Prompt: Fever

Summary: Illya looks after a stricken Napoleon as they wait for backup to extract them.

Cross-posted to AO3

Illya could only wish that they weren’t in an isolated
forest; Napoleon needed medical attention—proper medical attention, and not
just what limited work Illya could do with some wild-growing herbs.

During their escape from a THRUSH satrap, Napoleon had been
struck by a THRUSH poison dart.  It had
taken a while for it to take effect, but once it had, he had collapsed as his
weakened body now tried to fight back.
He was burning up with a high fever as his system attempted to purge the
toxins from him.

Illya had done what he could with what he had—which wasn’t
much.  He had concocted a green herbal
soup and had fed it to Napoleon, and then he had spent several hours trying to
get back in touch with U.N.C.L.E.; he had finally succeeded and managed to
summon help, but given their location, far from civilization, it was going to
take a lot more time before their extraction team reached them.

“They will be here,” he said, gently wiping Napoleon’s
forehead with a cold cloth.  “I don’t
know when, but they will find us eventually.
But, until then, you have to hold on.
Do you hear me?”

Napoleon’s face slightly turned in his direction; Illya
took that as a hopeful sign.

“Do you remember when Mills went renegade and poisoned me?”
Illya went on.  “After I recovered, we
had another case where another one of our agents had been poisoned with the
same toxin—only he had not survived.  We
both concluded that it was because he had no one trying to encourage his
recovery that he was not able to make it.
Well, Napoleon… I am here.  And I
will not stop fighting to make sure you survive.  So you had better keep on fighting to do so,
as well.”

Napoleon’s eyes briefly opened, looking up at his partner
for a moment.  He gave a slight nod and
rested his eyes again, but slightly moved his hand to grab Illya’s free one.

Satisfied, Illya kept tending to him and talking to him
until their backup finally arrived to extract them.  Soon, Napoleon was in Medical, having been
administered the antidote to the poison, and was recovering, his fever down at
last.

And Illya was still by his side, ready to help him fight
again if need be.

It was just one of the things that made their partnership
work so well.