crack_van | The Chicago Affair by Nataliya (R)

Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya, Illya/other
Length: 20,000 words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: U.N.C.L.E. File 40
Why this must be read: Waverly assigns Illya to be the lure in a honeytrap of a professor who is also being blackmailed by THRUSH. Napoleon is to accompany his partner to Chicago and run the operation and the recordings. Neither man is comfortable with the assignment, but Illya is pragmatic as he was assigned such duties on occasion a decade earlier when he was with the KGB. Nataliya has a terrific writing style that draws you into the story and into Napoleon and Illya's thoughts. It reads with such a natural grace that you can see it in your minds eye as you read it and the characters feel spot on. When I found this story, I read it a couple of times. I think it's a gem of a story that is deserving of your attention.

Illya relaxed under him. Solo had a suspicion.

"Why do I get the feeling that our professor was the bacteria, and I'm the disinfectant?" he said wryly, attempting to banish his partner's gloom.

He was successful. Illya grinned. "You are more effective than a gallon of Listerine, Napoleon."

"I guess I've been called worse," Solo said philosophically. "And am I also a, quote, typical self-centered American?" he asked, recalling Illya's accusation to Kelly.

"You are the patron saint of self-centered Americans." The Russian was smiling in amusement, but at the same time, his eyes gazed at Napoleon's mouth. That mouth obligingly came down to his, and granted him a long, cleansing kiss, a kiss so deep it eradicated all traces of the trespasser.

The Chicago Affair