ordered by you.”
Waverly ran his hand over his face. “I need my best team back on the job! Right now they are incapacitated!”
“Incapacitated!” she spat. “Is that all! You do have other agents, Alex.”
“Not like these two, I don’t!” He relit his pipe. “I need them back.”
“And not the others?” What is he thinking? She thought. “Alex, it’s not like you to play favorites. What of all the others?”
“Of course they are important. They all are. It’s just some are better that others, that’s all.”
“What! Since when?” she retorted. “You never play favorites.” She reminded him.
“Since this last run-”
“Oh, so now a mission is a run is it? What are you doing? What are you play at? Why did you call me when you have a perfectly good team downstairs?” She leaned on the table and looked directly at him. “…Alex, what is going on?”
Alex continuously banged his pipe on the table top. He was angry and frustrated. And the last thing he wanted was to have a confrontation with Aphrodite. “I’m not at liberty to tell you, Ephe. What I can tell you is I have need of your services, for them.”
Aphrodite learned a long time ago when Alex Waverly was in this state of mind it was best to keep away. The worst thing she could do was pester him for information for that would get her nowhere.
“I’m waiting. Alex. Why do you require my services over those of your own people?”
He stalled his reply by getting up to refill his coffee cup. Then quietly said, “I have a doctor in our Istanbul office, a Dr. Van der Laan, I think you know him,” She nodded, “who’s telling me to write them off.”
She was getting impatient with him. What is Alex not telling me? “Then write them off. What’s the big deal? It’s not like you have not done it before.”
He ignored her, “I cannot accept his decision! I WILL NOT accept that!” His cup fell the floor as he slammed his hand on the table top. “Even my own staff doctors, are of the same god damned opinion! It’s not good enough! Ephe, I want a miracle! I will not let this fiasco be the root to bring down all I have worked for.”
“Alex, stop! You’re not making any sense.” She had had enough of this man’s frailties. This was not the man who created this organization. And she damned sure she wasn’t going to let him use her gift on a whim. “You’ve shown me a file on two agents. I assume they are agents and not civilians… You are going against what your medical people have told you and the next minute you are talking about something, ‘bringing U.N.C.L.E. down’. And where does Turkey fit into all of this?” She slammed the file on the table. “Even that file says the last stop those agents had was Venice. And as far as I remember Venice is in Italy. The reports in that file says the last stop for them was Venice. What the hell were they doing in Turkey?” She stood, took a breath and then walked over to him and placed her left hand on his shoulder indicating he should sit. “This is not like you at all!” She pulled the chair beside his out from under the table and sat beside him. “In all the years I've known you, Alex, you've never once lost your cool. Not like this. Now, what is so important about these two? Why are they any different from all the others?”
Waverly dropped his head as his hands rubbed his temples. “I cannot lose them, Ephe, I just cannot. Not like this. Not over something as stupid as this.” He was as close to tears as she had ever seen him.
Something as stupid as what? She thought, then she repeated her question out loud again, “Why are these two so important to you?”
Waverly replied not looking at her. He didn’t dare, “Ephe, it isn't what they are so much as who they are.” He sighed, then took a deep breath and then whispered, “How, how do I begin to explain, to make you understand, that they-?”
“Talk to me.” she cut him off, then reached across the space between them. After turning his chair so she could take hold of his hands. “Alex, please, talk to me. Tell me. Make me understand your why?”
“You know about Solo.” She nodded, remembering his phone call. “Seven and a half years ago I partnered them-“
Partnered who? She thought. “Alex, back up a minute.” Then she got it. “You partnered Solo? Why, when you wanted him for Section One? Why, for almost eight years, would you put him in peril?” She gave his hands a light squeeze. It had been years since she last saw him this distraught. Ephe couldn’t recall him feeling this much anger except for the first time when Thrush incapacitated the entire Australian branch, putting it and New Zealand out of service for almost a month. Now, he had put his protégé in peril?
