Deception

Chapter 3

Back home, Gaby spent the first five minutes pacing back and forth as she frantically tried to think of some way she could break the news to Illya without making it sound so terrible. Unfortunately, there were only so many ways you could phrase "I technically became an MI6 agent before we met, oh and by the way my dad wasn't a car mechanic, he was actually a Nazi." and none of them sounded particularly positive.

She wasn't given much time to consider it further as Klaus seemed to sense her distress and started to cry, clearly confused as to why his mother was so upset. She hated it when he cried like that, and she spent the next half an hour rocking him and trying to calm him down, but the more time she spent doing that the more worked up she became as the clock hands seemed to speed towards Illya's return home. When the door finally opened, Klaus was still screaming and Gaby was frustrated to the point of tears. Illya paused in the doorway as the noise assaulted him, before swiftly moving into action and plucking the child from her grip.

Klaus seemed to calm immediately once in his father's arms and Gaby stared at him blankly, not even trying to hold back the tears anymore. As if it wasn't bad enough that her life was falling apart, she couldn't even soothe her child properly. With Klaus dealt with, she felt Illya embrace her gently and she burrowed her face into his chest, relishing the hug and knowing that such instances may not occur again once she had told him the truth.

"I'm sorry." She hiccupped. "I couldn't get him to settle."

"No wonder, you're very tense." Illya noted aloud and pulled away slightly to tilt her head up so he could look at her properly. "He can sense when you're upset and he will never calm down while he knows that. What's the matter?"

"Not now." She said and huddled closer, enjoying the feel of his arms moving so he could envelop her properly as she laid her head against his chest. "After dinner, we need to talk." She regretted her choice of words immediately as she felt him stiffen. "It's not what you think." She said quickly raising her head so she could look him in the eye as she tried to reassure him.

"Is it about us?" He asked cautiously, and she could almost see the tumultuous emotions he was trying to hide behind a carefully blank expression.

"No." Gaby said immediately, and she felt her face soften slightly with a small smile. "I love you to distraction, you know that." Her admission, one she made all too rarely she was forced to admit, did seem to remove some of the tension from his shoulders. But even as she watched a tentative smile appear on his face she felt her gaze drop to his chest so she didn't have to look straight at him. "It's something else." She said quietly. "Something I should have told you a long time ago, and I only hope you will be able to forgive me."

Illya did not reply for some time and she knew that he had grasped the seriousness of the situation. She had spoken as though the upcoming revelation would put a wedge between them because she was sure it would, and she knew that he likely suspected that whatever had rattled her so much was likely to be very serious. His light grip on her arms tightened slightly, but not to the point of being painful and Gaby was well aware of her own fingers digging into the flesh of his shoulder. Had his shirt not been in the way she was sure that she would have left fingernail marks.

"Help me with dinner." She said, not bothering to phrase it like a question. In less than an hour he might no longer want to be anywhere near her, and she didn't want to waste the time they had left. He nodded and leaned down to press a lingering kiss into her hair before they reluctantly parted from each other.

Gaby felt the tension inside her build as they prepared the meal and ate it, she chewed listlessly on her food, its pleasant taste turning to ash in her mouth. With dinner finished, she knew her time had run out and she found her bravery dissipating as she murmured that they should put Klaus to bed first. It was left unsaid that she wanted their baby out of the room before the argument could erupt, hopefully the walls would be thick enough to shield him from the noise.

With Klaus sleeping blissfully unaware of what was going to happen between his parents, their final delay tactic was dealt with and they both knew they would have to face Gaby's revelation. She had snuck a quick shot of vodka while Illya's back was turned, hoping it would lend her the strength to speak and with her and Illya seated on the couch she managed to blurt out a seemingly random statement at his enquiring look.

"I met your boss today." She said, and by his stunned reaction she knew it hadn't been the revelation she had been expecting. Perhaps he had thought she was going to admit to an old infidelity before their marriage or some offence that he would find personally offensive.

"Waverly?" He asked, his face scrunched up with a frown. "How could you have met him?"

"He sought me out." She said, avoiding his gaze.

