Parlor Games Affair

By Sondra

February 1, 2001-July 7, 2001

“Will you walk into my parlor,” said the spider to the fly;

“‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.

The way into my parlor is up a winding stair.

And I have many pretty things to show you when you’re there.”

“O no, no,” said the little fly, “to ask me is in vain,

For who goes up your winding stair can n’er come down again.”

- Mary Howitt

“Alright everyone, we got the information for our next case,” Chris Larabee told his men in their conference room at exactly eight o’clock in the morning. The black clad leader handed out the folders to the other six members of what had been dubbed by the other teams in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Denver office, The Magnificent Seven.

“It seems we have a new player in the gun and possible drug trafficking business in this area,” Chris spoke above the sound of shuffling paper.

“Are we going to work with the DEA on this one then?” Josiah Sanchez asked while opening his folder to look at the full size picture on the inset.

“Not sure about that yet. For the time being we have the assignment. Doesn’t mean the DEA’s gonna come in and give assistance,” Chris responded.

“Krull?” Ezra Standish started after he yawned and blinked. He hated getting up at the God-awful hour of 6:30 in the morning to make it to the mandatory meeting at 8.

Giving the agent an amused look, Chris responded, “Delmar Krull; it looks like he heads up this organization.” Now looking to Vin Tanner, Chris’s second and the one that knew the streets, he continued, “I want to know what the streets think about him.”

“‘K,” came the muffled reply from behind one of the folders.

“They don’t think small do they,” Josiah commented at the weapons list he pulled out of his folder.

“No, and that’s why we’ve been assigned the case.” Chris leaned over the table, “Before we start this I want to know everything about this person and the organization he heads up all the way down to the personal habits of the lowest grunt worker.”

“How about financial statements?” JD Dunne, their youngest but also their computer specialist, commented.

“Good place to start, and I don’t care how you get them, just don’t tell me what you did.” JD smiled at the comment.

“Chris,” Nathan Jackson spoke up, “Looking at this list, chances are good they’ll probably know something about chemical weapons. I’ll check with the CDC for any possible stolen weapons Krull might have gotten his hands on.”

“Do it.”

Looking now to Ezra, Chris spoke again, “I want you in there.”

“How soon?” the undercover agent queried while scanning one of the documents.

“As quickly as you can manage without bringing any undue attention to yourself. You’re also going to be working with Melanie Branz from Team 3. They’ve been kind enough to lend her services to this case.” Turning to the rest of the team assembled Chris continued, “This is going to be a hard case. Because of that the Judge has shifted the rest of our caseload to the other teams.”

With a gleam in his eyes Buck Wilmington spoke, “You think they’ll be able to handle the load?”

“I don’t doubt it,” Chris answered dryly. “Just don’t get too comfortable with the light load.”

“Cardinal Enterprises,” Nathan mumbled.

“What was that?” Chris demanded.

Closing the folder and setting it down on the conference table, Nathan spoke again, “I don’t know, but it sounds familiar.”

“Well as soon as you remember I need to know,” Chris answered. Then passing over the rest of the members again, “If there are no more questions then this meeting is dismissed. I want all of you to get to work on this ASAP.”

There was a general nodding of heads then scraping of chairs as most of the members of Team 7 rose and left the conference room to their small bullpen.

“Chris?” Vin spoke from his chair.

“Yeah?”

“I’m headin’ out immediately. Lookin’ over the information that we have so far it looks like it’s gonna be one hell of a case. I’ll see what’s up.”

“Do that, and Vin, be careful.”

“Ain’t I always, Cowboy?”

Chris shook his head at the sharpshooter as he easily moved out the door. The younger man moved with the grace of a hunter.

Back in the bullpen Ezra moved over to Josiah’s cubicle. “I hope you can come up with something good,” he commented to their profiler, who also came up with his undercover fronts.

“Don’t I always?” the larger man rumbled easily. Josiah looked up and found Ezra leaning up against one of the false walls.

The two, hearing a sudden burst of keying, looked over to the cube that housed their youngest member. JD was already digging everywhere he could think of to gather the information Chris wanted and then some, which was no easy task. But the Kid was good at what he did which was why he was hired in the first place.

As Ezra moved back to his work station he could already hear Nathan on the phone, most likely to the CDC gathering his own information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vin looked around the run down area he was currently in. With the grace and ease of a cat he moved in and out of the decrepit warehouses. Many companies didn’t even consider this area to set up distribution offices, but that wasn’t why he was there. He knew these buildings like the back of his hand because he grew up there.