He looked directly at her. “You remember my wanting a Russian operative for Command.”
“Alex, what has that to do with why you called me?”
He rubbed his temples again. “I’m getting to that.”
She felt his headache and reached out to block it. Relief was instantaneous. She felt his thank you.
“Where was I? Oh yes. The Russian.”
“I remember your call and how excited you were at getting one. But Alex, that was years ago. And you half expected them to send someone who was not suitable because they were against sending someone in the first place. You mean to tell me they sent one of their best?”
“No, not exactly.” He chewed on his pipe. “It took many months of negotiating but in the end they ceded. They thought they’d out-smart me. Ephe, they sent me a boy! They were hoping I would return him thus calling and end to the whole thing. The report the lad carried with him stated he was twenty-four years old. Very intelligent. A quick study. And one who obeys orders without question.”
“That’s all? That’s all it said?”
Waverly ignored her comment and carried on. “The first thing I did after the lad arrived in London was to get our medical team to assess him. They found out the Russians, or rather the KGB, had lied about his age, and his training. Then I began to wonder what else they could have lied about. When I suggested the lad finish high school, he nearly has a fit.” Waverly picked up his pipe and sucked on it. Just going through the motion seemed to calm him.
“While the boy calmed down, I wondered were any of the reports the Russians sent accurate. The report I received from General Staniskov, of the KGB, said Kuryakin had held the rank of lieutenant in their navy. That he was well-liked by his peers. However, in a separate report sent from General Borislovski’s office, stated, to their knowledge that the KGB’s report was inaccurate. Ephe, I didn’t know what to believe. I mean, they could have sent us anyone. How were we to know any differently? Yet standing in front of me was this lad.” Waverly paused for minute. “Knowing that when I suggested high school to him got a negative response, I then suggested to him that maybe he could attend University. That idea perked young lad’s interest. But his age and his persona were a big stumbling block.”
Ephe couldn’t wait, “How old was he?”
He continued. “Doctor Lawrence Wallace, of the London office, verified his age to be around sixteen. How was I to put this boy into University?”
She interceded, “Maybe he was exceptionally bright?”
He looked at her. “Do you really think they would let a person like that leave?”
“No, I guess not. But sixteen? Teens here are usually in grade 10 or 11. Not university.”
He continued with what he was saying before she interrupted him. “I knew the KGB had had their paws on him from the age of six. And as far as I knew then, they still did. I had a gut feeling he was is being used a pawn. The problem is I don’t know what game they were playing.”
“And you want me to find out?”
“No. I know first-hand the Russians don’t exactly play above board and definitely not when there’s so much at stake.”
“Then why did they send him at all? Was he a double agent?”
“No. The lad was bright but-.”
“What about now?” She had to ask.
“I would have known if he was. He would have let something slip long before now.”
“Are you so sure?”
“Yes. His background check came up with nothing. Yes, I accepted the lad, Ephe. A month later I received a private letter from Anton Borislovski detailing the boy’s past. How he had learned at a very young age that it was better to do what they asked of him than suffer the consequences. The strict training, he persevered through during his pre-teen years. The extra-curricular activities in his late teens. Then I wondered if the same was said for the Navy? When I asked Kuryakin about it, his eyes went to a glassy stare, his face paled but he didn’t deny one word. Right then and there he confirmed my suspicions on what really went on. The defiance in his stance told me it was as I suspected. The only thing the lad openly admitted was that he worked best alone and didn’t get on well with others.”
“A lieutenant, that didn’t ‘get on well’ with others?” Those words alone set off alarms. “So what did you do with him?”
