Okay, after finally getting the Man from UNCLE DVD, I decided to crack on with the Napollya series I've been thinking of.
Please enjoy, and read/review :-)
…..
Napoleon groaned as an icy blast of wind seemed to penetrate all of his layers. "How do these people stand this…" he muttered, creeping up to the boundaries of the safe-house, "…no wonder Illya's hands are-"
He stopped and sighed….he and Illya still hadn't reconciled since their discussion a couple of days ago. Not even on the plane to the Russian borders.
….Flashback…
"Now remember Mister Solo…." Began Waverly, "….once you get Lyov, you're on your own. We'll be waiting for you in another UNCLE safe-house near the Russian border. It's a pretty long journey from the KGB house, but the coordinates will be sent to your phone in code. I'm sure you'll be able to manage."
Napoleon raised an eyebrow, "Clearly you've never tried travelling with a five year old."
"Have you?"
"Well….no. But I've heard it's torture."
"You should try dinnertime with baby…" grunted Illya from across the aisle. At the surprised looks from the rest of his team, he shrugged, "It was for undercover role."
Napoleon nodded, trying not to make it seem as though he was uncomfortable. The atmosphere between the two was still quite tense. "Well…" he sighed, "…at least I skipped that ordeal."
The plane soon began to descent as it landed on an abandoned runway. As it was landing, Napoleon grabbed his rucksack and made sure all of his extremities were covered, "Wish me luck…" he grinned, trying not to sigh when Illya simply nodded at him.
Taking a deep breath, Napoleon leapt out of the plane door as the wheels touched the tar-mac, landing in a snow-drift with a groan.
….End Flashback…..
From his position, Napoleon could clearly see two guards patrolling the edge of the property. By his calculations, they had been there for an hour already, so Napoleon only had two hours to take them out and get a suitable distance away with his son.
"I bet I can do it in less than fifteen minutes…" he whispered, twisting his head to speak to Illya….only to remember that the Russian wasn't there. "….Oh yeah….Solo mission….for Solo."
He crept into some nearby bushes, before using a specially designed watch, with knockout darts, to take out the two patrolling guards. Checking that they were unconscious, Napoleon then crept in through the front door, diving behind a sofa as the third guard entered the living room.
"Вы будете получать пищу, когда мы перейдем к следующему безопасного дома отродье! (You will receive food, when we move to the next safe house brat!)" Yelled the guard angrily.
As the guard glanced out of the window, probably searching for his two colleagues, Napoleon crept up behind him and pulled him into a chokehold, keeping the pressure steady until the man fell unconscious.
Once sure that the man was out for the count, Napoleon crept in the direction of the room he had seen the guard coming out of. Upon pushing the door open, he cried out in pain when something hit him in the shoulder.
"AH! What the hell?!" he yelped, his eyes scanning the bare room.
Suddenly on the side of the bed, which had a threadbare sheet and thin mattress, he saw a small head peak over the top. This prompted Napoleon to kneel on the floor in an attempt to make himself seem smaller.
"Привет (Hi)…" he whispered, choosing to speak in Russian, "…Не бойся , я не причиню тебе вреда (Do not worry, I will not hurt you.)"
He remained as still as he could, barely breathing as a small boy tiptoed around the bed. The boy seemed very small for five years old, with blonde (slightly curly) hair and baby blue eyes.
"Huh…" mused Napoleon, switching to English, "…I guess your Mama was blonde?"
The child sat on the floor, by the end of the bed, and tilted his head in curiosity. Happy that the boy hadn't moved away, Napoleon shuffled a little closer and smiled at him. "Является ли ваше имя Lyov? (Is your name Lyov?)"
Clearly, this was the right thing to say in order to gain the child's trust, because a beam appeared on his face and he crawled closer, nodding eagerly. Napoleon chuckled as Lyov sat right in front of him, "Возможно, ваша мать вас так называть? (Did your Mother call you that?)"
