….

Chapter 6

As the men were being rounded up downstairs, the three men crept up the stairs to the second floor. Once outside the room Chet had left Jo in, the agents peeked through the glass of the door.

She was sitting in a large wooden chair, her arms tied behind it, her ankles bound to each of the front legs. Her face and body were bruised from the interrogation. Her arm and shoulder appeared to be dislocated or perhaps broken. It was a sure thing that she was in pain.

"Do you want us to take over boss?" One of the other guards in the room asked.

"Get out!" He yelled.

As the guards left, the UNCLE agents moved back out of sight and each man was darted by Illya as the door was closed.

After the guards left, Wincen grabbed her face lifting it so she was looking at him. "You'll talk to me or I'll kill you which will it be?"

Jo looked up at Wincen through her one eye that she could still open. She watched as he raised the metal bar.

"I would lower that very carefully unless you want a bullet through the back of your head." Napoleon warned.

Wincen looked up surprised. So intent on making Jo talk, he hadn't heard the door open, or Napoleon and Illya followed by Chet entering the room.

He lowered the bar slowly then he suddenly swung it up and sending it toward her head. Trying to push her out of the way before she was struck, Illya leaped toward the chair knocking it and her to the ground.

Wincen pulling a gun shooting toward the agents as he turned to run toward the door. As Napoleon and Chet ducked and Illya covered his sister, the Thrush agent dived through the back door.

"Go after him. I am not going anyplace," Jo looked at the men covering her.

"Chet, untie her and keep her safe. We'll be back. Come on Illya, let's get that bastard."

With that, the UNCLE agents took off across the second floor.

….

Napoleon and Illya carefully exited the door that Wincen had gone through. Racing down the stairs and across the warehouse floor following the red shirt the man was wearing.

As they hit the outside, the Thrush leader headed across the overgrown field toward the lake at the North end of the building. He turned to fire on the two UNCLE agents and tripped into the unseen small stream flowing across the field.

Illya leaped into the water after him, landing on top of him and belting him across the face.

"I give up," Wincen shouted at the Russian who hit him once more.

"For Jo," he said.

Illya stood up pulling his prisoner with him. Both were covered mud, weeds and water. Looking up at his dry partner standing at the stop of the small rise, Illya scowled.

"Do you want to give me a hand up or do you just plan on at staring at me?" He said irritably.

Napoleon looked down at him in disgust, "Do you always have to play in the mud? If I help you up, I'll get my suit all messy."

"Napoleon!" Illya pushed Wincen up and toward his partner who took the man's hand helping him out of the stream.

Holding his gun on the man, he looked toward his partner who was climbing out by himself. Rolling his eyes, Illya grabbed Wincen's arm heading toward the police coming his way.

….

When they agents returned to where they had left Jo, they found her on a stretcher arguing with the emergency personnel.

"I can walk and do not need to go to the hospital," she claimed.

"Just lay there and let them take care of you, Agent Kuryakin," Napoleon told her in his best CEA voice causing her to cross her good arm over her chest.

"How bad is she?" Illya asked the attendant.

"I think her arm is cracked, shoulder dislocated, a few sprained muscles, contusions, cuts, and bruises all over her body."

"Normal day at work, I see." Napoleon teased her, making her laugh before the pain cut it short.

"I'm sorry I left you here before," Chet told her shaking his head as he took her hand.

"We made a deal and you kept it. If you had not brought help, we would both be dead. This is what we do."

Jo looked up at Napoleon with puppy dog eyes, "If you get me out of this, we could go back to the hotel and you could help me with that bath I need. Otherwise, the hospital will do it and you will not get the chance to help wash the dirt off."

Illya rolled his eyes, "Are you going to fall for that partner?"

"Stay out of this bolʹshoĭ brat (big brother). The hotel is still paid for tonight, isn't it? And there are two bedrooms so Illya will have his own. Pleaseeeeee. I mean with my arm and shoulder I cannot wash my back. " She pleaded giving him a look that suggested more than helping her bathe was involved.

"ER first. If they release you then I'll take you to the hotel and help you get cleaned up and after you take the medications they'll be giving you tuck you in to sleep." He said causing her to frown.

Knowing that was the best she would get, she laid back and allowed the attendants to take her give her some morphine for the pain.

As she was being taken out, she stopped them by Illya and Napoleon.

"He would make a great Section Two," she slurred as the medication took effect.

"Go to sleep and let them take you to ER," Illya said as he indicated the attendants should leave.

After she was taken out of the building, the rest of the Thrush personnel was taken away. Napoleon removed one of his cards and handed it to Chet.

"We're always looking for good men. Jo must think a lot of you if she recommended you."

"She's something else. I'm going to miss working with her," he said as he took the card.

"I'm going to have to think about this. I've seen her scars and have a feeling that you two have more. How often do you wind up on a stretcher after an assignment?"

"Depends, if you're someone who irritate your captors or not. We do have an infirmary and hospital in headquarters and an excellent medical plan for those times we need other care," Napoleon said ignoring the icy glance from Illya who knew he was speaking about him.

"Well, gentlemen its been fun, but I've have a month of paperwork to catch up on and seeing Jo is injured I guess I better get to it. Will I see Jo before you leave?"

"Come by the hotel tonight, I'm sure she'll be there." Illya said watching the police cars leaving with their prisoners.

"Won't the hospital make her stay?" Chet couldn't believe she'd be release in her condition.

"No one keeps a Section Two agent in the hospital unless they're unconscious. Speaking of which, I think we better go rescue the hospital staff before she tries to take them apart."

With a promise from Chet to stop by later, the UNCLE agents once more headed toward the hospital to bring one of their own home.