He carried on as if she had not said a word. “The Russians were damn fools, you know,” he muttered. Waverly emptied his used pipe into the near-by trash can. He didn't refill it, just put the pipe in this mouth and took in a deep breath. “The only stipulation in our agreement was that the boy was to continue his education, then he’d be considered on loan to us for five years.” She sat silently waiting for him to finish. Waverly closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his free hand, then continued, “Of course I went to London to meet with him. I had a photograph of him along with his so-called biography. The very first time I saw him, Ephe, I thought there had been a mistake. The boy looked nothing like his photograph at all. In front of me stood a child playing grown up in his father’s uniform. And I was to believe he had been in the Russian navy? And what the KGB had him doing, well that was just unthinkable.”
She had heard of the KGB and of some of their tactics. It wasn’t hard for her to guess, after seeing the face on the man he grew into. “You mean they used him?”
“Yes. Extensively.”
She thought the worst, but only said, “As bait?”
He nodded, paused then continued. “Shortly after his arrived in London, I received another letter from Borislovski, briefly explained why he had sent young Kuryakin. Anton Borislovski and Count Kuryakin were friends from way back, when war broke the Count trusted Anton with the life of his only son. If something should happen to him or his family. Then the family was killed. Anton tried his best to care for the boy, but being single it wasn’t easy. Especially since Anton was in the Russian army. So he placed the lad in an orphanage, where he thought young lad would safe. The child was barely five years old then. Unfortunately, the KGB, always on the lookout for potentials, took him a year later. Kuryakin was never released from their custody until he was sent to us. Anton could do nothing without drawing suspicion to himself or his office. So when my request went through his office he grabbed the chance to get Kuryakin out from under the KGB. Borislovski uncovered the clever but deceitful plan Staniskov used; promising the boy education, for services rendered. Since it was the only way of keeping young Kuryakin under their control.” He took a deep breath, “Kuryakin was removed under cover before the Staniskov knew what hit him. Anton Borislovski pleaded with me to keep Kuryakin safe… Ephe, what else could I do?”
She lowered her head as her eyes closed for a brief second. So this child was not only an assassin but a well-trained prostitute. And barely seventeen years old. She wondered where the ‘old ones’ were while this was going on.
“The lad was a scrawny twig of a figure. The clothes he wore barely hung on his skeleton frame. His hands and feet were far too big. Kuryakin’s child-like face, with deep blue eyes, and unruly mop of long blond hair always in his eyes. I kept looking at him and remembering Anton’s letter as we entered the administration office at Cambridge. I sat with the Dean Westgate as Kuryakin wrote the entrance exams, hoping I wasn't making a fool out of myself.”
Aphrodite left her chair and went to get them both some hot tea from the sideboard, when she returned she put a teacup in front of Waverly. “How long did it take him to write the entrance exam?” she asked
“Three and half hours.” Waverly replied.
“Not bad, since I know it usually takes five to six hours.”
Waverly didn’t spend time wondering how she knew. He just continued. “The lad knocked on the door then handed the papers to Dean Westgate then turned to the chair beside me. He sat stiff as a board and didn’t say a word. I saw the surprised look on the Westgate’s face as he scanned the pages. Then he placed the papers on his desk and said he would call me in a few days after the others had reviewed the results. We stood. I shook hands with him and we left. Once we were in the corridor, I glanced over to the boy and saw tears slip silently down his pale cheeks. God, Ephe, he was so terrified of being returned to Russia.”
“I take it he was accepted.”
“Yes. Not only that. Kuryakin completed the four year course in two years. His IQ is well over 200. An added bonus is his photographic memory. But he sadly lacked any social skills. And those skills alienated him. After two months at Cambridge I learned that the KGB were spying on him. I originally thought they were looking for any reason to pull him back. I later learned that was not the case. Anyway, for Kuryakin’s security, I arranged for one of our lads to enroll, share accommodations with the boy and protect him - if necessary; then report directly to me any and all moves made by the KGB.”
“That was a tall order to fill. What Section Two agent did you send?”
“No one from Section Two could fill the position. I sent our Iain MacVey from the Glasgow office as it turned out it was only for two years.”
She finished the last of her tea. “Mac, must have loved you for that?” then added,” What happened after two years?”
