Hi there,

Hope you're having a great week, and here it is a new chapter for this fic.

Thanks for reading.

Chapter 4

After removing her shoes he put her into bed and tucked her in but Gaby didn't stop trembling, and her forehead burned. She was feverish and her sweat was cold, so he put a wet cloth over her head.

He went to the bathroom and searched the first aid kit for some antibiotic to help her with the fever, but he only found aspirin. He let her sleep, left the safe house locking the door behind him, and ran down the street looking for an opened drugstore. He had to walk for over a kilometer until finding one, but for Gaby, he'd do whatever was necessary.

The person in the front desk, a middle-aged woman, looked strangely at him breathe hard, but gave him what he asked for and watched him go away. It had started raining and water curtains formed before his eyes, preventing him from seeing clearly, but that did not stop him.

"Gaby?" He asked and a slight groan answered him. Walking into the bedroom he saw her awake, staring at the ceiling, and looking confused. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Safe. You fainted." He wished to sit down next to her in bed but he was soaked. "I brought you here and…"

"Why are you wet?"

"I went to the drugstore to buy something that will make you feel better. I will get you a glass of water." He left the bedroom to prepare everything as she leaned back against the headboard. The room was spinning and she felt her body aching, but the nausea was the worst part. "Here." She opened her eyes and accepted the glass of ice water Illya offered her along with a pill. She hesitated before taking it but he just grinned. "Do not make me to cover your nose to make you swallow it." She chuckled and swallowed it down.

"Oh God…the park. That man tried to…the robbery…"

"Do not worry, I took care of him."

"Did you kill him?" She asked calmly. Unfortunately she was used to see dead bodies around her, so one more wouldn't surprise her. "No, I hit him and when he wakes he will feel a terrible headache. But he will live."

"Better. The last thing we need is to leave a trail that anyone can follow to us. Hey, you should take off those wet clothes or you'd end up catching a cold." Illya nodded and walked into the bathroom. He undressed and got into the shower, letting the hot water relax his muscles. Perhaps that stroll was not a good idea, after all, but they would have ended insane locked in there. Or maybe they would have done something they would pretend to regret later.

"Do you feel better now?" Gaby asked him when he was out, but her mouth fell open when she looked at him. He was only wearing a towel around his waist, and nothing else. Water droplets still running down his bare chest, and his tousled hair gave him a casual air that she was not used to. He seemed an ordinary man and not a spy trained to kill with a single blow.

"Yes, the shower was…comforting." The two were uncomfortable, as Illya was not expecting to see her awake, and she did not think he was going to get out of the bathroom half naked. "I should get dressed…"

"Yeah…" She saw him grabbing a pajama bottoms from the small closet and returned to the bathroom, but this time he did not close the door. Gaby couldn't see him from her position, but if she got forward she might watch him.

"Time to sleep. It is been a long day." He laid down beside her under the covers and she automatically snuggled against him. "It's strange to think that I have survived an explosion, but a cold was stronger than me." She joked.

"We have been through too much for the last days, and stress can make you get sick. But do not worry," he continued, stroking her hair, "you will feel better soon. Medication will make effect by tomorrow, and a good breakfast will help you to feel like new."

"I hope so, because there are things I need to do and right now I'm not at my best moment." She said, confusing the Russian. "You have to be at one hundred percent for maximum efficiency, right?"

Illya looked at her blankly, but nodded. "True."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Alexander Waverly landed in London he went straight to the new, and secret facilities where members of U.N.C.L.E. sent to other countries came back after the explosion.

They needed to find the person responsible for the attack, and taking care of finding survivors, if there were any of them.

"Sir, the police could not rescue anyone alive, but agents Kuryakin and Teller have not been found." One of his trust men said, one of the few who knew the true identities of Illya and Gaby. "Do you believe they escaped and are hidden?"

"I hope so, otherwise we will have serious problems with the Russians and Germans. Besides, they are the best agents available that we have, so if they are still alive we must find them." There was no trace of Waverly's good humor, but the situation was really serious. The terrorist act committed against the organization might break international relations with many countries, and it would cause chaos. "I want you to gather the best agents we have, I do not care if they just came back from other missions or are sick, we all need to work. Track any movement in both accounts, if they bought food, medicine, airline tickets…everything."

"Yes, sir."

There were many phone calls to make, but Waverly already had a plan in place and he would find the responsible one way or another, and if Kuryakin and Gaby were still alive he would also find them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gaby was alone in bed when her eyes opened, but the sun through the window did not dazzle her. It was a cloudy, gray day, about to begin raining, and the last thing she wanted was to go outside. Last night was cold, so she was sick now, however, she felt a little better. Or so she thought until trying to get up and feeling her head spinning. She felt nauseous again and needed several minutes of breathing deeply to avoid running to the bathroom.

"Gaby?" She listened his voice and in less than two seconds he was kneeling beside her, brushing the hair off her face.

"I'm fine," the girl said in a small voice, "I'm fine." She kept repeating as if trying to convince herself.

His cold hand on the forehead made her feel better. "You are still feverish but not as bad as yesterday. Come back to bed. I will get you something to eat." She tried refusing but he was already gone. The last thing she needed was eating something, no, no way. Her stomach would not be able to stand it but she didn't want to appear ungrateful when he returned.

"I brought you another pill, I read the prospectus and you should take one with each meal." He offered it along with a glass of orange juice and she swallowed it without question. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat." He said no more, like an order. Her dark eyes met his blue ones and she wanted to give a cold look, but held back. She knew Illya was not having fun with what happened, he was only trying to take care of her, but Gaby was used to take care of herself and it was not easy to get rid of old habits. "I have had no time to prepare something special, but…"

"Illya, anything is enough." She cut him off before he left.