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye he turned and spied one of the homeless people that frequented the place. Watching closely Vin suddenly recognized the person as a frequent squatter named Malcolm.

“Malcom?” Vin called out to the much older man.

The homeless person looked around for a minute, not knowing who had called him. Once he caught sight of Vin, he broke out into a large toothless smile as the younger man approached. “Good to see ya, Vin. How’s life been treatin’ ya?”

“I’m doing. Have ya been goin’ to the shelter lately?”

“Well, when it gets too cold I’m down there.”

Vin clasped Malcom’s shoulder when they turned and moved down the ally. “Have you seen or heard anythin’ goin’ on? Ya know, a lot of times I don’t have the time to get down here anymore.”

“Not really,” Malcom hesitated, “you huntin’ again?”

“Not really,” Vin shook his head. The sharpshooter tried to remain cryptic in what information he could readily give out, but Malcolm knew him too well. Malcolm also knew when he could ask questions and when those same questions were off limits.

“Really, it’s been quiet, except for that break-in of the warehouse on Stemmons.” Malcom sounded like he was trying to placate Vin.

“Break-in? Didn’t know about that. What happened?”

“Well they ain’t nuthin’ there so it weren’t reported. Everyone around’s wondering why people would break-in a place like that that’s empty except for us here people.” Malcolm shook his head.

Vin shrugged his shoulders, “Don’t know either, Malcolm.” He paused then spoke again, “Come on, I’ll walk with ya down to the shelter so you can get somethin’ good to eat.” Their voices echoed down the alley as they moved in the direction of one of the local homeless shelters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Josiah was finished creating Ezra’s cover he handed the information over to the undercover agent. Soon Ezra was getting what he needed from other agencies in the federal building they worked in and started coordinating with Melanie for the undercover part of the sting. Looking at the information he had been given at the start, he began formulating his own plan. If he could get close to one of the lower ranked members of the organization Ezra knew he could probably talk himself into it.

That evening, now back in his townhouse and with Melanie present, Ezra looked over the information once again. After making a final decision he picked up his cell phone and dialed a number.

“Yeah, Ezra, what is it?” the voice sounded perturbed, he had apparently been interrupted.

“I need to contact Krull. You know him?”

“Krull? Are you crazy! That man’s a lunatic,” the voice exploded from the speaker.

To save his eardrum Ezra pulled the speaker away from his ear; when the voice was finished Ezra continued, “Yes, Krull.”

“Like I said, that guy’s loony. If you wanna talk to someone you need to talk to David Harper, he’s under Krull but knows what he’s doing.”

“Do you have his number?”

“If you think I’m going to give it out on the phone you’re as loony as Krull. Meet me....” Ezra quickly wrote down the address his contact gave him over the phone. “Come alone,” he finished.

“Don’t I always?”

“Yeah, but I can never be too careful.”

“Be glad I’m not taking you down, you’re too valuable to me.”

“Yeah, and I love you too,” he said sarcastically then disconnected the line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the initial meeting with David Harper, Ezra slowly gained the insider’s confidence. Each meeting that was set up, Ezra, alone at first, then with Melanie, had been wired, that is except the first time. So far they had been lucky the wires had not been found but they knew it was only a matter of time. What comforted both undercover agents was that there was at least one member of the team somewhere close by. Looking at a person in grungy clothing and mussed hair Ezra fancied it was probably Vin keeping an eye on them this time. He had joined in watching the undercover agents once the streets did not produce anything substantial. *He can play the part,* Ezra thought to himself. Now the group Harper was a member of was intriguing to say the least. Harper had not told Ezra, and Melanie when she was with him, a lot on the organization in their off and on meetings over the past few weeks, but they both hoped that would change with their next meeting.

The two undercover agents were now sitting on a bench in one of the many parks that surrounded the area.

After half an hour had passed Ezra looked at his watch again. He seriously considered that Harper would not come this time. *Maybe I pushed too hard,* the words echoed in Ezra’s mind.

“Mr. Stamford?” Harper’s voice broke through Ezra’s musings. Harper looked to the familiar woman that sat beside Ezra, he had an ample view of her exotic skin tone below her short black hair. Amazingly enough in her skin tight shirt was hidden a wire and next to her skin were several strategically placed die packs. They were both waiting for the wire to be found. Their whole strategy changed when she got bad news from her family. She had to get out although she didn’t want to. After discussing the options with the other team members they figured the only feasible option was to ‘kill’ her front allowing her to go and be with her family. With the sudden turn of personal events Ezra decided to push harder to get into the organization, and because of that they knew they would both be checked for a wire this time.

