Sacrifices for the Greater Good

Recovery III

Before Rose could scream again, Gaby's deft fingers reattached the gag. "What now?"

"Remove any jewellery. Search her pockets for any identifying documents." Gaby nodded and began to work, first unclasping a necklace Rose was wearing. Illya did the same to George, removing a wallet from his pocket and a Rolex from his wrist. He looked regretfully at his own watch and unclasped it, carefully slipping it on to the other man's wrist. He pulled out his own wallet, looking at the driver's license that started back at him. He removed the cash from it, and put the wallet in George's back pocket.

"Done." Gaby had Rose's bag over her shoulder, and dumped a small pile of jewellery into one of the openings. He moved over to her and tenderly brushed her hair out of the way so he could remove the chain she always wore. The dark pearl ring winked at him as it emerged from her dress, he hesitated for a moment, and she took it from him and placed it around the other girl's neck. Realising where he was going with the plan, she took off the mission engagement ring and put it on Rose's ring finger. Luckily it fit almost perfectly. Illya watched as Gaby stepped back and critically examined the scene.

"Help me get their coats off." She ordered, and he complied without question. They had to briefly untie each of them to do so, but with both Illya and Gaby working together there was little Rose could do to stop them. George was still out cold and thus gave them even less difficulty. Gaby pulled the full length, belted green coat over her dress, and shoved George's jacket at him. Task completed she disappeared upstairs for a few minutes, only to reappear with a pair of sunglasses and a hat on. Her hair was piled up underneath the hat, and Illya grasped onto what she was trying to do. With the coat and the rest of her features covered, she could be mistaken for Rose. She had brought his cap down too, and he took it from her immediately.

"I think we've done enough." He said. "All the other evidence will be lost in the explosion."

"Napoleon will be horrified." Gaby said suddenly. "He'll blame himself." He realised with a start of guilt that she was right. Of course it wasn't Napoleon's fault, no one could have predicted what was going to happen. But if the listening devices had been left in place, it was likely that he would have been alerted to their situation and could have done something.

"What do you want to do?" He asked.

"We're not changing the plan." She said immediately. "We still go ahead. But I want to say goodbye to him."

"We can't go see him." He told her. "He will still need to think we are dead, if he doesn't react or grieve then everyone might suspect something is amiss."

"I know." She paused thoughtfully, holding her fist against her mouth as she tried to come up with a solution. "Would they be able to track down a phone call?"

"Perhaps, but it is unlikely they would try if you just tell him where you are. Even if it's a lie."

"He wouldn't be expecting me to lie about our whereabouts." She said softly. "What about the explosives? Can we set them to go off later?" He went to examine them.

"I should be able to rig them to explode after five minutes." He said.

"Right. The neighbours to the left of us are away for a few days. We pick the lock, ring Napoleon's house, I end the call just before the explosion." Gaby planned it out, it would not be perfect but hopefully it would be enough. "We make our getaway immediately once I hang up." He nodded. The plan was sound, he only wondered how the emotional impact would affect her. It would not be easy to sob down a phone to a close friend and lie to him about their impending demise.

"Are you sure you can do this?" She looked up at him in determination.

"Yes."

"So that's how you survived." Napoleon said slowly, allowing the new information to sink in. "I guess I underestimated you Peril." Illya shrugged.

"It happens. I did not tell anyone that I had built up such a resistance. I didn't want it used against me if it became common knowledge."

"But why would you even do such a thing?" Napoleon asked, still utterly bemused by the whole idea, Illya looked a little sheepish.

"I wanted to be good spy." He saw Gaby roll her eyes beside him and couldn't help but feel a slight amusement at what was really a minor point.

"So Rose Russell was involved in her father's business?" Waverly spoke up, he too had remained quiet but listening intently throughout Illya's narratives, and with the slight break he felt it a good time to bring it up.

"She was." Gaby confirmed. "I'm almost glad of it, it certainly made everything a lot easier." She didn't have to explain why, they all knew that killing an unarmed person was not an easy thing to do- easy in the execution but not in the aftermath. The emotional impact would have only been worse had Rose been an innocent civilian.

"So you went to Scotland straight afterwards?" Napoleon asked with a frown. "I tried to track down the Russells, and the trail led south."

"Not quite." Illya said. "We decided on Scotland later." With a brief glance around for permission, Illya began the next portion of the tale.

With the call made, Gaby and Illya immediately rushed to the red car that they had moved behind the neighbour's house. Tears from her performance were still streaming down her face, so she did not object when Illya gently pushed her towards the passenger seat. They would switch places once she had calmed down enough. As they drove they heard a final ear-piercing scream from the house they drove away from, Rose had clearly succeeded in removing the gag. The sound caused Gaby to flinch. Illya's hand squeezed her knee comfortingly, reminding her she had made the right decision. The harsh sound was soon cut off by the roar of the explosion. George and Rose had gone for overkill, and the house burst into flames incinerating everything and everyone inside. Illya slammed his foot on the pedal and the car sped off away from the neighbourhood. He drove like a madman through the streets until Gaby's hand touched the wheel, he slowed down and stopped.