The 'simple' breakfast he prepared consisted on toast with butter and jam, coffee and even some chocolate. According to the Russian that would help her to regain strength quickly, and Gaby was not going to argue, she liked the chocolate and was going to enjoy it to the last bit. Although if that meant feeling bad again.

After the show she felt better and when she returned to the bedroom the bed was made but there was no sign of him. "Illya?"

"I am here." He answered from the small living room.

Attracted by his voice she walked into the room and saw him sitting down on the old couch reading a newspaper. "How are you feeling?" He asked as soon as he saw her, forgetting his reading in the moment their eyes met.

"Better." Rubbing her arms with both hands sat down beside him. "What are you doing?"

"Searching for information about the explosion, or any data related to it." A light reading, Gaby thought. "There is nothing but the gory details and the number of mortal victims."

"What about Waverly? Did it say anything of him?" Illya shook his head silently and she sighed. "I think we should try to contact him, but I know it's risky. We don't know if they're looking or watching us. But staying here for longer is not a good idea."

"I agree." Seeing her tremble placed his arm above her fragile female shoulders, making the girl to feel better instantly. "I patrolled the area day and night, and I have not found evidence that we are being watched or agents sent by Waverly to find us."

A new sigh from Gaby, this time louder. "What does that mean? Should we send a message and pray no one else intercept it? Or do we need to stay hidden here like a pair of criminals? Spending the rest of our days looking over our shoulders, waiting for someone to recognize us and a bloody army appearing to kill us." After getting all that out she buried her face into her hands and apologized. "Sorry, I'm frustrated."

There were no words Illya could say to help her, but his hand caressing her back was helping her. "I do feel the same, but if we surrender now we will get nothing."

"I know." Leaning back against the coach again she wiped tears with the back of her hand and breathed deeply. "Okay, what do we do then?"

"Tomorrow morning we will leave, together, and go to the postal service to send an encrypted message, which only Waverly can understand others think it makes no sense if it is found." Gaby nodded. "Then we will have to wait for news, but I suppose if Waverly receives it then it won't take long for him to send another message or perhaps several agents to help us."

But Gaby couldn't wait. "Why don't we go now? It's daytime and…"

"You are still not recovered and the cold will only make you to feel worse. Besides, I promised you that we would do it together and I will not abandon this place without you." Gaby felt so many things at once that she was unable to focus, maybe that's why she did what she really wished to, and kissed him. A kiss on the lips that soon turned into one much more intense. The young girl's arms clung to Illya's neck, and she even sat down on his lap. All while kissing but it was the Russian who pulled away before continuing. "What?" Gaby asked.

"Nothing…I…"

"What? Just say it." She urged him. "Are you…are you sure about this?" Gaby was surprised to hear that but smiled and nodded. "I do not want you to regret it."

"I will not." And sealed her promise with another equally passionate kiss.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With a plan in place and hoping to leave their hiding place soon, Illya got out of bed when it was already night. They went to sleep just an hour ago but he was not able to relax enough to fall asleep. Besides, his relationship with Gaby was getting stronger and he feared it could end when they returned to their daily routine.

Too many thoughts didn't allow him to rest, so he sat down in the old armchair next to the bedroom window, watching Gaby sleeping peacefully. He almost felt jealous because she didn't look worried, but he knew that was not true. In fact, she had a lot of accumulated stress, and Illya had realized. Therefore he promised her that from now on they would do everything together, because leaving her aside would only entail problems they did not need, in addition to unnecessary risks. He was aware that she was able to take care of herself but he felt better knowing that taking her with him would allow him to protect her.

"Mmm…Illya…" She muttered in dreams, catching the Russian's attention. He was already getting up from his seat to go to her but seeing her rolling around stopped him. It wasn't strange listening Gaby talking in her sleep, and he even answered her the first times, but he had learned that nothing bad happened to her, she was only dreaming.

The morning clouds brought rain that accompanied them throughout most of the day and night, but the midnight's arrival cleared the sky and Illya could see the stars. Not that it was a hobby or something he did often, but being a kid, when his father was imprisoned, he felt so much pain and embarrassment that he preferred to hide to be alone than stand the continued humiliation.

"What are you doing?" Gaby's soft voice startled him. "Illya, what's wrong?"

"I can not sleep."

Sitting down on bed and the blanket covering her body from waist down, she rubbed her eyes and looked at him with a slight smile and still exhausted despite having slept more than him. "I believe there's still tea, I can prepare it for you, if you want. I am sure it will help you to relax and sleep."

She was about to get up when Illya stopped her walking towards the bed and getting into it again. "No, do not worry. I am fine."

"Then tell me what's bothering you. What keeps you awake?" She asked, holding his huge hand and stroking it. "If it's about what will happen tomorrow, I don't think it must be considered a concern. It's just a message, and no one knows us, nothing bad has to happen." Illya wished to feel comforted at hearing her, but a spy always thinks about the worst situations to have a plan b for the plan b, or otherwise he would have died long ago. "You know, we could disguise us, if that makes you feel better." She joked and got a slight smile from the Russian. "The spies know how to go unnoticed but I don't think that's going to be necessary. You and I will be just an ordinary couple out for a walk, sending a message to our relatives to tell them how amazing the trip to London is turning out, what do you think?"

"It's a good plan, worthy of the best spy." He leaned toward her and kissed her and they continued like that for the next few minutes. Both of them wished more but felt it was not the time. There were too many questions to resolve before taking the next step, so neither of them pressured the other.

Hope you liked this one.

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Thanks.

:K