Letting a small smile show Ezra turned to the voice, “Mr. Harper, I’m glad you could make it.” He offered his hand. Then as an off comment towards Melanie, “Don’t worry, so far she’s been trustworthy.”

Harper took the hand then sat down on the bench but warily looked at the woman.

“You know she won’t say anything,” Ezra spoke trying to placate the person.

Harper nodded. Finally he spoke again, “Where do you think your future’s heading?”

“Ezra can we go, I’m bored,” Melanie whined as she gripped his arm and leaned up against him. Even though this was below her abilities she played it up to the hilt.

“Not yet, my dear,” he told her while patting her leg, then after telling himself to tread carefully Ezra responded to the question he desperately wanted to hear, “Well I’ve been looking over everyone for quite a while.”

For a moment Harper hesitated, this was not expected. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Ezra leaned back then placed an arm around Melanie’s shoulders, which allowed her to lean in closer to hear Harper better. “What it means is if I’m not pleased with this organization I’ll take my business elsewhere. Mind you, so far what I’ve seen has been very good, but one can never know. Something more profitable might come along.” Ezra let the sentence hang between the two men.

Inside Harper was angry, *How dare he put down The Hierarchy like that!* “Well whatever they offer you, we’ll give you a better offer,” Harper answered with confidence.

“How am I to know?” Ezra answered with a raised eyebrow.

“Listen Stamford, The Hierarchy is the best!” Harper ground out *and you better watch out or we’ll come after you.*

“The Hierarchy? And who might that be?” Ezra was now truly intrigued, Harper had never mentioned the organization before.

For a minute Harper seemed to have an air of indecision about him, almost as if he realized he had spoken too much. When he finally did answer he sounded like he was almost bragging. “The Hierarchy? Why that’s the organization I’m a member of.” He quickly reached for his briefcase and pulled out some equipment, equipment that looked like it checked for wires.

“What’s that?” Ezra asked innocently.

“I told Krull about your *aspirations* and he wanted me to check you out better. This is to see if you’re wearing a wire, nothing more, nothing less.” He was now checking over Ezra with the gadget.

“I wouldn’t wear one of those,” Ezra sounded disgusted.

“That may be so but you never can be too careful,” Harper answered. After another minute of fiddling with the mechanism Harper started scanning Melanie for the wire that had been deliberately planted. Finding it easily Harper turned a cold eye to Ezra, “Trustworthy you said?” He reached over and grabbed Melanie’s arm.

“Please -” she started protesting.

Taking hold of Harper’s arm, Ezra spoke again; it was not the congenial tone he had been using but one of coldness. “Excuse me.” Harper glanced at Ezra and was surprised to see a marked change in the man, what he saw now could easily be considered a killer.

Ezra yanked Melanie up and drug her to the car they had been using. Even though Harper could hear her begging for mercy he watched as Ezra pulled out a pistol and pumped at least five shots into the woman. She collapsed in a boneless heap on the asphalt. Ezra reached down and checked to see if she was dead then unceremoniously dumped her in the trunk and slammed it shut.

“What was it you were saying?” Ezra asked, acting like nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. When he sat back down Harper noticed Ezra was wearing gloves. Ezra’s actions alone proved to Harper that he was trustworthy enough. “Come.” He rose from the bench after replacing the equipment back in his briefcase, and started moving across the park to some of the parked cars.

Startled to say the least, Ezra quickly rose and followed Harper. For a minute he had a silly grin on his face, flushed with the knowledge he had done it yet again with the help of Melanie. He could not allow himself to think of her family and how she would handle that. Hiding it quickly Ezra caught up with the man at the car. Harper slid behind the wheel; not wanting to be left behind, Ezra took the front passenger seat quickly. The car was already moving by the time Ezra closed the door.

Once Ezra and his contact were out of sight, the grubby looking homeless person on another bench pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. “Chris? Chris, it’s Vin. Looks like he’s in.” He slapped the phone shut and rose from the bench. Watching Ezra do what he just did unnerved the agent. Vin quickly moved over to the car Ezra had been using and with his own set of keys unlocked the trunk. He found her passed out because of how confining the trunk was.

