Napoleon Solo wiped his brow and looked at the combination of sweat and blood in his hand. I see Medical in my future, that is, if I have a future. Grunting painfully as his badly bruised and hopefully unbroken ribs protested the movement, he pulled his communicator from his inner jacket pocket, put it together and panted into it, "Open Channel D, Priority One Emergency!"

Mr. Waverly's voice thankfully came through loud and clear. "What is your status, Mr. Solo?"

"Ah, Sir, the information Intel received was either completely false or THRUSH somehow found out we were coming. There were no kidnapped government officials there; however, there were approximately forty THRUSH soldiers armed to the teeth. We lost four agents, Sir; Jones, Davis, Patel and Robinson. Agent Slate was able to hotwire a truck so that the rest of us could get away. Presently, we're in what appears to be an abandoned hunting cabin approximately twenty – five miles from the satrap. Agents Dancer, Slate and Kuryakin all have bullet wounds that are not life threatening if they receive medical attention soon. Agents Colt and Brady are beaten up fairly badly as am I; plus, they're distraught because of their partners' deaths. I am certain that we are being pursued, but the vehicle was low on gas and I thought it best that we find shelter before we ran out. I've activated my homing device and I'm requesting immediate extraction. I'll have the others activate theirs as soon as we finish speaking."

"Understood, Mr. Solo. There appears to be a line of storms heading your way that will interfere with our ability to send a chopper at this time. Someone will be there as soon as humanly possible."

"Thank you, Sir. Solo out." He walked back into the main room where his fellow agents were waiting for him. After they had secured the building, he had gone to speak with his superior in privacy while the others looked for anything they could use. "Well?"

April spoke up first. "Sorry, Dar…I mean, Agent Solo, there's no food or water here though there are some pots."

"Nor is there any electricity, which is just as well. If THRUSH is heading this way, we do not need to provide them with a beacon," the Russian added from the piece of floor he had claimed for himself. When no one else said anything, he scowled at Agent Brady who was standing with his back to them. "Do you have something to report to the CEA, Agent Brady?"

The man jerked around at the mention of his name. "What? Oh, yes. There is a root cellar or maybe it's a tornado shelter. This is Kansas, after all. Anyway, it's empty and it has an exit about thirty yards from the house. Or, since this is Tornado Alley, it's probably safer to say it's an entrance since it's in what I imagine are the fields." He noticed that Napoleon was staring at him. "Sorry, I'm sorry, I just never thought I would outlive Ernie."

"It's alright, Frank," Napoleon soothed, "It's a horrible thing to lose a partner; it's much worse when you see him killed as you did." He stepped over to Jimmy Colt. "What about you?" he inquired. "You lost your partner, too."

Agent Colt smiled sadly. "It's so odd, Agent Solo. Georgie and I were having drinks last week at the Mask Club when out of nowhere he says 'If I die out there, Jimmy, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. In fact, I'll become your guardian angel. You're my best friend and I'll watch over you.' I believe him. So, I just want to say, Agent Solo…"

"Napoleon."

"I just want to say, Napoleon, that I believe we'll get out of here, soI won't give up if you don't give up."

Moved, Napoleon clapped him on the shoulder and addressed everyone. "Turn on your homing devices. The Old Man is sending an extraction team as soon as possible. Take care of your partners and each other. I'm going to stand watch for a while; everyone else get some sleep."

Everyone with the exception of Illya pulled up a piece of floor and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. Napoleon noted how naturally April snuggled up to Mark who gallantly took off his jacket to cover the both of them while Frank and Jimmy, though uncomfortable at first, let their training kick in and wrapped around each other for warmth. I really do lead the best Section IIs in all of UNCLE, he thought with pride. "Illya," he said softly, "I thought I told everyone to get some sleep."

"You did, but I will sleep when you do. Two sets of eyes in the dark are a very good thing."

Napoleon nodded and turned his attention to the view from the windows. He and Illya silently watched their surroundings for about a half – hour before the skies opened up. The thunderstorm startled the sleeping agents awake for a moment, but they dozed off again after assurances of their safety from their CEA.

