tango65

The Way to a Man's Heart.......

2025-12-27T03:33:19Z

Started with a different story, which wasn't coming together for me, which was when this one popped up. The lads obviously felt this story was more important..... :) Enjoy!

“What is that?” Bodie asked, peering over Doyle’s shoulder as he stirred the ingredients in a large wooden bowl. Fortunately, Bodie’s entrance had not gone unnoticed, otherwise he would have been wearing the contents of said bowl for sneaking up on his partner so surreptitiously. To be fair, he had intended to do just that (without the shower of upended contents) and was a little disappointed that he had not succeeded. This was quickly forgotten as the smell of said contents caught his attention, as well as the accoutrements on the counter, evidence of another of Doyle’s skills – cooking.

“It’s a Wassail bowl” replied Doyle, without stopping his stirring or acknowledging Bodie’s surprise entrance, another thing in which Bodie was disappointed, but only a little. “Why?” Bodie followed up with.

“It’s tradition” came the response, with just a little bit of “what are you, ignorant?” coming through in the tone. Doyle stopped his stirring and took a quick sip from the spoon. “Perfect” he stated and then turned to look at Bodie. “I guess since you are here that you will want some as well?”

Bodie perked up and moved straight to the cupboard to get glasses and with one in each hand, turned to bring them to bowl, only to find Doyle already on the move – toward the back door. “Outside” he commanded, “its a perfect night for it.”

Bodie dutifully followed, he knew a good thing when he saw it – free drink, beautiful night and the company of the man he………. No point going down that train of thought, he didn’t really believe in Christmas miracles.

Doyle put the bowl on the small table in the ground floor flat’s courtyard. The evening was clear and mild and apart from the noise of neighbouring celebrations, relatively quiet.

Bodie put the glasses down and Doyle picked up the server in preparation for filling each glass, when nearby voices yelled indistinctly. Before they knew it, a champagne cork had come flying over the fence and landed in the middle of the bowl, splashing the liquid and pieces of apple and other ingredients, all over the two surprised men.

The senders of this particular gift must have quickly forgotten, or choose to present innocence, regarding their missile as no-one came to check, either in person or via a shouted “You OK?”

The two men just stood there looking at each other in shock for a moment, before cracking up in laughter. Even when they looked as if they were getting themselves under control, another look at their partner just sent them back into fits of mirth.

After a while though, the cooling liquid and dripping fruit demanded attention and Bodie was the first to move, removing a piece of apple from one of Doyle’s curls. When he looked back at his partner, he noticed him carefully studying his shoulders, from whence he also started removing fruit.

“We had better go get cleaned……” Bodie started to say, before he realised that Doyle’s clean up had changed tools, he was now using his tongue on Bodie’s neck, carefully licking away all and any pieces of fruit and liquid.

Bodie froze in place, but his body was already responding and his first attempt at speech resulted in a garbled grunt, rather than anything intelligible. Doyle took this as cooperation and move his ministrations up to Bodie’s face. The frozen man quickly unfroze and took Doyle’s lips with his, where they were lost together in a searing kiss. One that spoke a thousand messages, commitment, history, companionship, loyalty, lust and most of all, love.

Once their lungs declared the need for air, they broke apart, but only far enough to draw in that much needed element and then back to rest their foreheads against one another.

Doyle broke the silence. “I take it you liked that?” he said with humour and wonder in his quiet voice. “I think you might be right about that” came the reply. They lifted their heads to look at each other. “I think I might have other things you will like” Doyle offered with a cheeky grin. Bodie responded with a matching grin, “I would like to see them now if you don’t mind”.

And Doyle didn’t mind as he drew Bodie back into the flat and into his bedroom, onto his bed and into his arms. And it was a very Merry Christmas for all.

Discovered in the Tinsel and Glitter - All I want for Christmas!

2024-12-29T07:53:03Z

Its Christmas and the lads are getting together - but will they get what they want most?

Bodie opened his door and nearly fell backwards in shock. Seemingly walking towards him was a Christmas tree, which was undulating awkwardly as it made its way down the hall.

“Ray?” he called out uncertainly. Worryingly, there was no answer, but before he had the chance to step out or call again, the tree seemed to explode forwards. Bodie ducked instinctively as parts of the tree rocketed towards him and then looked up in horror to see his partner fighting over a gun, with a man he had never seen before.

Bodie did not hesitate and raced forward, dodging the litter of the Christmas tree to try to reach the fracas and back his partner. Before he could get there, the gun went off, once, twice, three times and then everything stopped for a breath, before both men collapsed.

“Ray!” Bodie shouted as he reached the men, removing his jacket as he noticed blood pooling between them. He fell to his knees next to his partner, looking for the wound, when Doyle’s eyes opened and he look past Bodie, eyes wide. He suddenly sat up, grab the gun which lay between the two fallen men and to Bodie’s shock again, shot past him. Bodie turned at the sound of the bullet hitting the other man, just in time to see him fall once more, a bullet between his eyes and a second gun falling from his limp hand.

The scene held for a moment of silence, which was only broken as Doyle groaned and lay down, clutching the slowly oozing wound on his shoulder.

“How bad?” Bodie asked urgently. “Flesh wound” Doyle whispered between gritted teeth, “but it hurts like hell.” Bodie gently helped him up and into his flat as he reassured the other residents who had finally come out, that all was safe and that he would contact the police.

Waiting only long enough to settle Doyle at the kitchen table with a towel staunching his wound, Bodie called to report in. He knew the response would be quick and within ten minutes, Doyle was being treated, the morgue van had arrived to pick up the deceased and Bodie was giving a quick report to the Office on Duty. He was not looking forward to reporting to Cowley, who was on the way.

Bodie turned to hear Doyle arguing with the medic that he was “NOT” going to hospital. Not getting any support from Bodie when he looked for it, the medic sighed. He bandaged the wound and watched (with Bodie glaring in the background), until Doyle had taken the painkillers he had been given. Doyle was to visit the CI5 doctor the next day for further assessment.

Soon enough, Cowley arrived in the kitchen at full roar. “What the hell happened?”. Bodie shrugged in Doyle’s direction and the man in question sighed, before telling the tale.

“I had arranged to bring a Christmas tree over. My local grocer had kept one for me and this had been the first chance for me to do this.” He glared at Cowley, his look speaking the words “and whose fault was that.” When Cowley did nothing more than glare back, he continued. “I had buzzed Bodie at the front door and was making my way in with the tree, when a man appeared and offered to help. I was in the process of declining, when he shoved the gun against my neck and pushed me in to the building.”

“Who was he?” Cowley demanded.

“I had never seen him before.” Doyle and Cowley looked to Bodie who also shook his head. Neither had he.

A call from the door drew Cowley’s attention as the Duty Officer supplied an update. Returning after a few minutes conversation, Cowley brought them up to to speed. “Wrong place, wrong time” he said blandly. “Who, him or me?” asked Doyle disinterestedly, the pain killers starting to take effect. “Him” Cowley responded with a sharp look. “He was the ex partner of a former resident of this building. They had moved out in fear and for good reason it seems.” Cowley continued, “He was identified by a neighbour who had helped the ex partner to move out.”

“An unfortunate experience all round” Cowley finished off before turning and heading towards the door, his mind already on the next crisis. “Full reports on my desk by 8am tomorrow” he called over his shoulder as he left, to the groans of the men remaining in the kitchen. The cleanup crew had already finished and all that was left was them and the forlorn remains of the Christmas tree, which had been dragged into the flat and was now lying in the living room.

With a sigh, Doyle stood carefully and called to his partner as he went to the living room “Come on, we best finish this.” Bodie followed in confusion, “Finish what?”. Doyle responded, “I didn’t go through all this, to not have a Christmas tree setup.” They set up the tree with the worst of the damage facing the wall. Once the decorations and lights where in place, you had to look closely to see any sign of the misadventure the tree had experienced.

Bodie smiled at the tree lighting up the room and turned to share his pleasure with his partner. However, when he turned, first he saw tonsils, followed by a wavering body. “C’mon sunshine, time for all good elves to be resting.”

Doyle still wavering, opened his eyes and gave a watered down version of his trademark glare, too tired to do any more. He didn’t resist however, when Bodie pulled him to his side and led him to his bedroom. Nor did he resist as Bodie carefully undressed him and laid him in his bed. As he Bodie rose to go, Doyle grabbed his arm “Don’t go!” he demanded urgently. “Just going to lock up”, Bodie replied with a small smile. Reluctantly, Doyle let go, but Bodie could see that his partner would not rest, until he was back.

Sure enough, droopy eyes were watching as steadfast as a tin soldier and did not close until Bodie had joined him in bed. Doyle snuggled close in his arms and with a loud, satisfying sigh and one more wiggle, closed his eyes and went to sleep. Bodie smiled as he drew him closer, his partner safe and in his arms – best present ever!

Discovered Among the Reindeer – “Twas the night before Christmas embedded”

2023-12-29T18:54:48Z

"Twas the night before Christmas" and Bodie and Doyle join an all agents call out. But more than evil doings are going on.

"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…..” except for two very unimpressed CI5 agents, who were quickly gearing up in the middle of this cold and wintry night and wondering about Christmas poetry as they did so.

An RT call as they had snuggled up and as “visions of sugar plums danced in their heads”, had not left either agent in a generous mood and also perplexed about the growing poetry theme. However, they prepared quickly and silently, all communication achieved with a look or a quick touch.

Doyle slid behind the wheel of the gold Capri and took off with a squeal of tyres, as Bodie confirmed details by RT and they were off. The all agent call out to the backwoods was in full swing. Bodie queried the information coming through. “A reindeer farm?” That was momentous enough for Doyle to take his eyes off the very quiet road with a querying look to his partner. “Confirmed” came the disembodied voice “you are to rendezvous at Santa’s Reindeer Farm – the south gate. You will receive further instructions on arrival.” With a look and a shrug, Bodie confirmed for both of them and they continued on in the night.

“The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow” greeted them as they arrived at the rendezvous, noting the many CI5 agents already on site. They quickly gathered at their Chief’s side. Looking around and noting all in attendance, Cowley gave the briefing, finishing with “Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!” Bodie and Doyle looked at each other, the look speaking what they both felt as they moved away and into position. How had they ended up in a Christmas poem? What had they missed and what was yet to come?

A nudge from Bodie answered that first question, as out of the mist they saw what looked like “A miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.” Before they had the chance to do more than gape in shock, the mist cleared and they recognised their intended target, not on a sleigh, but on the back of a truck, but in fact feeding eight reindeer (they were after all, at a reindeer farm).

