Title: The Dire Decision

Affair
Rating: PG13
Summary: When Napoleon receives an order that he and Illya are expected to destroy a THRUSH facility and cause collateral damage to innocents, Napoleon struggles with the moral dilemma and has to decide whether to go through with it or not.  Takes place in early 1961.
Notes:

This version of the fic (cross-posted to AO3) is slash-implied; if you prefer reading gen, there is a gen version on ff.net, but I cannot link to it with the new linking restrictions.

Sneaking into the THRUSH lab facility hadn’t been as
difficult as Napoleon and Illya had expected.
If anything, Napoleon was convinced that the most difficult part would
be following out their orders to raze the place—scientists and all.  Napoleon had been stunned at the order, as it
went quite against normal U.N.C.L.E. policies, which would have consisted of
attempts to sway, bribe, or capture the scientists before deciding that they
could not be spared.  But Mr. Waverly had
explained the grave situation—that these scientists, known to be dedicated to
THRUSH’s nefarious causes, were working on dangerous bioweapons, and so, the
lab, scientists and all, had to be destroyed.
Waverly had even supplied them with the demolition equipment they would
be using and had told them not to return until the facility had been completely
destroyed, along with everything and everyone in it.

Nevertheless, it still bothered Napoleon that he wasn’t
even being a given a chance to sway the scientists.

“I don’t get it,” he whispered to Illya, as they crept
through the corridors.  “I’ve always been
great at charming THRUSH agents to our side—even ones that didn’t seem like
they could be swayed.  Why isn’t Mr.
Waverly even giving me a chance?”

“I would not begin to claim that I know what is going on in
Mr. Waverly’s head,” Illya said.  “But if
I had to guess, I suppose it would be multiple factors—the fact that these are
dangerous bioweapons is, perhaps, the main one.
Another is that you and I were recently promoted; it could be that he
wants the danger we are going to be exposed to as minimal as possible.”

“Well, I understand those arguments,” Napoleon said.  “But I still feel bad about this.”

“I am not deriving any joy from it, either,” Illya assured
him.

Napoleon was about to reply when he realized they were in
front of the central monitoring room.
After making sure that there was no one about, Napoleon kicked open the
door and tranquilized the man watching the feed from several cameras.

“We leave this guy in the explosion, too?” Napoleon queried,
as he knelt to handcuff the unfortunate guard.

“So it would seem,” Illya sighed.  He began to look at the live feed from the
cameras, trying to find strategic places to leave the explosives.  “Hmm, there appears to be a central power
core in this building, and it’s run by natural gas.  We could centralize our attack there, and it
should take care of everything.  Just to
be on the safe side, we could also detonate some charges elsewhere, such as
right outside the main lab here…”  He
pointed to the feed from the lab camera.
“Or perhaps…”  Illya trailed off,
his shoulders going rigid as he glanced at the feed from the last row of
cameras.

“What is it?” Napoleon asked, getting up after securing the
unconscious guard.

Illya now looked back at Napoleon, his face drained of all
color.

“Napoleon, this isn’t just a research facility; the
scientists live here—I guess so that they can’t be tailed coming and going to a
facility,” Illya said.

“Makes sense—why else did it take so long for this place to
show up on our radar?” Napoleon asked.

“Nyet, Napoleon,
you don’t understand…” Illya said.  “The
scientists live here, but they don’t live here alone.”

Helplessly, he pointed to the bottom row of camera feeds,
and Napoleon’s face took on a look of pure dread.  The cameras were fixed on the apartments in
the building where the scientists lived—and spouses, children, and other family
members were carrying on with their day-to-day concerns.  There was even an elderly lady—no doubt the
mother of one of the scientists, reading to two children, who were very likely
her grandchildren.

“Oh, no…” Napoleon moaned.
“Well, that’s it, then; we’ll have to scrub the mission.”

“And yet, Mr. Waverly said not to return without having
destroyed the place,” Illya said, quietly.
“But he could not have foreseen this—ask to speak to him, Napoleon.  We need alternate instructions.”

Napoleon nodded and took out his communicator.