"But why would he-"

"It's not the first time we've met." Gaby blurted out, and she watched his expressive face shift through the various predictable stages of shock, misunderstanding and finally betrayal.

"You've been meeting him?" His voice was deathly quiet, not quite the explosive anger she had been expecting and preparing for.

"It's not like that." She pleaded. "The last time I met him was years ago, before I even knew you." She tried to imbue as much sincerity into her voice as possible, but her attempt to explain herself did not appear to reassure him.

"And he asked you to spy on me?" The volume was fractionally louder than the last time he had spoken, and if anything he seemed to be building up into a rage. The colour drained from her face as she realised how easily he could have come to that conclusion, she had been the one to chase him and initiate a relationship and with his background he could easily mistake her attentions and their relationship as a honey-trap.

"No, of course not!" She told him insistently. "It had nothing to do with you, the fact we met was a complete coincidence. I had no idea you were KGB, and I certainly wasn't asked to enter in a relationship with you."

"Then why do you know him?"

"It was because of my father. He-" she found her voice breaking off as she knew she would be revealing another lie, "he wasn't the mechanic I told you about. That man, Albert Schmidt that I told you about, was my foster father. My real father, he-" she hesitated again, "he worked for the Nazis." She finished quietly. Illya said nothing, and she could not bear to look up at him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my father. I was ashamed."

Finally glancing up, she could see Illya looking at her with narrowed eyes clearly expecting something further. "My real father was a weapon's developer." She admitted further. "He worked on nuclear bombs, and Waverly knew that eventually the Nazis would want to find him again and would likely try to use me to get to him." She took in a deep breath, and blinked back some tears before she made her final confession. "He recruited me for MI6, my role was to inform him if and when someone approached me about my father."

"And you never thought this would be important to mention?" He stated coldly.

"I'm sorry." Gaby replied, her eyes still downcast. "I couldn't think of the right time, and I never thought it would come up again. I thought I could just forget about it."

"I told you I was KGB that night in my flat." Illya reminded her, his voice taking on a dangerous lilt. "That would have been a good time to tell me."

"I know." She admitted. "I wanted to but I panicked. I was scared you wouldn't want to be with me anymore." The bitter huff of a laugh suggested he didn't believe her, but before she could rebuff it he shifted suddenly and she found herself flinching away from him. Her eyes had shut in anticipation and when nothing happened she opened them again to see that Illya had recoiled away in horror. The move she had been so scared of appeared to have been nothing more than him running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"After all this time," he said hollowly, "you still think I would ever hurt you?"

"No of course not!" She insisted, the lie tasting bitter on her tongue. In that split second when his hand had shifted so suddenly she had thought he was going to hit her, and something instinctual in her had reacted to that. She could see the hurt on his face, and with everything she had already done to betray him she wanted nothing more to wipe that look off his face.

"I think we've had enough lies." Illya said coldly, and without another word he left the room leaving her on the couch by herself. Slightly disoriented, she stood up again, intent on figuring out what he was doing. She found him in their bedroom, a small bag on the bed and throwing items of clothing into it. Gaby watched him work numbly, one her hands wiping at the tears that were streaming down her face.

"Are you leaving?" Her voice trembled as she spoke but it did not appear to elicit any sympathy from her husband who continued to pack his bag.

"I need a few days. I need to come to terms with-" he made an undefined gesture, "all of this mess." He sighed heavily and shook his head, zipping up the bag with a short movement.

"Are you leaving me?" She asked a little more confidently, making a concerted effort to meet his eyes. Eventually he did look at her, and his face remained impassive.

"No." He said after a pause, one of his hands raised to his forehead so he could rub at his temple. "But you can't accept me to just accept this bombshell easily."

"No, of course not." She fidgeted with the sleeve of her cardigan. "But you don't have to leave."

"Yes I do." He told her firmly, hefting the bag up. "I need some time alone."