After removing Melanie from the small space Vin gently laid her down beside the car. Leaning over her, he gave her a firm kiss. Just like Sleeping Beauty she came back within minutes.

“Damn, that hurt,” she complained as she attempted to sit up.

“Well you know he was in character,” he commented as he helped her.

“Yeah, but it still hurts. I didn’t want the vest -”

“So they used blanks and stuffed you in the trunk,” Vin finished. Seeing her nod he gave his own grin then went over to the car and removed the duster from the back seat. Once Melanie put it on they got into the car and headed for his apartment in Purgatorio. They knew it would only be a short time before she was on her way to Montana so she had to get ready quickly. It would be good for both of them to take showers and put on clean clothes again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the days and weeks continued to pass Ezra started to gain the confidence of some of the members of the Hierarchy. The work was hard but he enjoyed it immensely. Using his cell phone Ezra started reporting in when he was in secluded places. There were some things that took place which were totally unrelated to their business at hand, which was what Cardinal Enterprises did, running weapons under their own elaborate cover.(This sentence was a bit confusing, you might consider rewording.) Being inside the organization he was never able to find out specifically what that cover included. Not wanting to bring any undue attention to himself Ezra started to discreetly investigate the unrelated events.

After finding nothing illegal, Ezra turned his attention back to the gun running. The weapons bought and sold illegally were not the small stuff. The Hierarchy did not even consider those,; they worked with high technology. Just getting one glimpse of the weapons that they were offering to any one that had the money made Ezra shiver on the inside. He knew if those weapons were, and currently are, put on the streets the police would have no chance. Hell no one would have a chance.

When Ezra rose to the next level he found out more about the organization. Being on the outside, or still at the lowest levels, he felt cut off from the rest of the group. Organizations of any kind rewarded their higher level members with more sensitive information dealing with their operations. The Hierarchy was no different, although he knew you paid for that information with your life.

The further Ezra burrowed himself into the operation the more he found out that the gun running operation was just at the lowest levels. Every once in a while he noticed ‘buyers’ come and visit Krull. It seemed innocent enough, but something was bothering Ezra. As he was trying to puzzle it out, the worst thing that could happen, happened. He had just left one of the rooms when he noticed out of the corner of his eye one of his ex-superiors from when he was in Atlanta. He hid his alarm when he realized he could not have been recognized, especially since it was only the back of the agent's head he had seen. But he knew it was a close call and would have to be much more careful than he had been previously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two men that moved down the hall seemed innocent enough, until you realized one was an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The words passed between The Hierarchy members were enough to turn any head, but Michael Halloway ignored everything. Halloway had been in secret contact with Chris Larabee. He may have hated the ATF agent but he knew a good agent when he saw one. What made him angry was that Chris had snatched Standish up in front of his nose. Granted he was glad to see the rogue undercover agent leave, but once he was gone he realized the potential he threw away as worthless. Halloway caught a glance of the undercover agent speaking with someone he was not familiar with. For a moment he hoped the ATF agent did not see him, if he had then only quick thinking would get both agents out of there alive.

Once past the undercover agent Halloway sighed internally, he did not want the organization thinking he was nervous or anything. Now paying more attention to his escort he found the man was becoming agitated. What made the unnamed man’s condition worse was how Michael smiled easily at him, though inside he knew things were far from ordinary.

After stopping in front of an innocent looking door Halloway’s escort started fiddling with something on the door.

A voice seemed to echo all around them, “What is it?”

“Uh, Sir, a Mister Halloway’s here to see you.”

“Fine, let him in,” the voice echoed.

The nameless escort waved Halloway to the door but the agent had other plans. “If you think I’m going to touch that you have got to be crazy. That thing probably has enough juice to fry me.”

The other man’s eyes hardened. As a kind of rebellion he grabbed the knob that would release the door latch.

For a moment he stood there as his eyes widened in terror. It was hard to explain what happened next but needless to say when the door finally opened reveling another room Halloway stepped over the still smoldering remains of the hapless employee.

“No trust?” Halloway asked with eyebrows raised.

“There is trust here AGENT Halloway, you place it carefully and not willy-nilly.” The emphasis was not lost on the agent. As Halloway came closer he heard the door shut behind him, effectively sealing him in the room.

“My name is Delmar Krull, and I am head of this satrap." He didn't bother to clarify to Halloway what he meant by satrap, which was a local THRUSH cell. Making no move to stand up and greet the agent he continued, “And you Michael Halloway, FBI agent, are a small time player,” he sneered.