A click on their RTs gave them the go to move in, and they did so, quickly and silently approaching their target, but not quickly enough. The man looked up, saw the approaching agents, thumped on the roof of the truck and” to his team gave a whistle”. The truck immediately lurched away from the approaching agents, stampeding the reindeer, which in turn scattered the converging agents.

All except Bodie and Doyle. Doyle saw his chance first, racing across to the horse standing in the corner of the paddock and yelling to his partner. Doyle leapt onto the horse, then circled round and hauled his partner behind him, managing to somehow avoid “the pawing and prancing of each little hoof” of the dispersing reindeer.

“Go” Bodie urged, his arms wrapped tight around his partner, as they took off. As they raced across the paddock to cut off the fleeing truck, Bodie couldn’t help but notice that Doyle’s “cheeks were like roses, but his nose like a cherry”. He shook his head in exasperation, what was with the Christmas poem? Although Doyle was focused on gaining lost ground, he too was pondering his partner and how “his eyes – how they twinkled, his dimples, how merry!” They really had to get this job finished successfully, so they could get out of this poem!

They had one advantage – the truck was restricted to roads, whilst they sped cross country. “What will you do when we catch them?” Bodie yelled into this partner’s ear. “We’ll find out,” his partner yelled in reply. As they came to the end of the paddock, they noted they were now ahead of the fleeing truck. “When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky”, and with a shrug to the ongoing poetry, they leaned into the horse as it flew over the fence.

The truck driver, seeing a horse appear in the air before them, yelled before losing control. The truck careened off the road and into a tree, well away from the agents now pulling up safely. Bodie leapt down from the horse, drawing his weapon on the truck and its occupants, including the reindeer feeder, who groaned in pain after being thrown around on the truck’s tray. Within moments, the rest of CI5 arrived, including Cowley, who “came with a bound”. Bodie and Doyle looked at each other, surely others had noticed the Christmas poem across all that had happened, but apparently not.

Cowley turned to them and “with a wink of his eye and a twist of his head”, said “Good work lads, two days off, reports in on the 27th at 8am” and then he “went straight to his work”.

By now getting used to the poetry, the Bisto kids instead grinned at each other, the thought of having Christmas together was pure bliss. They “spoke not a word” but “giving a nod”, Bodie remounted the horse behind his partner and they made their way back to their car. As they drove away from their work, the night gave them its blessing, as it seemed to say as they “drove out of sight – Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52624990

Discovered in a Snow Globe - A snow globe

2022-12-30T03:47:26Z

Posted on Discovered in a LJ for 2022's Discovered in a Snow Globe.

Discovered in a Snow Globe – A snowglobe

They were undercover again, although not the way that he wanted to be, Bodie thought, as he kept a poker face and moved under the direction of the photographer. He wanted to be under the covers, not undercover, but at least his partner was the same in both instances. That thought lightened his mood, but only for the moment it took for him to be recalled to their situation.

He followed the photographer’s directions, helping to herd the subjects to the right position, getting smiles from the children with his antics and from the females of all ages with his charm. Light positioning, film changeovers and general dogsbody, kept him busy as photographer’s assistant – not something he would ever consider taking on as a career.

Ray on the other hand, was in his element. His artistic streak was given full and free rein as the photographer and Bodie was sure his enjoyment was enhanced by Bodie’s lack of. He hid the grimace that thought engendered, not wanting to give any indication to said partner that he was anything other than professional and on top of the situation they found themselves in.

Another one of Cowley’s many favours had led them to be here.

The up and coming, in mode, photographer Graeme St John, had been engaged by a local charity, to take custom family Christmas photos for the rich and famous, in their own homes. St John was donating half his fee to the charity’s coffers and was booked out weeks in advance. And for some reason, someone had it for Graeme St John. The rest of CI5 was tracing the who and the why, after the threats and near misses had been brought to the attention of Cowley by St John’s father – an old colleague of the chief of CI5 from his MI5 days.

Cowley, never one to look a gift favour in the mouth, sent in his top team undercover. It didn’t hurt that Doyle and St John had a passing resemblance, so here they were.

The photo shoot wound up and the family finally let them go – thrilled and excited with anticipation about seeing what St John had done with their family and the Christmas theme.

Well, they let “St John” go. Bodie had been mostly ignored throughout the session and was only barely acknowledged as he returned after packing up and storing the last of the equipment in their vehicle outside. Although this was part of the job, it was also a chance for him to reconnoitre and as he returned to collect his “boss”, for all his casualness, Doyle noted that he was at high alert.

“Everything OK?” Doyle whispered as headed towards the door of the voluminous library, with Bodie’s hand in the small of his back, surreptitiously guiding his direction, whilst also providing a much needed connection between them.

“Don’t know”, Bodie said with worry highlighting each syllable. “Something’s off” and even as he said it, the sound of a shot echoed through the large room, almost lost in the sound of shattering glass, and Ray was falling away from his side.

Bodie dropped to the ground, trying to get his bearings, as his RT broke into a thousand voices and the screams of the family blended into a cacophony of sound that confused and disoriented him. But his beacon, his centre brought everything back into focus. “Ray!”, he managed to croak out as he scrambled about, checking for threats, whilst looking to see what had happened to his partner.

Ray had fallen behind a Chesterfield and all Bodie could see was his legs and they weren’t moving. “Ray” he screamed above the surrounding noise as he scrambled along the floor to get to him. He slid around the Chesterfield, keeping low, just in time to hear his partner grunt and roll over onto his back. “My head” he groaned, putting his hand to a long, bloody wound that ran from his left temple to just above his ear. He tried to sit up, but Bodie held him down, his relief at finding his partner “not dead” as he had feared, making his grip painful. The additional wince on his partner’s face, loosened his hold, but Bodie wasn’t letting go – not now, maybe not ever…….

‘Stay put’ he ordered fiercely, his relief overwhelming. His partner recognising the emotions and their cause, did as he was told and lay quietly, whilst Bodie got an update on the RT. “They got him,” he said with relief, which Doyle had heard for himself, but with Bodie on the edge, he wasn’t going to comment on.

Bodie recognised this restraint quickly and looked at his partner more carefully. He whipped out his pristine handkerchief (weren’t they always) and used it to replace his partner’s hands on the wound. The material against it caused Doyle to hiss in pain. “Don’t worry sunshine” Bodie reassured whilst maintaining the pressure, “we will get you sorted in no time.”

Doyle pushed again to sit up and together they manoeuvred him so that his back was to the Chesterfield, whilst Bodie maintained the pressure on the wound. They waited quietly, just existing in the moment, eyes speaking so much more than words, until a medic appeared. Bodie scooted aside, grabbing his RT for another update, although his eyes never left his partner.

Bodie joined his partner in the ambulance, again keeping a watchful eye as his partner relaxed under the pain killers he was administered. He looked to the paramedic, who recognised the fear in his eyes and reassured him “It’s more headache than anything, but there is some debris in the wound that will need to be cleaned.” Bodie nodded in relief.

Doyle was efficiently treated in A & E and due to the resulting concussion, was admitted for the night, where he was found by Cowley sometime later, with Bodie glued to his side. “I know you heard the preliminary reports,” Cowley began, “but we have a better picture now”.

“The perpetrator was St John’s former lover, who was irrationally upset that they had split up just before his rise to fame. He thought that it was his work that had gained success for St John and that he should have shared in that success. When St John would not have a bar of him, he decided to take extreme measures.” Cowley looked up briefly from the report to see his two best agents share a meaningful look. With a small quiet smile to himself, he continued.

“The bullet was fired through the library window, clipping a shelf and a snow globe before sliding down the side of your face” Cowley indicated to Doyle, with report still in hand. He paused and looked at Doyle more closely, “I believe the debris they cleaned out of your wound was comprised water, porcelain and slivers of lead glass, which also comprised one of the many antique snow globes held in the library.” Doyle nodded, the hospital staff had also been intrigued to find out the source of the unusual combination of materials that had inadvertently been embedded in his wound.

“Fortunately” Cowley continued more gravely, “the family is happy to hear that you were not seriously harmed and will not be pursuing recompense for the shattered snowglobe.” Doyle sat upright, an outpouring of indignation cut off by his partner’s quick elbow to his side. Doyle winced at the discomfort caused by this movement, on top of his already throbbing head, but subsided without comment, at Bodie’s double look of plea for forgiveness and request for restraint.

“Bodie”, said Cowley as he looked to him, “I will need your report.” Bodie’s face fell. Cowley continued, “When Doyle completes his on his return to work.” Immediately, Bodie broke into a broad grin, as Doyle shook his head in disbelief in the fast change of mood.

Cowley again smiled to himself as he turned back to Doyle. “I understand they are keeping you overnight and that you are ordered home for rest for other three days.” “Yes sir” said Bodie, forestalling Doyle’s need to speak or nod his head. In looking at both men as he rose to leave, Cowley said “In that case gentlemen, that is plenty of time for you to get everything straight in your own minds. I expect those reports on my desk by 9am in four days time.” And with that, he turned and left.

Bodie shuffled closer to Doyle’s bedside and took his hand again. “You and a snow globe has gotten us three days off!”. Doyle smiled, “My mum collected snow globes” he reminisced. “Never thought one would save my life.” Bodie grew serious again. “I knew something was off, I should have……” Doyle silenced Bodie with a quick kiss. “You were there doing as you always do,” he smiled gently, “saving my life and my sanity in more ways that I can credit.” Bodie looked at him with embarrassment and so much more. “Merry Christmas sunshine” he was finally able to get out. “Merry Christmas to you too, you big lug.” Doyle replied, affection lacing every word. And with encouragement, Doyle lay down and closed his eyes and with Bodie holding his hand, he went to sleep, knowing that Bodie was there to watch for him, as he always did.

Discovered in the Christmas Wrapping - "Plans"

2022-01-03T03:03:49Z

They thought it was over. The Charity Christmas party had gone smoothly. The hundreds of children who had attended had unwrapped their gifts and had now gone, leaving mountains of wrapping paper, congealing food and hours of clean up in their wake.

Unfortunately, for the Ci5 contingent in attendance, a different type of clean up was now needed from them, just when they thought they had successfully avoided such a requirement.

Bodie grimaced again, as he stood stock still, a gun repeatedly shoved against his temple, a cornered man holding it there, desperately demanding money and transport. Not only had this man's assassination attempt on the visiting Minister come too late (he was long gone), but all of his co-conspirators had been captured, caught unawares by the Ci5 contingent awating their arrival.

The man, whom Bodie knew as Decker, was negotiating with Cowley, who was safely behind the wall in another room. All the rest of Ci5 had also been evacuated out, but Bodie knew they were at all escape routes, looking for that one moment, that could bring this mess to an end.

