Aftermath - a tag to the episode Fugitive
Title: Aftermath
Fandom: The Professionals
Pairing: None
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 1,373
Warnings: A little bit of swearing
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don’t own the boys and will earn nothing from this story. I’m just borrowing them and will return them home safe (if not sound) when I have finished with them.
Beta: Thanks to anna060957 for beta-ing my story at a moment’s notice, and for her ever useful comments and suggestions.
Summary: A tag to the episode Fugitive
Notes: Constructive criticism and suggestions are always welcome.
AFTERMATH
Ray Doyle wanted to punch something. Very hard. Or failing that, kick the shit out of Werner Dreisinger’s lifeless body lying at his feet. Doyle wanted to revive Dreisinger just so he could kill him painfully all over again. And that other bastard lying dead over there. What was his name? Heinrich. Yeah, Henrich too. Trouble was, laying into the deceased probably wasn’t acceptable, even by CI5’s questionable standards.
Through the drifting smoke Doyle watched the American bitch Karen as she was led away in handcuffs. He finally felt some of the tension and fury that had held his shoulders rigid since he had seen Bodie’s battered face as his partner staggered from the back of the van ebb away.
He was conscious of Bodie standing silently alongside him, bruised and bloody, and from the corner of his eye he could see his partner swaying ever so slightly. Without thinking, he reached out and steadied him. The physical contact seemed to stir Bodie from the trance he’d been in since pulling Karen to her feet, and he looked directly at Doyle for the first time.
“Nasty bit of work, that one.”
Doyle looked at him blankly. Had his partner finally taken one too many blows to the head? Better humour him, he supposed. “What one?”
Bodie tilted his head towards Karen’s disappearing back. “Wanted to kill me, she did. Quite keen on the idea.”
Doyle looked at Bodie over the top of his sunglasses as they slipped down his nose. “Sometimes I know how she feels.” He didn’t mean to say that, had no idea the thought was in his head until the words were out. Obviously the tension in his body wasn’t due entirely to the violent end of the operation.
Bodie blinked sluggishly back at him, apparently puzzled and hurt at the tone. Doyle felt the need to elaborate.
“Bloody maniac, running off like that. What the hell were you thinking?” Doyle took a deep breath. “Actually, that’s the trouble, isn’t it? You weren’t thinking.”
“Ray …”
Doyle cut Bodie off with a chop of his hand. He could feel his anger rising again with pent up emotion, and he turned away from Bodie to give himself time to calm down. His partner had been through enough as a captive of the terrorists. There’d be plenty of time for Doyle to vent his spleen when Bodie had had time to recover. And when that time came Doyle intended to pound it into Bodie’s thick skull how stupid he had been to run away with God knows how much explosive strapped to his chest
As the smoke cleared, Doyle could see down the runway to where Cowley knelt on the tarmac cradling the dying Christina in his arms. He sighed deeply. What a complete and utter balls up. Oh, he knew full well what CI5’s brief was, to achieve the goal using whatever means were necessary. But so much killing didn’t sit easy with him. Doyle watched as Cowley lowered Christina’s body back down and pushed to his feet with effort. Never before had Cowley looked quite so old, and Doyle guessed that on occasion he wasn’t the only one who had trouble reconciling all the deaths.
The Controller of CI5 stood looking down at the brunette for long minutes and then raised his eyes to Doyle’s. He nodded slightly and started towards them. Turning back to Bodie while he waited for instruction, Doyle noticed the fine tremor in the other man’s arms as they hung limply at his sides, the cut ropes still dangling from his abraded wrists. He knew Bodie’s arms and shoulders would be giving him hell right about now after they’d been forced into an unnatural position for so long. And Doyle tackling him to the ground wouldn’t have helped matters, either.
He reached out and gently massaged the tight muscles across Bodie’s shoulders. His partner, watching Cowley’s approach, didn’t as much as flinch. When he felt the muscles relax slightly Doyle took Bodie’s left arm and started to work on the knots holding the ropes in place. Doyle assumed it was exhaustion that kept him still and was surprised at the depth of trust Bodie had in him, even after all the years they had worked together.
He started on Bodie’s right wrist as Cowley reached them. The Scotsman studied Bodie until even the younger man became aware of the scrutiny and shifted uncomfortably under it. As the second set of ropes came loose and fell to the ground, Cowley took Bodie’s right hand and turned it over, studying the damage done to his wrist.
“Doyle, I want you to take Bodie to hospital.”
“Don’t need the hospital.” Bodie muttered and would have been quite convincing if his words hadn’t slurred to the point of being nearly undecipherable. Adrenaline had kept him going this long, but now the injuries sustained from his impromptu stand-in as a punching bag were making themselves known and he was about to drop.
He and Cowley faced off, while Doyle just raised his eyebrow and waited. He knew without doubt who would win this stand-off.
Bodie sighed deeply as his resolve crumbled. “I just need a hot bath and some medicine of the 40% proof variety.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say no to a double whisky myself.” Doyle agreed.
Cowley ignored them both. “Stay with him, Doyle, until the hospital releases him. I don’t want to hear that he slipped out against medical advice.”
Doyle grinned at Bodie. “You heard the man.” He nodded to Cowley. “How will you get back to town, Sir?”
“Och, don’t worry about me. I shall be here for hours yet. I’ll make my own way back.” And with that he was gone, following the agent taking the sole terrorist survivor to the cluster of CI5 cars tucked away behind one of the disused hangers.
Doyle took Bodie’s arm and tugged on it gently. “Come on, mate. Let’s get you seen to.”
Bodie sighed and obediently followed. “Can’t we just …”
“No, we can’t. You know damn well he’ll expect a full medical report.”
“The CI5 doctor would do as good a job.”
Doyle shook his head with amusement. “Yeah, he probably would. But look at it this way. In hospital you’ll have a whole bevvy of pretty nurses fussing over you. You know they all love a wounded hero. You’ll have them eating out of your hand.”
Bodie brightened remarkably. “I’ll share with you.”
Doyle grinned. “Nah, I’ll just wait ‘til you crash and then have the lot for myself. There’s one thing they love more than the hero.”
Bodie frowned. “What’s that then?”
“The concerned and doting best friend. The birds love a man who’s not afraid to show he cares.”
“Some best friend you are, if you’d steal all me birds.” He stumbled over his own feet and Doyle’s grip tightened, holding him up. For a while he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
“Why’d you do it?” Doyle asked quietly.
“Um?” Forcing himself to remain upright was distracting Bodie.
“Why’d you run? Do you have a death wish?”
Bodie looked up at Doyle as if he’d spoken Chinese and then frowned.
“Bloody stupid question, that is.” He shook his head and stumbled forward again, breaking Doyle’s grip on his arm. Doyle let him go.
“Well?” He called after his partner.
Bodie stopped and looked back over one tense shoulder. He shook his head again.
“It was the least I could do. If I took you and the Cow with me, who’d’ve stopped this lot?” He indicated the carnage with a wave of his arm.
Doyle wondered if it was it as simple as that. Studying Bodie’s face, seeing the slight twinkle in his red rimmed and swollen eyes, he doubted it. Wasn’t it just like Bodie to protect those he cared about? Fighting the grin that threatened to split his face and with a sudden lifting of remaining tension, he followed his sentimental partner over to the Ford that he, Cowley and Christina had arrived in, muttering just loud enough for Bodie to hear “yeah, and I love you too, sunshine.”
THE END