solo
(solo returns an hour later, slightly rumpled around the edges and with a folder tucked within the folds of his jacket. despite the apparent success of his mission, solo's lips are a thin, hard line.)
solo
We have a location. (solo reports to no one in particular as he's let back into the room, unclipping his transmitter and dropping it onto the table. the folder follows.) And this.
solo
Medical files of human test subjects.
kuryakin
("Test subjects?" gaby says, picking up the folder from where she's sitting.)
kuryakin
(illya, who'd been leaning by the wall nearby and in conversation with gaby since the transmitter went mute, approaches slowly after a cursory glance at solo's clothing.)
kuryakin
(that didn't take long, he thinks, wondering how accomplished solo must be in the art of seduction or sleight of hand to have been able to acquire these files- it feels inappropriate to ask however.)
kuryakin
(at least, outright.) And what of mark? Will they inform THRUSH their security is compromised or did you take care of them?
solo
It's taken care of. (solo replies in a low voice, attention focused on the file in gaby's hands.) It won't come back to us for a while.
solo
(solo's certainty is well-founded; based in the pistol in his jacket - fitted with a silencer and still holding a full clip - an effective tool for intimidation, though not the only one he has used today.)
solo
(he flexes his hand and finds that the jagged cut on his palm has opened up again.) Seems like THRUSH has been working on memory modification and reconditioning for a while. (he says to gaby.)
kuryakin
(illya's inquisitive gaze stays on solo for a moment before wandering to his hand as he flexes it) You're bleeding.
kuryakin
(gaby looks at solo for a brief moment before returning to reading the files. "the facility listed here isn't even in the country- why are they carrying patient profiles around?")
solo
I'm fine. (solo says, closing his fist around the wound. his hands disappear into his pockets as he steps toward gaby, or more accurately, away from illya.)
solo
They're looking to sell. (there were pictures in the folder. he looked at every single one of them. solo feels nothing but a glacial rage - something cold and vast and slowly shearing apart.)
solo
No end of buyers interested in the closest form of mind control there is.
kuryakin
(solo's reticence does not go unnoticed- illya will give him his space; he may not know the american well but he knows when he's being closed off.)
kuryakin
(he doesn't blame him, considering how he's attempted to kill him, illya is the last person solo will want to work with. he chooses to focus on the file in gaby's hands for now.) Let me see that.
kuryakin
(gaby, having shuffled through the folder, hands it to him, the worry in her face unsubsiding. she looks at solo, concerned; she'd been-)
kuryakin
(-looking for illya amongst the manifest, finding nothing but understanding how solo is feeling. she stands. "we should head back- get your hand looked at. i'll talk to waverly.")
kuryakin
(illya skims through the file with grim efficacy, arriving to the same conclusion that THRUSH may have a file on him too, elsewhere; he throws the folder on the table.)
solo
(after a stifling moment, solo reclaims the folder with his uninjured hand. he hazards a glance at illya, braced for trembling fingers and the destruction that will follow.)
solo
Let's go, then. (he says quietly, his gaze hard.) Nothing else for us to do here.
kuryakin
(gaby nods as she links her arm around solo's, "try not to leave a trail, solo dear." she glances back at illya, half turned with her other hand extended to him, expressive eyes mellowed by her tight smile.)
kuryakin
("coming, kuryakin?")
kuryakin
(illya trails along behind them quietly to the car with the other agent by his side, wary and ready for his gun, eyes occasionally shifting to illya's tightly fisted hands and locked jaw.)
solo
(the car ride back is a silent one, broken only by gaby's valiant attempts at conversation, with solo in the passenger seat glancing in the rear view mirror every few minutes.)
solo
(they go their own ways back at hq: gaby, with fresh intel in her capable hands, to waverly's office, solo volunteering to escort illya back to his holding pen -)
solo
(- leaving a somewhat relieved agent jones to flee their awkward group dynamic.)
solo
(solo keeps his eyes on the end of the corridor as he walks alongside illya.) You alright?
kuryakin
(illya doesn't reply at first, eyes focused on ahead too, hands shoved deep into his jacket's pockets. it's a silly question and they both know he'd be lying if he says yes, even if he doesn't quite know-)
kuryakin
(-how to feel about memories he's lost. he does know he dislikes not knowing, despises having his movement constantly watched, so his words come out with more bite than he intends,) What do you think?
solo
(fair enough; solo takes illya's caustic tone without reproach.)
solo
(it's hard to imagine being in illya's shoes and it's not fair, solo knows, that illya has to deal with a partner who's haemorrhaging control by the minute. solo's no good like this.)
solo
I'm sorry. (solo inhales and holds it in until it hurts.) We'll find something in Belarus. (he says it like a promise.)
kuryakin
(illya turns his head to solo, both slowing down as they approach his cell; something about the way solo speaks tells him they've must've been friends- why else would he do what he's done so far for illya?)
kuryakin
And if we don't?
solo
(solo doesn't know.) We will. (he says, and doesn't think about the postcard in his desk drawer, about how much he misses the illya who seemed to miss him back.) I'll find something.
solo
(illya's cell is as they left it: depressingly bare and the kind of neat that speaks of illya's doing. the steel door is heavy enough that solo has to put a little shoulder into it.) I guess this is your stop.
kuryakin
(illya remains still, gaze affixed on solo; he knows he won't be going to belarus. it's likely kgb will arrange for another agent to investigate the thrush facility, have illya transferred back to moscow.)
kuryakin
(finally, he offers,) Watch your backs, (and steps into the cell.)
solo
(he meets illya's gaze and holds it for the first time since completing his mission objective today.) You too.