The Professionals Circuit Archive - In for a Penny	   In for a Penny

 

by Lily

  
 *(After the episode "You'll Be All Right")*

"Come *on*, Bodie," Ray said impatiently.

"Just a tick." Bodie looked over his selections and added few more items
to the pile. He checked his wallet, then turned to his partner. "Uh, you
couldn't lend me a couple pounds, could you, Ray?"

"How much?" Ray said resignedly, pulling out his wallet.

"Twenty quid?"

"Twen--?" He stopped. "Oh, all right." He removed the note from his wallet
and handed it to his partner.

Bodie beamed his appreciation. "Thanks, mate." He gathered everything and
took it to the cashier. After he'd paid, he looked around, saw Ray leaning
against the front door, and headed towards him.

Watching Bodie approach, arms laden with parcels, Ray eyed the sky rockets
and Roman candles poking out of the largest carry-bag and asked, "Think
you've got enough there, mate?"

Bodie checked his parcels worriedly. "Well, maybe not. I could..."

"Forget it." Ray grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the store.

As they walked back to the car, Bodie was happily making plans.

"It's really great we've got this afternoon off. We can be at the Stone's
when Nick gets home from school. He said a neighbor's been clipping his
hedge and told Nick he could have all the trimmings just for hauling them
away. And another neighbor said he could have all the leaves he could
rake, only he hasn't been able to rake many..." Bodie slowly ran down as
he realized Doyle wasn't responding. "Ray? What's the matter?"

They had arrived at the car and Doyle didn't answer while they got in.

Bodie put the key in the ignition, then turned to face his partner. "Ray?"
he asked again.

Doyle shrugged. "It's just... I'm not particularly chuffed about bonfires.
I had other plans for a free afternoon."

"Oh." Bodie had never even considered that Doyle wouldn't be interested.
"Well, all right. You don't have to come. Nick and I can do it ourselves."

Bodie was unexpectedly upset that his partner wouldn't be around for the
Guy Fawkes Night bonfire and fireworks. He hadn't realized how much he
depended on Ray to be there. Things were more interesting, more...exciting
when Doyle was around, but he didn't really *need* him. He and Nick would
still have fun. "Shall I drop you at your flat, then?"

Ray stared out the window at the grey sky, feeling mildly exasperated.
"Twit." Leave it to Bodie to get himself all involved in something like
this when they finally had a free afternoon. Off-duty, Bodie was often
like a big overgrown child, always ready for some kind of devilment. Ray
went along, of course, but usually wouldn't have got involved if it hadn't
been for his partner. He knew *why* he so often did as Bodie wanted. He'd
been attracted to him right from the first and grabbed at any excuse to
spend time with him. He supposed it was selfish, but he'd wanted Bodie all
to himself for a change. He was tired of having to share him. All this
took but a moment to flash through his mind. "I didn't have plans for
*myself*; I had plans for *us*." He grinned ruefully. "But since you've
obviously committed us to this project, let's go."

"Great." Bodie grinned at him, turned the key in the ignition and headed
them off to the Stone's, all his anticipation of an enjoyable afternoon
and evening back full force.

By the time they arrived, it was beginning to get dark. As they parked the
car, Nick was just turning the corner. The young boy broke into a run at
the sight of the silver Capri. "Bodie! Bodie!" he shouted as he ran.

Bodie was standing on the pavement when Nick came running up. He picked
him up under his arms and swung him around as the boy shrieked with
laughter.

As soon as he was on his feet, Nick started talking excitedly, pulling
Bodie's hand. "Bodie, come see the guy I made. Mum let me use some of
Dad's old clothes. I took it down to Dad's local and got ever so much
money, 'n' I got fountains 'n' sparklers 'n'..." His voice died away as he
pulled Bodie into the back garden.

Doyle got out of the car more slowly and stood leaning against it until
Bodie and Nick returned. Bodie was pushing a wheelbarrow, which Nick rode
in, holding a rake. At a look from Bodie, Doyle slouched over to the pair
of them.

"Give me the rake, then," he said, reaching for it. "I'll take care of the
leaves. You two can collect the hedge trimmings."

