The Icarus Bluff Affair by GM (PG-14)

[carabele.livejournal.com]

This is another fic I was absolutely amazed to find had not been previously rec'd.

Fandom: MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: None
Length: about 5000 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: http://www.solosojourn.com/unindex.htm
Why this must be read:

It's another take on the "one partner must leave the other behind" story concept that was explored in my previous rec. I will note right up-front though for folks that this one is not a death-fic. So readers can rest easy with that in mind, even as the angst builds.

Illya was the pragmatic one; Napoleon tended to be more devil-may-care. So how did Illya really feel about Napoleon's sometimes brazen bravado? Especially when that bravado resulted in a bluff that worked to its intended purpose but was accompanied by an unintended result? And what was it in Solo that always had to take a chance others would not even have considered?

The writer touches with delicate teasing fingers upon the mental differences between the two men and their approaches to seemingly impossible situations...

It was an old scenario the two partners seemed destined to repeat. It was also a constant source of vexation to the pragmatic Russian. Napoleon's proclivity for reckless, madcap bluffs grated against Illya's sense of balance. Like Icarus, Solo had far more bravado than common sense, it seemed, and frequently flew devil-may-care into the sun.

Kuryakin, then, was cast as the reluctant Daedelus, who could not seem to reason with the adventurous Solo. One day the over-confident swashbuckler would soar too close to the heat. Then, not all the brazen courage and intrepid luck in the world would save the top-notch agent from singed wings -- or worse -- a disastrous fall from the heights. Illya dreaded the coming of that fateful day and it threateningly hung over his head like the sword of Damocles.

The Icarus Bluff Affair