Eight Agents Thinking
bonniejean1953
What would happen if there were an irregularity in Time and Sapphire and Steel had to help IK and NS deal with THRUSH's toying with it?
The woman appeared as if out of nowhere. Her garb, a light blue cotton dress, was out of place in the chill of the building. The air around her fairly crackled with energy as she walked, a stark contrast to the emptiness of the building. Age and neglect weighed it down. Once these walls had rung with laughter and music. The faint remains of Christmas decorations hung from the walls and crepe paper hung down like the lank hair of a corpse.
She looked over at the piano, long since silenced and a wave of sadness enveloped her. "It wasn't your fault they left you," she murmured to the building. "People move on. They die or they forget."
"We don't, Sapphire. We never forget." The slender man stepped in from the room beyond.
"Silver, how long have you been here?"
"Not long. Just long enough to do this." He pulled a handkerchief from a pocket of his silver three-piece suit and dusted off a chair. Satisfied, he sat down at the piano and began to play something a little sad and sweet.
"That's beautiful."
"That's typical. The rest of us are working and you are pursuing your leisure." Steel entered from another hall, his mood as bleak as the peeling wallpaper.
"Hello, Steel," Silver answered. "I'd say it was a pleasure to see you, but we'd both be lying."
"Why are you here?" The impatience in Steel's voice belied his cool exterior.
"Why is he?" Silver pointed to Lead, then returned to his playing. The large man walked carefully, seemingly gauging each of his steps before settling his whole weight on the ancient flooring.
Lead laughed. Lead always laughed. "I'm here to help. No idea what form that will take, but I'm here." He slapped Steel on the shoulder, nearly knocking him from his feet.
"Must you do that," he snapped and Lead laughed in answer. "Sapphire, what did They tell you about our assignment?"
"Severe time distortions have been emulating from this building. We are here to find and rectify." She settled her hand on the ancient red wallpaper and searched.
"Tell me about this place."
"Constructed 1854 as a sanitarium for people suffering from consumption."
"Consumption? They were being eaten?" Silver stopped playing the piano, his voice aghast.
"It was the term given to tuberculosis. It was as if its victims were BEING consuming from the inside out," she explained patiently.
What are they teaching Specialists these days? Steel asked her mentally.
They are specialists in their field, Steel. They know what they need to.
Which obviously isn't much. Steel walked a few steps from her. "When did the distortion start?"
"A few days ago." Then she stopped. "We are not alone."
The woman carefully picked her way thought the debris that was scattered on the floor. Thank the stars I picked flats for tonight, she thought as she shone the beam of her flashlight over the bleak red wallpaper. She lifted her communicator to her mouth. "Open Channel K. Mark, are you there?"
"I am and so is Napoleon and Illya." Her partner's voice was tinny, but it was still reassuring. "Where are you?"
"I'm guessing maybe the music room. There's a piano and I can see outside to what might have been a garden."
"Stay there and we will rendezvous with you."
April nodded and tucked the instrument away. She crept across the floor and her light caught the piano. "That's weird," she murmured to herself. "Why isn't this all dusty?" She touched the middle C key and her brow furrowed. "Still in tune?"
She turned and her light caught a figure. Anxiety clutched her stomach, then the beam moved up and she sighed. "Illya, I thought you were with Napoleon." The man moved toward her and she caught her breath. "You're not Illya, are you?"
"No. I am Steel. Why are you here?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
"This is my assignment."
"Then someone misinformed you. Mr. Waverly assigned us."
"My superiors supersede his."
"I don't think so, mate." Mark appeared in the doorway, his weapon drawn. "Bloody hell."
"That's what I thought, too, Mark." April gave Steel a wide berth as she joined her partner. "The resemblance is uncanny." Illya walked in with Napoleon on his heels. "Illya, look you have another double."
"Another one?" Napoleon asked, his expression dismayed. His light caught Steel and he shook his head. "Close, but Mr. Waverly would string him up if he wore his hair that long."
"Could we possibly focus on why we are here?" Illya asked. "THRUSH isn't going to wait for us to stand around and exchange banter."
