Thank you for the reviews! Here is chapter 6, and things haven't improved (yet?) sorry :)

Unknown location Illya's p.o.v.

Cut out his heart…

Illya repeated the man's words in his mind, trying to find a different meaning he could attach to them.

"What's the matter, Kuryakin? It's not like he's going to need it anyway."

As he listened to the cruel, taunting voice Illya couldn't help but wonder if their captor had seen through his ruse. He tried his best to maintain a calm facade.

"You said one of us had to die. I killed him. He's dead, you can come see for yourself. You got what you wanted now you let her go."

Illya hoped that he had sounded less desperate than he felt.

"Come on, Kuryakin, don't be stubborn. I know you're capable of doing it. You've done such a good job so far. One last effort and Miss Teller will be on her way."

Illya didn't dare move. His gaze fell on Solo's face. A bump was visible where he had hit him and there was a smear of dried blood under his left nostril. He looked convincingly dead.

"What are you waiting for?", the man went on. "Oh…I think I understand. Maybe you're trying to buy a little more time, in case the help you've been expecting finally arrives."

Illya's head whipped up towards the speaker as realization dawned on him.

He knows…

A few seconds passed in silence then the man let out an amused sigh.

"Ah, Kuryakin. Did you really think it was going to be that easy? Who do you think put the drug and the message in your pocket?"

There was another pause as the man let what he had just said sink in.

"I wanted to give you hope. Just so that I could snuff it out. I must say that it was all very entertaining, especially when you stabbed Solo. I didn't think you would go that far."

The man gave a soft chuckle.

"I did warn you that the winner of this little game would be the one to suffer the most. And what better way to start than with a little session of psychological torture? So here is the new deal: you cut out Solo's heart and Miss Teller leaves this place in one piece. It's really not such a bad bargain. I mean, look at him, he is completely defenseless, how hard can it be? That drug you gave him should keep him unconscious. Then again, it may not, it was never that reliable… "

Illya felt his heart sink. In retrospect, his plan seemed so stupid. How uncharacteristically foolish he had been. The man was right. He had been clinging to that hope. He had wanted to believe that there was a way out. He understood now that he had underestimated just how much of a sadist their captor was.

"Ah, now I have you cornered. Tell me, how does it feel? Are you hurting yet, Kuryakin? Don't worry, it's about to get even better. Now you know what you have to do if you want to keep Miss Teller safe."

Illya had to resist the urge to yell. He wanted to kill that man so bad, he wanted to destroy him. But instead, he was kneeling in front of the unconscious, soon-to-be corpse of his partner. The feeling of powerlessness was almost too much to bear. A couple of minutes passed before he realized that the man had stopped talking. Then the familiar crackle of the speaker sounded again.

"I'm waiting, Kuryakin. There is no use in trying to buy time, now that you know no one is coming to rescue you. Or perhaps you're not taking my threats seriously enough. Let's give you a little incentive."

Another pause and suddenly an image appeared on the screen embedded in the wall. It still showed Gaby tied to the chair but she was no longer alone. Their captor was standing behind her. His face was out of the frame and only his hands were visible. One hand was holding Gaby's head up, in the other – which appeared to be covered with burn scars – was a scalpel. The voice of their captor sounded again, more distant but Illya could make out every chilling word.

"I think I'm going to start with the right eye. Then, if you're still indecisive, I'll remove the other one."

The scalpel hand suddenly moved closer to Gaby's face, the point of the blade almost touching her eye.

"Stop! I'll do it."

The hand froze. A few seconds dragged by then finally the hands moved away from Gaby's face and disappeared as the man moved out of the frame completely. Illya just had the time to see the tears in Gaby's eyes before the screen went black again.

"Finally you're being reasonable, Kuryakin. Now get to work, you've stretched my patience far enough."

Illya felt sick as he went to pick up the Bowie knife he had used to fight Solo earlier. He knelt down again beside his partner and started unbuttoning the unconscious American's shirt. His own hammering heart kept reminding him that, despite appearances, Cowboy's heart was still beating too. His friend was still alive and he was going to butcher him. Although he knew it was futile, considering what he was about to do, he took care not to dislodge the small knife embedded into Solo's body as he spread his shirt open. His eyes fell on the angry red slash wound on Solo's chest and he paused. Was he really going to cut his friend open and remove his heart? His gut twisted at the thought. But he didn't have any other options. He couldn't let the man torture Gaby, he had to save at least one partner if he could, and, although he hated himself for thinking that, there was a chance that Cowboy wouldn't feel anything. The knife felt heavy in his hand as he brought it close to his friend's body.

Unknown location, Gaby's p.o.v.

Gaby watched helplessly as Illya got up to pick up the knife. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing. Of course she had been terrified when the scientist had threatened to carve out her eyes, she still was. But the thought of what Illya was about to do to Solo to save her was unbearable. There had to be a way out of this nightmare. Her gaze shifted to the discarded scalpel on a table close to her. If it had been in her hand she could have used it to cut her bonds and stab her captor. But it wasn't in her hand, it was on that table, so close, but still out of reach. The tiny sliver of hope she had felt when she had realized that Napoleon was still alive had disappeared. She knew that even if the MI6 sent someone, they would never arrive in time to save Napoleon. And Illya would probably be dead too. And then, what would happen to her? Her gaze shifted back to the screen as she felt fresh tears forming in her eyes.

End of chapter 6. The end is near :)