Gaby adjusted her arm to fit better into her husbands. She was so used to looping her arm through Illya's that it felt strange to be standing next to Napoleon. For whatever reason, Waverly had assigned them, herself and Napoleon, as the undercover couple instead of her Illya. Not that she minded of course, Napoleon was charming and fun to spend all this time with but with Illya it was different. What exactly was the difference she could not exactly say or rather did not want to say.
They had just been at the casino that was owned by their current mark. The man was involved in some arms dealing or at least suspected of it. She and Napoleon were supposed to be a wealthy couple interested in investing into the casino. It was fairly routine at this point. UNCLE had been formed a few months ago and they had done a few missions together. In fact compared to some of their other missions, this one was relatively straight forward. This was their second visit to the casino and their first time visiting the owner and everything had gone according to plan. They had gleaned the information they were looking for when the owner had stepped out of the office for a moment to have what he thought was a private conversation in German, not realizing present company could understand.
Napoleon's steady stream of idle chatter only required an occasional nod or smile from Gaby. It allowed her thoughts to wander. She had not seen much of Illya on this mission. Whereas she and Napoleon were the liaison with the target, Illya was surveillance and not supposed to have contact with them. She knew he was staying in the same hotel as them, she hadn't seen him more than in passing. Even then he was the constant professional pretending not to even notice her. Strange, considering how disgruntled he had been when they were assigned this mission. He had been particularly displeased discovering Napoleon and Gaby were the undercover couple. Illya had gone silent reading the docket again and then staring icily at Waverly, only breaking to glare at Napoleon.
Gaby blushed a little at this thought knowing full well why it bothered him so much. Five missions and plenty of misses later, Illya and her's tense relationship was at a breaking point. Every time they had a moment, or almost had a moment together, something or someone had interrupted. In Rome, it had been alcohol, Napoleon, and the bellboy. In Istanbul, it had been machine gun fire, and in Prague, it had been Napolean again. As frustrating as it was Gaby thought it was probably for the best. She knew the effect she could have on him and could begrudgingly admit to herself that she was not unaffected either. But worst of all was Napoleon's knowledge of the same thing.
During their briefing when they were assigned their roles, he had been amused. He knew the awkward dance Illya and Gaby did around one another and had sometimes even assisted in trying to push them together. But this turn in events had been too good for him to pass up. Everything was amusing to Solo, nothing ever flustered him. And getting a chance to upset his Russian counterpart was just the sort of diversion he enjoyed. He had been goading Illya since then, driving the already stoic Russian to be even more removed. So much so, they weren't even connected with ear pieces. Illya was completely solo with no contact and whatever reconnaissance he was up to, was strictly confidential.
Her musings were interrupted by Napoleon's sudden silence. They had decided to walk back to their hotel instead of taking a cab and apparently something had caught his attention.
"Is something wrong?" Gaby asked in her usual husky tone. She realized she had not been paying attention at all. Napoleon's demeanor had changed but he shrugged indifferently and continued on their way.
Right outside their hotel he stopped and walked her into the small garden out front. Gaby was ready for more of his usual banter. Even though there room had two single beds, it had come become a running joke of his to suggest pushing them together. She was waiting to hear how he would suggest it this time when instead she was suddenly pulled closer and was surprised when his lips met hers. Her eyes were wide and she stilled under his touch. Although not an unpleasant kiss, she was not interested in playing Napoleon's games. She knew she could not push him away, he was supposed to be her husband after all. He slowly released with his usual arrogant grin and just held a solitary finger up to his lips in a quieting motion. She froze.
...
Illya was stretched out on his stomach with rifle in hand, and eye to the scope. He had watched their steady progress from the casino back to their hotel. He could not help but role his eyes as he watched Cowboy talk incessantly. He could not hear what he was saying but he could tell it was in Solo's usual fashion. The American never stopped talking. He only felt slight annoyance when he would see Gaby smile at something Solo had said.
It was when they were almost back to the hotel that he let out a soft curse. The pair had been tailed. A dark sedan had looped around the block and back again. It seemed neither of them was aware they were being followed. The owner of the casino must be suspicious. Illya shifted his scope back to the couple walking arm in arm and then moved back to the black sedan with two thugs in it that was slowly pursuing the pair.
