Now that he knew Napoleon hadn't been traumatized into muteness, he didn't push for him to talk. He insisted that Napoleon lie down and sleep on the flight home. He had arranged for an UNCLE ambulette to meet the plane and take them directly to HQ where he met with Mr. Waverly while Napoleon was escorted to Medical to be examined by Dr. Jameson.

His cursory check of his partner at Fisk's house seemed to show no physical injuries to speak of, so he was feeling reasonably confident that Napoleon would be released shortly. He was counting on Dr. Jameson's exam to agree with his assessment. He had just given his verbal report to the Old Man and was awaiting Waverly's comments.

Waverly had listened without interrupting. "So, Mr. Kuryakin, you arrived at Jeremiah Fisk's home and managed to rescue Mr. Solo before he could be raped?"

"Yes, Sir. He is in Medical as we speak and I believe that Dr. Jameson will confirm that other than some bruising he sustained when he was kidnapped, there is nothing wrong that a few days off will not cure."

"He will get them as will you."

"Thank you, Mr. Waverly. Are you still going to authorize the release of chatter that Mr. Solo had been captured by Fisk and managed to escape?"

The Old Man took a few moments to light his pipe. When it was to his satisfaction he said. "Funny thing: While you and Mr. Solo were flying home, I received a report that Jeremiah Fisk's house had caught fire and it seems he perished in it."

"I can not say that I am sorry to hear that; his file made him out to be a horrible person."

"I certainly will not mourn his passing," Mr. Waverly agreed. Just then, his intercom buzzed and he answered. "Yes, Miss Rogers?" He listened for a few seconds, said thank you and hung up. "Miss Rogers said that Dr. Jameson has released Mr. Solo from Medical. If there is nothing else, you can go collect your partner and leave. I don't expect either of you back to work for the next five days. Dismissed."

Hours later, the two men were sprawled on Napoleon's living room floor with their favorite drinks in hand. They had stopped at the Tick Tock Diner and gotten meatloaf dinners with mashed potatoes and glazed carrots for sides plus an entire apple pie for dessert.

Napoleon drained his glass and reached for his bottle of Scotch. As he poured himself another drink he asked, "How did your report go? What did Waverly say about what Fisk said?"

"I did not tell him."

Napoleon sat up and stared. "What do you mean you didn't tell him? What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I was able to rescue you before you could be raped."

"That's all? Wasn't he curious as to why you didn't take him into custody?"

"Waverly had told me not to bring him in; that THRUSH would punish him in ways UNCLE would not when they found out he had you and you were able to escape."

Napoleon wiped his hand across his face. "Illya, why? Why would you jeopardize yourself by lying? Why would you kill him when Waverly wanted something else?"

Now Illya sat up to refill his glass with vodka from the bottle he had stashed in his partner's freezer. "Tell me about how Fisk treated you. I am asking because I believe you need to talk to someone about what happened, but since I said you were not raped, no referral to the shrinks will happen. I do not want what happened to fester within you. So let me be your sounding board."

"I want to tell you. Fisk was right about one thing: When I saw that he intended to…rape me, I did what our training taught us to do. I separated my mind from what my body was about to experience. I told myself that it had nothing to do with me and that I could deal with the pain. You and I both know from Sex and Seduction training that initially; anal penetration can be painful and I assumed that he would keep it painful." His face colored. "I was shocked when that didn't happen. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head to arch my back and when he did that…" His face turned even redder.

Illya slid a bit closer. "And when he did that…"

"He began to hit my prostate. It felt so good, Illya, and he knew it. I tried to keep my mind detached, but I couldn't because with every stroke he hit my prostate… I couldn't help it: I was aroused and excited and those tears on my face when you showed up were from frustration because I did orgasm and I was so ashamed!"

Illya moved closer and pulled his partner into a one – arm hug. "I know. Fisk might have lived if he had not felt the urge to boast about what he had done. You are my partner and my best friend and I refuse to see you humiliated. He sealed his own fate. By the way, Mr. Waverly told me that Fisk's house caught on fire after we left and he is assumed to have died in the fire."

"Coincidentally?"

"I may have placed some incendiary devices around his house on timers as we were leaving."

"Are you crazy? Waverly could send you back to Russia for this!"

"Napoleon, I would bet money that Mr. Waverly knows that you were raped, that I killed Fisk in retaliation and that I set fire to his house. I also would bet money that he will never ask me what, if anything, I did to Fisk just like I will never ask him if he knows what I did."

"And you're sure about that, are you?"

The Russian shrugged his shoulders. "We are all spies, Napoleon. It is our job to keep secrets. These are just three more secrets to keep."