[March 29th] [The Man From U.N.C.L.E.] Misunderstandings

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Title: Misunderstandings
Day/Theme: March 29th - No one is ever ordinary.
Series: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (specifically, The Odd Man Affair episode)
Character/Pairing: Mr. Wye, Mr. Ecks, assorted OCs
Rating: K/G


By Lucky_Ladybug

Wye was both surprised and angry when he heard some of the other agents negatively discussing Ecks one night in the bar.

“That creepy little bugger,” Mr. Bee muttered under his breath. “Oh, he’s a good agent, does everything he’s supposed to, but he hardly ever talks and he gives me the willies.”

“He never socializes,” Mr. Jay put in. “When the organization holds celebrations, he’s either absent altogether or comes only momentarily and then is gone again before anyone is quite aware of what happened.”

Ms. See smirked. “I wonder how Wye ever puts up with him. They’re complete opposites. Wye loves to talk.”

“Wye never wanted to train agents,” said Mr. Ess. “He probably only puts up with that kid because it was an order from Zed.”

Wye felt a stab of guilt at that. It was true; that was mostly how it had started. Oh, he had felt a certain fondness for Ecks once he had remembered their prior meeting, and when Ecks had confessed that he had hoped he would be assigned to Wye, but that fondness had not much helped their difficulties during those first few weeks together.

“You know,” said Mr. Arr, “I knew him when he was a kid. He was even worse then; I could barely get two words out of him. I don’t know what was wrong with him. He had a good home, a good education, parents to be proud of . . .”

“Parents who were hardly ever there,” said Ms. Aye, and Wye was grateful for some level of kindness and understanding among the agents. “Come on, don’t you think you’d grow up a little taciturn if you were left with some indifferent caregiver most of the time?”

“Well . . .” Mr. Arr sounded uncomfortable. “It doesn’t explain why he’s still that way now. He’s old enough to recognize that his parents were doing their duty for the greater good.”

Several agents nodded in agreement. Ms. Cue, on the other hand, scoffed. “The greater good? Oh, come off it! We all know our organization is on a power trip. Nothing more, nothing less. If your parents deserted you ninety percent of the time to go running around the world gathering power, I wonder how well you’d grow up!”

That brought an indignant cry among the agents who sincerely believed in the organization’s goals. “Maybe you know it,” snarled Mr. Eff, “but we know that we’re going to bring about world peace eventually. Then the world as a whole will thank us.”

“But will Ecks finally feel that his job is valuable then?” Mr. Ess wondered. “Or be thankful to his parents?”

“We’ll have to ask him when the time comes,” Mr. Arr chortled. “If he’ll give us a real answer.”

“Bets, anyone?” Ms. See grinned. “Let’s find out what he’ll do.”

Wye shook his head and kept away, nursing his drink. Part of him wanted to go over and break it up. It angered and appalled him to find out that so many of them disliked that boy. Wye himself had been puzzled over his behavior, of course, and had struggled with how to handle it, but as he had started to come to understand Ecks, his bewilderment had slowly started to be replaced by love.

He knew instinctively when Ecks walked into the bar; the entire place fell completely silent. He turned, watching the boy weave around the tables and make his way to Wye. The other agents, suddenly realizing Wye had heard everything, looked to each other in chagrin and even a bit of fear. They didn’t like Ecks, but most of them were afraid of Wye.

Ecks gave them a stony look before reaching the counter. “So, they were talking about me again,” he stated rather than asked.

Wye sighed. He should have known Ecks would already be aware that sort of thing was happening. “Yeah.” He regarded the boy questioningly. “Did you want something to drink or . . . ?”

“I came to get you,” Ecks replied. “Mr. Zed wants us.”

“I’ll have to thank him for the favor,” Wye growled. He finished his drink in one gulp and stood, relieved to have a reason to get out of there.

All eyes were on them as they started for the door. Ecks was content to ignore all of them. Wye was not.

“You’ll regret your words about Ecks someday,” he said coldly, looking straight at Mr. Arr and Mr. Bee in particular. “He’s a good agent, a good partner, and a good chum. Maybe if you’d have taken the time to really get to know him instead of puttin’ him down all the time, you’d already know that.

“I didn’t want to train him at first, it’s true. But now I’m proud to do it and I always will be.”

The unsympathetic agents were too ashamed to respond. The ones who had expressed kinder views, however, smiled and were pleased.

And Ecks, though he didn’t speak either, also smiled a bit in the darkness.
****
Wye idly watched as Ecks slept on the porch swing, the object moving slowly in the evening breeze. Ecks was peaceful, one hand on his chest and the other hanging over the edge of the swing. But his training and reflexes were still sharp. Even though he looked harmless right now, perhaps even like an ordinary young man without the burden of his dark experiences, he could snap awake and be in a position to attack in an instant, if necessary.

Wye had discovered that just yesterday, when he had tried to carry too many things to the desk and several had dropped with a loud crash. Suddenly Ecks had been awake, his knife drawn, and Wye had needed to quickly assure him that they were not under attack.

He wondered what the agents from the organization would think of them now, if any were still alive to comment. The ones who had never liked Ecks would surely still dislike him, disgusted that both he and Wye were traitors. Perhaps even the ones who had been kinder would be angry about that.

The only one who might more likely feel different was Ms. Kay. Ecks and Wye had learned, sometime after they had been injured, that she was a double agent with a French counterspy organization. She had struck up a certain friendship with them and had genuinely liked them, in spite of their very different viewpoints. She would be happy to hear that they were alive and trying to make a new life for themselves.

The swing creaked and Ecks stirred, but did not awaken. He was happy. And for the most part, he felt safe.

Wye pushed away from the banister railing, heading for the door.

Oh Ecks . . . you never were an ordinary sort. I knew that the first day I ever saw you, when you were sitting there with that beast.

I guess even those who hated you knew you weren’t ordinary. Their problem was only seeing the bad in you. Or not even the bad, really, but just what they didn’t understand.

I’m glad I was more open-minded. I wasn’t very accepting either, at first, but you managed to get under my skin without even trying.

Smiling, Wye quietly slipped into the house to check on the warming dinner.