Halloway’s ire was effectively raised but he dared not show it. His job was to help stop the spread of illegal weapons. When he found out about Krull he was all gung-ho to put his operation out of commission, but his supervisors said no. After asking the same question over and over they finally told him that U.N.C.L.E. would handle it. “Why can’t we?” he asked exasperated. “Because that’s who they handle 95% of the time. They know what they’re doing.”

Because of Halloway’s persuasive nature the FBI finally allowed him to investigate. When he found out about Ezra he was able to put a plan of deceit together. When he called Larabee and then met the ATF agent in person he outlined his plan in detail. At first Larabee shook his head but then finally agreed to it.

“You’re going to have to earn my trust. I don’t like what you tried to do to Ezra in Atlanta, but at the same time you opened the way for me to get my undercover agent.” Like before, the ‘my’ was not lost on Halloway. Now looking at Ezra he realized what he had thrown away. The least he could do was make it up to the undercover agent. And the way he did it was to let Krull know who Stamford was.

Halloway gave an evil smile, “How good are your background checks?” he started sounding almost bored.

“Good enough,” Krull easily answered.

“Apparently not. You have a mole.”

Krull’s eyes grew hard, “How dare you imply that,” he stood menacingly from behind the desk. “Everyone has been thoroughly checked out.”

“Easily,” Halloway answered. “Ezra Stamford is actually Ezra Standish, FBI agent.”

“FBI, huh?”

“Yes.”

Getting an evil gleam in his eyes Krull continued, “I can do a lot more with him here.” Then looking at the FBI agent again he continued, “You have helped me much more than any secrets could right now. You may go,” Krull touched a spot on his desk and the door opened again revealing the hallway that was now spotless.

Glancing from the door back to Krull again Halloway’s eyebrows raised a notch. After getting a slight smile from Krull the FBI agent headed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taking as many precautions as necessary, Ezra continued to burrow deeper into Cardinal Enterprises. After Halloway left the challenge seemed to disappear. At first he brushed his sudden ease off as just his abilities, but it still bothered him. It seemed that the challenge wasn’t there anymore.

During one of his regular reports he finally asked about Melanie and how she had faired.

“Considering what happened to her, she’s stayed in hiding since she’s come back,” Chris answered the question.

“She is probably most uncomfortable in her forced seclusion.”

“I don’t know about that, because I do know for a fact where she’s at.” You could hear the smile in Chris’s voice.

“Well, that should surely make up for her imprisonment,” Ezra answered with his own smile.

After setting a few more things straight, the line was disconnected and Ezra prepared for his slumber. What he did not know was that two people were watching his movements closely, and one of the two was clearly more agitated. Setting the listening device down Harper looked at the now uncovered mole. *He seemed too good to be true,* he thought. He then made the decision to tell the satrap about the minor inconvenience of the government agent in their midst.

Which is where Harper stood, outside the section of the offices which other members gave a wide berth, the next morning. There were things that happened in there which most of the people there didn’t want to know about. Looking at the door that was reinforced with steel, Harper had his own reservations. Rumors floated around that if someone was called there they never showed up again. Some say they were killed in the room and then taken underground where they were cremated, *hardly what happened,* Harper thought to himself. Although he was nervous himself, he had a good reason to be there.

When the door opened Harper flinched inwardly, he was just as nervous as the average member in that office. With his fate now unknown he entered the office. What surprised him is that it looked like any other office one would encounter in one’s daily life. But looks can be deceiving.

“What were you wanting to tell me Harper?” Delmar Krull spoke quietly from behind the desk as he lit a cigarette.

“Uh, Sir, there’s something very important I think you should know,” Harper stuttered slightly. Inside he berated himself for sounding like a newling to The Hierarchy.

“How considerate of you,” he answered easily while leaning back from the desk. “What’s this important thing that can’t be sent to me through the normal channels?” He started making annoying tapping sounds on the desk with the pen he had been using.

“Um, well, it’s, um about one of the newest members here.”

“Mr. Stamford?” Getting a nod Krull continued, “Don’t worry about that, I already know everything there is to know about him, or should I say Mr. Standish.”

Getting bold Harper continued, “I think he needs to be removed immediately.”

“And why’s that?” Krull’s voice turned deceptively calm.

“He could easily. . .”

“Answer me one question Harper, is he a member of U.N.C.L.E.?” Krull said the last word with disgust.

