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discoveredinalj"What was Cowley thinking when he sent us up here in the first place?” Ray Doyle asked as he slumped down into the passenger seat and turned slightly, squinting in the growing dusk to see his partner.
“Hell if I know, Ray. If that bloke’s a gun runner, than so is Cowley’s gran. I don’t doubt that he’s up to something, but not anything CI5 is concerned about. I can hear the Cow now ‘Exactly, 3-7, if you hadn’t interviewed him personally, we would never have been sure’.” Doyle groaned at his partner's terrible impersonation of a Scottish accent.
Bodie took a quick look at his passenger before returning his attention to the road. “You haven’t done anything to make Father mad that you conveniently forgot to share have you, Sunshine?”
“Funny, mate, I was just about to ask you the same question.”
“Moi? I’ll have you know I’ve been a very good lad lately. Even got all me reports in on time.”
“Probably figures we’ve done something he won’t like, and he just hasn’t heard about it yet," Ray responded, smirking at the innocent little boy look Bodie was sporting.
“If he’s going to start punishing us for things we might do, then we’ll just have to get more creative.” A quiet groan escaped as Bodie tried an abortive stretch. "My back is really going to hate me by the time we get home.”
They settled into a comfortable silence, and Ray closed his eyes in hopes of grabbing a short kip before he took over the driving chores. Bodie had driven all the way up, and he’d drive them all the way back without complaint, unless Ray insisted on his turn. Nine to ten hours of driving in one day on top of the crazy fortnight they’d had was too much for one person.
Ray had no idea how long he’d been asleep when his partner’s voice broke through his slumber. “Doyle, there’s a gray truck behind us…been with us since we were about three miles out of town.”
“Huh, what are you, Christ, Bodie, look out!” Ray shouted. He sought to brace himself as the truck collided with the driver’s door. The car was rammed a second time before Bodie could fully regain control and the car went tumbling down the embankment. The sound of abused metal settling filled the car until it ended up facing the way they'd come, its' front end pushed into the ground.
“Ray! Come on, we need to get out of here. Don’t want to be here if those blokes decide to come back,” Bodie’s urgent tone provoked the necessary response, and Ray stumbled from the car, crouching beside it as he sought to regain his bearings. He watched through the gathering darkness as his partner awkwardly exited the same way.
“We need to get away from the car. I smell petrol…come on.” Bodie pulled him the first few yard and then Ray ran because Bodie did. He wasn’t sure why they were running but if his partner said run, he knew he should. The sound of an explosion behind them had both men shifting into higher gear.
Doyle was sure he was about to run out of breath just as Bodie pulled up, and both slid to the ground. “Bloody hell,” Ray whispered, panting.
“Any clue why someone would feel compelled to run us off the road?” Bodie asked, still trying to regain his breath. He put two fingers under his partner’s chin and pulled it up. “You with me, Ray?”
“Maybe you were right and while that bloke wasn’t into gun running he was into something else that his mates are afraid we now know about.” He gently wiped a small stream of blood off his lover's forehead, letting his fingers linger for a moment. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, but we have a bit of a problem,” Bodie responded as he ran a hand distractedly through his hair. “We’re about fifteen miles from the nearest town, and we can’t use the road because there’s no telling if those blokes in the truck will come looking to finish the job.” He paused. “Grabbed the spare gun under the seat,” he said as he passed it over. “Didn’t manage to get the R/T but since it wouldn’t work in town, I’m not sure it matters.”
The two eyed each other for a few minutes. “So no one’s even going to start looking for us until what, sometime after nine tomorrow?” Ray asked softly.
“That’s the size of it. I want to get further back from the road before we angle south east. Going to be slow going in the dark without a torch…but we need to get a bit further away from the car just in case.”
“At least Macklin sends us out with bug spray,” Ray grumbled as he swatted at his neck.
“You’re going soft, 4-5,” Bodie said with just the hint of a smile in his tone before he pulled Ray to his feet, hugged him lightly and then started off. Ray muttered a few anatomically impossible suggestions before following.
Doyle had no idea where they were, and he was letting worry over whether or not his buff ex-SAS partner knew where the hell they were going as he followed behind him. It amazed him - though he had every intention of keeping that bit of information to himself - that Bodie never hesitated as he easily maneuvered them around obstacles he, himself, could barely make out. When Ray started to fall behind, Bodie stopped and waited for him to catch up. “Where the hell we going?” he demanded.
“As far from those blokes as we can get. I don’t plan on dying out here in the middle of nowhere, come on.”
“You think they’re behind us?”
“Don’t know, but we’re not waiting around here to find out.… we’ve got to keep moving, Doyle.”
Three hours later, exhausted and beginning to feel the bruises caused by the accident, Bodie motioned Ray into the shelter of a small stand of trees and helped him settle against one of trunks. Once he was sure Ray was comfortable, he disappeared into the trees.
Ray startled twenty minutes later when Bodie reappeared and carefully lowered himself until they sat shoulder to shoulder. “Here, not exactly haute cuisine, but the best I could do considering we forgot to make reservations.” Ray didn’t try to figure out what he’d been handed; he just stuck it in his mouth and sighed as the sweet juice wet his mouth. “So what’s the plan, Robin?" he asked after getting his fill of the berries.