The wrapping paper rattled in the room, causing Decker to startle and jab that gun again in Bodie's temple. "Easy mate", he said quietly to the frantic man, "its only the wrapping paper settling." "Shut your mouth" Decker snarled, "you're only here to ensure I get out of here safe and well." Bodie shut it, knowing that the chances of that happening in Decker's favour were not good. From where he was standing, it was not looking optimistic for him coming out unscathed either.

Bodie's mind turned to Doyle. Doyle had seen Decker behind Bodie, but too late to yell a warning and Bodie was in the way, so a shot was not possible. Their eyes had met once he was taken and Bodie saw in Doyle's eyes, all the reassurance he needed - his partner was safe and working on making him so as well. Then he was turned as Decker looked to clear the room and he lost track of his partner. The wrapping paper rattled again and as Decker turned them both to face the sound, Bodie reacted to his partner's yelled "Down" and dropped to the floor. In the same second, both Doyle's and Decker's guns fired.

"Doyle!" Bodie yelled as he scrambled away from the injured Decker, who was lying in a fetal position behind him, disarmed and with a bullet in his shoulder. "Stop yelling, I'm here" said his partner in an impatient tone, as he finished extricating himself from the discarded wrapping paper. Bodie had never seen him look so good, as Doyle stalked up to Decker, rolled him over and handcuffed him, before handing him over to the squad for treament and to enjoy the hospitality of Cowley and the Ci5 interrogation rooms. Once relieved of his burden, Doyle turned back to Bodie, and his tone turned to concern as he examined the side of Bodie's head where the gun has been repeatedly jabbed. "Are you OK?", he asked gently. Bodie winced, "Bit of a headache, but otherwise fine."

Cowley heard the response as he approached them and immediately directed them to return to HQ for Bodie to get checked out and to turn in their reports. Once done, they were free for the next two days. An offhand "Well done", was thrown over his shoulder, as Cowley returned to the rest of the clean up.

"Things I do for you", said Bodie, "two days off!". "Things I do for you", responded Doyle, "it was not easy crawling through all that Christmas paper quietly." Bodie looked a question at him. "Well how else was I supposed to get close enough to get a good shot at him," Doyle answered. "Had to make sure you didn't end up with a bullet up your crankcase, or anywhere else for that matter." He smiled, "I have plans for that fine piece of machinery."

Discovered in a Box of Baubles - "Together"

2020-12-25T05:49:45Z

Merry Christmas to all those in the ProsFic universe. Here is my Christmas present to you all. Hope you enjoy it.

-----------------------------------------------

Bodie frowned. It was supposed to be their first Christmas “together”, but they weren’t. Together that is. He considered that thought as he got out of the car and locked it. They had been together since they were first partnered. Even over Christmas, they always found some time to spend together, negotiating space around work, family and birds to exchange small gifts and more importantly some small measure of time. Is that where it started? From together to “together?”

He put that thought aside as he entered and browsed the aisles of the market. For no rational reason he could think of, he was looking for food to celebrate Christmas. Alone was what he was, but that was not how he was shopping.

This was not what they had planned at all, but when their case suddenly came to a head last week, it found Bodie in Dover and Doyle in Scotland, to see it through. Bodie’s end had come to an abrupt conclusion just hours ago, but still no word from Doyle on when he would make it home. But there was no chance it would be tonight – Christmas Eve..

And likely no tomorrow either. Bodie sighed as he finished his shopping and headed for home. He had enough food to feed an army for Christmas, but no-one at home to share it with. Well it was home when Doyle was around. Now…….

They had planned to do all this together. The shopping, the gifts, the tree. Doyle had decorations from family that he had never used. He carried them from flat to flat and Bodie had often teased him about it. “When the time is right”, Doyle would say, “when it’s with the right person, then we will decorate together.” Bodie smiled as he remembered when Doyle had told him one quiet night, that Bodie was that right person. And tonight was supposed to be that time, together….

He amazingly found a parking space outside his flat – well their flat – mainly because Doyle didn’t use his much anymore, and still immersed in this thoughts, trudged up the stairs. As he opened the door to their flat however, well-honed instincts kicked in and he quickly and quietly put down his shopping and drew his gun.

“Put the shooter away sunshine,” came the voice from the lounge, followed by a cheeky smile and curly hair. “Ray?,” Bodie asked in disbelief, “you’re here?, even as he put his gun away. The grin grew wider.“Great observation skills, love.” Seeing Bodie still staring at him, unmoving, Doyle took charge.

“I finished up a bit earlier than you”, he said, giving Bodie a quick kiss before picking up the shopping. He turned and headed to the kitchen. “From what Cowley said, what happened at my end, started what happened at yours.” Bodie had to follow so as not to miss a word. “I didn’t beat you home by much, but I found out from HQ that you gone and I knew you would go for food - hope you got enough for two.” He turned to his lover and grinned again, Bodie could only beam in return. He continued, “So I came here to get organised instead.”

His love was here and safe and smiling and they were going to have Christmas after all. At least he hoped they were. His hopes were answered with Doyle’s next words. “Cowley has given us off until the day after Boxing Day, but we have to be in at 7am.” Bodie looked at him in disbelief. “Both days and Christmas Eve too?” he wanted reassurance. Doyle grinned again. “We’ve both been very good lads.”

He turned to put the last of the shopping away, when Bodie finally caught up. “Get organised?” he asked. Doyle turned from the last task and nodded. Taking his lover’s hand, he drew him into the lounge. In the corner a large Christmas tree stood proud, but bare. Boxes littered the floor around it, unopened. Doyle drew Bodie to the tree and turning, took Bodie in his arms. “The time is right, I’m with the right person and we do it together.” Bodie gave his love a deep kiss, full of all the love, hope and delight he could express before looking back to his dazed partner. “Together”.

Discovered in the Yuletide Spirit - "Pint of the best"

2019-12-17T19:25:49Z

Bodie let Murph lead him into the pub. His mind was whirling, oblivious to his surroundings, until he felt a cold nudge against his hand. "A pint of the best," Murphy pointed out softly, "get it into you." Bodie first shook his head, this was not how he had planned to spend his Christmas, but then he lifted the glass to his mouth and drank half of it without thought. Then his brain did kick in. "Pint of the best" his mind scoffed, "I had that the other night". His musings continued although all Murph could see was a blank stare. "I had that the other night" he thought as he remembered his amazing night with his partner. "Doyle" he whispered to himself softly, eyes glazing as he desperately fought tears. Tough men didn't cry, not even tough men whose partner and lover was missing.......

Bodie tried to shy away from that line of thinking as he further drank his "Pint of the best", even noticing distractedly that Murph was looking everywhere but at him. Of course it was all uncomforable. Not knowing, but was that worse than knowing the truth - when the truth could mean.........

He slammed down on that thought as he slammed the now empty glass back down on the table and stood. Murph fliched at the sudden action but held fast as the full force of Bodie's glare was turned on him. "What are we doing here," Bodie demanded, "we should be out there..........". He trailed off, not knowing how what he wanted to say about his partner and "out there".

Before Murph had a chance to respond, Anson slammed through the door of the pub and sighting them, called them over. "The explosion" he gasped "it wasn't them". He continued as the lads joined him and they headed back to CI5 "Cowley's gathering the mob for instructions now. Its an all agent callout". On that note, Bodie bolted, running ahead of his colleagues, arriving breathing hard, but keyed up and ready to go. Cowley was waiting.

As soon as Bodie entered, with Murphy and Anson right behind, Cowley began. "Agent 4.5 was on a bodyguard mission, accompanying a minister who had received credible death threats, from his country home back to London when radio and radar contact with the helicopter was lost, approximately one hour ago. An explosion occured in a remote area in the same vicinity as the helicopter was last heard from, so it was assumed that they had crashed." Bodie perked up at the "assumed". Emergency services have located the site of the explosion and it is unrelated to our missing helicopter." Bodie nearly erupted out of his seat, but was restrained by Murphy. "Let him finish", he hissed in Bodie's ear. With a irrated grunt and a glare from Cowley, Bodie subsided.

"Furthermore," Cowley continued "police have informed of us of several reports of a helicopter flying very erratically and possibly landing in the Epping Forest. Due to the unfortunate weather, there are not many people in the vicinity, so we don't have any more information than that." Again, Bodie went to rise, but subsided at another glare from Cowley. "Bodie," he continued, "Murphy, Anson get over to the heliport. A helicopter is waiting and will take you straight to Epping Forest. Find them!" The three men quickly departed, with Cowley demanding regular reports as they left, before turning to the rest of the agents assembled to instruct them to follow via road.

Bodie leaned over impatiently from his place in the front of the helicopter, squinting through the gloom, trying to find some hint of the missing chopper. The teeming rain and gloom that hung over the whole area were irritating, but not distracting. Nothing was going to stop Bodie from finding his partner, and when he did........

Suddenly, "There!" Anson yelled, pointing to a location to the left of the helicopter. The pilot quickly circled around and hovered near the site - they had found the missing helicopter and could see that the doors were flung wide open but there was no sign of life anywhere. "We can't land here" yelled the pilot over the noise of the rotors, "I'll have to put down somewhere else." "No!" Bodie just about shouted, then pointing to a slight clearing in the canopy, he instructed "Just take us there as low as you can and we'll get down." Although the pilot looked sceptical, the desperate look on Bodie's face convinced him to give it a try.

Minutes later, all three CI5 agents were earthbound once more, as the helicopter headed back to base. Making use of the available cover, they moved stealthily towards the downed helicopter, scouting around for any sign of movement. There was none. Bodie's heart started beating faster, but he kept his head as they checked the scene. The helicopter itself had taken a beating, with branches caught in the skids and debris across every surface. Bodie's breath hitched as he caught sight of damage of another type inside the helicopter - the pilot was dead, a trail of blood down his chest pointing to the path of the bullet that had plunged through his chest. And that wasn't all - more blood, which did not come from the pilot. Murphy was on the RT giving up update and looked to Bodie who passed on "Pilot's dead, more blood in the cockpit, but don't know whose." Murphy paled, but duly passed on that information.

Anson, had been scouting around and called their attention, "I think they went this way", indicating a trail with broken branches. Bodie didn't want to look too carefully, but still managed to note the drops of blood which the weather had yet to obliterate.

A slight crackling on their RTs startled the three men and Bodie quickly grabbed his to silence it, but was startled even further, when his partner's voice issued quietly from its depths. "4.5 to any CI5 personnel in range", came whispered over the airwaves. "Agent in need of assistance." Bodie nearly dropped his RT in his haste to respond. "3.7 to 4.5," it took all his control to whisper, "Where the f.... are you?" he swore in relief. "Holed up in a pub" came the reply "with some nasty guests. The beer is terrible and I'm running out of ammo". Bodie, looked to Murphy and Anson who shrugged. "Which pub" he asked carefully. "How the f... should I know?" came the heated but still quiet reply, "I didn't get a chance to check out the signs as we came in!"