"I'll take over." She gave him a weak smile. "I'm the better driver." They switched places quickly, Gaby pushing the sunglasses up so she had a better view of the road. As she moved the driver's seat around to make herself more comfortable, they heard the sirens approaching. Police cars soon appeared, and without further ado Gaby distracted herself from what they had just done by evading them with ease. Once they had lost their pursuers she drove them to another part of the town where they abandoned the easy to identify car and stole a less conspicuous one.

In the new car, she drove more carefully. The authorities would still be after the first one, and driving erratically would have only drawn more attention to themselves. As they left the house further and further behind them, Illya found himself relaxing more and more. He knew it would take longer for Gaby. She had killed people in the past, he knew that and had even witnessed it on several occasions, but each time it had been a clear cut case of self-defence. She had returned fire at people shooting at them, she had shoved a knife into someone who had been trying to cut her throat. But she had never killed someone who was unarmed and defenceless at the time. Yes, George and Rose had been perfectly willing to kill them before Illya had subdued them, but they were not actively trying when they blew the house up. It was a small but not unimportant distinction. He knew it would probably hit her once the adrenaline wore off and she had time to consider how much this act had blackened her conscience.

They stopped briefly at a jewellers during their journey with a dual purpose. The stolen ornaments weighed heavily in their pockets and they took the opportunity to unload it all, pretending to be a couple that had fallen on hard times and now had to sell their valuables. The jeweller's eyes had been wide and gleaming when the small hoard was dropped in front of him, and they were both confident that he would only remember the items in front of him and not the couple that sold it to him. He might remember that the male half of the couple was exceptionally large, but that in itself was not a problem since the description could also be attributed to George.

Rose's jewellery and George's watch were readily taken by the man, and in exchange their current stockpile of money to live on was not inconsiderably increased, even though Illya suspected the jeweller had seized on their desperate situation and offered them a price far lower than the actual value. Aside from increasing their funds, there was the added benefit of continuing the supposed trail the Russell's had left behind, it would be yet another clue that the criminal duo had passed through the state. Gaby had to admit it did feel uncomfortable to sell off the possessions of two people they had for all intents and purposes murdered, it made her feel like a common thief. When she had confided in her feelings to Illya, he had looked at her seriously and with one hand on her belly he had reminded her exactly what the money would be used for. That had been some comfort. Gaby had barely noticed when Illya had used some of their profits to buy two new simple gold bands, coming back to awareness when the cold metal ring was slipped over her finger. Illya could see it took her a moment or two to process, but when she looked back at him he could tell she understood. They were having a baby, from now on they would be married in the eyes of all onlookers.

They kept driving south, under Illya's advice. They ditched their car several more times, each replacement as equally common and mundane as the previous one. It was as much to lose a potential tail as it was to ensure they had a steady supply of petrol without having to stop to buy any. They also switched places several times to give the other a rest, but they could not continue this forever. Illya stopped the car when he found an appropriately dingy looking motel, several hours drive away from where they had originally set off from.

"We should get some rest." He told Gaby. "You need to especially." He found his eyes falling to her stomach, concealed underneath layers of clothing, and when he raised them again he saw her looking at him with a small smile.

The man who owned the motel looked at them in boredom, and barked out a price. Illya paid it in cash, adding an extra thirty dollars. The man accepted it with a slightly knowing smile, although Illya was sure the man probably thought they were paying for the privacy of an extramarital affair, rather than the secrecy of fugitives. The room was pretty disgusting, but they couldn't afford to stay anywhere nicer and risk being noticed. Gaby didn't seem to care, and without any ceremony she collapsed on the bed and immediately fell asleep.

While she slept, Illya took out the wad of cash he kept in his pocket. Rose and George had brought plenty of cash with them, probably for the same purpose as he and Gaby now had. It would be more than enough to get them to Argentina where his friend was staying. He hoped Natasha would be willing to help them, he had already dumped Rose and George's wallets (minus the cash) in a state they had driven through, but they would need identities in order to get passage to Europe. He had not yet discussed where they would settle to Gaby, but their best chance would be somewhere in Western Europe. There was the downside that they were more likely to be recognised, but since no one was going to be looking for them the benefits considerably outweighed the risks.

"Illya…" Gaby called out with a yawn, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Stop thinking so much, you'll hurt yourself." He felt his lips twitch up in amusement. "Come to bed." One of her arms was outstretched in invitation, he climbed onto the bed and pulled her close, tucking her head under her chin. She wrapped her arms around him and soundly fell asleep again, her breathing a hypnotic lullaby that slowly lured him into joining her. Nightmares of them burning up in the explosion populating his sleep, with the exception of a dream of him and Gaby in a small cottage, a gurgling bundle smiling up at him.

Author's Note: My internet history when I wrote these flashbacks was full of pregnancy information. Hope you guys have been enjoying the whole filling in the gaps part of the story, and I hope it is believable. In case you haven't noticed, I've now stated that the story is going to be 29 chapters long, I've known this for a while but wanted to keep it quiet until all the big reveals were made. We're nearing the end!