Harper shook his head, but remained mute. No one ever crossed any satrap’s command.

“Good, I think he could be of great use to us here.” After pausing a minute Krull continued, “You’re dismissed.”

Harper almost ran out of the room,; he felt lucky that he was even still alive. *Crossing the satrap was not smart,* he berated himself again.

Krull watched as Harper left the room, “That was not very smart of you Harper. If you continue with this I’m going to have to take care of you,” he spoke darkly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Agent Alan Kaelin had been watching all the movements going in and out of the satrap with binoculars from an inconspicuous place. It took a while for him to document everyone he thought was connected to the office. Once he got that done he started trailing each member seeing where they went and what their routines were.

The last person he was able to identify was someone that was one of the the lowest in seniority. The man’s name was Ezra Stamford and he looked totally out of place, well to Alan’s eyes. After taking some quick pictures of the person in question, he followed the man to his apartment.

Once there Kaelin noticed things that should not have been there. As Kaelin was listening to the cell phone tap he had set up, he noticed that the Ezra that seemed out of place in his eyes was making a call to another cell phone number. Even though he made great pains to cover his tracks you could still follow him, that is if you knew what you were looking for.

After listening for a few minutes Kaelin’s brow furrowed, *this is not good,* he thought. He whipped out his communicator and set up the call quickly. Just from the short conversation on the cell, Alan realized Ezra was an undercover agent. What was more troubling was that he made no mention about THRUSH so he knew he was ignorant of the organization and in great danger of his life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark Mitchall looked at the report given to him from the communications section. He knew it was not something he wanted to tell Number One of Section One. The Boss, as Mitchall called him, was hard and demanding, but when push came to shove if what he wanted was not done or could not be done by one of his agents he would go out in the field and do the job himself. He also heard from rumor that the head of the New York office was much worse. And that Mr. Solo had been the Number One of Section Two (the senior enforcement agent) in that office before starting this one.

So when Kaelin reported in about the satrap in Colorado he was supposed to shut down and that a local government team had gotten entangled in the affair, he almost didn't want to tell his superior. Not that he knew the agent could handle the assignment allotted to him, but because of the Boss's private life. It was no secret that he was happily married and had two kids. Mark felt almost jealous of the section head. He heard from some of the older members of U.N.C.L.E. about Solo’s former life. Seeing him now it seemed more like a joke, and when his wife was in the office it seemed that no one wanted to comment about it.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, he knew Solo would be angry at him if he was not told what was going on. So out of grudging respect he moved over to the communications section and sent the message that was surely to wake up Mr. Solo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something jarred Napoleon Solo awake. After looking around in the gloom of the quiet room he reached to the other pillow to pull Kathy close to him. Even though it was getting close to fifteen years he was still as attracted to her as when he first met her up in New York. After finding the pillow empty, except for a slight crease showing it had been recently used, he sat up. The light of a full moon shone through the windows, dimly illuminating the room they shared. All was quite except for the chirping of the crickets and cicadas.

After running a hand through his hair, he looked around the room noticing how their clothes were strewn around the floor. It had definitely been an interesting evening, he mused to himself.

Out of more habit than anything else Solo reached under his pillow for the Special nestled there. Sometimes he told himself he didn't need to sleep with it anymore, but the old habit was hard to break. He knew he was in a more dangerous situation than any time when he was out in the field and that was why he kept it close; now the danger was directed more at his family than himself. After pushing the thought off to the side, he threw the covers off. With the Special in hand he moved easily to the closet.

After flipping the light switch, he almost demanded that it be moved to outside the closet, he threw the door open. He knew Kathy was amused at this but one could never be cautious enough. After finding it empty he picked out a robe then dropped the weapon in the single pocket.

He found her in the parlor near the window. At the sight of her standing before the window in her chiffon night shirt he felt a surge of desire course through his veins suddenly. He loved looking at her curves, curves he knew intimately. Kathy did not seem to hear him, being engrossed in the graceful movements of Ti Chi.

He let the desire course through him until he realized the dangerous position she had put herself in. Granted she could take care of herself but still. . .He let the thought fade away as he moved quietly through the room. Once he was in arms length he let his hands slip around her waist, pulling her up against him.

For a second Kathy tensed till she reached behind her to feel the face of the one that captured her. Napoleon had taught her how to defend herself from this position and she wanted to make sure it was him and not someone else. She did not want to do something she would regret later.