A pause whilst gunfire was heard in the background. Then, "You're obviously close, did you find which way we went?" the annoyed tone continued. "That elephant trail?" Bodie responded, "Hard to miss that". "Well then," came the impatient response from Doyle, "keep following your nose and you'll find us." And with that, the connection closed, but quickly re-opened, "but hurry!" And again the connection closed, this time with a finality that only Doyle could express through an inanimate object.

Bodie could hear Murphy updating Cowley as he plunged into the forest, fast but not so fast that the trail would be lost, with Anson and Murphy close behind. In what was minutes, but to Bodie felt like hours, they found the pub and the reason that Doyle wasn't more jumped up about being there. The pub was closed due to a power failure, so it was likely it would be Doyle, his protectee and whomever the opposition was. And was, being the operative term in Bodie's mind - anyone who tried to take out Doyle was going to have more on their hands than they ever could have imagined in their most horrific nightmares.

Even as they heard the occasional gunfire, Bodie was waving Murphy and Anson into position, before clicking his RT twice - hoping that would let his partner know they were there. Before they could breach however, one of the pub's back doors opened and a gunman slid out with purpose. Bodie quickly determined that he was moving around to get a better position to get to Doyle and that just wasn't going to happen. Without a sound, Bodie quickly took the man out and secured him from further involvement in proceedings. "All things considered," Bodie thought later as Cowley lectured him about keeping suspects in a state to be questioned, "he had been quite restrained."

Listening for a moment longer to the sounds of the sporadic gunfire, Bodie determined there were at least two more men inside, working against his partner. They were obviously waiting for their third man to give them the advantage, not knowing their advantage had been lost. Turning to Murphy and Anson once more, their plan of attack was updated with hand signals and on Bodie's sign, they breached.

Within a few minutes, it was all over. The two remaining gunmen were captured with little fight, once they realised the opposition was increased, significantly. The third - the Minister's aide, the leader of the threat to the Minister, was dead - taken out by Doyle. Once Bodie was sure the remaining men had been secured and that Murphy was reporting in, he turned to find his partner and the Minister. He had only gotten brief glimpses earlier, where Doyle had been hiding with the Minister behind what used to be a Christmas tree.

Doyle finally stood up and drawing the Minister out of his protective cover, shepherded his charge to the newly arrived Cowley and then shook himself like a sheep dog. It must have been the relief, he thought later, but at this point of time Bodie couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. Once Doyle had cleared the cloud of fir needles, tinsel and Christmas baubles which had been showered down on him in the gunfight, he turned to glare at his partner's mirth. But both the glare and the mirth were brief, as with all that happened in those previous hours, including a wound in his arm, Doyle's slowly crumpled. Bodie's mirth was gone in an instant, grabbing his partner before he hit the ground and yelling for someone to get an ambulance.

But before he had even finished getting the words out, Bodie felt movement in his arms. Doyle was trying to sit up. "Doyle, Ray, stay still." "I'm OK" Ray tried to soothe his distressed partner, "it's just a graze, and it's been a bit of a trying day", the latter said with in campy voice, with a small grin to reassure his obviously distressed partner. The words and the smile which was for him alone, were more than enough to eliminate his immediate concern, however he wasn't done with his trouble-prone partner. "Still," he said with mock severity, as he helped his partner to his feet, "you will get seen to." Doyle sighed deeply and then gave a short nod. Bodie relaxed and turned to the clean-up.

A few hours later, the lads were home, Doyle with his arm bandaged and a few days off to recover, with Bodie assigned as his bodyguard by their illustrious leader (at Bodie's prompting of course). After all, they didn't know yet, just how far the conspiracy went, but that was for the lads to sort out. Snuggled up close on the couch in front of a now roaring fire and the 'other pint of the best' at hand, Bodie continued to pull pieces of tinsel, baubles and fir out of his partner's hair. "My own personal Christmas tree", he muttered under his breath. Doyle sat up turned to his partner, stared at him long and hard before settling back into his arms. "You better believe it" was all that needed to be said. They'd get to the real 'pint of the best' later.

They Bend – a story for “Discovered on a Midnight Clear”.

2019-01-01T01:07:29Z

The wind tore through him as he raced through the deserted streets – snow whirling in flurries like mini tornadoes, battering his face, making it difficult to see, let alone catch their quarry. Markham was a nasty drug dealer who preyed on the young and immature, and who had somehow managed to evade the noose as CI5 has surrounded his base of operations. Only luck and his partner’s eagle eyesight had picked him up as he escaped on foot. Bodie lost track of his partner in the blinding snow and only the sound of pounding feet kept him on the right track.

Bodie blinked to clear his eyes and then there was no time and he had run into his partner, recognised by his plaid jacket, nearly flipping over the top of him as they collided.

“Ooof. Doyle, what the hell?” Bodie proclaimed, taking a moment to catch his breath and exclaiming his confusion and aggression in that one quick question. With adrenaline coursing through his veins after the long chase and the cold suffusing his bones, he had no patience and moved to take up the chase again, when he realised that things were not well with his partner.

Doyle was still bent over, snow soaking him and the water dropping like small waterfalls from his hair, whilst also gasping for breath. As Bodie moved forward to check on his partner, he also noticed their quarry, lying at his partner’s feet. Impressed despite himself, Bodie was about to make a rude comment about being unfit, when Doyle bent even further, and slowly crumpled across their quarry, without a sound.

He landed face up and Bodie was horrified to see an evil looking knife protruding from his partner’s shoulder, his blood mixing with the snow and rolling down his partner’s arm to pool on the mushy ground. Quickly grabbing his RT and calling for assistance, he slowly and gently moved his partner away from it’s unexpected resting place, taking great care not to touch or move the knife.

A quick glimpse at Markham noted him laying still on the ground, with his head at an unnatural angle and his eyes seeming to look beyond this world, to who knew what. Bodie didn’t care to imagine and he wasn’t about to have his partner viewing the same sight either.

He quickly grabbed the jacket and jumper from the dead man, carefully wrapped the knife wound and placed the jacket around his partner and the wound, in a small attempt to keep him warm. Lifting Doyle’s head off the cold, hard, ground, he laid it to rest again on his lap and grabbed Doyle’s hand on the uninjured side – hoping that some of his limited body warmth would also help. Leaning his head over his partner, to try and keep some of the worst of the weather away from the pale, still face, Bodie began muttering quietly to his unconscious friend.

“Wow, Ray, you really did it this time,” he started. “You took him out, but you were supposed to do that before he got you.” Bodie took a breath as his voice faltered and threatened to stop altogether. The sound of sirens and the call of his name drew his attention for a moment, but he quickly returned to his partner’s face when he felt his partner’s return to consciousness.

“Ray, Ray, hold still”, he urged his partner, as wild eyes sought something to help him centre. His partner’s voice did the trick, until the pain washed over him like a tsunami, taking him down again into the cool, welcome dark.

Bodie’s panic increased dramatically as he frantically sought his partner’s pulse. Finding it regular, if not strong, he looked up to find the paramedics approaching quickly. “He’s alive” he gasped out, before he gave way to them, his hand being drawn from his partner’s still one with great reluctance.

The paramedics moved quickly to get their patient stabilised for transport and Bodie joined them in the ambulance, only then realising that he had spoken and been spoken to by his boss and others and not being able to remember a word that was said. As the ambulance moved, Bodie barely heard the sirens wailing, hunched over his too still partner, willing him to open his eyes, willing him to stay with him…….

It was taking too long, Bodie thought as he continued to pace the length of the corridor. He had been banished at the doors to surgery and he was left to pace and worry. His frustration and anger and worry built with every step, until he was ready to take out the building if he didn’t get some news soon. So immersed in his own thoughts, he didn’t hear anything until he turned and nearly ran into the surgeon. He stopped, his eyes wide and filled with fear.

“He’s going to be OK,” the surgeon spoke to the concern coming out of Bodie’s every pore. “He lost a lot of blood, but it didn’t hit anything vital, so he’ll be fine.” Bodie nearly collapsed, so complete was his relief. “What will his recovery time be?” asked a familiar voice behind him. Bodie turned, shocked that he hadn’t heard his boss approaching either.

The surgeon also turned. “He’ll be out of recovery in a couple of hours and then here for a few days for monitoring. Then home with a sling for two weeks – as long as there is someone to look after him?” He addressed the question to both men. “Yes, of course” from Cowley was echoed with vehemence by Bodie, whose look told his boss that it was Bodie’s job – come hell or high water.

Doyle moved restlessly. Something was wrong. He was in pain, which if he thought about it wasn’t too unusual, but he couldn’t move his arms and nothing felt familiar. After opening his eyes slowly and blinking to clear them, all was made clear. At least where we was, and the how was coming back to him now too.

Looking down at his arms, one was tightly bandaged and in a sling close to his chest, which at least reassured him a bit about the thumping pain he could feel in that shoulder. The other attached him to various machines and fluids, but most importantly, attached him to his partner. It was dark in the room and his partner was asleep with his head on Doyle’s lap, with his hand firmly wrapped around his partner’s.

Doyle watched him for a while, with a small smile – noticing the handsome features at rest, but also noticing the new worry lines and paler that usual skin. “Must have been bad” he thought. A tentative squeeze of the hand in his, brought Bodie up fast, blinking his own eyes as he woke from his sleep. “Hey” Bodie said sleepily, “you’re back.”

“Can’t keep a good man down” Doyle replied with a small smile. Bodie smiled in return. “I plan on making a down man good” he replied which caused Doyle to snort and then wince in pain. “Hey” said Bodie as he stood up to assist his partner past the pain, “don’t make my job any harder that it has to be.”

Doyle took a deep breath and settled again, much more comfortable now he knew he was OK and his partner was with him. He smiled. “Your job is hard?” he questioned, “what about my job – having to feed you, care for you, cover for you…..” “Cover for me” Bodie retorted with a broadening grin, “more like the other way around.”

Cowley moved away from the door to Doyle’s room as the argument continued on behind him. He wasn’t worried. His men might bend, but they never broke, not while they had each other.

Rayless Sun

2017-12-18T07:21:49Z

Title:Rayless Sun

Author: tango65

Wordcount: 1396

Bodie/Doyle

Posted to Discovered in a Live Journal - for the Discovered in a Bleak Midwinter challenge.

The sun was a round ball behind the veil of clouds that covered the city. It didn’t give much light and definitely no heat. It was rayless, like he was the moment. Bodie snorted as he raced down the stairs to the Capri. He was definitely missing the heat in this bleak midwinter, both types – ray and Ray.