"You are terrible spy, Cowboy," he muttered to himself. He kept shifting his sight from the couple to the car. "How have you not yet noticed…" he stopped mid thought and he quickly swung his vision back to his partners to see them on the garden path, Gaby in Napoleon's embrace and his mouth on hers…
...
Gaby strained all her senses and then heard it. A soft pew, pew and the sound of breaking glass nearby. She turned to glance at the direction of the noise and was surprised to see a parked sedan nearby with two men slumped inside it. She recognized one of them. His head was thrown back and besides what appeared to be a gunshot through the forehead, he was unmistakably one of the men who worked at the casino.
She turned with a questioning look at Napoleon and only received a grin. "How did you…?" she started
"I didn't," was the confident answer, "our ever present comrade did."
"Napoleon, I don't understand," and then it dawned on her. She blushed at the thought of what Illya had just seen. She realized Napoleon's arm was still around her and she started back from him. "How could you?"
Unabashed Napoleon started to answer when the grass near the feet was kicked up by more silent bullets. As placid as ever, Napoleon placed a steadying arm around her shoulders and started to jog towards the hotel entrance. "Apparently Peril is rather upset with me," he commented dryly. They quickly made their way into the hotel and out of Illya's range.
...
Illya watched them retreat into the safety of the building. He regretted firing at Cowboy's feet, but the red mist was just starting to clear in his head now. He packed his rifle neatly and made his way to the fire escape to get off the roof.
Just the thought of Solo touching Gaby with such familiarity was enough to have him tapping his finger at his side. Solo had kissed her. Their first undercover mission as a couple, and he had kissed for no apparent reason. There could be no excuse that it was for cover. They had thought they were alone.
Illya steeled himself and stood up straighter, walked a little faster. Solo knew how felt about Gaby. After all, Solo was the one to tell him he was going soft. And he still kissed her. And now, he had cost the rest of the mission. He had messed up the job. The red mist was starting to cloud his vision again as he crossed the street leading to the hotel.
...
Gaby marched over to the elevator and stabbed the button, barely waiting for Napoleon. "Cheer up, love. He isn't upset with you," Napoleon soothed.
"Why must you taunt him? You kissed me on purpose knowing full well he would see. You know he has a temper," she flared.
"Undoubtedly," conceded Napoleon. "The evidence speaks for itself. He has single handedly blown our cover and tried to shoot us all within a few seconds. The only good news is we already have the confirmation we need. Your recording device was on when we were at the casino, right?"
Gaby huffed. Of course it had been on. She might not have the charm Solo possessed or the brute force Illya had, but she was not completely useless. She was always underestimated by their marks and even sometimes her teammates. "Yes, I have him talking about the arms drop off in two days time, which will know likely, be changed thanks to your goading. But that doesn't change the fact you pushed Illya into shooting the tail. How did you even know he was nearby?"
He waved a dismissive hand. "Our mission was to confirm that he was supplying weapons, not stop him ourselves. Gaby, did you really think Peril was going to let you," Napoleon cleared his throat, "I mean us out his sight for that long?"
Gaby looked down and was thankful that elevator door opened and they had reached their floor. She walked to their room and quickly opened the door. She started getting her things together quickly. They would have to leave soon, seeing as when their tail was discovered to be dead, they would be pursued. "Which room is Illya's? We should get his stuff together and meet him at the rendezvous?"
"I don't think that will be necessary. I am sure Red Peril will show up here very soon," he responded calmly, casually pouring himself a scotch.
Gaby wondered how he could be so unaffected. She was nervous, not because their cover was blown and there was a chance more armed men from the casino would show up here, but rather because she was not ready to face an angry Illya. She walked over the bar and grabbed herself a glass which she poured a fair amount of vodka into. She took a swig and waited for the alcohol to settle her nerves. She did not have to wait long before their door opened and Illya entered, silently closing the door behind him.
"Ah, Peril, glad you could join us, thought we would head to the pickup point. I already informed Waverly we would need to get out…" even Napolean's voice trailed off when he noticed Illya's finger tapping against his leg. "Everything ok, Peril?"
Illya nodded coldly before slowly turning his glance to a silent Gaby. She shifted under his gaze and decided the floor was more interesting than his piercing look.
"Ah, yes, well then," Napoleon broke the silence, "I will go make sure the hotel is ready for our abrupt departure." In typical fashion he walked over to Gaby, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, knowing full well the towering KGB agent did not appreciate the gesture. He then excused himself, giving Illya a wide berth as he exited the room.
