“In the land of your origin, did you always give them ‘everything willingly’?”
Illya immediately spun away, marching past Napoleon towards his room. “That is entirely different.”
“How?” Napoleon countered. He stayed where he was, one hand over the other, watching Illya’s stormy journey.
Illya paused at the doorway to his room. “Because I had no choice. As a child I was placed into programs that I did not want, but had no say about.” He gripped the doorframe. “But no one is pushed into joining an extremist organization against their will!”
“Maybe he was just like you.” Now Napoleon started to walk down the hall towards Illya. “Maybe he ended up in that organization as a child and couldn’t see any way to get out.”
---The Peaceful Meadows Affair
Napoleon and Illya interact much the same as in canon, albeit they have more time for deep conversations than they do in the episodes. They banter a great deal as well; it wouldn't feel right if these two weren't exchanging barbs at times. But, also as in canon, they care about each other very much and are fiercely loyal and devoted and firmly believe in each other's loyalty.
While Illya and Ecks have a very stormy relationship and engage in conversations filled with snark and immature attempts to out-spy each other, Napoleon tries to remain a level-headed peacemaker in the matter and get Illya to see things from another angle. That doesn't mean that Napoleon agrees with what Ecks and Wye did in the past, only that he sees another side to the story. And, despite Illya's frustration with Ecks, he really knows that there is depth to the British agent. He also values Napoleon's words and takes them to heart.
The above scene was an interesting one to write, both because of the conversation topic and because I had to figure out how to get across what I wanted to say without revealing that the time period is the present-day. My timeline calls for Illya to have been a child during the waning years of the Soviet Union and that he then grew up during the tough times as Russia tried to transition from Communism to Capitalism. Illya may be one of those who didn't fully like the change. I picture him as liking the basic idea of Communism, but not how it ended up being carried out. I also picture him as still loving and being loyal to Russia, but he nevertheless will likely not move back there if he has any say in the matter, now that he has close ties in America. None of that has entered a story yet, and perhaps never will, but it's fun to have a backstory prepared.