"I agree, which is why you need to leave." Steel took off his top coat and draped it over his arm. "We are more than capable of resolving this issue."
"We? Is that in the royal sense of the word?" Napoleon faced the stranger. "I think you are outnumbered, sir."
Lead and Silver stepped from the shadows and Sapphire appeared at Steel's side. "Better odds now, I think, I were to worry about such things."
"We are here to fix the Time Distortion." Sapphire spoke directly to April.
"Us, too, although we are more about stopping the guys responsible for it."
"Guys?" Silver was amazed. "You mean, humans did this?"
"Not certain I'd use the term human, but yes."
"And you are?"
Napoleon reached into his jacket and withdrew his ID wallet. He flipped it open. "We work for an organization called UNCLE."
"How quaint." The Illya look-alike stared at the blonde woman and moved away.
"How quaint." Steel muttered and looked over at his partner. Sapphire, get rid of them.
They might be useful or have you forgotten Tully.
How could I?
"Any chance I could break this up?" Silver stepped between them. "What do we do?"
"The job we are sent here to do," Sapphire answered and she approached the brunette, offering her hand. "Hello, my name is Sapphire. You've met my partner, Steel, and this is Silver and Lead. Since we seem to be sharing a common goal, I suggest that we work together."
"Safety in numbers, I can understand that." April shook her hand.
April Dancer is partnered with the man, Mark Slate. They are as they say, all similarly employed as are the two men, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. All four appear to be highly trained in the field of espionage and enforcement. Their assignment is to stop THRUSH, an organization bent on evil.
Steel shook his head slowly. A particular evil?
All evil.
That's a lofty ambition.
Perhaps we can help. Sapphire smiled and nodded. "I think we can agree to that arrangement."
Napoleon edged his way to the door and chanced a fast look around the corner. "Okay, the coast is clear."
"We are well inland," Steel said, frowning. "What difference would the conditions on the coast matter to the success of our mission?"
"You must be a barrel of laughs at parties."
"Again I question the relevance of that comment."
"I have to say you might look like Illya, but the resemblance ends there."
Any comment Steel might have offered was abruptly cut off by the sudden appearance of THRUSH, all poised in front of a door.
"Hands up, Solo! You, too, Kuryakin."
Steel regarded the man for a moment, then shook his head slowly. "No."
The THRUSH swung his rifle and the butt of it caught Steel's temple. Napoleon winced. Just like Illya, he thought. Then Steel grabbed the rifle and bent it in two. He dropped the rifle and stared at the man.
"But that might not be a bad thing," Napoleon said, and threw a punch. His assailant never saw what hit him.
"Grab him."
The THRUSH tried, but Napoleon watched as the men suddenly started to scream and released Steel as if he'd burned them
"I have no time for this. Go!" Steel pointed. The THRUSH paused for a mere second before racing off.
Had they tarried a moment more, they would have seen Steel stagger and fall against the wall.
"Are you all right?" Napoleon reached for him, then paused at the sheer iciness coming from the man's body.
"Don't touch me," Steel ground out, his eyes closed as if in pain. "I wasn't ready. I wasn't prepared." His eyes closed and Napoleon studied him.
"What are you?"
"Whatever I need to be. Leave me. I will recover in a moment."
"All right. Let's see what you were all guarding." Napoleon pushed open a nearby door and smiled. "And what have we here?"
Sapphire watched April and once again marveled at the fragility of the human body. "Do you know what we are looking for?"
"Intel says that the machine would have to be the size of a room, which is why THRUSH needed an abandoned building, especially one that is rich in ghost stories."
"To keep people away. That makes sense. And their supposed use for such a device?"
"They could travel backwards and forwards in order to change events to their desired outcome."
"And that would be."
"The control of the world," April answered sadly. "They won't stop until they've won."
"And still you fight."
"It's what I do. It's what we do." April stopped and listened for a moment. "What about you?"
"The same, but with fewer options."
Sapphire?
Yes, Steel?
I need you.
She nodded and touched April's arm. "I believe they have found something."
Illya ignored the large man who followed him. He had a million questions racing through his mind, AND not all of them were about his mission.
"Ask if you want," Lead said loudly and Illya shushed him.