“Sweetheart, you know it’s dangerous to be here,” he whispered close to her ear.

“Hmm? Well I like the light.” She turned in his arms and settled against his chest. Feeling him through the material she gave a small smile while she sighed.

Giving a wicked smile of his own Napoleon picked her up and carried her back to their bedroom. He was already in the process of getting her clothes off when one of his communicators went off.

“Damn,” he cursed quietly. Reaching her face again he gave her a sensuous kiss then got off the bed to get the communicator. Kathy gave a small pout when his warmth left her.

When he came back there was a dramatic change in him. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his face with his hands. Not knowing what this was, Kathy sat up and molded herself against his back. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she slid her arms around his midsection.

Solo sat there for a minute, intellectually he still wanted her but his body was not responding at the moment. Turning he cupped her face in his strong hands, “It seems that some locals inadvertently got involved with a recently formed satrap in the Colorado area.”

“Is that the one you sent one of your best to close down?” she asked.

Finally feeling the arousal coming back Napoleon let his hands slide down to her shoulders while he moved down her neck. Pleased at how she gave a quiet moan he moved up to her ear and whispered, “Yes, that’s the one.”

She brought her arms up around his chest pulling him even closer. When she finally found her voice she asked in a whisper, “Who are the locals?”

Before he answered he lowered her down then worked his way down her body, he had her writhing in exquisite agony when he finally answered in a whisper inches away from her face, “Either ATF or FBI. But I’ll deal with that tomorrow.” He gave her a deep kiss.

Just as in the beginning, the joining of their bodies was gently and tenderly done. Neither of them could get enough of the other and that was just an outgrowth of their relationship.

Now exhausted after their loving, Kathy lay splayed across his chest, slightly faded red hair everywhere. Solo, sensing sleep coming to her quickly, turned onto his side and enveloped her in a strong yet tender embrace. His overwhelming desire for her to be safe fueled this move but he too was sleeping in short order.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early morning found Solo in the small U.N.C.L.E. office he headed up. Sometimes work was so slow he would watch the seconds hand make its rounds around the clock on the wall and think about Kathy. Other days he would look up and find it late in the afternoon. He had a feeling this was going to be a long and exhausting day.

Solo reached across the report he was reading for his coffee but ended up with a cigarette in hand. He knew Kathy disapproved of the vice but sometimes when the stress would be too much he would find himself with one in hand. Be that as it may, the rest of the offices were banned of the smoke, but to help the ones addicted to nicotine he had an area prepared for them with it’s its own ventilation. He knew there were some people that were allergic to the smoke, but for him it would always be there, just at the end of his reach. Though he was not really addicted to them, it was just that when the stress rose they would magically appear.

In the report Kaelin sent overnight he was able to get a better view of what was going on up in Colorado.

Letting a small smile cross his face he put out the cigarette then rose and moved to the communications section. After letting the section head set up the call he opened the channel.

“Kaelin here.”

“Kaelin, I want you to shake things up a bit.”

“Sir, do you have anything in mind?”

“Why don’t you surprise me,” Solo answered with a smile.

“Yes Sir! Close Channel A.”

~~

Up in Colorado Kaelin looked at his communicator for a minute. He knew it would be hard coming up with something original. After pondering the possibilities he finally purchased a map of the city and poured over it. After looking at the businesses on either side, he started formulating his plan. He did not want to do anything that would harm the innocents that might be inadvertently involved.

Looking over the equipment he carried, a plan started forming. For it to work he had to make sure he had all the necessary equipment available.

It took a while before Kaelin was able to gather everything necessary but now his “toy” set up. Being as it were the next day he waited until it looked like everyone had come in and was doing the front work. Staying hidden behind shrubbery and a low wall he aimed his device to the building the satrap had set up for their business.

Within minutes there was a sharp noise and one of the power generators that was located right beside the building started smoking. Kaelin watched as the smoke turned black and the generator started burning in earnest. What surprised him was that the fire alarm started ringing and people started pouring out of the front door. All he really wanted to do was to knock out the power so everyone would get outside. But things didn’t go his way and he would have to work around the slight problem.

After easing around to the rear entrance Kaelin easily broke in. He found himself in an area that appeared to be off limits to all but the highest members of the satrap. There were folders strewn around a table in one of the rooms as if the occupants hastily rose from what they were doing and raced out to help fight the now quickly spreading fire. Kaelin knew he had to get out soon, he could feel the heat already rising.