"That's super, Mr. Doyle," Nick said. "Thanks, awfully." He pointed out
which neighbor's house it was as he set off with Bodie for the other's.

Doyle started raking efficiently. He had never enjoyed raking leaves, or
any kind of yard work, for that matter. He'd done more than enough of it
as a lad, which was why he was perfectly happy living in a flat and why he
never asked for a garden flat when one became vacant. If, however, leaves
had to be raked, especially after dark, it was well to get it over and
done with. Actually, the porch light and street lamp together gave a fair
amount of light. He noticed Bodie and Nick making several trips to the
back garden with a loaded wheelbarrow while he was raking.

When he was finished, he wandered around to the back to check out the pile
they were building for the bonfire. It was quite impressive--not that he'd
expected anything different. When Bodie set his mind to doing something,
it was done properly.

Just then, Bodie and Nick came up with another load of hedge trimmings.

"Last load, sunshine. Got the leaves all raked?"

"Would I be standin' here if I hadn't?" Doyle asked rhetorically. "Not
bad," he added, motioning with his head toward the pile.

Bodie beamed. "Ta, mate." He turned to the boy. "Nick," he said, "find the
dustpan so we can scoop up the leaves."

"Sure, Bodie." Nick ran off to do as he was bidden.

Bodie grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow again. "Want a ride?" he
asked.

Ray started to refuse, then changed his mind. "What the hell," he said.
"Why not?" *Might as well go along with him,* he thought. *Let's all be
ten years old tonight.* "Just as well I've got my old jeans on."

Bodie wheeled the barrow around the house at a trot and came to a sudden
stop at the pile of leaves. He tipped up the barrow and dumped Ray into
them.

"What?!" Ray sputtered, trying to extricate himself from the pile.

"Wheeeee!" shouted Nick. He dropped the dustpan and took a running jump
into the pile, narrowly missing Doyle.

Bodie stood, laughing at the two of them, until Ray reached out and,
snagged a leg, pulling Bodie into the pile with them. Nick had scrambled
away before Ray pulled Bodie in, but he jumped in again, on top of Bodie.
Linda heard the noise and came running out. She jumped into the pile with
the others. They tussled for a while, throwing leaves at each other with
abandon, then Ray started tickling Bodie, and Nick and Linda joined in.

"Eh, three against one," Bodie managed to protest gaspingly between
hysterical giggles. Finally, when he was struggling for breath, Ray
stopped and pulled the children off.

"Say 'pax,'" he demanded.

"Pax," Bodie panted, then lay back in the leaves, red- faced, trying to
catch his breath.

Nick, Linda and Ray flopped down beside him. The children were giggling as
much as Bodie. Slowly, their breathing returned to normal. About then, Ray
noticed a slight fog was coming in, giving the lights a halo effect.

"Better get busy, mate. Don't know how thick that fog's gonna get." He
scrambled to his feet and reached down to help Bodie up.

"Yeah, guess so," his partner agreed, taking his hand and coming up so
quickly he almost overset Doyle. As he grabbed at Ray's shoulders to
steady him, their eyes met and they smiled at each other, enjoying the
chance to be silly for a change.

Linda went back into the house to see if her mother had the potatoes
ready. Nick had run for the dustpan and was scooping leaves into the
wheelbarrow. The two men went to help him and they soon had all the leaves
added to the bonfire pile, even though some additional raking was
necessary.

Bodie had scouted out a long stick earlier in the afternoon. Now he stuck
it up the back of the guy's shirt. He climbed up on a box and, putting one
hand on Ray's shoulder for balance, carefully stuck the pole into the
piled branches so the guy was sitting on top.

Chrissie brought out the parboiled potatoes wrapped in tin foil and tucked
them into the edge of the bonfire, then turned out the porch light and
took hold of Linda's hand.

"Now we light it," Bodie said. He struck a long fireplace match and walked
around the bonfire, setting it alight. The dried leaves caught quickly,
then the whole thing went up with a roar. The red and orange flames
flickered against the blackness of the night. They licked at the guy and
it, too, caught fire. Nick and Linda cheered as the arms and legs burned
off and fell into the flames. Finally, it was all ablaze.