“Did you hit your head?” Bodie leaned close, one hand running carefully through the sweat-soaked curls as he felt for bumps.
“Geroff, I’m fine!” Ray batted at him before continuing. “We’re in the middle of the woods, and you are definitely the leader – for this little side trip only – and given that we’re in the middle of her majesty’s forest, that makes you Robin Hood.”
“You sure you didn’t hit your head?”
“Fucking blood suckers,” came the annoyed response, followed by a loud slap.
“Always said you were too sweet for your own good,” Bodie offered. He tried to control the wince when a fist found his right shoulder.
“What now?” Ray asked as he leaned against the familiar body and let his head rest on a broad shoulder.
“We take a bit of a kip. We’ve been on the go since 0530, and we’re going to need to be on our toes come morning.” Bodie squirmed back against the tree until he found just the right position before holding out his arms, “Come on, Sunshine. I’ll take first watch.”
Ray moved quickly into his favorite spot – his partner’s arms - and bestowed a swift kiss on soft lips before asking, “You’ll wake me?”
“About 45 minutes from now, so close those cat eyes and start snoring.” Bodie placed a kiss on the droopy curls and smiled as he felt his partner’s body relax against him.
Ray groaned when he realised he wasn’t dreaming: someone actually was vigorously shaking his shoulder. “Go away,” he muttered.
“Up now, Doyle.” The command in the voice had him on his feet before he was fully awake. As he finished rubbing his eyes and opened them he found bloodshot blue eyes fixed on him.
“Bodie, it’s nearly morning,” he muttered hoarsely. “You were supposed to wake me, you dumb clod.”
“Didn’t see a point. No sense in both of us being sleep deprived.” Bodie turned and began walking, not up for an argument. Seeing the stiff back and clenched fists, Ray shook his head and followed. No point in yelling at his partner now. He’d wait until he had a full stomach and a good night’s sleep under his belt. That way he’d be sure he didn’t run out of breath during the stern lecture on partnership he was already writing in his head.
Three miles from where they had hunkered down for the night, they came to a halt by a small stream. Both men went belly down on the ground and drank handfuls of water. Bodie dunked his head under and came up shaking like a dog. This earned him a sharp “Bloody hell!” and a thump across his arse.
As they lay listening to the hum of the water, Ray swore again as his left hand slapped hard on his right arm. “Explain to me why I’m the only one being eaten alive, would you please,” he demanded peevishly as he peered at the mosquito bite before tugging his sleeve down.
Bodie shrugged. “Don’t know. There always seems to be one or two in every group that they are drawn to…or maybe it’s just good clean living.” He jumped back to evade the fist aimed at his belly and gracefully jumped the stream. “Come on, Doyle. The sooner we get out of these woods, the sooner we get home.” He started walking, looking over his shoulder as he added, “And the sooner we get home, the sooner I can rub you down. Doctor Bodie’s patented calming lotion is just the thing to sooth those mosquito bites.”
Doyle shot a glare at his partner’s rapidly disappearing back before crossing the stream.
***
Four and a half hours later they were sitting on the ground, settled against a slighted battered phone booth. Bodie had his head tilted upward, eyes closed as he drank in the warmth of the sun. Ray gazed at him for a long moment, taking in the pale skin, the blue black bruising under his eyes, and the way he was hugging his right arm against his body with his left. “So what exactly did the Cow say?” he asked into the lazy silence.
“Seems our copper friends found the Capri about 11 last night so Murphy and Anson are already up here, and they’re going to come pick us up. Best the locals can tell the driver of the truck was drunk – at least he was when they found him about 4 this morning.”
“So he wasn’t trying to run us off the road?”
“Nope, it appears he didn’t even realise anything was wrong until he got home and found the large dents in the side of the truck. Cowley said the bloke sobered up right quick when Murphy got hold of him.”
“Good old Murph,” Ray responded with a smile. “Now there’s a mate.”
“Didn’t tell you the best part,” Bodie said, blue eyes opening just enough so he could peer out from under his lashes.
“What, the old man docking your pay for ruining yet another car? Can’t say as I blame him considering the number you’ve managed to wreck.”
“Nah. Besides this one wasn’t even our fault." Bodie shifted slightly away from his partner.
“Well come on, then, don’t keep me in suspense.”
“He’s considering charging this against our leave,” Bodie held up a hand at the indignant squawk that news elicited. “Said if we wanted to go camping, we can bloody well do it on our own time.”
Title: A Walk In The Woods
Author: Ice Bear
Genre: Slash
Warnings: None
Archive: Proslib Please
Disclaimer: All things related to The Professionals belong to others. I simply borrow them now and again for my own entertainment.
Prompt: Mosquito
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Date: 2010-08-01 12:16 am (UTC)LOL! Now why does that sound exactly like something Cowley would say! Good job, J. I liked the twist about the truck and why things happened as they had. Thanks!
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Date: 2010-08-01 01:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-01 01:37 pm (UTC)Glad you enjoyed it
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Date: 2010-08-01 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-02 01:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-02 09:41 pm (UTC)