crack_van | Change Partners And Dance by Emrys (G)

Hi, everyone - I'm

theladyrose and I'm back driving

crack_van for Man from UNCLE again. I have to confess that I tend to rec more gen/ambiguously slashy pieces as I have great difficulty finding slash stories that haven't already been rec'd. I'm an omnivorous reader and try to rec a variety of stories - more established authors, new authors, slash, gen and everything in between.

Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: gen
Author: Emrys (sorry, I don't know if she has a LJ)
Author Website: The Original File 40 site
Why this must be read: Girl from UNCLE is one of the shows where the characters come off much better in fanfic than they did onscreen. I know Mark Slate and April Dancer don't receive too much love from many MFU fans, particularly April as the concept behind her character was more promising initially on paper than in actual development. When they do appear, they're usually used at most as canonical backup support or in slash as supportive allies as Napoleon and Illya come out to HQ. It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that I enjoy stories where we see this up and coming pair working with the established partnership of Napoleon and Illya. Emrys features a lot of great working chemistry between April and Napoleon that doesn't descend into April as Mary Sue; the author writes her as a resourceful agent who might be just as fun to work with as Napoleon. As much as I like our original MFU spy guy pair, it is nice to see how well the CEA works with April, as initially showcased in the GFU episode "The Mother Muffin Affair." She's no slouch in writing Mark, either - looks are definitely deceiving with this laid back Brit. Throw in some cool banter and a genuinely suspenseful rendition of the "Illya's a traitor! No, he can't be!" plotline (and damn, Emrys really puts the chill in the fanonical "Ice Prince") and you've got the best crossover MFU/GFU story that wasn't written by

przed (whose wonderful stories sucked me into this fandom).

Not convinced yet? Here's a snippet of dialogue to whet your appetite.

In a moment she felt him move slightly, and knew he was awake. He didn't pull back from her, just stretched a little and said, "Good morning, Mrs. Smith," his warm baritone voice amused.

"Good morning, Mr. Smith. Sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you. And you, Mrs. Smith?"

"Very well, thank you."

"Must be the glamorous surroundings and sumptuous bed."

"No doubt." She sat up, shaking her long dark hair back, yawning. "So romantic for our first night together."

"Indeed," dryly, sitting up beside her, contemplating the stained plaster, low-beamed ceiling, utter lack of amenities. The bed, a battered armoire, and a crippled-looking chair were the only things in the tiny room, the bathroom was down two sets of stairs and had about five-minutes worth of lukewarm water available. "Remind me to speak to our travel agent sternly," he added. "Do you want to brave the plumbing first, or shall I?"

"Be my guest."

"Thanks. You're just hoping I'll kill whatever wildlife might be out there in the drains."

"True. But that's your job, Mr. Smith. Husband kills the wildlife, wife packs the suitcases." She looked over at their battered flight bags.

"Try not to wrinkle my tux, darling, and don't forget your gold lamé gown." He stretched again, rose, pulled out his shaving kit.

"If you aren't back in fifteen minutes, I'll call for the Seventh Cavalry," she said.

"I hate to break this to you, sweetheart, but you are my Seventh Cavalry."

"Oh, yes. I'd forgotten."

Change Partners And Dance