discoveredinalj | Discovered when we first met: The right course

Agree, thank goodness for the extended deadline. Here's my contribution.....................

Bodie smirked as he looked at the sorry lot standing across the room from them. “You heard Major Nairn” he said, “its inter-agency cooperation.” Keller snorted in disgust and so he continued. “We learn to get along here and then the Met will do what we tell them to, when we meet them in the field.” The next snort he got from Keller was one of amusement and his smirk widened as he got the reaction he had sought.

They continued to look over the Met officers in attendance, who were giving similar scrutiny to the SAS officers in return.

Keller snorted again. “Are any of those nancies even going to survive this course? They look like a strong wind will blow them over.” “That's the point,” Bodie replied as he continued scanning the other men, “we're supposed to show them how its done and lend a helping hand..... in exchange for future favours of course.....” He stopped as someone caught his eye.

A man, of his height, but much slimmer with a curly head of hair and whose whipcord body held his eyes with a fascination he had not experienced in many years. Somehow the man sensed his observation and looked up with a scowl. As he noted the broken cheekbone, which did nothing to downplay his appeal, Bodie couldn't help but smirk widely, a response which was met with a deepening scowl on the other side, before the man looked to their commanding officers at the front, who were outlining the week's activities.

Bodie's fascination with the man, who he had discovered was Ray Doyle, of the Drugs Squad (yawn), continued throughout the five day course. Doyle was a scrappy fighter, but he knew how to use his speed and flexibility to advantage and managed to take down several of Bodie's SAS colleagues in the hand-to-hand fighting, much to their disgust, but to his growing amusement.

Much to his own disgust though, Doyle outdid him on every handgun challenge they faced (although he outdid him with the rifle), so he was looking forward to their listed pairing in the last day of the event – the survival course.

“Who did you bribe to make that happen?” Keller asked quietly when the pairings were announced. Bodie just smirked and tapped the side of his nose.

Light was not even dawning on the last day as they got their orders and headed out, two by two. A curt greeting was all he got from the grumpy cop, but that was the only bad thing about their acting partnership. Bodie delighted in how well they worked together – seeming to anticipate when and where help was needed (which wasn't often) and moving through the challenges smoothly and effectively, passing all but a few of the pairs that had started before them.

At the end of the course, they stood in the marshalling area, cooling down whilst regaining their breath. “You're good,” Bodie spurted out, much to his surprise, disarmed as he was by the cool gaze upon him. Doyle, to his surprise, blushed. “You're not so bad yourself,” he muttered in reluctant praise. Bodie grinned.

And then it was over. Their commanding officers gained their attention, proclaiming the event a success and each promising their full cooperation to each other when they next meet on the street. With a quick smile for each other, Bodie and Doyle headed back to their respective colleagues and back to their work. Fully expecting that they would never see each other again, they were each surprised to realise how disappointing that would be. Life, however, has a funny way of surprising you.......

Title: The right course
Author: tango65
Archive at ProsLib/Circuit: Yes please