"I can't. We have other matters that are more pressing."
"We are with you. Failure is not likely. Steel won't allow it."
"Who are you?"
Lead laughed. "Whatever you need us to be."
"Convenient." Illya's communicator called for his attention and he quickly silenced it, listened for a moment and then nodded. "Understood. I'm on my way."
"You have news?"
"Napoleon believes he's found the device." Illya pointed to the floor. "It's down there. Let's go."
"So what part of London do you hail from?" Mark moved slowly and kept his eyes and ears focused upon any sort of untoward sound.
"Depends upon the day of the week, I suppose." Silver was obviously bored with this. His attention was everywhere and nowhere.
"Okay, I can appreciate that. What about your work?"
"I'm a specialist. They call me in when I'm needed. Otherwise, I lay about, waxing poetic and annoying Steel. It's my only real joy in life." Silver smiled as if in response to a secret joke.
Mark grinned at that. "He's a bit on the somber side."
"Steel? Somber? You have no idea."
Mark approached a staircase. "Up or down, do you reckon?"
Silver smiled. "The way is always down."
Mark's communicator chirped and he held it close to his mouth. "Slate here."
"Mark, I've just heard from Napoleon. He's found something in the basement."
"Understood. Slate out."
"What did I tell you? The path is always down."
The eight agents stood in the room. It wasn't that large to begin with, but Lead's presence seemed to overwhelm it.
"Now what?" Napoleon looked at his partner. "Illya?"
"Destroy it," Steel answered.
"Right church, wrong pew," Napoleon said. "Illya?"
"I'd like to study it, but I suspect that he -", nodding to Steel," - might be right. It would be better to be rid of it than to risk it falling into enemy hands." That made Illya stop. "Speaking of such, where is everyone? I would have expected to at least run into a few guards."
Napoleon held up the rifle, its barrel bent at a right angle. "Steel took care of it and I think there will be a whole raft of new rumors floating around about you come tomorrow."
"Just what I need – more rumors." Illya approached the machine, running his hand over the instrument panel. "I have enough to blow this, but not the machine."
"Permit me," Steel said as Lead took his place by Steel's side. "But I will need everyone to step away from us."
"What are you going to do?" Silver asked. His eyes were closed and he seemed in intense concentration even as his fingers stroked the side of the machine.
"What I do." He glanced at Lead. "Are you ready?"
"Give the word, Steel."
"Then do it now." Lead wrapped his arms around Steel in a bear hug.
"What are they doing?" April whispered to Sapphire.
"Watch."
The air grew icy and Steel's face whitened, frost actually forming on his eyebrows. "I'm ready."
Lead laughed and pushed him in the direction of the machine. Steel touched it, pressed himself against it for a long five minutes, and then fell back into Lead's arms.
"You all right?" Lead murmured as he passed the agent to Sapphire.
"Yes, thank you." The white frost disappeared as Steel opened his eyes.
April was shivering. "It's freezing in here."
"All the better to do this." Lead threw a punch and the machine disintegrated into a million shares.
"I hope whoever finds this is good at jigsaws," Silver said, then grinned and slapped his hands together. "And I say it's time to make my farewells."
"Mine as well, providing you are done here." Lead looked at Steel, who waved him away. "You're welcome." Laughing, Lead gave Silver a nudge out of the room.
He's off to replicate it, isn't he? Steel asked Sapphire. She gave him a small nod. Doesn't he have any other hobbies than making my life difficult? I will have to destroy it, you know.
I would think so. What of these humans?
What of them? Their purpose is complete.
What if they go back and tell of us?
Who would believe them? She offered her partner her hand and as he took it, they blinked from view.
"Did anyone else see that?" Mark asked after a moment of silence.
"Not a thing," April answered. "And I think as the senior members of our team, Napoleon and Illya should make the report to Waverly."
"Of what?" Napoleon glanced around the room. "We accomplished our objective, the machine is destroyed and the world will survive yet another day. That fact that we might have had outside help is beside the point." He checked his watch. "And now, I say we all go home, go to bed and wait for Santa to visit us because after tonight, I'm beginning to believe that anything is possible."