“MacVey went back to Glasgow after thanking me for his holiday. And I sent Kuryakin to the Sorbonne in Paris, under the guise of getting advanced courses. I was rather hoping he would learn or pick up a few personal people skills since Paris was more sexually open.”
She smiled at what Waverly had said, “I gather it didn't work out.”
“No. The boy just got more damn degrees to hang on the wall. I did however; manage to keep him out of the hands of the KGB.” Now, he lit did refill his pipe, lit it and inhaled. He was pleased with his accomplishment. “Kuryakin has doctorates in Quantum Physics, Mathematics, Science and Chemistry. He speaks nine languages fluently and has a working knowledge of another four. I placed him in the London office. They had placed him in one of the labs. Such a waste of talent. The lad excelled in field training, thanks to the Russians. He lasted barely five months then Richardson had to pull him. He had no choice other than to put Kuryakin back into their labs. Four months later Richardson called and asked me to take him off his hands. Said no one, and he meant ’no one’ in the London Office would work with young Kuryakin. I had him transferred to New York and paired him with the one person who I could trust to work alongside him. I was hoping they would balance each other out. Solo, had become quite cocky, and needed taking down a peg or two and young Kuryakin need to learn some humanness.”
She’d heard about the up-and-coming Napoleon Solo. And wondered if his reputation was as good as she had heard. “Obviously it worked.”
“No. Not at first. Personally I think they entertained the idea of killing each other. It was only after several stern talks, telling them to ‘make it work’ as there was not an ‘or else’, that they did. With much hard work they became a true working team. My best team, actually. Personalities aside, they forged and became greater than the sum of both parts. Solo’s strengths offset Kuryakin’s weaknesses and vice versa. That’s why I’ve allowed them to continue in the field.” Finished with his explanation, Waverly enjoyed his well-earned pipe.
She thought of what Alex had just said. Then recalled the file on his desk and wondered what the two had in common other than their working relationship.
Alex saw her expression. “You are wondering, what’s the connection between what I just said and that folder?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I was.”
“Ephe, those eight photos are Solo and Kuryakin. Two off-duty policemen from Istanbul found them in the desert. Solo and Kuryakin had spent three days in their local hospital before being transferred to the local U.N.C.L.E. branch and then finally to here.” Waverly didn’t mention the fact there are eight days missing from the time they left Venice to being found by the Istanbul officers.
But Ephe didn’t miss that fact. “Alex, what about the uncounted eight days?” she asked, but he did not acknowledge her. She was thinking Thrush, since they were usually behind all Section Two’s hindrances. Then she recalled the location where they were found. It had been far too close to Russia’s border. “Do you think the KGB or maybe Russia or is involved?”
“Most unlikely, however, I had received word from Borislovski that Staniskov died in ’64. Since then, things have been in a somewhat chaotic state. I even went as far as to push papers permitting Kuryakin to be transferred here in the west with no strings attached.”
She was surprised that Alex would go to such great lengths for an individual. “Is Kuryakin-?”
“Free of Russian control? Yes. He is now a free citizen. Apparently, when Staniskov died, a pit of snakes was opened and the fallout was an embarrassment to a great many people. Let's just say, they were only too happy to let us have Kuryakin.”
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She knew all too well the tricks the Russians could use. “And what about his past?”
“As far as they are concerned, his past was obliterated.”
“Alex, thanks for the brief history lesson but what does that have anything to do with why you wanted me here?”
“I don’t know.” He muttered. “Maybe nothing. Maybe everything.”
“What? Alex you’ve got to be kidding me. Who else have you told this too?”
“No one. Just you. I need you to understand why he is important.”
“He who?”
“Both of them.” He sucked his pipe.
“Why do I have the feeling you still have not given me all the facts?” She turned to look out the window. “Why do I feel an undercurrent about all of this?”
“Don’t mix oranges with the apples, Ephe.”