Another nod, so Napoleon reached into his bag and pulled out a Superman figure in order to give to Lyov. "Это для вас ... Я не знаю, если ваша мать упоминается что-нибудь обо мне , но я твой отец (This is for you…I do not know if your Mother mentioned something about me, but I am your Father.)"
He winced slightly at the obvious Star Wars reference, frowning as Lyov passed the figure from hand to hand. "Вы когда-нибудь имели игрушку раньше? (Have you ever had a toy before?)" He asked.
Lyov shook his head, eyes widened when he was able to move the arms and legs of the figure. Napoleon glanced around the room and nodded, muttering to himself in English. "Yeah…I can tell."
Slowly, he pushed himself off of the floor and began to wander around the room. He opened up a bag to find plain grey t-shirts, and black trousers all neatly folded inside. "Doesn't this kid have anything with a bit a colour?!" he muttered to himself.
The bag was light, and therefore, Napoleon was easily able to lift it onto his shoulder. Spinning around, he grinned at the sight of Lyov making the figure 'fly' in the air.
"Где ваше пальто Lyov? (Where is your coat Lyov?)" He asked, watching as Lyov leapt to his feet and ran into the living area. Napoleon was quick to follow, only to yelp in surprise when he saw his son shimmying up a coat rack in order to grab a small parka, a grey woollen hat and scarf.
"Get down!" Napoleon yelled, forgetting to speak in Russian, "You'll hurt yourself!"
Lyov startled in surprise, his grip slipping slightly on the coat rack, however he manged not to fall off. Instead he slide down and ducked his head in shame and quickly put the warmer clothing on, glancing up every so often at Napoleon and clutching the clothes closer.
This caused Napoleon to sigh, "Я не собираюсь причинять тебе боль (I'm not going to hurt you)."
Clearly, Lyov didn't quite believe him, however the child went to grab his new toy anyway and shuffled to Napoleon. Gently (although Lyov still flinched), Napoleon took a hold of Lyov's hand and gently encouraged the child to leave the safe-house with him.
Instantly, the pair were hit with an icy cold blast of wind. Napoleon shivered, hunching over into his coat in an attempt to stay warm….Lyov however, barely flinched causing Napoleon to sigh. "Of course he's not bothered by the cold…." He muttered, "….god forbid a Russian actually feel the cold."
They set off walking and managed to get to the boundaries of the property without much problem (although Lyov was very interested in the unconscious bodies of the other guards). "У нас есть автомобиль...(We have a car…)" he reassured Lyov, who was beginning to falter slightly, "…Мы будем выйти из этого холода в ближайшее время (We will get out of this cold soon.)"
When Lyov truly began to slow down, each step taking about a minute, Napoleon lifted the child into his arms and practically sprinted to where he knew he had parked the car. Lyov seemed surprised at this, tensing in Napoleon's arms until they reached the vehicle.
"Thank god…" muttered Napoleon, shifting his son to one arm in order to open the passenger side door, and then placing his son inside. After getting in himself, he quickly started the engine and turned the heater on.
"Лучше? (Better?)" He asked, twisting around to smile at his son. Lyov nodded, putting his hood down and removing the scarf and gloves, the Superman figure resting on his lap.
"Хорошо (Good)…" Napoleon pulled onto a nearby road and sped away from the boundaries of the safe-house, "…Давайте попробуем найти где-нибудь , чтобы поесть (Let's try to find somewhere to eat.)"
They travelled for a couple of hours, in order to make sure that they were far enough from the safe-house. Lyov soon fell asleep, his head resting on the window, despite the car hitting several bumps along the road.
Once he was sure that his son was fast asleep, Napoleon switched on his communicator. "Agent Solo here."
/Ah Mister Solo…\\ came the voice of Waverly, /How is everything going?\\
"I've got the child and we are en-route to the UNCLE safe-house."
/Excellent! Any problems so far?\\
Napoleon glanced over at the child, "None with the mission Sir…Lyov hasn't said anything though. Is there any record of mutism or speech difficulties?"
