Chapter II

"Napoleon, this 'mission' has been such a, how do you say, cakewalk that I am not sure what to do next. The Korean agents have played their roles perfectly. Agent Lee has handled her translation duties flawlessly; she is unaware that I speak Korean. She has not mistranslated anything I or anyone else has said. No one has paid any attention to us since we left UNCLE Seoul. I am feeling frustrated." Illya was speaking into his pen communicator discretely while standing off to one side behind a column near their flight's gate in Seoul Gimpo International. "I take it that Darla has not noticed anything amiss with her workers?"

Napoleon's voice was muted as Illya had the volume turned way down. "None of them have made any unauthorized transmissions. Every communication protocol has been followed to the letter Darla tells me. The wiretaps placed on their home telephones have turned up nothing. Slater's people and HR haven't come up with anything suspicious in anyone's backgrounds, so far. Partner Mine, it is possible we may be barking up the wrong tree."

MFUMFUMFUMFUMFUMFUMFU

Slater Gray sat in his office with his legs stretched out so that his feet rested on his desk as he tapped a pencil on the pad he had been using to make notes. This isn't making any sense. Our fake scientist should have gotten some attention from THRUSH. Illya and his group didn't encounter anything out of the ordinary before their plane left Seoul. Not even a nibble of interest. We're missing something. I'm missing something. He threw the pencil across the room in a fit of pique and slammed his feet onto the floor. I need a change of scenery. He grabbed his jacket off the hook and went through his door on his way to Communications. Maybe Darla's got something.

Slater liked Darla Jenkins a lot; in fact, the two of them had been dating fairly steadily, though not exclusively, for four months and he was very happy about it. He was thinking about asking her to go steady. Unlike the Section IIs, personal attachments for Section III agents, though not encouraged, were not discouraged. Some Section IIIs were even married with children, a position Slater hoped to find himself in one day. Maybe with Darla.

That thought made him smile as the pneumatic door to Communications slid open to admit him. The desks were empty; it was lunchtime. Darla let the girls on her shift eat lunch at the same time; she had told Slater she liked to have that hour to herself because she enjoyed the quiet solitude. Even with agents on missions, there were few check – ins during that hour. He knew she was all the way in the back in her cubicle. The two of them had taken advantage of the empty office at times to make out and pet but, sadly, she refused his suggestion they make love in the office because she was afraid they might be caught and rejected his argument that the danger of getting caught made the sex that much hotter.

He could hear her talking quietly on the phone as he neared her cubicle. The way her desk was placed, she would not see him coming until he came into view at the entrance. As he got closer, it became easier to hear her side of the conversation. What he heard made him freeze in shock.

"No, I told you; that North Korean defector is just a ruse, forget about that. We have two agents in Laredo, Texas about to sabotage THRUSH's lab across the border in Mexico. That threat is real; the agents are two women masquerading as photographers and staying at the Motel Estrella." She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Slater standing there. She smiled at him, mouthed One moment and returned her attention to the phone. "Maria, I have to go, Slater's here." She laughed, said, "Bye" and hung up.

"Hello, darling!" she cooed as she got up from her desk and hugged him, "How's your day going?"

He returned her hug and then leaned back to look into her face. "Darla, who were you talking to just now? I heard you talking about 'The Photo Ops Affair' and Illya's mission."

Darla laughed and looked into his eyes. "Oh, that was just Maria in Translations." She kissed him lightly on the lips. "You want to take me to lunch? The girls should be back in twenty minutes and then we can leave."

Slater pulled back slightly again, his eyes troubled. "Maria isn't cleared to know about Illya's mission and I heard you, I heard you blowing Sanchez and Perez' cover. You're going to get them killed; O God, you're the mo…"

His body jerked as the hypodermic needle Darla had pulled out of her left sleeve jabbed into his behind. "I am so, so sorry, Slater," Darla whispered as she watched his eyes start to bulge and his chest heave as he tried desperately to breathe. "This poison is quick, at least. Your respiratory system is paralyzing." She guided him into the guest chair on the side of her desk. "It will appear that you've had a heart attack. If it makes any difference to you at all, I didn't want to betray UNCLE; I had to."

Slater's breathing stopped. Darla placed the needle at the bottom of her purse and quickly wiped the tears away before they fell. I did care for you, Slater but, I have to save myself now.

She walked out of Communications with a large smile on her face and went down the hall to the Commissary where she bought a bag of corn chips and two bottles of soda. When she returned to her cubicle and started screaming, people converged on the area to discover Slater Gray dead and Darla attempting CPR and crying hysterically.

Author's Note: Darla was first mentioned in "Of God and Goblins"