“Open Channel D—put me through to Mr. Waverly, please…”

It took a moment for them to connect.

“I assume progress is being made on the facility’s
destruction, Mr. Solo?” Waverly asked.

“Er… there was progress, but we’ve met with unforeseen
complications,” Napoleon said.  “The
facility houses innocents, Sir—family members of the scientists.”

“Sir, there are children here,” Illya added.  “The youngest cannot be more than four or
five years old.”

“Please advise an alternate course of action, Sir,”
Napoleon said.

There was a pause, and then Waverly spoke.

“There is no alternate course of action,” he said,
sharply.  “It’s a shame, but the facility
must be destroyed as planned.”

Napoleon and Illya stared at the communicator, exchanged glances
of utter disbelief, and then stared back at the communicator again.

“Sir… surely you mean for us to evacuate the children and
the other innocents first!” Napoleon exclaimed.

“There is no way to accomplish that without raising the
alarm and risking escapes,” Waverly said, curtly.  “Furthermore, there is every chance that the
innocents have been exposed to biologic agents—even if they are mere traces, we
cannot risk any traces getting out.  I am
sorry, Mr. Solo, but in this case, we’re going to have to have some collateral
damage.”

The channel closed, and Napoleon was still staring at the
now-silent communicator in utter disbelief.

“Collateral damage…?” he repeated, righteous fury evident
in his voice.  “Collateral damage!?  If I
wanted to be a party to collateral damage, I’d have stayed in the army!  The entire reason I joined U.N.C.L.E. was to
avoid having to do this kind of thing!
We’re supposed to be saving
people, not condemning innocents—children—to death!”

Illya wasn’t saying anything; his mind was flashing back to
his childhood in Kiev during the war—recalling how he had hidden, scared, as
the sounds of destruction carried on around him.  And he was being ordered to put these
children through that and worse—to certain destruction?

He pulled himself back to the present as Napoleon continued
to talk.

“I remember once, early in Korea…” Napoleon said.  “I was a green draftee, had only been there a
week…  I was on reconnaissance when I
stumbled across a wounded Korean solider, lying helplessly in a ditch.  I could have killed him—my C.O. was expecting
me to.”

“But you did not?” Illya asked, quietly.

Napoleon nodded, staring at the video feed of the children.

“I patched him up using strips of cloth and left him with a
M*A*S*H* unit near Uijeongbu, and then headed back to my unit.”  He gave a wan chuckle.  “I got reprimanded for taking a long time on
reconnaissance, got a second reprimand for going out of the way of my appointed
route, and got a third reprimand for helping that wounded ‘enemy’
soldier.”  He sighed.  “I couldn’t kill an ‘enemy’ soldier.  And now, I’m supposed to kill a bunch of
innocents?”

Illya listened to Napoleon’s story intently.  Though Illya had served in—and was
technically still attached to—the Soviet navy, he had been working in intelligence
and had never seen combat like Napoleon had.
This was, ironically, the first time Illya had been faced with such a
moral dilemma.

He knew, and he was certain that Napoleon knew, that they
had to follow orders.  And yet, how could
they do this?  Devotion to duty was
important, but… there were other things that were important, as well.

He looked into Napoleon’s eyes.

“Napoleon,” he said.
“You are the senior agent here—the CEA.
This is your call to make.  But
know that whatever it is you decide, I will stand by you, no matter the
consequences.”

Napoleon looked back at Illya with a grateful
expression.  He then turned back to the video
feed.

“I can’t do it, Illya,” he said, at last.  “Not with a clear conscience.  I know we’re disobeying orders, but I cannot
and will not be responsible for the slaughter of innocents.  That’s not what I took this job for.”

Illya gently placed a hand on Napoleon’s shoulder.

“I knew you would say that,” he said.  “I also know that the pressures of being
newly promoted to CEA would argue against your innate compassion.  I am glad your compassion won out.”

“Me, too,” Napoleon sighed.
“Well, I guess we’re in for demotions now, once we report back.”

“If not out-and-out sacking,” Illya added.

“You could just say that I forced you to go along with my
plan.”