When he was convinced his colleagues were again asleep, Illya sidled closer to Napoleon and asked, "You are going to stay up all night, are you not?"

"Yes, but you don't have to, Tovarisch. I don't want to sleep now. I don't think I'll ever get used to losing agents; they were all good men. It's a waste that they died because of bad intelligence and that you, April and Mark were shot." He reached over and ruffled the blond hair affectionately. "I thank the angels that I'm not in Jimmy and Frank's position. Are you in a lot of pain?"

The Russian sucked his teeth. "My wound is basically a big scrape, the bullet grazed my ribs. I am fine. I overheard what Jimmy said to you. I understand that, about not giving up if you do not give up. You are my partner, but you are also my superior, our leader. You not backing down gives me the strength to not back down, too. I am sure the others feel the same way."

"Thank you, Illya, I needed to hear that." Napoleon got a pot from the kitchen and stuck it outside to gather up rain water. He saw lights heading towards the house out of the corner of his eye and quickly shut the door. "Come alive, people! We've got company!"

The sleeping agents were immediately wide awake. Frank said, "Let's use the cellar!" and Napoleon concurred.

He flung the trapdoor open and helped everyone down the stairs. He jumped down after shutting the trapdoor behind him. After what felt like an eternity, he could hear a motor engine pull up to the house and shut off. The only sound in the cellar was the snick of gun safeties being turned off as they prepared for battle.

Suddenly, Napoleon's communicator trilled and he grabbed it to answer. "Solo," he whispered, "speak quickly, we are about to be discovered."

"It's alright, Napoleon. This is Agent Brown from the Wichita office. Mr. Waverly ordered us to drive to you because the weather's too rough for air transport. We're right outside your position. 'I need to know things are gonna look up 'cause I feel us drowning is a sea spilled from a cup.'"

No one could see in the absolute dark of the shelter Napoleon's look of relief to hear the password, but he was certain they could hear it in his voice as he responded, "'When there is no place safe and no safe place to put my head, when you feel the world shake from the words that are said.' We're coming out, Brown." When he felt Illya move to ascend the ladder, Napoleon stopped him. "Just in case this is a trap, I'm going first."

He opened the trapdoor and climbed out just as a man holding UNCLE ID in his hand came through the front door. "Agent Brown?"

"Yes, sir! Please tell your people to hurry; I'm taking you to Wichita. I have two teams holding off some birds about two miles back." After they all piled into the van, Brown got back on his communicator. "Open Channel W, we have our agents back! Do you copy? We have our agents! Fall back as planned!"

A tinny voice came through, "Copy that! See you soon! Taylor out!"

Brown turned to Napoleon who was sitting between Illya and Jimmy. "We're going to a spot a half – mile down the road. You all stay in the van; Hayes here and I will get out and take up positions overlooking the road. Agent Taylor and his crew are making a planned retreat. They'll lead the bad guys right to us and we'll pick 'em off."

A few minutes later, Agent Hayes drove the van off the road into a small gully running alongside it. He and Brown got out and after assuring the other agents this was best handled by just the two of them, they scurried back up to the road; Hayes just above the van and Brown on the other side of the road.

Napoleon and his team pulled their weapons and waited. They couldn't see the road, but they could just see Hayes' legs. They heard a vehicle racing past and then, moments later, another vehicle approaching and then Hayes and Brown opening fire. Seconds later, there was a crash and explosion from somewhere on the other side of the road. Hayes dropped down beside the van and got back in the driver's seat and started it just as Brown jumped in. "All taken care of," he stated matter of factly, "Let's get you guys back to UNCLE Wichita for some first aid and then make arrangements for you to get to New York."

The New York based agents relaxed for what felt like the first time in weeks. Jimmy Colt leaned closer to Napoleon and whispered, "I know everyone doesn't believe as I do, but I think our guardian angels were looking out for us."

Napoleon glanced over at his partner dozing against the window. He could see Mark and April in his peripheral vision also sleeping behind him. "I do, too, Jimmy. I do, too."