Napoleon wasn't quite sure how he had managed to get himself caught up in a plot to bring the country of Terbuf under Communist control. His orginal mission had been to stop a shipment of stolen Aztec gold from leaving the country and make sure that the robbers were arrested. He had done that succesfully after only two days in the country. (A record for Napoleon Solo.) All it had involved was him changing the course that the ship transporting the gold was meant to take, sending it straight into the path of a Terbuf Navy ship. Some drinks and a few hundred dollars to the captain of the ship which the robbers had hired was all it took.
Unfortunately to do that Napoleon had had to pose as an American Government Worker who wanted to gold and was willing to pay a lot of money for it. That had caught the attention of some of Terbuf military leaders. They were unhappy with the current government and had been tempted by the call of Communism. Napoleon was seen as an asset, (He was using an old alias, which saw him as a member of the American Communist party.), and when they had corned him in a bar he had been a little tipsy and knowing that he had to finish up his mission he had agreed with them. Thinking that he would just report it in and that the government of Terbuf would be informed, that the problem would be dealt with and he could be on the first flight back to New York.
Mr Waverly had seen otherwise. Seeing as Napoleon had managed to gain the trust of some of the plotters he was to stay there and gather evidence. Foiling the plot if possible.
It wasn't that which had annoyed Solo. What had annoyed him was that he was expected to do it alone.
Solo had undertaken most of his missions alone. (Somewhat due to the fact that no one he worked with had last more than two months. The last one had been three weeks.) He knew that he was a good agent, one of U.N.C.L.E's best and youngest, but he had never really clicked with any of the other agents that he was paired with. Until now.
Illya Kuryakin, was one of U.N.C.L.E's newest agents. (In fact he had only completed one mission.) But for some reason Napoleon trusted the man with his life, and as a rule Napoleon trusted very few people. He wasn't with Napoleon because he was settling into life in America and Mr Waverly had wanted him as a solo agent. The Russian agent also needed to be briefed on working for U.N.C.L.E and take a few tests. And while the Russian was doing that Napoleon was off on a 'simple' mission.
He thought over his 'simple' mission as he reported into U.N.C.L.E. Maybe he'd get some time off after this one. Unlikely though.
Mr Waverly hadn't intended to pair the two together. They both worked best on their own and U.N.C.L.E needed agents that could work alone. Pairing them together had been suggested but Waverly however wasn't sure that the Russian would be able to hold his own aganist Solo and he knew that putting them together could easily cause problems between the American and Russian branches of U.N.C.L.E. Waverly knew that they might see it as him not thinking that their agent was capable enough on his own. So he had decided to send Solo off on a simple mission and see how the Russian fitted in here at the offices in New York and how he got on with the other agents and members of U.N.C.L.E.
Not very well as it turned out. It wasn't Kuryakins fault. The man wasn't used to America's way of life and had been wary of any attempt at friendship. Waverly felt somewhat at fault, he had thrown the man in the deep end without any lifeline and he was sinking. His Russian accent had become thicker if anything since his arrival. The fact that America and Russia were at something of a stalemate, with tensions verly likely to rise, wasn't helping the man's cause. Kuryakin had also past all the test with flying colours and that had put a few people's backs up the wrong way.
Waverly knew that the only way the Russian would stand a chance of suriving here in America was if he had someone to rely on and stand up for him, and Waverly could see that the man wasn't going to do it himself out of the fear of causing tensions to rise. A very really fear, that even Waverly had. And there was no one here in New York that would think about going out their way to be nice to the Russian. Waverly would have but it wasn't right for a man in his position to do so. Realising that even though it would lead to a very angry phonce call from Russia, Mr Wavelry set about putting his plan into place.
Making them partners had been a last resort.
Solo had called in with information about a Communist takeover plot in Terbuf, that he had somehow got himself caught up in. Waverly told him to stay put and told his assistant to find Mr Kuryakin for him. Kuryakin's cover was already in place and he was on the next flight out by the time the phone rang.
"It's the Russian office for you sir."
Waverly picked up the phone.
"Waverly. I hear you have an agent in Terbuf. Anything to do with a supposed Communist plot?"
"I've heard nothing of any Communist plot." There was a reason he was Number One, Section One.