The Professionals Circuit Archive - To the Victor...	     To the
Victor...

 

by Snow White

  
 The sound of ceremonial gunfire broke the stillness of the morning. For
an instant the only sounds were the muted sobs of many of the mourners and
the raindrops that splattered against the unfurled umbrellas. Then the
solemn ritual of burial continued.

'What a miserable day,' thought Bodie. It was cold and rainy and as
thoroughly depressing outside as Bodie felt inside. Somehow he would have
to get through the day; somehow he would have to go on with his life.

Looking up he realized that the service was over and people were moving
away from the gravesite, breaking into smaller groups as they walked
through the wet grass. Alone for a moment, Bodie looked at the coffin that
contained the body of his friend and lover of so many years. It seemed as
though he could still feel the smaller body pressed against him. He could
taste the warm lips sweet with the essence of scotch or sweet and sour
sauce. God, how he had loved Chinese food.

For fifteen years they had shared life and love and now it was
over...taken from him by a terrorist bullet. It had been so sudden.

The call had come just as they had walked into headquarters that fateful
November morning. The air was crisp and cold but the warmth of their early
morning loving still enveloped both men in a blanket that defied even the
bitter London winter.

Bodie remembered his rude comment about having to go out to face the May
15 group on a day that had started so beautifully. His lover, who hated
terrorists more than any of the other criminals they battled, only barked
his anger as they turned and ran for the parking lot and the silver Rover.
They were rolling long before any of the other agents had an opportunity
to respond and as a result they were first on the scene...first to arrive
and run head-on to World War III.

It had all gone down so quickly that Bodie still didn't fully remember
exactly what had happened. He remembered the firefight, five minutes of
hell that seemed to last for hours. The end, when it came, was
surprisingly swift. One minute they were crouched behind a brick wall and
the next Bodie was holding a slumping body.

The bullet had entered the back of the neck bringing death to two men,
even though one continued to function after a fashion.

A sob escaped Bodie then, as he remembered the still eyes closed in death,
the mouth calm in repose, and he sank to his knees in the cold winter
morning. Finally he was crying for his dead lover and he no longer cared
about the world around him. For over a decade years they had hid their
love from the governmental bureaucrats who would have yielded to the
demands of expediency and removed both of them from the rank of CI5. But
now it didn't matter who knew. Bodie was alone, the sunshine of his life
was forever shrouded.

As he continued to sob, a man detached himself from a small group of
mourners and with a slump to the shoulders that spoke of shared pain,
walked toward the huddled figure of his friend.

Kneeling, the somber man rested a hand on Bodie's shaking shoulder. "Come
on, Bodie, you can't stay here. You need to be with people. You know he
would have wanted it. He went the way he would have wanted, clean and
quick and doing his duty."

"You knew, didn't you? You knew all along."

"Did you really think you could hide it from me? It was all there for
anyone to see, if they had bothered to look. Fortunately, most people took
you at face value, hardened CI5 agents, and never looked beyond."

"But you did."

"Well, after all, I knew you both so well for so long."

"Oh, Ray, what the fuck am I going to do without George?" asked the
bewildered agent.

"Don't worry, Bodie, I'm here for you. I always have been here and I
always will be. Now come on, let's go toast the Cow with the finest single
malt."

Bodie allowed Ray Doyle to help him to his feet and turning, he paid a
final, silent farewell to George Cowley.

Doyle, too, paid a final farewell to the man who had been the lover of his
friend and colleague. 'He's mine now, you son-of-a-bitch. I knew I would
outlast you and the little games you played to keep him tied to you. But
in the end, he'll be mine. He never realized how you used his youth and
energy to feed your fires and keep you young. But I knew and I hated you
for using him. Did you love him? I doubt it. You never loved anyone or
anything except your damn CI5. Certainly you never loved him as much as I
do. Well, now I have them both, Bodie and CI5, and I hope your final bed
is as cold and empty as mine has been since the day you took him away from
me.'

With a final enigmatic smile, Ray Doyle, newly appointed Controller of
CI5, straightened his shoulders and followed his friend and soon-to-be
lover up the rainslicked hill. 

-- THE END --

*Originally published in *Concupiscence*, Manacles Press, 1991*

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