*"Please to remember the Fifth of November..."* they chanted, more or less
in unison.

Chrissie went back into the house and brought out mugs of hot soup. They
sipped the broth while the bonfire slowly burned down. When it was low
enough that they could afford to turn their backs on it, Nick started
yelling, "Fireworks! Fireworks!"

He ran into the house to get the ones he'd bought, while Bodie went out to
the car for his. Chrissie dug the potatoes out of the fire, pulled off the
tin foil, and handed them to Linda and Ray along with a twist of salt. She
took one for herself and put Nick's and Bodie's aside. Ray tossed his
potato from hand to hand, and watched as Nick and Bodie planned in what
order the fireworks should be done.

Planning over, Nick set up a fountain and Bodie lit it. Everyone ooohed
and aaahed as gold and silver sparks flew up into the air. Fountains,
skyrockets and Roman candles followed, one after another. Luckily, the fog
hadn't got too thick to see them. Bodie was juggling his hot potato with
one hand while lighting fireworks with the other. Ray stood back with
Chrissie and Linda, watching his partner and Nick.

Suddenly, he had a Roman candle thrust into his hand.

"Here you go, sunshine," Bodie said, as he turned to hand others to Linda
and Chrissie. He and Nick each had one as well. They stood roughly in a
circle watching as the balls of light exploded in the sky. When the last
one had finished, Bodie collected the burnt out candles while Nick handed
around boxes of sparklers. As they waved them, making patterns in the dark
night, Ray decided he was glad he'd agreed to come. Even though Bodie'd
spent more time with Nick than with him, it was nice to see him so relaxed
and happy. They stood around the dying fire with their sparklers, throwing
the dead ones onto the embers,. When they were done, Bodie got the hose
and made sure the fire was out.

Nick was almost asleep on his feet, and Linda wasn't much better. Chrissie
herded them into the house, then turned to the two men.

"Thank you," she said to them. "You don't know how much it meant to
Nick...to all of us...to have you come over tonight and do this. It's been
hard on them, with their father gone and all. I'm glad they could just be
like all the other youngsters tonight."

"That's okay," Bodie said, embarrassed. "I enjoyed it."

"Yeah," Ray agreed. He knew how his partner hated to be thanked for his
good deeds. "So did I. Actually, I think we should be thanking you. We
don't have many occasions when we can relax and do the things everyone
else does." He smiled at her. "Go on. Go put them to bed. They'll never
get up for school tomorrow."

"Yes, all right," she agreed, but she stood and watched while they walked
out to the car. When they were inside, she waved and shut the door.

Ray leaned back in the passenger seat while Bodie started the engine.
Bodie turned to him before putting the car in gear. "Did you mean it, Ray?
Did you really enjoy it?"

"Yeah," Doyle answered. "I really did." He socked Bodie lightly on the
arm. "Every once in a while you have what passes for a good idea."

They'd driven a little ways when he said to Bodie, "You were really good
with Nick. You should have a son of your own to do things with."

"Nah," Bodie replied. "Don't want the responsibility, do I? 'M happy to
just to borrow one, once in a while. That's all I need."

Ray relaxed while Bodie drove him home. What he'd said was true. He had
enjoyed himself. And there'd be plenty of other times when he and Bodie
could do things together, just the two of them. And since Bodie wasn't
interested in having children...well, who knows...maybe someday.... He
lost the thought as Bodie pulled up to his flat and let him out. "Pick you
up tomorrow morning, shall I?"

"Yeah, sure." Bodie reached across the car and grabbed Doyle's wrist as he
turned to go. "And thanks, Ray, for tonight. It wouldn't have been nearly
as much fun if you hadn't been there." He let go and drove off before his
partner could reply.

Smiling, Ray went into his flat. He'd heard the sincerity in Bodie's
voice. And if Bodie wanted him around, and he wanted Bodie around...well,
anything could happen.

-- THE END --

   Archive Home