Gaby surveyed Illya carefully through her lashes trying to decide the best way to approach him. He clenched and then unclenched his fist. He glanced around the room, . "Ready to go?" he said tersely with a thick accent.
Gaby nodded her head as she attempted to nonchalantly set her glass down.
"We should leave now," he answered stonily.
"Illya," she started, "whatever you saw, Napoleon was only trying to get a reaction…"
"I know exactly what Cowboy was doing," Illya interrupted. His accent became thick when he was angry. He was doing his best to not let his jealousy show, but then again he know how obvious it was to both his teammates. He covered as best he could, using anger as his shield. "If he had been paying attention he would have seen you were being followed. Instead he was…" Illya waved his hand. "He has same effect on all women."
It was Gaby's turn to get angry. She felt her temper flare and she raised her chin so she could look him in the eye. "I am not one of Solo's conquests. I have never once encouraged him. Whatever he did tonight was purely to upset you." Why should she be on the defensive? She didn't kiss Napoleon. "And you, you shot at us!"she yelled accusingly. She marched over to Illya and pushed her finger into his chest with each word for emphasis. "You could have killed us! I am not his toy, I did not want his kiss, and I did not invite it, especially when the kiss I want is from…" she stopped short. She could not finish the sentence which her emotional response had almost made her utter.
The mood had changed. Anger seemed to evaporate in a moment and was replaced by something else. Something they should both have been used to by now. The air felt thick and Illya's unwavering blue gaze flicked back and forth between her eyes. She shook her head and continued breathily, "it doesn't matter." She slowly lifted her gaze back up to his. "All you need to know is I did not want Napoleon to kiss me." Somehow her hand, which had been jabbing him only moments before was now resting open his chest. She swallowed nervously. She could feel his heart racing under her open palm. Or was that her heart racing? Her lips were suddenly dry, so she ran her tongue over them.
The movement made him lower his gaze to her mouth. She could feel her breath catch in her throat as he slowly lowered his head. Her eyes fluttered shut and she waited. Waited for the interruption she was sure would come, a knock on the door, a shot through the window, Napoleon's cheeky remarks. But it didn't come. Instead she felt tentative lips on her own. She melted against him, both hands now resting on his chest. Gaby tilted her head back and parted her lips. Her arms slid up to reach around his neck where she let her fingers brush against his short hair. She sighed and then felt two strong arms wrap around her. Illya groaned deep in his throat at her invitation to deepen the kiss.
Whereas Napoleon's kiss had been chaste, almost indifferent, Illya's was burning. His hands splayed across her back pulling her close. She was lost. Lost in the feel of his lips on hers and lost under the persistence of his touch. She arched her back towards him and felt him shudder in response as his tongue sought her mouth.
The warmth suddenly left as she felt him pull away. She dazedly opened her eyes and saw him turn his head to the door. She registered voices in the hallway, specifically Napoleon's. She quickly drew her arms back and stepped away from Illya who reluctantly let his own arms drop. He turned his gaze to the door which opened seconds later.
Napoleon froze in the doorway as a smile played across his face. Nothing of the situation was lost on him. Illya was frowning in his direction while Gaby, only a foot away from Illya, was avoiding eye contact with Napoleon while a blush stole across her cheeks. A curious bellboy peered over his shoulder. Napoleon pointed at the two bags that were ready to go. Illya stood in the middle of the room while the bags were collected and Gaby hastily made a move to grab her purse from the bedroom.
"Can you believe they are going to still charge us for the remainder of the week? Waverly will be most displeased," he cheerily announced to the whole suite. Napoleon then leaned towards the Russian with a wink, "didn't think you had it in you. Loving your work, Peril."
A muttered, "I don't know what you talk about, Cowboy," was the only acknowledgment he received as Illya stalked out of the room after the bell boy.
"You're welcome," Napoleon cheekily grinned to a still pink Gabby when she returned.
"Shush!" she hissed as she shoved passed him after Illya, who was waiting right outside the door for her. His hand found the small of her back as he guided her into the elevator.
"That's my wife," Napoleon said with as much mock indignation he could muster to their retreating figures. Illya humorlessly stabbed the button that closed the doors before Napoleon could catch up. Napoleon shook his head with a smirk. "Finally," he thought to himself as he headed towards the stairs.