Zealotry seemed to be a trait which was highly prevalent amongst the ranks of Thrush. Alongside vanity, and insanity, this made for some exceptionally unstable people. As Illya Kuryakin watched his latest captor rave on about his 'master plan', he wondered if he somehow attracted the worst ones.
Illya had been caught, thirty minutes previously, trying to discover the plans for a new chemical weapon and was now shackled to a chair in front of the architect of those plans. Anderson Oakes had spent that time explaining his plans in minute detail. That was another thing which always puzzled Illya. The 'bad guys', as Napoleon called them, always felt the need to inflate their own egos by showing how clever they were. To that end, Oakes was doing Illya's job for him by telling him the information he'd come looking for.
As Oakes continued to show off, Illya had to draw on all of his will power reserves not to sigh or roll his eyes. He was beginning to wish that he inevitable interrogation would start just so he wouldn't have to listen to any more bragging. Oakes' speech had gone down the route that most Thrush members took, and he was now explaining how he would rise to the top and take over the organisation. It astonished him that Thrush managed to work as a cohesive unit when so many of them were willing to sell the others out to get to the top.
He was about to lose the battle against sighing when Oakes suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. The man dropped to the floor, unconscious, and Illya could see an U.N.C.L.E. sleep dart embedded in his neck.
"Ready to go home, Tovarisch?" asked Napoleon, stepping into Illya's line of sight.
"More than you will ever know," the Russian replied, emphatically.