Doyle had been undercover, which was torture enough when they were separated for any length of time, but he had just missed his last two check-ins, which was beyond what the Geneva Convention allowed for worried partners – way beyond the bounds of allowable torture. Fortunately for Cowley though, he decided to send Bodie to investigate the whereabouts of his errant partner – announcing this just in time to stop Bodie exploding in his office.

Leaving rubber behind, the Capri slewed out of the car park and headed for the pub that Doyle was using as his regular as a dock worker. Fortunately, it was one that Bodie was already known in, having laid the groundwork for himself in the past few weeks. That rayless sun haunted him as he drove, leaving him driving through gloom and drizzle. His imagination ran with the image, taking him on a journey to a rayless future. He pushed the car harder, willing it to get him there sooner, faster, before……….

He clamped hard on that thought at the same time he clamped on the brakes. It would do no-one any good if he screamed up to the pub and then raced in like a madman. Cool, keep it cool. Exactly as he told his partner to be. Except that boat sailed a long time ago. He wasn’t cool when it came to his partner and hadn’t been for a long time. The sun may be rayless, but he wasn’t going to be – he needed that sun, that ray, that sunshine….

It was a different man who walked into the pub. A casual onlooker would look up and then go back to their beer, but someone who knew what to look for would see past the ease and find a man on a mission. Bodie was good at casual, but he was far from it. Every sense was open to finding out something about his partner. If it was just a glitch in the reporting schedule, he knew Doyle would kill him if he blew the op by coming in heavy-handed.

He soon found out it was more than a glitch. The pub gossip, a weasely little man with nothing better to do with his time than drink too much and talk even more, fairly jumped him when he walked in the door.

“Have you ‘eard?” he gushed over Bodie, who faltered as a gust of alcohol-drowned breath blasted him. A deep breath over his shoulder gave Bodie a chance to recapture his balance and some slightly fresher air, in preparation to elbowing past the man and to a free table he sighted at the back of the bar. Before he could move though, the drunk continued.

“Dat guy you talked to – the one wif da hair” he slurred all over Bodie, “he’s a cop!” This last part was said with a stagger as the drunk leaned in to speak confidentially, only to find that Bodie had stepped back. Bodie was secretly stunned, but kept his cool and asked indifferently “So I guess he got what he deserved then”, dreading the answer he was sure would follow.

The drunk shrugged, again knocking himself off balance, before recovering and continuing. “Dunno. But I ‘ear that he’s not well and not long for this …..” he replied with a sweeping arm that managed to knock the beer out of another patron’s hands. Said patron was not happy and grabbed the drunk, beginning an all-in brawl which Bodie ignored, whilst pondering the truth of what was shared.

He knew the truth when he heard it, even when it came from a drunk, so the problem was what to do next? Whatever it was, he had to do it soon, or his world would be rayless for good – nice weather or not.

With the pub in uproar, it was easy enough for Bodie to sidle out surreptitiously and race back to his car, where he checked in with HQ. A few minutes later and with a suspected location for the gang that Doyle had infiltrated clearly in mind, the car screeched out onto the road, in a desperate race against the clock.

Reason won over as he approached the grungy warehouse. Going in all guns blazing could get his partner killed, if he wasn’t already…… Bodie quickly clamped down on that thought …. no way he was ready to consider that, no way at all. Parking the Capri a few buildings away, he stealthily made his way to the best vantage to view the target building. Making a fast assessment of the entrances and vantage points, he pinpointed the best entry point and made it there quickly, quietly and unobserved.

The empty space where glass had once been, gave both a good insight into the building and no barrier to a fast and quiet entry. Seeing only boxes piled high just inside, he quickly gained entry and using this screen, moved along silently to a point where he could clearly see the rest of the warehouse.

When he first saw a body on the ground, he had to stifle the impulse to run over and check. Further visual scans into the gloomy interior resulted in the discovery of more unmoving bodies – three, four, five and no other sign of movement.

Deciding it was worth the risk, Bodie stepped out onto the warehouse floor proper, whilst also drawing his gun and was just able to recognise that none of the bodies were his partner when a voice came out of the silence. “About…… bloody……. time…….”

On the first intake of breath, Bodie had turned to face the other end of the boxes, with his tringer finger tensed to shoot. There, sprawled on the floor with his back slumped against said boxes was his Sunshine. Simultaneously, the sun broke through the gloom and shone a light on the warehouse floor, which gave Bodie a clearer picture of the situation, even as he re-holstered his gun.

Doyle looked terrible. He had been badly beaten, looked exhausted and was holding himself carefully. Breathing was an effort for him and Bodie quickly recognised that his ribs were dodgy, but Doyle’s injuries appeared more uncomfortable than a threat to life. After quickly checking the five bodies sprawled around the warehouse and discovering they were no threat, he moved to his partner’s side, whilst checking in and calling for an ambulance. He shook his head in disbelief as he moved – battered and bloody, but his sunshine still took out five men!

A broad grin crossed his face as he crouched beside his partner, and ran a finger gently down the side of his face. “What’s all this then?, he said with a cheeky lilt, “here I am missing you and you’re off having fun with other men.”

Doyle took a careful breath, not moving too much, but managed to gasp out “What … do … you…. Expect? …. You…. weren’t….. here ….. to …… party….. with.” A cough then caught him by surprise and he rolled onto the floor in agony, Bodie’s grin disappearing in the wake of his partner’s pain. A soothing arm stroking down his back helped Doyle to move past the pain, as their backup and the ambulance arrived.

Bodie stood up to give the ambulance crew room to move, but did not get far as Doyle grabbed his arm. “Don’t go” he gasped. “Not going anywhere” Bodie replied fiercely. The ambulance crew quickly assessed Doyle’s injuries and prepared to take to him to hospital. As Cowley arrived on scene and demanded a report, Bodie quickly brought him up to speed, never letting go of his partner’s hand, as they walked to the ambulance.

Once safely ensconced in the back with his partner and on their way to hospital, he was surprised to hear the ambulance man say “Nice to see the sun out, after all that gloom.” “Yes”, Bodie replied, with his eyes never leaving his lightly dozing partner, “but even without, I have all the sunshine I’ll ever need.”

Discovered in a Christmas Pud - December 10th - "Eggs"

2013-12-10T07:15:17Z

Title: Eggs
Author: tango65
Slash: Bodie/Doyle
Proslib/Circuit Archive: yes please
Summary: An ingredient is missing from this recipe

“Eggs!”

Bodie looked up, startled and more than a bit confused. Not only had the statement broken the relative silence of an evening catching up with the match, but the content of said exclamation had nothing to do with their present TV viewing.

“What?” he asked, with more than a bit of irritation. After all, the game was just starting to get interesting. However, he knew if he didn't say something, he wouldn't be able to get back to the game anytime soon. Whether that was due to the need to drag whatever was on his partner's mind out of the stubborn sod, or to his innate need to know everything (and maybe a bit of both.....), he wasn't going to consider too closely.

“Eggs. We forgot to get eggs”, his partner responded, even as he rose and started searching for keys and wallet.

“Doyle!” Bodie exclaimed, with a growing sense of irritation. “It's Christmas Eve, we're off and we've had our takeaway. I'm going to sleep soon and not waking until New Year, so why the hell are you thinking of eggs now!”

His partner turned and looked at him with his own growing irritation. “I know its Christmas Eve and that's why we have to get eggs.”

Bodie grabbed him before he was able to get far and pulled him back on the couch beside him. “How much have you had to drink? It's Christmas, not Easter, so why the hell would we need eggs? Without waiting for an answer he turned back to game, realising that he had just missed his team's equaliser goal. His snort of derision, almost drowned out the reply.

“Egg nog.” That was worth looking back at his partner for. Doyle looked back at him with growing impatience. “Remember last Christmas. We had just finished up the Buckley case on Christmas Eve and Cowley gave us two days off.”

Bodie sat up. “And we came back here and you made your famous egg nog.......”. He smiled as he remembered.

Doyle smiled in return. “And we drank it all down way too quickly and ended up making more.... well more of a mess than anything else anyway, of the kitchen and each other, so we had to clean up.......”

Bodie focused back on his partner. “You had to make sure that everything was spotless.” His smiled broadened to a full-on Bodie smirk. “Every single drop had to be taken care of.”

“And not all of it was egg nog either” - Doyle's broad smile made him even more endearing to his partner. “And we had to clean the kitchen the next day.”

Without warning, Bodie stood and dragged his partner towards the door. “You've got your keys and wallet, right?”

Discovered in the Christmas Cracker - 14th December - Tiny plastic car by tango65

2012-12-14T07:02:40Z

Bodie recognised the tiny plastic car immediately. It was a Capri of course. And silver too. He had given one just like it to Ray when there was no room in the budget for an upgrade from his Escort. Knowing the joy of Bodie's Capri, Ray had been very disappointed (well, riled up really), when he had been denied the chance of getting one of his own. He was stuck with the Escort for another year, whilst Bodie happily continued with his silver Capri.

In understanding and solidarity, Bodie had bought Ray his own silver Capri for Christmas last year. Working for CI5 of course meant that the small plastic version was the only one he had time, money and effort to find. Not that his ungrateful partner appreciated that. He just grumped, put it in his jacket pocket and that was the last either one saw of it. Until now.

The car had just rolled into his line of sight and then stopped. It was so tiny, that if it hadn't been for the movement, he wouldn't have seen it at all. Bodie looked around, cautious now and a bit anxious, but there was no-one to see.

Not that he was expecting to, although his heart was crying otherwise. The only reason he had come to this old decrepit building, was that one of his snitches had heard a whisper of a rumour of a possibility that this place had something to do with his partner's disappearance. A partner, who was wearing that same jacket when he disappeared.

A small sound from the door at the end of the hall, brought him back to full awareness and he had his gun out without thinking about it. Before edging cautiously down the corridor, he leaned over and collected the tiny plastic car, pocketing it, whilst his mind drew the conclusion that he was headed towards the car's starting point.

Moving quietly was impossible, as creaky floorboards announced his presence with every step. Knowing this, Bodie was surprised that there had been no confrontation yet. Whoever had sent that
car on its way was playing it low-key. Or were they?

A few more cautious steps and Bodie was at the door. A cautious turn of the handle discovered, unsurprisingly, that it was locked. A grunt behind the door caused his heart to soar – he knew that sound and yelled his partner's name without thought of the consequences. Another grunt was all he heard, but it was enough to confirm he had found his partner.

He quickly took out his pick kit and dealt with the lock, but on turning the handle, discovered that something was blocking the door. Realising that it was likely his partner and that with the fact that Doyle had neither moved nor said anything, realised that he was going to have to be careful and need his partner's assistance to see them reunited.