His tone made it clear that he would not be moved on the subject, and she found herself nodding along even though she hated the thought of him leaving their home while they were on bad terms. They had always made an effort in the past never to separate or go to bed while they were still angry with each other and now they were breaking that unspoken rule. Illya approached her and for a moment she thought that he might touch her, a small tiny gesture to show that he still cared for her. But if anything he skirted around her seemingly determined not to allow even the slightest, briefest contact between the two of them. Maybe he still believed she was scared of him, and that thought her her more than she could have imagined. When he had first told her about the rages she had promised it didn't bother her, and now he had discovered that was yet another lie she had told.

The sound of the door shutting behind him was very final, and Gaby felt herself drop to the ground as though her legs no longer had the willpower to hold them up. She pulled her knees up to her chest, and used her fist to muffle her sobs so she did not make enough noise to wake Klaus. She had managed to complete her part of the ultimatum, the only thing left now was to meet with Waverly in the morning and hope the night alone would allow Illya to calm down enough so they could complete this stupid mission and hopefully return to the way things were.

Even knowing that she should have told Illya a long time ago about MI6, Gaby couldn't help but feel yet another sharp burst of resentment at her father. He had barely been in her life but he seemed intent on ruining it and she would add this sudden divide between her and Illya to his list of crimes against her.

Gaby did not sleep well that night, the bed seemed colder than usual in Illya's absence. She had of course become used to sleeping by herself due to Illya's many assignments but more so than ever she found herself staring at the ceiling and willing sleep to come. She had almost been relieved when Klaus had started crying in the middle of the night as it gave her the excuse to go comfort him and take him to her and Illya's bed. But even with Klaus's tiny form cuddled up against her, she still couldn't drift on and when the sun broke over the horizon and sent its rays through the curtains, she gave up and made herself a large cup of coffee.

A few hours later, Waverly arrived and after a brief glance around the flat he remarked drily, "I take it Agent Kuryakin did not take the news well?"

"No." Gaby agreed. "He stayed somewhere else for the night, Napoleon's flat I would guess." Waverly nodded at her suggestion, clearly thinking the same.

"Because of the inconvenience and your… unique situation, I've decided we should keep your status as an MI6 asset between ourselves and Kuryakin. It would be best if this news did not travel to the KGB or CIA."

"Agreed." She doubted Illya would have confided in Napoleon, nor would he tell the KGB because of the danger it would put them all in.

"I've organised the mission briefing for this morning, unfortunately we don't have a lot of time."

"I understand." She paused as something occurred to her. "I can't get a sitter at such short notice."

"Bring him along then." Waverly suggested, and waited patiently while she retrieved her handbag and the plethora of items that needed to be taken from the house every time Klaus was taken somewhere.

At the headquarters, Waverly left her alone in a conference room, and she busied herself with entertaining Klaus while feeling her own dread build at the thought of having to face Illya again after such a short amount of time. There was no way he was prepared to forgive her after only one night of stewing over the news. Indeed he didn't look too pleased to see her when he walked in with Napoleon, but his chilly demeanour did soften when Klaus spotted him and called out for his father. Napoleon looked surprised to see her and she could guess that Illya had likely not told him about their falling out. Waverly followed them through the door.

"Right I see everyone is here now." Waverly announced brightly. "And thank you Gaby for your assistance on this matter." His latter sentence was clearly for Napoleon benefit, and she nodded silently even as the American shot her another confused look.

"A situation has arisen in Italy," Waverly continued, "a weapon's developer who had been living in the USA disappeared a few months ago and has since been spotted in the company of some known Nazi sympathisers in Rome. We believe it is likely that the Vinciguerras are planning on developing a nuclear bomb to pass onto their associates, as well as to utilise Udo Teller's techniques for enriching uranium to manufacture more arms. The plan is to go to Rome, stop the handover from taking place and rescue Dr Teller and his research." Waverly paused to allow all the information to sink in before he ploughed on with the details.

"Luckily for us," he continued, "we have an easy way into the group. It appears that Udo Teller has not been cooperating with the Vinciguerras and as such they are keen on finding someone to convince him to complete his work. Quite by an amazing coincidence, our lovely guest for the day, Mrs Kuryakin, is Udo Teller's daughter." Gaby didn't even have to look over at Napoleon to realise his reaction, she could hear him cough out his mouthful of coffee.