Reaching for a folder he opened it and found Stamford. Apparently they knew all along that he was undercover. After quickly scanning the material he realized they were toying with him. This was very disturbing. Patting his pockets he found his small camera and started taking pictures of all the material available. When that was done he went to the other folders. He found at least six, and they all seemed to be members of one of the local government teams. After quickly snapping pictures of everything he could get his hands on, he looked up to the door. The steel glowed an ominous red. Knowing he had very little time now, he moved through the back door and closed it tight making sure no one would be able to tell the place had been broken into. Making sure no one was watching, he moved away from the scene. It was getting easier with the fire trucks all around and people scrambling to put out the fire.

When he was about a block away he looked back and saw that there were flames now coming out the door he had just left through., “That was too close,” he commented to himself as he watched the roof cave in.

When he made it back to the motel room he was renting, Kaelin pulled out his communicator, “Open Channel A.”

“Acknowledge.”

“The satrap in Colorado has been shaken up but I suspect the members will stay here. There’s a local government agent that’s undercover in the office.” Kaelin really didn't want to tell Solo what really happened to the satrap.

“Mr. Kaelin, did you get any hard evidence about this?” Solo’s voice echoed from the small speaker although he already knew about the undercover agent.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good, I want you on the next flight back. I want to see that information.”

“Yes, Sir.” Kaelin replaced the communicator and pulled his belongings together. After booking a flight back to Austin he went out to get something to eat.

Kaelin was back in Austin by late afternoon. Entering the HQ he pulled out the small camera and took it to the section that handled them.

“Kaelin,” Mitchall called from the door.

“Yeah?”

“The boss wants to see you in Section One.”

Kaelin nodded then turned to the people behind him but they answered before he could speak, “We’ll deliver it when we get finished.”

“Good, that contains pictures of documents that are very important.”

After getting a nod Kaelin moved out and went to Section One’s office. “Sir,” he greeted Solo while going through the door into the office, “as soon as the documents are printed out. . .”

“Good, what else did you find?” Solo interrupted.

“Well, Sir, it looks like THRUSH knew about the undercover agent.” Kaelin sat in the chair available.

Napoleon’s eyebrows raised slightly, “Now that’s interesting, what else did you find out?” The fingers of his right hand drummed on the table.

“Well there’s conflicting reports about FBI and ATF agents but I think the agent’s a member of a local team that’s investigating their front.”

“Anything on them that you know of?”

“Not that much, Sir, all I had time was to give a quick glance through the documents before my time was up.”

Giving Kaelin a grin, Solo commented, “I don’t want to know right now what you did or what happened.” He then pondered the whole affair; the aspects had changed dramatically since this new information had been revealed. Solo spoke again after considering his options, “I want you to go back up there, I want eyes and ears.”

“Do you want me to do anything?” the agent asked surprised at this turn of events.

“No, not until I can get a better understanding of what’s really going on up there.” Solo paused a minute then continued, “You’re free to go.”

“Yes, Sir,” Kaelin rose and moved out the small office. Soon he had booked another flight back to Colorado for the next day.

Five minutes after Kaelin left, the documents in question were delivered to Solo. Taking each page Napoleon examined the documents closely, starting with the undercover agent. Solo unwittingly repeated what Kaelin had mentioned just a few days earlier when he examined the information THRUSH had on the agents, “This is not good.”

Once the documents were placed back in their respective folders he left them on the table for the time being. It was already getting to look like he would have to go up there himself and sort out the whole mess. At least he had one contact within the local government offices there. Because of that he hoped it wouldn’t be as hard as first considered.

With another cigarette in hand, but unlit, he touched one of the controls on the table with his free hand, “Donna, I’ll need you to book a flight for me to Denver for tomorrow.”

“What time, Sir?”

“Late morning will do.”

“Yes, Sir, consider it already done. I’ll tell you the flight once I get it.”

“Thanks Donna.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Detective Thomas Mathis looked over the mound of debris that until several hours ago was what looked like a legitimate business. Moving over to the one who called himself the general managed he found him quite angry at what he considered an arson.

“Mr. Krull, at the moment it is not arson, although we won’t rule it out,” Mathis responded.

“I don’t care, I know it’s arson.” He stopped suddenly as if he knew the party or parties that were behind the fire.

After taking note of the comment Mathis took another route, “Mr. Krull we do have people out looking for any witnesses. If it is arson then the