“I just told you, Napoleon, no matter the consequences, I
will stand by your decision,” Illya reminded him.  “For it is the one I would have made, too.”

Napoleon gave him a wan smile.

“Well then, let’s head back and face the music.”

                                         **********************************

They defiantly returned to headquarters; the choice was
there to report in right away, but Napoleon was insistent on speaking to
Waverly face to face, and Illya was determined to back him up on everything.

The two of them were surprised that Waverly agreed to see
them immediately—and they were further surprised to see that he was with other
members of Section I in his office.
Napoleon hovered by the door, not sure if he should enter.

“Come in, Mr. Solo, Mr. Kuryakin,” Waverly said.  “I am eager to hear the mission
report—particularly since you failed to report in after our last
communication.  I was just explaining to
these ladies and gentlemen the mission I had given you—the destruction of this
dangerous THRUSH facility and all within it.”

“Did you also mention to these ladies and gentlemen that
there were innocent family members in this facility,” Napoleon asked, somewhat
icily.  “Including children?”

“Yes, they are aware, Mr. Solo,” Waverly said, calmly.  “I also assured them that, despite the
difficult nature of this mission you would do what was required of you.  I trust that you have done so.”

Napoleon’s gaze would have pierced metal, and Illya was
astounded by his self-control as the next words out of Napoleon’s mouth were
calm—albeit sharp without a doubt.

“I did exactly what was required of me,” Napoleon
said.  “When I joined U.N.C.L.E., I
believed in the organization’s purpose—the preservation of peace and the
protection of innocents.  And that is
what I adhered to.”  He stared defiantly
at the assembled Section I members, and Illya stepped forward to stand by
Napoleon’s side.  “I…”  Napoleon caught Illya’s eye, and as the
Russian nodded, Napoleon corrected himself.
“We will not be a party to the
wanton murder of innocents—especially children.
The facility is still intact; we brought back a tranquilized guard.  It was my decision, and Illya backed me up,
and the both of us are ready to face the repercussion of these actions.”

Illya punctuated this with a firm nod.

Waverly’s expression was unreadable for a full minute;
first, he gave Napoleon and Illya appraising looks, and then exchanged glances
with the other Section I members.

And then, Napoleon and Illya were completely befuddled as
everyone in the room inexplicably burst into applause.

“…Are we missing something?” Napoleon asked, after
exchanging another glance with his partner.

“This was exactly the response we had been hoping for!”
Waverly announced.  “These ladies and
gentlemen had been… curious, shall we say, about my choice of promoting the two
of you to the top positions in Section II.
And so, I devised this test to demonstrate to them that you were the
right men for the job—that you won’t just blindly follow orders, but will do
what is required to protect innocents.”

Illya was gobsmacked into silence, and Napoleon’s voice took
on an even sharper edge.

“Are… are you saying that this was all a contrived
scenario?” he asked.

“Indeed it was, Mr. Solo—there is no THRUSH facility
conducting biological weapons research, and those scientists, their families,
and even the security guard you brought back were actors provided from our many
branches all over the world.  The
explosives that had been provided to you were all false, as well.”

“Well, I’m glad you got the results you desired,” Napoleon
said, brusquely.  “Excuse me.”

Without another word, he left, turning his back on all of
the Section I members assembled in Waverly’s office.  Illya stared as he retreated, before
awkwardly realizing that he was now alone with all of the Section I members,
and then darted after Napoleon, who stormed into their shared office so loudly
that Baba Yaga, their Egyptian Mau, leaped onto the desk, staring at him in
surprise.

“Napoleon…” Illya began, but he trailed off as Napoleon
turned to him, shaking with emotion and pain in his eyes.  “…What is it, moy Dorogoy?”

“It’s…  It’s exactly
what I told them back there,” Napoleon said, after taking a moment to find the
words.  “I joined U.N.C.L.E. so that I
could help people.  I didn’t join to be
tested and… emotionally manipulated!”

Illya exhaled and nodded.

“I agree; if Mr. Waverly wanted to show that you were the
right choice for C.E.A., there were better ways to go about it than have you go
through the turmoil of being forced to kill innocents.”