After a minute of coaxing and painfully slow movement heard from the other side, Bodie was finally able to worm his way through the small space to join his partner.

Doyle was a mess. His shoulder was still bleeding sluggishly from a bullet wound, his arms bound in front of him and his feet tied together. But the slight smile he was able to give his partner made the whole world seem bright.

Freeing him carefully, Bodie quickly checked his partner's condition, checked in and requested an ambulance with his RT, then wrapped himself carefully around the centre of his life, placing himself so that his hand could deal with the wound and his body could share his warmth, in all its forms.

“A tiny plastic car?” he queried in a husky voice, “That was all you could come up with?” A snort, aborted by a gasp of pain, was followed by an equally husky voice in reply, “Ran out of bread crumbs. Besides” a pause whilst he took a careful breath, “what else but a Capri would save the day?”

The Fortnightly Obbo Challenge #140 - Uniform - "Out of uniform"

2012-04-24T23:14:29Z

They had played these roles before. Uniformed officers, seeking an unlikely and unwilling assistant in a wide-ranging sting. It had worked. But only because they were brilliant.

Now they were back in uniform again. But this time it had nothing to do with a sting, or in fact any type of obbo or raid. Or anything to do with CI5 or police work at all. And they were still brilliant.

Discovered in the Christmas Tree - 22nd December - Ride 'em cowboy by tango65

2011-12-22T12:01:54Z

This was my prompt and here's my response. Merry Christmas everyone!

“Eh, I used to have one of those when I was a kid”. Doyle stumbled as he was dragged back by the arm, to view the object of his partner's attention. They were enjoying a rare afternoon off and had decided to do some Christmas shopping, knowing there was no guarantee that they would get another chance.

Doyle regained his balance as his partner came to an abrupt stop next to the shop they had passed moments before. It was an old-fashioned craft shop, where the goods ranged from quilts to rocking horses, all lovingly hand-made. Doyle's interest was piqued. He quickly brought his attention to where his partner was pointing, the sentimentality virtually oozing from his every pore.

It was a hobby horse. Doyle blinked and confirmed that again, it was a hobby horse. He looked over at his partner, who had leaned over for a closer look. He couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face as he saw the wonder and child-like delight that lit the face of his partner.

“So which were you,” he asked, “the cowboy or the Indian? His partner resumed his full height, a note of indignation in his stance as he snorted before replying, “Cowboy, of course.” In those three short words, Doyle heard every suggestion that he was both dumb and unworthy of even that note of recognition. At that his smile grew into a stifled guffaw.

This drew Bodie's attention away from the hobby horse and to his partner's delight. Realising that he was giving Doyle ammunition to drop him into it in future, he quickly grabbed his arm and started moving. After dragging him to the next block, he dropped his hold and without looking back, continued walking. With a touch of defensiveness in his tone, he muttered loud enough for his partner to hear, “What do you expect for a six-year old with nothing better to do?” Awaiting another snort of amusement, he was surprised to hear nothing at all and turned around just in time to see his partner disappearing back into the store which had displayed his momentary return to childhood.

With a put-upon sigh, he was just about to head back to drag his partner away from the delights to be found within the shop, when his RT went off. Another sigh as he stopped and dug it out from his pocket, his frustration leaching into his voice as he answered the page. “3.7 here and why the heck are you disturbing our afternoon off, we're not even on call!”

“Priority call”, came the tinny voice at the other end, “IRA has notified The Sun, there is a bomb set to go off in Oxford Street.” With that disturbing announcement, Bodie started back to get his partner – urgency in every stride. They were in Oxford Street. It took a moment for him to realise that the operator was awaiting his response. “3.7 to base, we're in Oxford Street. How long have we …....” And with that, the world exploded before him.

Bodie dived into the nearest doorway as building debris showered the street before him. Once he felt clear, he quickly scrambled to his feet and started running to where he had last seen his partner. The shop, which was next door to what appeared to be the the bomb's target, had disappeared under a pile of rubble.

With his heart racing, Bodie still had enough presence of mind, to grab his RT and report in. “3.7 to base, bomb has gone off in Oxford Street. Building is unstable and there are injuries.” He was surprised to realise this, as he had thought himself focused solely on his partner's status. “Send all emergency services to this location.” Before he heard more than a quick acknowledgement of the message, he had pocketed his RT and was already assessing and looking for a way into the building.

“Doyle!”, he called out, stepping gingerly over the first pieces of rubble. “Ray? Can you hear me?” He gradually made his way closer, taking all care in ensuring his actions didn't make things worse.

As he stepped closer, he was slightly relieved to see that the small shop hadn't actually collapsed, it was just engulfed with the debris from its blasted neighbour. With care, he began to remove pieces that blocked his entry. Even as he worked, he continued calling. “Ray – for God's sake mate, answer me.”

The sound of shifting rubble caused him to pause, before he froze at the sight of a single strand of tinsel, which seemed to snake its way out from between the piled up fittings. He picked it up and gave it a gentle tug. “Ray?,” he ventured tentatively.

“Keep pulling,” came the muffled reply. Muffled or not, he knew that voice. Quickly but gently, he grabbed the fine tinsel and started pulling, realising that a heavier cord had been attached to it. Once the cord went taut, he tied it to part of the building structure left exposed by the explosion, but still standing strong. “It's tied off, now what?”

The sound of sirens behind him drowned out the reply, but he got the gist as fittings started shifting before him, as they were carefully pushed aside. First a young woman, teary and shocky, followed by an older woman, who once clear, wrapped her arms around the former. Then an older man, who Bodie presumed was the shopkeeper and finally his partner.

After a quick assessing glance over the others, noting that shock was the only apparent problem with them, Bodie focused all his attention on his partner. His head was bleeding from a wound on the edge of his damaged cheek and he was covered with dust and grime, but he was still the best thing Bodie had seen all day.

Doyle looked up at his partner, in the midst of trying in vain to brush off the worst of the debris and gave him a small, quick smile. “Thanks mate”, he ventured quietly, before turning to his fellow escapees and checking on their well-being. With a quick ruffle of his partner's hair, which garnered him a “Gedoff” and a shove, Bodie turned and left the shop to check on the progress of emergency services outside. He returned moments later with ambulance officers to deal with the motley group which was only just exiting the shop.

His partner, as usual, was decrying the need for medical intervention. “Leave it out Doyle”, he said with a touch of asperity, “let them have a look, so that we can get done and get out of here.” Doyle gave him a look that promised future retribution, but submitted with his usual lack of grace to the medical attention.

Patched up and cleared by the local authorities but not by Cowley (not until they turned in their report), they went to head back to the office. It didn't take too long this time for Bodie to realise his that his partner wasn't with him again. A quick scan however and he found him, talking to the shopkeeper he had just saved.

Feeling his partner's eyes on him, Doyle quickly finished his conversation and with a nod to the shopkeeper and small smile, rejoined his partner. A quick trip to HQ and their reports were finished and the following day given off due to Doyle's medical requirements (and Bodie's need to watch him for 24 hours – also medically required of course).

Without a word needing to be spoken, they went back to Doyle's, picking up dinner on the way. Doyle pushed his partner ahead of him into the lounge and stopped behind him with a small smile as he saw his partner's face. There in front of the Christmas tree, with a piece of tinsel and a bow wrapped around its neck, was the same hobby horse that had grabbed Bodie's attention only a few short hours earlier.

Doyle was prepared when the shock turned to dismay and he quickly moved to cuddle his partner from behind. “Don't,” he said. Bodie looked up quickly with a guilty expression on his face, before looking away again. “It's not your fault,” Doyle followed up, “and we're both OK.” With that, Bodie turned in his arms and gently touched the wound on his partner's face.

Doyle grabbed his hand and caught his eyes with his own and reiterated “we're both OK.” With that, Bodie gave out a big sigh and drew his partner into a firm embrace, his hold saying everything that he couldn't express in words.

“Now,” Doyle continued, “let's eat, before this food goes cold and then you can tell me all about your cowboy days.” A snort from his partner brought a grin to his face as he brought the food to the table and started spreading it out. Peace reigned as they quickly ate their food, ravenous for the nutrition and the energy they would need for later.

Once all the containers were empty, they turned to each other and Doyle asked the question again with just a look. “I was a kid,” Bodie started reluctantly, knowing his partner would not relent until he was satisfied. “Watching Saturday afternoon cowboy shows, making cowboy hats and using mum's broom for my horse. I think she got sick of never knowing where it was, so for my birthday she got me the hobby horse.” He looked up a bit embarrassed, but saw nothing but interest and affection in his partner's face. “One of the best presents I ever got – at least as a kid,” he qualified.

“Oh?,” Doyle finally spoke up, “and what was the best present you got as an adult?,” he asked with a sly grin on his face. “You, of course” Bodie replied with a matching grin. Doyle quickly moved to straddle his lap and after a languorous kiss, replied in a husky voice “There's only one thing I can say to that.” “And what's that?” Bodie asked, getting distracted by what his partner was doing in his lap. Doyle gently lifted his partner's face, ensuring he had his attention, before whispering his reply in his ear, “Ride 'em cowboy.”

The Fortnightly Obbo Challenge #119A - Verdict and Train - "Trying something new"

2011-10-22T04:28:23Z

The sounds of muffled slurping were overridden by the sound of a snort. "Well?" The demand and glare were met with distracted unconcern. "What's the verdict?" the annoyed man continued, his eyes and voice demonstrating his impatience.

All went quiet, before the silence was broken with a contented sigh and a very loud burp. "I've trained you well, my student", Doyle said with a grin, "that was the best, except for mine of course." Bodie matched his partner's grin as both men relaxed
back into their chairs - plates spotlessly cleared of Bodie's first attempt at making spaghetti bolognese.

The Fortnightly Obbo Challenge #99 - They're not just mates - "What if"

2011-05-29T23:45:03Z

Here's my take on what happened after Backtrack - Joint 2nd Place in Tea and Swiss Roll's "They're not just mates" poll.

He was let into the flat with minimal fuss. All he got for his cheerful greeting, was the sound of the buzzer as the security door was released. When he got to the flat, the door was open and he quickly went in, locking everything behind him.

Bodie soon found his partner in the kitchen and stood and looked on for a moment, assessing his mood. Doyle's gun was in pieces on the kitchen table and he was entirely focused on cleaning the weapon that had failed him that day.

Realising that without some action on his part, they were going to be standing like that all day, Bodie moved briskly to his partner's side and put his hand on his partner's, stilling their movement. Doyle stopped for a moment, then sighed, his shoulders slumping, before looking up into his partner's concerned face.

“This won't change anything,” Bodie said quietly, “it's done and we made it.” He let go of Doyle's hands and pulled out a chair to sit eye to eye with this partner. Taking his chin in his hand, he repeated with emphasis,“We made it.”