“What? Isn’t that just what you have done? Alex,” she turned to face him, “this is not as simple as you are making it out to be. Because if it was you would have not bothered telling me about Kuryakin’s background. And if the KGB and Russia are not involved that only leaves Thrush and, or blackmail, which you have denied any involvement. So what did I miss? Because something here doesn’t make sense.”
“Kuryakin’s file remains classified. Outside of myself and my telling you, no one has access to that report. Not even my CEA.”
The possibilities of former leaders being involved were few, but she had to ask. “What about family vendettas?”
“Again, Ephe. Not likely.”
“That leaves us with what?”
She was out of her chair and standing beside him. Her left hand gently squeezed his shoulder. “What Alex? We’re coming up with nothing, yet someone had to have had a motive. Your team was sent to Paris. They were led on a chase across Western Europe ending in Venice. Missing for eight days and found in Turkey. And by the look of those photos someone repaid something very dearly.”
“As soon as Van der Laan called with his initial report, I knew I needed your help.”
“And those missing eight days?” she probed.
He ignored her. “They need your help.”
Sitting beside Waverly once more, she again opened up the file. This time her eyes were drawn at the notation on one medical report. Let him die, Alex, He's too far gone. It was signed Jan Van der Laan.
She knew Van Laan. It wasn’t like him to give up on anyone. So why would he write such a thing? Her voice was just a whisper, “These, these two men, they are why you brought me here?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Why these two are more important to Alex than any of the others, she just couldn’t understand. She took a breath, “Alex, you have one of the best medical teams right here. I still don’t see why you need me.”
He didn’t seem to hear her. “Ephe,” he paused to take a breath, then looked directly at her and stated. “You read Van der Laan’s report. If I lose one of them, I lose both… I can’t, I won’t accept that. I need them! And I need you to help them!”
She took a deep breath. She now understood what Alex was asking. It wasn’t because she was a physician, he had them here. It was her ‘special gift’ that Alex wanted. Remembering the pictures, she asked herself at what cost to them. She knew all too well what the cost would be to herself. “Alex, the cost-”
“I'm willing to pay that price.” He said flatly, as if they were discussing the local weather.
She stood and walked back to the window, her back to Alex. “Maybe you are? But am I?” she simply stated.
Going to stand behind her, he replied. “I know what I am asking of you Ephe, I will accept the consequences. They are more than justified.”
She took a deep breath, and quietly retorted, “Justified. How can you say that? You are about to set three individual lives on a collision course and you’re saying it’s justified!” She turned around to face him. “And what of me, Alex? What will happen… if I do this?”
He wrapped his arms around her pulling her against his chest as he whispered into her right ear, “Ephe, I know all too well what will happen. I give you my promise; I and U.N.C.L.E. will never turn our backs on you. You... and they, will always be accepted: no matter what. You have my word.”
Is it enough? She thought. Still leaning against him as her tears fell. “What of them?”
He softly whispered again, “They will be as they have always been. Accepted: no matter what. You have my word.”
“Not good enough, Alex. You know what will happen if they continue as before.”
“What if I promise they will be removed from the field?”
“To do what?”
He thought long and hard for several minutes before giving his answer. “Solo, into Section One; Kuryakin in-charge of the labs.”
She knew what that statement had cost him. Pulling them from the field was the last thing he wanted to do. She also knew what Alex knew. They has a special relationship. Several minutes passed before she slowly pulled her head away. The tears still fell from both eyes, “if these two are that important to you, my dear Alex. I will do all I can.”
Thank you, he whispered inside of her mind, then gently kissed her forehead.
Several more minutes passed before either one move. Then, slowly, confidently, both became the U.N.C.L.E. Officers they were. Ephe pulled back from Alex’s embrace completely and headed for the door. She stopped and turned back to face the head of U.N.C.L.E., North America. “I need to get our ambulance to that incoming plane.”
“You’ll have clearance,” was all he said.