Napoleon was about to use his elbow to ring Illya's bell when he heard his partner talking. He inclined his head a bit closer to the door to listen in case an intruder had entered. After a few seconds, when he was convinced that he was hearing half of a friendly conversation, he put one shopping bag down, knocked his special code to alert Illya and then used his key to enter.

Stepping inside, he could see that his partner was sprawled on the couch with a glass of what he assumed was vodka in one hand and his phone in the other. He lifted the bags slightly to show he had the food and liquor he had promised to bring and headed into the kitchen to unload them. He fixed himself a drink and returned to the living room.

"Wolf, Napoleon just arrived with our dinner… Hahaha, very funny! Listen, he and I are on leave for the next couple of weeks, so I will tell him what you and I talked about and I will let you know what is decided. I will. Goodbye." He sat up and replaced the handset in the cradle and then picked the old black phone up and put it on the end table.

The CEA crinkled his nose in disapproval. "That thing is an antique! Why don't you get a Princess phone? I assume that was your brother – in – law?"

"Your assumption is correct. He said 'hello' to you, by the way. And in case you have not noticed, I am not a princess." He went into the kitchen to pull plates and cutlery out of the cabinets and drawers and began opening the containers Napoleon had put on his kitchen table. "Italian; excellent!" he said before digging into the fettucine Alfredo and salad. He put two pieces of chicken Francese on his plate and grabbed a couple of pieces of garlic bread. "He was telling me that Eunice left him and returned home to upstate New York."

Napoleon had filled his plate with pasta, salad and chicken as well and had sat at Illya's kitchen table. "What do you mean, Eunice left him? For good?! They seemed so happy together!"

"They were, but living in Colorado took its toll on her and their relationship. She was the only Negro for miles and the subtle and not so subtle racism was wearing on her. Wolf said she wanted him to move back East with her, but he loves it out West and just could not bring himself to relocate. Plus, she began to realize that he was keeping a large part of himself separate from her."

"You mean his life with THRUSH."

"Yes. So much of the last fifteen years of his life he would not share with her and she knew it. He told me they had a terrific fight about him keeping secrets and he thinks that was finally the straw that broke the camel's back. Napoleon, he is feeling lonely. He has made one new friend who lives about two and a half hours away in Utah, but they do not get together as often as he would like because of the distance."

"Two and a half hours? How did they even meet?"

"Last year, he bought an RV and took Eunice on a road trip down one of the interstates and decided to stop in Monticello, Utah to go see the petroglyphs in Newspaper Rock Park. Afterwards, they stopped in a pub for lunch and struck up a conversation with the owner. Then, a couple of weeks later, Wolf was on a hunting trip and ran into the same man as they were staying at the same lodge. Wolf wants me to come visit and I told him I would let him know. The truth is I want to go, but I also want to spend time with you. That last affair was brutal; I had made up my mind that I was about to die. I would have died if you had not shown up when you did."

Napoleon shivered at the memory. "Don't remind me. That twisted…he was about to harvest your organs! If you hadn't shouted at me not to kill him, I would have."

Illya shrugged. "Mr. Waverly wanted him alive. He was so certain his fortress was impregnable that he thought I was not speaking to anyone, that I was trying to make him think someone was behind him. He taunted me."

"Which gave me time to switch from bullets to darts. Lucky for him. I was thinking I want to spend some down time with you, too. Seeing your partner trussed up, conscious and about to be carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey can do that to you."

"So would you consider going to Colorado?" He swallowed the last of his food and put his plate down. "I know your idea of a perfect vacation is something a bit more urban and urbane, but since you picked our last vacation location in Rome and we both know how that turned out, let us head out for a mountainous, idyllic retreat that also brings comfort to a member of my family."

Napoleon sighed inwardly. He liked Wolf Schmidt and in fact, the man formerly known as Ludwig Bowler had initially liked him more than he had liked Illya, but the Russian and Schmidt had bonded over having similar experiences during World War II and then Illya had fallen in love with and married Wolf's twin sister, the doomed Luba Baranova, formerly known as Luti Bowler Schwarz. Since her untimely death, the Russian and his former THRUSH Central Committee member brother – in - law had only strengthened their bond.

Prior to that, in all the time Napoleon had been partnered with Illya, he had been the only person with whom the younger man had built a relationship. The CEA had insisted upon their having an open and honest partnership from the start and from that beginning they had forged a powerful friendship that was not only the envy of their fellow agents, but also the other Section I Number Ones around the globe who had all tried and failed to duplicate Waverly's luck in pairing the two.

He was proud of his partnership with the Russian. He was happy that Illya had made a connection with Wolf's sister. He had been hurt, at first, that Illya had hidden his marriage to Luba from him, but not from Wolf. In fact, Illya had basically asked for Wolf's blessing; but when Illya explained he hadn't wanted to put Napoleon in a position where he might have to choose between loyalty to UNCLE or his partner one day, he forgave him.

When Illya's and Wolf's bond didn't diminish, Napoleon had to admit to himself that he was somewhat jealous of their friendship. He looked at the younger man staring at him awaiting his answer and knew Illya truly wanted to go to Colorado. "You would bring up Rome! Fine, Partner Mine, let's go to Colorado. I haven't tasted good German food in a while and we both know Wolf is an excellent chef."

Illya's face brightened and his true smile beamed out at his partner. "Great! I will let Wolf know that you expect several homecooked meals while we are there! Do you mind if we leave tomorrow?"

Before Napoleon could answer, Illya's communicator began to beep. While the Russian assembled it to answer, Napoleon felt guilty that he hoped work was about to change their plans. "Kuryakin."

"Sorry, Agent Kuryakin, this is Sara. I know you're officially on leave, but you had said that if you or Napoleon ever got a communication from Sylvia Broadchurch, you wanted to be notified immediately."

"There is nothing to apologize for, Sara; you are doing exactly what we want you to do. Both Napoleon and I are at my apartment. Have a courier bring the message here. I assume it is for me?"

"Yes. You'll have it within the hour."

"Thank you," Illya said before ending the conversation. "I wonder what Angel wants."