Doyle pulled his face away, “It's not about that.”

“What then?”

“What if it happens again?”

Bodie began to reply, but Doyle seeing the movement, held up his hand and Bodie stopped. He waited.

Doyle went on, “What if it happens again..... but next time, its you who needs saving and I can't......................?”

He looked up at his partner with such infinite sadness in his eyes, that it took Bodie's breath away. Doyle blushed as he realised what he had given away. Before his partner could respond, he quickly turned back to his work and muttered “so I'm doing this so it won't happen again.... because I couldn't stand it........................”. He couldn't finish, so instead went back to frantically polishing and reassembling.

Bodie sat back for a moment, trying to take it all in, watching as his partner continued cleaning his gun. Finally and without a word, he took out his own weapon and began his own cleaning process. Realising what he was doing, Doyle stopped his work and looked over at his partner, a question in his eyes.

Meeting his partner's look with a steady one of his own, Bodie answered the unasked question, “Same here sunshine, same here.”

His declaration was met with a nod, which he returned and they sat together in Doyle's kitchen, cleaning their guns.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #98(B) -Fire- "At his back"

2011-05-22T10:31:42Z

With the bad guys dealt with, Bodie searched around frantically as the flames rose higher. The fire had taken hold of the building and not even the fire brigade could do anything to save it now. The whole place would come down around his ears shortly if he didn't move and fast. But he couldn't, not until he found Doyle.

He was about to head deeper into the burning building when, "Oi", the familiar voice came from behind him. "You planning on sticking around till you're well done, or will medium do you?"

Bodie turned with a grin to face his partner, who was at his back (as always), the fire temporarily forgotten.. "Medium", he snorted, "I'll have you know I have always been well done. I'm tall, dark and beautiful...."

"and engagingly modest" finished his partner with a snort, "yeah, yeah, I know, I know.” Bodie's grin got wider.

“Well, we better get out of here,” Doyle continued, “before your tall, dark and beautiful and engagingly modest is toast.”

“Never happen mate, will never happen,” his partner retorted as Doyle turned and headed for the exit, knowing that Bodie would be at his back (as always).

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #43(A) - Naked - "Naked fear"

2010-05-06T11:13:08Z

Bodie saw something other than naked fear in his partner's eyes, but there was no time to explore what it was. Instead, he tried to keep his balance, whilst going with the flow, as his partner grabbed and dragged him away from whatever it was behind him.

The next time he had the chance to think about it, he was sitting besides his partner's bed in hospital. Doyle had seen the grenade and had dragged his partner away, but not far enough from harm. So at the last second, he put himself between the blast and his partner. Doyle was in a drug induced sleep, a sheet his only covering, so that the various burns he had experienced could begin healing. And all Bodie could think about was what he saw in his partner's eyes before everything went to hell.

It was several weeks later when he was finally able to reconcile what he saw in his partner's eyes that day, with his own feelings. And it ended in his partner's flat, in his bed, naked and breathing heavily, cuddling up with his partner, who was in the same state of disarray, with all fears confronted and put to rest.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #42 - Green - "Black and blue and green"

2010-04-27T00:20:37Z

A companion piece to Black and Blue.
--------------------------------------------------------
Bodie came pelting around the corner, too late to do anything but watch in horror as his partner fell.

As he put on a spurt to get to where he had last seen his mate, he acknowledged in passing, that at least Doyle had taken out his opponent, even as he was being taken out.

Only just remembering to pull up in time, he skidded to a stop at the edge of the dock and frantically searched the murky water, trying to picture where he had seen his partner fall. There was no sign of him. As his probing became more frantic, he caught the slightest glimpse of something gold disappearing into the murky green depths of the river and without further thought, dove in.

The cold grabbed at him like a steel hand, but he pushed the feeling aside as he swam quickly to where he had last seen that flash of gold. It was so dark, the green water fading to black as he searched out his partner. Another flash of gold and he was there, dragging his partner, pulling them both up and into the fresh air and blue skies.

It took time and effort to get them out of the water, the high banks and their sodden weights working against him. Once clear, Bodie quickly realised his partner was too still and applied himself to rescue breathing, using his breath for his partner's life and silently urging his partner to fight his way back from the black.

When his partner starting breathing on his own and he opened those gorgeous green eyes, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “Doyle” he gasped in relief, before he lifted him into a crushing bear hug. Not even his partner expelling river water all over his back could dampen his joy.

When the spasms had passed, he gently laid his partner back down again and gazed into the green eyes he feared he would never see filled with life again. His partner coughed again and gasped “I thought.....” As he continued to cough, expelling more water, Bodie soothed with quiet murmurs and gentle caresses.

As Doyle looked away embarassed, he gently clasped his head and turned him to meet his gaze. “I know” he replied softly, “for me too.” He watched with relief as he saw the acceptance appear in those green eyes and sighed as he gathered his mate into his arms, right where he belonged.

After a long moment, he gathered him up and took him to get the medical care he needed. He had no doubt that all the rest of the care needed would come from him.

As Doyle finally relaxed into the pillow, exhaustion finally claiming him, Bodie grasped his hand. He was settled beside his mate and would stay close at hand. Those green eyes would open and he would be the first thing they saw. And that's the way it would be from now on.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #41 - Blue - "Black and blue"

2010-04-20T00:13:13Z

Even as it was happening, he knew he was in deep trouble. He had no idea where his partner was and knew it likely he was too far away for him to make any difference. This was it.

He felt the shock of cold and piercing pain before he started sinking. They overwhelmed him and he realised there was nothing he could do, as the sight of the unseasonably clear blue sky above him started to fade to black. Despair came over him as he realised that there was another sight of blue that he wouldn't see again. And then there was only black.

His first thought was pain. His next was pressure. There was something pressing against him, but it was gentle and he was tingling. With a great effort and what concentration he could muster, he opened his eyes and saw blue. Those blue eyes he had never expected to see again. “Doyle”, came a relieved gasp, before he was lifted up and almost crushed in a bear hug. Before he had the chance to speak, he convulsed and expelled what felt like the entire Thames River from his lungs, all over his partner's back.

Gasping, he was gently laid back down and he sought those blue eyes again, amazed by the look he found there. He coughed again and then managed to find enough air to gasp out “I thought …...”. The pain was too much, his body, his throat, what he had almost lost. Another coughing fit, more water and everything was too much. He turned his head away from that too perceptive gaze, as he fought to stop his eyes from expelling their own excess water.

Gently, two strong hands clasped his head and turned him to meet that perceptive gaze. “I know” came the soft reply, “for me too.” He could see it in his partner's eyes, he could read the truth and believe it. Promised and accepted, he relaxed as he was again gathered into his partner's arms for a more considered melding, before being gently lifted and taken for medical attention.

He eased back into the pillow, his pain relieved and his eyes drifting closed. As he relaxed, the last of his energy draining away to be replenished by restful sleep, he knew that it would be OK. Those blue eyes would be there when he awoke.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #35 - Regret - "No more regrets"

2010-03-08T23:57:07Z

It was late, but Bodie knew what it was like in hospitals, you could never really expect any privacy. Anyone could walk in, anytime.

There was no-one around when he did a furtive check. Reassured, he leaned forward and took his partner's hand, unselfconsciously rubbing his thumb along his partner's. Even lax, he could feel the potential strength there. And it broke his heart.

He had never told him and he may now never have the chance. “If only”, the saddest phrase in the human language and it was torturing him now. “I'm sorry sunshine,” he said quietly, uncaring of the tears that began coursing down his face, “I'm sorry, I never told you how much you mean to me.” He wiped his face and continued, “I don't know what I'll do if you don't come back to me. You're my life, the reason I still do this job.......” He couldn't continue and instead dropped his head onto the bed to rest next to their joined hands.

How much time passed, he didn't know and didn't really care. It was the soft movement next to his head which stilled him. He daren't even breathe. He heard a slight gasp and then, “Bodie?” It was soft and it was raspy, but it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

He sat bolt upright and stared into his partner's face, noting the return of colour and the moistening of lips as Doyle went to speak again. “Yeah mate, I'm here”, he answered quickly, amazed that his voice sounded almost as bad as his partner's. The grip on his hand tightened as Doyle fought to open his eyes. He won that battle and gathered his energy for another purpose. “I love you too” he whispered, with all the love he had for him, shining out through swollen, red-rimmed eyes.

Not quite believing his ears, Bodie stared at his partner for a moment longer, before reaching a gentle figure to caress that much loved face. All doubts were washed away as Doyle moved into the caress and closed his eyes again with a contented sigh.

Bodie beamed, not caring if anyone saw him at that moment, as he leaned over to rest his forehead gently against his partner's, before sitting back in his chair to continue his vigil. The worst was over. No more regrets.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #30 - Injured - "Smart mouth"

2010-02-02T00:06:07Z

They were heading back to Bodie's flat after an awful week, when he put his big foot in his big mouth, big time. The look in his partner's eyes as he turned and walked away told him so, loud and clear. This time he'd gone too far. He cursed under his breath, then quickly headed after his partner.

“Bodie. Mate, please stop.” Bodie stopped, but didn't turn around, even when Doyle reached out and touched his shoulder. Still turned away, Doyle couldn't see his partner's face, but he clearly heard the words, softly spoken as they were and even more clearly the pain behind them. “You still don't get it do you? Can't you get it through your thick skull exactly how important you are to me?”

Doyle swung Bodie around to face him, shocked when he saw unshed tear's in his partner's eyes. And that was when he knew.

He brought his hands up to cup that much loved face and with a deep breath and holding his partner's gaze, finally spoke out the words he knew they both needed to hear.

“I'm an idiot. I spoke without thinking and I do that so much because you let me get away with it. And I appreciate it, I really do. I am so grateful to you, that you let me be me, warts and all.” With a mischievous glint appearing in those deep blue eyes, Doyle continued, before his mate could get in a word. “And yes, I know there are a lot of warts.” He was pleased to receive a smile for that acknowledgement, so dropping his hands but keeping his gaze, he continued. “I hurt you so much and so often, I'm really amazed at how you put up with me.” Before his partner could offer a smart retort, he again went on. “But I've finally realised why.” He took another breath before plunging forward, consequences be damned. “You love me.”

With that declaration, Bodie's eyes opened in shock, but even as his eyes starting closing and his head began to turn away, Doyle reached up again to cup his face and hold him until he opened his eyes again. The pain he saw there wouldn't last long. “That's OK,” he went on softly, “because I love you too.” And with that, he took that beautiful mouth with his and showed his partner all he felt. Bodie groaned beneath the onslaught and then surrender became attack as he demonstrated the depth of his feelings in return.