/Nyet…"\\ This time, Illya answered, /….he is probably just shy\\
"That sounds plausible….I have just taken him from the only life I've known. Do we know how many languages he's been exposed to? American life may be difficult if he can only speak and understand Russian."
/He can speak and understand English...\\ Illya again, /…Why/ Are you exposing him to bad Russian accent?\\
Napoleon chuckled, feeling glad that their familiar banter was back in place. "My accent isn't that bad!"
/Keep telling yourself that Cowboy\\
There were the sounds of rustling and shuffling over the communicator for a few moments, before Waverly's voice came over the device again. "What's your ETA at the safe-house Mister Solo?"
Glancing at the horizon, Napoleon frowned. "It's getting a bit late Sir, so I may check us both into a motel for the night….but we should be there by noon tomorrow."
/Hmmmm….do you have the necessary ID's for the motel?\\
"Of course Sir. I prepared suitable cover stories for both of us for just this occasion."
/Excellent. We will see you tomorrow Mister Solo. Waverly out.\\
Napoleon switched off the communicator, glancing at his son….only to find him wide awake. "Hey kiddo!" he gasped, trying to mask his surprise, "You hungry?"
Lyov frowned at him, gesturing at his throat and mouth.
"Yeah, my Russian accent's lousy huh? Do you mind if I speak English?"
There was silence as Lyov thought to himself for a few moments, before he shrugged and smiled….Napoleon took that to mean that he could speak English.
"Thanks kiddo….so, are you hungry?"
Lyov nodded eagerly, causing Napoleon to grin. "Excellent! I'm starving….I think there's a restaurant a little further up."
After around 10 more minutes of driving, Napoleon finally pulled into the car-park of a road-side café. "Come on kiddo…" Napoleon stepped out of his door and ran around to the passenger side, "…grub time."
Silently, Lyov held up his Superman figure causing Napoleon to grin and chuckle. "Yeah you can bring Supes with you….but he's not getting his own meal, okay?"
Lyov just gave him an 'obviously' look and pushed himself out into the cold. Napoleon locked the door and the pair entered (with Napoleon keeping a careful eye out for any suspicious individuals). They saw themselves to a booth and glanced at the menu.
"So what are you fancying kid?" Napoleon asked, keeping his voice quiet in order not to be overheard speaking English, "Pizza? A burger?"
Lyov frowned at him, before pointing to the picture of a simple bowl of soup.
"Are you sure you don't want anything else? That doesn't look very-"
Lyov interrupted him by pointing aggressively at the picture.
"Alright, alright…" Napoleon held up his hands in mock surrender, however, he was quick to notice the child glancing at the pictures of the other meals in...longing?
"Hey…" he whispered, "….have you ever had any of these others foods before?"
Lyov shook his head.
"So, what have you eaten for the last five years?"
Lyov pointed at the picture of the soup again, and then at a picture of bread. Napoleon sighed, "Okay….maybe you should have the soup. Anything else might be too rich for your system…although maybe I can get you some chips. They should be plain enough."
Lyov looked on in curiosity as Napoleon flagged down a passing waitress. "Можем ли мы иметь одну тарелку супа и одну тарелку жареного картофеля , пожалуйста? (Can we have a bowl of soup and a plate of chips please?)" He asked, his most charming smile on his face.
The waitress nodded, a perky smile on her face (which much be a requirement in this job). "Любые напитки? (Any drinks?)"
"Два воды , пожалуйста (Two waters please)"
The waitress nodded and flounced away. Once she was out of earshot, Napoleon turned back to his son. "I assume water's okay?"
Lyov glanced up from his Superman figure and nodded, smiling shyly at his Father. A couple of minutes later, the waitress brought over two glasses of water and beamed at the pair, cooing at Lvov before flouncing off again.
Napoleon was quick to take a gulp, thirsty after the many hours of driving. "Aahh…" he gasped in relief, "…That hits the spot!"
He glanced at Lyov….and was alarmed to see two of him. His vision become blurred and it felt as though something heavy was resting against his shoulders.
"Oh not again…" he whispered, catching Lyov's worried glance just before his head hit the table.
