Chapter 9

Dasvidanya Napasha (Goodbye Napoleon)

While Fornell was preoccupied with picking himself off the floor, Kuryakin, Solo and Sammi fanned out across the width of the laboratory with the intent of walking into anything they had to walk into with their eyes open. It is hard to look professional when you are strung up by you ankles six feet above the ground with a gun pointed at your head and trust me when I say they had been in a few situations like that over the years.

Sammi immediately swept over to the computer banks in the rear left corner dumping piles of algorithms and experiment reports onto the floor to glance over the instrumentation. 'Well it is definitely THRUSH.' She concluded after blowing dust and grit out of an engraved bird in the top of the monitor.

Kuryakin had moved to the far left corner in which lay rows of benches displaying equipment in various stages of construction; weapons, beakers, crucibles, Bunsen burners on stands, soldering irons and a myriad of other tools and holding vessels. 'Most definitely our feathered friends.' He concurred rolling a particularly deadly looking apparatus in his hands. 'I assume this is meant to be a gun of some sort.'

Solo was rifling through multitudes of filing cabinets in the adjacent corner to his partner, humming while he flicked from 'K' to 'S'. 'Oh look Illya,' he waved a pair of folders around in mock surprise. 'They have folders on us. Who'd've thought? You should be pleased Sammi,' he told her as he dove back into another cabinet, 'you've got one too. That should be worth at least three Wikipedia pages right?'

Gibbs and Fornell busied themselves by looking completely lost around by the closed door they had come through.

A sharp electronic noise sent Kuryakin and Solo to the space between the cabinets and the benches with guns drawn. Sammi scurried between Gibbs and Fornell also with guns drawn. A large projection screen dropped from the roof to cover the wall in front of them and the same woman who had appeared on the plasma screen in the squad room was leering down at the scattered group. She seemed to be oblivious to all but Illya.

'No matter what happens here Kuryakin, I will win! By the time you see this, I will be happily dead and content in the fact that you will suffer Kuryakin. You will regret the day you rejected me in preference to your partner! Your very MALE partner Kuryakin! Don't you forget that! If you cannot bring yourself to blame Solo, Kuryakin, you can always and will always blame yourself! I'm afraid this really is dasvidanya!

Dasvidanya must have been the code word for an oral trigger as a large transparent cube rose up from the laminated floor encompassing the UNCLE agents in an air tight chamber. As the screen shut off and retracted the NCIS agents started forward but were stopped by a similar large transparent wall rising up in the space between the chamber and the wall directly behind them. Gibbs pulled Sammi out and over the rising barrier to keep her on his side. Through the Plexiglas walls, everyone had a clear view of everyone else.

Illya was bashing with all his might upon one side as Napoleon repeatedly shoulder charged another. Both faltered as a long, satisfied, maniac laugh rang out over the speakers. The trio on the sidelines watched in horror as the chamber slowly filled with a grey cloudy gas. Sammi screamed as Illya and Napoleon clutched desperately at each other as they slowly collapsed onto the floor and the air in the chamber was so thick with gas it soon became impossible to see into. Gibbs threw himself upon the glass separating them from the chamber yelling 'Duck!' but it would not shift and no-one would answer. Sammi sunk to her knees screaming and sobbing in pure distress with Fornell on one knee beside her, clutching her shoulders drawing her to him unshed tears brimming in his eyes,

The gas finally dissipated and only Gibbs had not torn his eyes away. The gas had reversed the effect of the drugs coursing through the UNCLE agents' systems. Back to their proper age and looking ever moment of it, Illya was cradling the lifeless body of Napoleon in his arms, all self control, dignity and façade forgotten. His clouded eyes were screaming murder as blue as the outside of his retinas. Slowly, he raised his head and locked gazes with Gibbs and for the first time in years the ex-Marine was purely terrified by what he saw. He could accept, given time that his old, gentle and kindly friend was an international spy; could even accept he was Russian instead of Scottish but he would not, could not accept the cold blooded killer presented to him through the eyes of one who was his friend.

The walls separating the, now quad, were lowered as a countdown commenced.

'100 – 99 – 98 – 97…'

Fornell hoisted Sammi off the floor and half carried her to the door which had swung open at the beginning of the countdown. 'DAMMIT GIBBS! THIS WHOLE PLACE IS HOTWIRED TO BLOW!'

'93 – 92 – 91 – 90…'

Gibbs ran towards his old friend. 'DUCK! COME ON!'

Ducky didn't even raise his head as the floor began to shake, resorting to his native Russian in his emotional turmoil. 'Нет, я не уйду от него. Мы умрем вместе, как мы и обещали. Как я обещала.' No. I will not leave him. We will die together, like we promised. Like I promised.

'DUCK! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!' Gibbs grabbed Ducky's upper arms from behind and attempted to drag him away from his partner. Ducky clutched desperately at Napoleon's limp form, screaming at Gibbs loudly enough to send the kangaroos in Australia bounding for cover. Chunks of ceiling plummeted from above as Gibbs pulled, lifted and dragged the protesting Russian towards the exit.

'Нет! Нет! Наполеон! Вы не можете заставить меня покинуть его! Оставь меня! Отпустите меня! Позвольте мне умереть! Отпустите меня! Наполеон!' No! No! Napoleon! You cannot make me leave him! Leave me! Let me go! Let me die! Let me go! Napoleon!

The entire rear half of the lab caved in, entombing Napoleon's body forever as Fornell appeared again, helping Gibbs to force the M.E. back up the unstable tunnel and back into autopsy.

Fornell stumbled backwards onto the cold floor, almost pulling the Medical Examiner with him as Gibbs hefted himself out of the opening. He vaguely noticed in his upside down world, Kate trying unsuccessfully to comfort Sammi, an anxious Abby bouncing on the balls of her feet, mascara all over her cheeks next to a terrified Palmer and the bemused faces of Tony and McGee as their eyes followed their beloved Ducky, who was well beyond consolation. The momentum from Gibbs' push from behind sent the doctor into a corner where he slid down and curled defensively into a ball.

'Boss? What's –' Tony was cut off as the tunnel began to cave in sending dirt spraying out into the room. Gibbs slammed the steel door closed against the tide of brown and black.

'DOWN NOW!' He yelled above the roar of the destruction as he flung himself onto the floor landing more or less on top of a rather stunned Fornell.

With moments to spare everyone else hit the deck as the explosion forced the metal door of the cooling bay out smashing through the automatic doors to land somewhere near the lift. Dirt and debris scattered the occupants of the room as cabinets fell and supplies toppled off shelves to mix in with the mounting chaos.

As the smoke and dust cleared Tony picked himself up, lightly shaking McGee's shoulder as he did so. 'Hey Probie? You okay?'

A groan and a muffled 'Huh, yeah.' followed as McGee spat a mouthful of earth out. Palmer had a nasty gash above his eye from a stray glass shard and Abby had a hand full of splinters but otherwise they were fine. Kate and Sammi were still quite shaken up but okay, Ducky hadn't moved at all and Gibbs and Fornell were out cold, half on and half off one other. This was going to take a lot of explaining later on.