Seconds, minutes, hours later, who knew; they parted, gasping. Eyes brighter, but with pain now gone. Doyle cleared his throat to continue. “I don't know what this is going to mean for us, but I know that whatever happens, I want to be with you.” This time he looked down as he continued, “And I will try my best not to hurt you, with my smart mouth....”

The rest of the sentence was lost as this time it was Bodie's hands which cupped and lifted his face to meet his gaze. With a small smile on his face and love shining from his eyes, Bodie took over. “Did I ever tell you, you talk too much?” Doyle gave a small reluctant nod. “Well then,” Bodie went on, “as we don't need to revisit old news, I think I have better things for that smart mouth to be doing.” With that, they quickly made their way to Bodie's flat where more than mouths were put to good use.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #29 - Puzzle - "Birthday present"

2010-01-23T11:01:08Z

Bodie looked at his partner expectantly. When all he got back was a cool stare, he gave in and asked, “Well?” “Well what?: came the pithy reply. “Is that all?” he probed again. His partner got that impatient look on his face, but there was a sparkle in his eyes as he replied. “Never satisfied,” he answered. “You've had breakfast in bed, all the pressies you've been hinting at all year and a wake-me-up call like you wouldn't believe and you still want more.” The exasperation in his tone was ignored.

When nothing more was forthcoming, Bodie decided to change his tack and instead went with his little boy look. “But, you always get me a special little surprise,” he said wistfully, gazing at his mate from under those amazingly long dark lashes. Doyle was lost and they both knew it. “Alright, alright already” he muttered reluctantly, “can the act, I've left the best to last. Well second best,” he continued as he momentarily reflected on their start to the day.

Bodie cleared the table before him with one smooth move, then rubbed his hands with glee, waiting expectantly for who knew what. He just loved suprises, but a plain brown box was not exactly what he had in mind. That's what had just landed before him, plain, brown, unadorned. He shook it, it rattled. “What is it?” he asked suspiciously. Doyle just gave him that look. “Yeah, I know, just open it.”

He did and then looked again at his partner. “I know how much you like puzzles” his mate was finally of a mind to share information, “but this one is a bit different. I got a special kit and made this puzzle from one of our photos.”

“Which one?” Bodie muttered as he started looking at the pieces. There seemed to be a lot of browns, some pinks and the odd solid colour, giving him no hint as to the picture to be produced. But before his mate had a chance to reply, he found a piece he recognised. “It's you!” he exclaimed, “I'd recognise that broken cheekbone anywhere!”

“Doyle stood with a smile. “I'll leave you to it then,” he conceded as he walked away. Not that Bodie had noticed, he was too engrossed in the pieces that he was quickly laying out before him.

Doyle picked up the paperback he had been reading and lay down on the couch, intending to make as much progress as he could in the time available to him. It didn't seem too long until he noticed his partner watching him from the table, the obviously completed puzzle laid out before him. The stare was quite intense, forcing Doyle to lay aside his book. “All finished then?, he asked. When a silent nod was all the response he got, he continued, “That was quick.”

The look on Bodie's face left Doyle with the impression that he was being stalked. He went to sit up, but his mate quickly pushed him back down on the couch and held him there. “It helped that I knew the subject intimately,” Bodie finally replied. As he started to strip him, slowly, Doyle found enough of his voice to ask, “If you know the subject so well, what are you doing this for?” “Just want to confirm that everything is exactly where I remember it being”, came the husky response. Everything was, but being a thorough agent, he double-checked, just to be sure.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #28 - Wonder - Pet Names

2010-01-17T09:02:13Z

They had a night off and were enjoying just being together and watching the game. At least that's what Bodie thought they were doing, but turned to see the look on Doyle's face that meant he was thinking too much again.

“OK, what is it this time?”, he asked his partner in exasperation. “Hm”, Doyle was brought back to reality, “nothing important, just thinking.” When nothing more was forthcoming, Bodie turned off the box (game was a foregone conclusion anyway) and turned back to his mate. He knew if he didn't get this out of his partner now, then his plans for the rest of the night would be severely hampered.

Doyle looked up in suprise at his partner's movements, but recognising the expression on his face, decided to offer up further information without comment. “Just thinking about pet names.” “What?” Bodie hadn't expected anything like this. “You know, the little names we call each other, well more you than me really.” Doyle continued. “I was just trying to remember all the pet names you call me. There's sunshine, petal, flower, Goldilocks, golly, as well as the bionic golly, mate, Batman and Angelfish, just to name the more frequent ones.”

“So?”, asked Bodie, “I thought you liked them.” “I do,” came the quick reply, “but I also realised that I don't really have a pet name for you. I call you sunshine and mate, but nothing else, so I was just trying to come up with something that would be perfect for you, perfect for us.” “So what did you come up with?,” Bodie was getting interested now.

“I think I discovered the perfect name for you, and its based on a couple of your best features.” A small smile had appeared on Doyle's face, which sent all kinds of warnings to Bodie's brain. “Oh yeah”, he asked suspiciously, “what?” “The grin on Doyle's face broadened, “You're always reminding me of our age difference. Yes, I know I'm nearly three years old than you,” he continued, stalling his partner's recitation of that fact, “and that's the first part. The second part, just describes you to a T.” His face was pure grin by now. “So what is it?,”Bodie growled. “Robin” came the cocky reply. “What the hell has Robin got to do with anything?” Bodie grunted in exasperation. Doyle slowly stood up as he replied, “Well, he's a partner to Batman, which is one name you call me, but I chose it because of the nickname that Robin has.” With that he bolted for the bedroom.

It only took a moment for Bodie to realise what he was talking about before he was straight after him. 'Boy' he may be in comparison to his partner's age, but now he was going to demonstrate to said partner exactly what a 'Wonder' he was and no words would be required.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #27-Snow - Snow Job

2010-01-14T23:30:55Z

They had no choice. Although the blizzard had well and truly set in, they had to get this man back to HQ. Other lives relied on what Cowley could get out of him.

Doyle leaned forward to whisper in Bodie's ear, the prisoner handcuffed to him being forced to move forward also. "How's it looking sunshine?", he asked under his breath. "Could use some sunshine about now" came his partner's reply, "anything to illuminate where the hell we're going."

Sensing his partner's intake of breath at this response, Bodie continued "It's alright petal, we'll have our unwelcome guest delivered into the waiting arms of the Cow in no time. Then it's home, a hot meal, a hot bath and a quiet night watching the game." Doyle sat back without responding. Somehow he doubted that Bodie's feelings matched his words, but being stuck in the back seat of the Capri with said guest, he was unable to read him and was not too sure that he would want to anyway.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a truck appeared in the middle of the road and there was no time for anything. With a yell of frustration and pure desperation, Bodie yanked on the steering wheel. But there was no room and no time and in a screech of tearing metal, the Capri was catapulted sideways off the road.

Doyle came to slowly, the sound of groans beside him helping him to find his way back to full consciousness. On opening his eyes, all he could see was snow. Memories returned in a rush. He quickly glanced at their prisoner, who, like him, seemed to be only bruised and battered, whilst moving forward to check on his partner. The wreck of the car around him hampered his movements, but he was finally able to see that his partner was slumped over the wheel. The windscreen of the Capri was gone, as were most of the windows and they were all quickly being covered in a layer of snow.

Doyle quickly assessed what he could from his position, then uncuffed himself from their guest and reattached them to the door handle. The Cow would kill them if they lost their guest now, regardless of the circumstances. Once secured, he maneuvered his way, through the wrecked car into the front seat to check his partner. It was obvious that Bodie had hit his head on impact and concussed. Doyle quickly checked him for a pulse, letting loose a sigh of relief as he found a steady rhythm and noted the even rise and fall of his partner's chest. A further examination didn't reveal any other obvious injuries.

He then checked their position, to discover the truck that had put them there was gone. "Probably didn't even see us in this weather", he muttered under his breath, as he extricated himself from the car properly and began to look at their options.

They couldn't stay there, that was certain. The blizzard had eased, but it was still snowing heavily and the temperature alone would kill them if they didn't get out of the weather and soon. His own aches and pains clamoured to get his attention but he ignored them and began making plans for moving out.

Fortunately they were all rugged up for the weather, so the immediate threat of hypothermia was abated. Without too much concern, he dragged their guest out of the back seat and around to the driver's side door, stilling the stream of complaints with a patented Doyle glare. Once he managed to pry the driver's door open, he recuffed the man to Bodie and quickly outlined the plan.

"We can't stay here, we'll freeze. You have no choice but to support my partner now you are cuffed to him, I'll support him on the other side. We will find help or it will find us." At the sound of a protest forming, Doyle raised his hand, stopping it. When he was sure he had their guest's acquiescence, if not his agreement, he gently extricated his partner from the car, unsurprised when there was no assistance forthcoming from either their guest or their patient.

Once he had positioned the two men and taken his own place in the unlikely trio, he started them down the road towards help, or so he hoped, ignoring his own pains and the breathless mumbling of the unwilling member of their party.

Fortunately, within the hour, they found assistance at a farmhouse. The occupants, although not thrilled, called the ambulance and CI5 HQ, whilst keeping an eye on the three men and in particular on the handcuffs. Doyle's focused on securing their guest and treating what he could of his partner's wounds.

It was to Doyle's relief that Bodie stirred as the warmth started to filter through to chilled bones. "Wha..." came the half-formed thought. "Always quick with a smart question, eh mate", Doyle was quick to retort, as Bodie's eyes blinked open as if waking from a deep sleep. "We've been in an accident, and you've given your head a good whack, so take it easy", he continued, "the ambulance'll be here soon."

He was pleased to see Bodie focus on him and watched as his partner sorted through his recent memories and looked before asking, "What about our guest?" "He's tied up at the moment,"Doyle replied with a smirk. Bodie groaned, but before he closed his eyes again, he peered closely at his partner "Are you OK?" "Better now that you are", came Doyle's reply, but with the glare that followed that response, he continued, "a few aches and pains,that the hot bath you promised me will fix." Satisfied with that answer and what he could see of his partner, Bodie closed his eyes.

Bodie came to again as he was loaded into the ambulance, his partner by his side. "Our guest?" he asked again. "Murph and Anson have got him and are delivering him to the Cow.” They could relax, they had done their job.

The Weekly Obbo Challenge #23- Knot - Heart strings

2009-11-27T00:32:23Z

Doyle watched as his partner slept. There was nothing happening at the place they were assigned to observe and hadn't been all day. So instead he turned to watch his partner as he slept, the man who was inextricably tied up with him in every way imaginable. Partner, both at work and at home, they spent every waking moment together, to the point where their two lives had become one. They were tied up in one complicated, knot, one that Doyle had no intention of doing anything to untie. You can't escape your heart – why would you want to?