"You're doing what?" Napoleon blurted out, nearly spilling his mug of hot coffee on himself.
"Yes, I said I am going to try to talk to Miss Kurasov."
"Wow, I'm gone a week and this is the mischief you decide to get yourself into?Illya she tried to kill you, and the last time I saw her she was pretty determined to do that. I think you should leave it to Psyche to see if they can straighten out that little hell-cat or not."
Illya swallowed the last mouthful of tea. "No, I think in spite of her misguided attempt upon my life, I suspect she has been brainwashed by KGB. She could not have managed to do what she had done without assistance and my bet it was they who recruited her to kill, well...actually me, though I think she might have eventually eliminated you if given the chance."
"Aren't you just being a bit paranoid? Granted I know the KGB has you in their sights from time to time, but they've laid off for quite a while now. Isn't it possible they've finally accepted you as a part of UNCLE?"
Illya rose from the table, taking his empty glass with him to the dishwasher's tub sitting by the kitchen. He turned to say something to Napoleon, but not surprisingly, found him dawdling with one of the new secretaries. He gave a little whistle to Napoleon to get his attention.
After taking a napkin handed to him with the pretty blonde's telephone number on it, he caught up to his partner's side.
"Do you not ever give it a rest?" Illya shook his head..."Never mind, do not say it, I know 'when you have got it, you got it..."
'Very good chum, you're finally catching on," Napoleon chuckled as he put his empty mug in the tub, following his partner towards the door.
"Now as I was saying, "Illya stood still, "Until recently, GRU was in a position of favor with Kremlin, but now the pendulum seems to be swinging in favor of Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti... so prior to this change in influence I suspect KGB had been laying low until now."
"What better method of disposing of someone by using an innocent, for all intents and purposes, rather than one of their own agents. If Ivanna had succeeded, KGB would still have been free of all guilt."
"Since she did not succeed, there is no finger to be pointed at them as the party ultimately responsible. I suspect she might have been programmed to either return to Soviet Union or to kill herself, though the former is probably the most likely scenario. Had she escaped us, Ivanna would have been deemed poisoned mad with feelings of revenge for the death of her parents and her harsh life in the State system and condemned to an insane asylum back home. It is so typical of them to manipulate an innocent to suit their purposes."
"So the KGB is using her as a proxy and a scapegoat at the same time? Interesting hypothesis my friend,"Napoleon nodded.
The Commissary doors opened silently and they exited into the corridor, Illya still speaking to Napoleon.
"Yes, this I believe to be true. My background, being similar to hers might help me get through and free her of her conditioning. Napoleon, she is too young to be left like this. I do not want to see her sent to prison, or any such place. She is only a child..."
Napoleon could hear the compassion in his partner's voice and didn't blame him at all. He too wished Ivanna to live a long and happy life, and he hoped his mind, there was a chance his partner might be able to help the girl after all.
"You feeling a bit like 'there but for the Grace of God go I?" Napoleon asked.
"Please, there is no need to bring religion into this. I merely want to help her, that is all."
"Ugh huh, yeah," Solo mumbled. He was guessing that wasn't the case, Illya perhaps thinking he could have been Ivanna...or until he came to UNCLE maybe he already was like her, and wanted to rectify that for her as he did for himself. Did he see a bit of himself when he looked at her?
Napoleon knew little of his partner's past, though he was aware Illya was an orphan and a product of the State Schools until a sponsor from military intelligence spotted him, and after that his life truly belonged to the State. Soviet Intelligence liked to train their operatives at a young age, so who knew how much of his partner's early years were lost to the covert world of Russian intelligence. Who knew what was done to him, as perhaps Ivanna as well?
If Illya was right about the girl, he knew exactly what shel had been through. Could that common background he spoke of really help her see the error of her ways?
Napoleon hoped that commonality and his partner could...
Illya headed off to Medical, followed by Solo, who was eager to see what might come of all this. Napoleon headed up to the observation room, while Illya, after checking his weapons outside the cell, stepped carefully inside, closing the door behind him and waiting for it to be locked.
Ivanna was curled up in one of the corners, wearing a straightjacket for this first encounter.
"Zdravstvuyte. Vy pomnite , kto ya_ hello. Do you remember who I am?"
"Da...Vy ubiytsa moyego ottsa i mat' i prichinoy razoreniya moyey zhizni you are the killer of my father and mother and the cause of the ruin of my life."
"Kak vy znayete eto? Kto tebe skazal_how do you know this? Who told you?"
"YA prosto znayu , vot i vse ... YA tebya nenavizhu!_I just know, that is all...I hate you!"
"Vy dazhe ne znayete menya_you do not even know me," Illya spoke softly.
"Ukhodi_go away!" She spat him and became highly agitated.
"YA budu seychas, no ya vernus' . Vy i u menya yest' o chem pogovorit' , i mnogo obshchego_I will for now, but I will be back. You and I have much to talk about, and much in common."
"YA ne imeyu nichego obshchego s vami, nomesto rozhdeniya, ty predatel'_I have nothing in common with you but a place of birth, you traitor."
"Hmm. We will see about that." Illya tapped on the door to be let out.
Not surprisingly, it was a short conversation, but one single word she uttered confirmed his suspicions.
"Predatel_traitor!" That was what KGB called him, and no one else.