"That's one amazing coincidence." Napoleon stated, once he had recovered, and the look he shot over at the other three people in the room suggested he thought it was anything but.

"It is." Illya agreed tightly, and the glare he sent in the direction of the American dared him to say anything further on the subject. Sensing this was delicate territory, for once Napoleon meekly sat back and stayed quietly to allow Waverly to finish speaking.

"It has come to our attention that Mrs Kuryakin has been followed for the last week or so," at this Waverly sent her a brief apologetic look, "and we believe the culprit works for the Vinciguerras. We think it likely that they have plans to approach her soon to help coerce Udo Teller's cooperation."

"They've been following me?" Gaby demanded furiously. "That would have been nice to know earlier."

"I was trying to establish exactly who was following you first." Waverly explained. "Anyway, your uncle has been spotted at Rome airport, and we think he is planning on arranging a meeting with you. We think the best course of action is to send you, Solo, to Rome to begin recon work. Kuryakin, you and your wife will stay here and wait for the approach. Illya we think it is likely they have done some minor investigation of yourself and have likely discovered your cover story of being an architect, you will likely have to maintain this for the duration of the mission." Both men nodded in agreement to their roles. "Mrs Kuryakin, I suggest you stick to your normal routine until your uncle approaches you. Once he does, we anticipate he will offer to take you to Rome to see your father. You will agree and if he does not offer you will convince him to allow Agent Kuryakin to accompany you."

With their roles laid out, Waverly proceeded to drone through the details. Gaby found her attention wavering once she realised none of this information was intended for her, her role in this farce was to get the two more experienced agents access to her father. Her initial feeling upon this realisation was annoyance, she felt like she was being treated as an unwanted but unfortunately necessary prop.

"How long do you expect this to take?" She asked tiredly once Waverly was finished speaking and the two men had stopped asking for minor clarifications.

"Perhaps a week, maybe less. The Vinciguerras appear to be in a rush, we suspect they have already arranged a date and time for the handover of the bomb." Waverly answered.

"We'll have to arrange for someone to look after Klaus." Gaby said absently, wracking her brains trying to think of someone that would be willing to look after a small child for that amount of time.

"I'm afraid that might not be necessary." Waverly replied, shifting uncomfortably on the spot. His declarations caused both Gaby and Illya's heads to immediately snap into his direction, mutual concern over their child giving them an eerie synchrony.

"What does that mean?" Illya asked sharply.

"As I said, Gaby has been followed for the past week." Waverly explained. "They are already aware that you have a child and would expect Gaby to bring her son so that he could meet his grandfather. Leaving young Klaus behind would suggest a concern over his safety and thus strengthen any suspicions the Vinciguerras have." He was right, Gaby realised with a sickening feeling to her stomach. Had she truly sought reconciliation with her father she would have taken Klaus with her, and if they left him behind they stood to put themselves in even greater danger. Under less severe circumstances Gaby would have been happy to take the increased risk of death or injury to herself and Illya if it guaranteed Klaus's safety, however the threat of nuclear war if they failed meant that leaving Klaus would not necessarily make him any safer.

Seeming to sense the tension in the room, Napoleon made up some ridiculous excuse and promptly dragged Waverly from the room to leave the married couple alone. Looking over at Illya, Gaby could see that he was equally conflicted over the choice as she was. Crossing the room, she lightly deposited Klaus onto his lap and took Napoleon's vacated seat. Klaus reached up to curl his arms around his father's neck as Illya hugged him close. Over his son's shoulder he looked over at her without any of the anger of the previous night.

"Waverly's right." Gaby said quietly.

"I know." Illya sighed. "It doesn't make it any easier."

Author's Note: So I wrote part of this with the Gaby/Illya fight scene in mind. I think that's an important scene because Gaby gives Illya every reason to go berserk and attack her but he never does and I think that's important since for her it establishes that yes Illya has rages but he won't turn his anger on her. This hasn't happened in this story, which is why Gaby is more wary of Illya.