“It’s not just that…
It’s…”. Napoleon shook his head.
“It’s that he considered it a possibility that I would go through with
it, and so he gave us fake explosives.
He considered the possibility that I would kill them.”

Napoleon was still shaking, and Illya responded by gently
hugging him as Baba Yaga sat back on hind legs and gently pawed at Napoleon.

“I never doubted that you would refuse the task,” Illya
insisted.  “Perhaps, in his position, Mr.
Waverly cannot afford to trust anyone.  I
used to think like that, as well, before I met you.  But while Mr. Waverly does not change that
stance, in spite of knowing you for as long as he has, I did change after I met
you.  I trust you, Napoleon.  I said back there that I knew you would have
made the decision to spare the innocents.
I meant that.  You have a good and
kind heart, Napoleon; it is just one of the things I admire about you.”

Napoleon now hugged Illya back.

“And I trust you, too,” he said.  “I know you wouldn’t have gone through with
it, either.”

“You are one of the few who would think so,” Illya
mused.  “My status as the ‘Ice Prince’
means that many would assume that I would be emotionless and go through with
the order.”

“But you’re not–”

“It does not matter to me what anyone else thinks,” Illya
insisted.  “I know what you truly think, and that is enough for
me.”  He paused.  “But this is more than just what Mr. Waverly
thinks of you, is it not?  It is also
about what you think of him now.”

Napoleon paused; Illya had been astute enough to sense the
source of the rest of his turmoil.

“I looked up to him ever since I started here in New York;
it felt like he knew everything, that he always made the right decisions…  Even when he insisted that my flirting was
something I had to do in the line of duty, even if I didn’t want to do it, I
believed it.”  Napoleon shook his
head.  “I’ve followed his instructions
and advice for years, regardless of what I thought about them.  And now, he plays on our emotions just to
prove a point to the rest of those Section I suits, rather than discussing it
with us or just explaining to them why he promoted us.  I just…
I just can’t help but feel a little betrayed—not only did he not think
of me the way I thought he did, but now I realize that I can’t count on him to
make the best decisions anymore.”

“No one is infallible,” Illya agreed.  “He is going to make mistakes.  So are we.”

“But at least we trust each other unconditionally,”
Napoleon said.  He looked at Illya.  “I’m going to try to move on from this, but I
have learned a valuable lesson from it.  Now
I know that I can’t count on Mr. Waverly 100% of the time.  But I can count on you.”

“Napoleon, I just said that I am going to make mistakes,
too.”

“But you won’t use or betray me.”

Illya saw the sincerity in Napoleon’s eyes, and he nodded.

“Of course not,” he agreed.
“How could I?  You put your trust
in me, despite people trying to convince you during our first year that I would
betray you–for I was someone that several of your countrymen would consider an
enemy.  And, more than that, I was being
brought in to work on the pet project that you had devoted so much time and
effort on; you had every right to be resentful.
And yet, you showed me nothing but kindness from day one.  And as I said, you are someone I admire and love
very much.  So how could I use, hurt, or
betray you?”  He managed a wan
smile.  “I am not perfect, though you
seem to think I am.  But, regardless, you
can absolutely count on me.”

Napoleon smiled back.

“And you can count on me, too, Illya,” he said, placing a
hand on Illya’s cheek.  “I love you, and
to know that I have your trust is the highest honor I could have.”

“You have it.”

They kissed, and paused as Baba Yaga meowed.  Illya smiled.

“She must have sensed your distress,” he said, picking her
up for a moment before handing her to Napoleon.

Napoleon cradled the cat as she began to purr.

“Thank you, my dear, for your concern,” he said.  “I’m feeling much better now.”  He looked back at Illya.  “How about you?”

“I believe so,” Illya said.
“How about the three of us go home and enjoy a peaceful weekend?”

“Yeah, why not?” Napoleon said, smiling at the thought.

They would move on from this, and would be more inclined to
trust their own judgment now, but they would still proudly work for U.N.C.L.E.—continuing
to preserve peace and rescue innocents… and do so as a team.