There had been a time, long, long ago, when hunger was an ever-present companion for Illya Kuryakin. As for most other people in his country, food was in extremely short supply. In many cases any kind of sustenance was entirely absent. The young, the old, and the sick were often the first in a village to succumb to starvation; especially when hit by a harsh winter. For children like himself, who were orphaned and alone, it was even more of a struggle. As a result, he had become quite adept at finding just enough food to sustain him; though his belly was never truly filled.
It had been many years since Illya had been in an actual state of starvation, despite all the times he claimed hunger. He had a job which paid well enough, a warm and safe, apartment, and easy access to food form the plethora of stores, restaurants, and diners at his disposal. Even on assignment, it was rare that Illya had to resort to hunting and scavenging. Despite this, the skills he had learned as a child hadn't deserted him, and he was able to call on them whenever the need arose.
Which was just as well, given the situation.
Illya and Napoleon were holed up in a lakeside cabin in order to stakeout the cabin on the opposite bank. It was believed that several members of the Thrush council were meeting to plan a takeover bid. U.N.C.L.E. needed to know who would be making the power play. Before arriving at their own cabin, Napoleon and Illya had managed to bug the other one without being discovered. From that moment on, they were to remain hidden and were under instruction to maintain radio silence. It was a fairly straight forward assignment as far as the two agents were concerned, until they discovered a problem.
When the cabin had been booked by headquarters, they had been told by the letting agent that it would be fully stocked with enough food for a three days. This turned out to not be the case as all that could be found was a can of coffee. Illya was immediately dispatched by Napoleon to find them some food after claiming the blond was a far superior woodsman.
For almost an hour, Illya scavenged around the woodland gathering nuts, berries, and mushroom. He was about to head back when he heard the unmistakable sound of several geese. Heading towards to sound he soon found a small homestead which had several of the birds wandering around. Illya's mouth was practically watering at the thought of roast goose. With the things he'd already gathered he knew that Napoleon, and his culinary skills, would be able to create something wonderful.
However, there was a problem. Ordinarily, Illya would have knocked on the door of the homestead and offered to buy one of the geese but, as they were lying low, he wouldn't be able to. Dropping to his hands and knees, he crawled over to the fence where the fates smiled on him. There was a gap in the panels through which one of the birds had stuck its head. With lightning speed, Illya grabbed the creature and killed it with one swift twist. Ensuring that no-one could see him, he widened the gap and pulled the bird through.
The goose was just enough to keep the agents fed for the two days they were in the cabin. The assignment went without a hitch, the relevant intelligence was acquired, and Napoleon and Illya returned to HQ.
A few days later, Mr and Mrs Fielding received a letter thanking them for the goose, and enough money to cover the cost of half the flock.